Evaluation of the Mean Solar Energy Potential at Usen Metropolis, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the average solar radiation potential in Usen metropolis of Nigeria, for a period of October, 2022 through January, 2023, Usen lies between Latitude 70 ⁰ 14¹ North and 70⁰ 34¹ North of equator and Longitude 60⁰ 14¹ East of Greenwich Meridian. The climate is sub humid and the average temperature is about 40⁰C in dry season. The method employed involved the use of Hargreave-samani’s equations as a method of estimating the Solar radiation using minimum climatological data that will record daily maximum and minimum temperatures for the four (4) months while the weather station parameters (sunset, hour angle, extraterrestrial solar radiation etc) were directly derived from the latitude of the area. Results obtained revealed that the Solar radiation of Usen Metropolis of Nigeria within the period of investigation exhibit monthly variation with mean values of 20.21,22.89, 25.03 and22.29MJ/m²/day respectively in the months of October, 2022 to January,2023. While the average of 22.6/6MJ/m²/day for the four months. The information obtained from this study experimentation will go a long way to establish a solar irradiation data in the area which will then form a baseline for any planned application of solar irradiation in the area such as design of Solar photovoltaic systems.