Classification of daily solar radiation distributions using a mixture of Dirichlet distribution

Rudy Calif (1)

1 LARGE - Laboratoire de Recherche en Géosciences et Energies [UR2_1]

In order to qualify the fluctuating nature of solar radiation under tropical climate, we classify daily distributions of the clearness index kt by estimating a finite mixture of Dirichlet distributions without assuming any parametric hypothesis on these daily distributions. The method is applied to solar radiation measurements performed in Guadeloupe (16°2 N, 61 W) where important fluctuations can be observed even within a short period of a few minutes. The results put in evidence four distinct classes of distributions corresponding to different types of days. The sequence of such classes can be of interest for prediction.

Mots clés: clearness index kt; daily distributions; Dirichlet mixture; classification; solar radiation; solar systems

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]; Ingénierie de l'environnement

Rudy Calif. Classification of daily solar radiation distributions using a mixture of Dirichlet distribution. Solar Energy, 2009, 83 (7), pp.1056-1063. ⟨10.1016/j.solener.2009.01.010⟩. ⟨hal-01527878⟩