Solar radiation measurements in Algeria: case of Ghardaïa station as member of the enerMENA meteorological network

A comprehensive knowledge of available solar energy amount in a specific location is crucial for the successful development for solar energy policies and investment. Indeed, PV or CSP systems require reliable information on solar radiation measurements. This could be obtained from solar radiation data measured by meteostations installed in different places of the site under consideration. In this paper, an overview of solar radiation measurements assessment in Ghardaïa region has been analysed. The choice of this site is based on its membership to the enerMENA meteorological network. The investigation of the data has exposed a huge solar potential where the average annual global solar radiation received on horizontal surface is about 2149 kWh/m2 and the DNI about of 2305 kWh/m2. The comparison with satellite derived data has provided and error of about 4.67% for the global radiation and 0.25% for DNI solar radiation.