DETERMINATION OF MONTHLY CLEARNESS INDEX FOR SOLAR SYSTEMS DESIGN UNDER THE WEATHER CONDITION OF BAUCHI, NIGERIA
This research predicts the clearness index under the weather condition of Bauchi, Nigeria, with latitude 10.23° N and longitude 9.84° E using MATLAB programming language. Monthly average daily weather data and solar radiations obtained from the weather data processor (Type 109 component) of TRNSYS 16 software (2017) were used as input into program codes written in MATLAB to calculate the clearness index (ET). The results revealed that, month of August have the least value of clearness index (ET) of 0.453 followed by the month of July with a value of 0.488. This indicates that, the sky at this period (peak rainfall) is covered by heavy cloud due to high amount of rainfall. The ET for the month of August is therefore considered best for solar systems design under the weather condition of Bauchi being the least. The annual average value of ET for this location (Bauchi) was obtained as 0.62, this indicates a good solar potential for all solar system design in this location. The results also revealed that it is more efficient or convenient to tilt the solar systems for all year round system performance as this will enhance system performance and improve system efficiency.
Authors : Duvuna, G.A., Soja, Y.J. and Zhigilla, Y.I.
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 4(2) Date Uploaded : 19th April 2019