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New solar maps for South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland have been released by GeoModel Solar, showing the direct solar radiation on the African continent. "Uniqueness of these maps is reflected in their very high spatial resolution of 250 metres. As regards temporal resolution, the underlying solar database represents more than 18 years of historical data (1994 - to present) with a time step of up to 15 minutes," said Marcel Suri, managing director of GeoModel Solar.
"The solar radiation received in some regions can vary by up to 20% within a distance of 10 kilometres. Hence, it is very important to have access to data with high accuracy and spatial resolution, making it possible to predict a solar plant's output with greater confidence," Suri added.
Development of the maps was completed using data from GeoModel’s SolarGIS; a program that was developed in partnership with the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch University. The new maps and data can be accessed through GeoModel’s SolarGIS web platform.
