Resources Related To Solar & Lights

The spatially resolved solar irradiance is calculated with an algorithm developed by Bishop and Rossow [1] based on data made available through the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) [2] which provides calibrated data collected by geostationary weather satellites around the world. The solar irradiance shown is a three year average from 1991 to 1993 and provides the total irradiance in a grid of 2.5° spacing in lattitude and longitude. All data points are plotted in orthogonal lattitude and longitude coordinates. In consequence, distances, areas, and angles are increasingly distorted towards the poles. The coastline overlay was obatined from the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) [3].

Land areas

Photovoltaic systems installed in the areas indicated by the dark disks on the map would produce an average electric output of 18 TWe, i.e. 3 TWe each when assuming a conversion efficiency from incident sunlight to electricity of 8 %. This corresponds to an energy output of 13,567 Mtoe per year (world total primary energy supply (TPES) in 2003: 10,579 Mtoe [4]). The following table lists the locations in the map to give an idea of land area requirements and availability, although the particular scenario shown is suboptimal for many political and technical reasons.