Estimation of Global and Direct Solar Radiation in Tunisia Based on Geostationary Satellite Imagery

Available solar radiation is an important source of renewable energy that determines Tunisia's productivity but has been poorly characterized. Measured solar radiation datasets are generally not available for long periods. This paper studied the method of estimates for solar radiation based on satellite imagery and on the measured data by the national institute of meteorology. Data collected from the year 2015 in three different locations in Tunisia. The objectives of this study are: a) Assess of monthly global solar radiation using data of meteorology for three stations. b) Compare measured data with two different geostationary satellites imagery in order to validate the good estimation of the satellite imagery. c) Reduce the uncertainly of the use of satellite imagery long-term solar resource by validate the estimated data with those measured by the pyranometer from the meteorological station.