Analysis of solar radiation measurements at Ghardaïa area, south Algeria

This study aims to explore the solar radiation field in southern Algerian peninsula, hourly measurements of global and diffuse radiant fluxes collected at Ghardaïa site (32.360 N, 3.810 W, 450 m above MSL), from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008, are employed. These data were used to further addressing radiant fluxes distribution on hourly, daily, monthly and seasonal basis that in turn are of particular important from the point of view of proper design of building energy systems as well as accurate evaluation of thermal environment within buildings. Results obtained suggest that the annual value of clearness and diffuses indexes are respectively 0.68 and 0.37, and the monthly average daily values of global solar radiant flux exhibits seasonal variability with higher values in summer (7762 Wh/m2) and lower ones during winter (3915 Wh/m2). Regarding diffuse radiant flux, measurements shows that the monthly average daily value is about (1173 Wh/m2) in winter, while it is around (2829 Wh/m2) in summer.