The Worldwide Distribution of Solar Resources by Nation

by

Colin Hargreaves

Act on Climate

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I apologise that I am no doubt preaching to the converted but I am really seeking affirmation off these results. Let me first please acknowledge the quality research of (in alphabetical order)

– Monique Hoogwijk – Graeme Pearman – Franz Trieb – Bert de Vriesa – Detlef van Vuuren and many, many others,

Plus all the people involved in the - IIASA Global Energy Assessment, Global Atlas (IRENA), UNEP IRP, DLR MED-CSP, REN21, UNDP World Energy Assessment, again to name just a few.

But all this research seemed to come from a slightly different angle to mine, as a macroeconometrician

Data Sources • NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE) Data† • GeoNames Database founded by Marc Wick

(marc@geonames.org), a project of Unxos GmbH, Switzerland. • Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook • Google Maps, World Atlas, etc

Data Solar Radiation (Inslolation) at ground level in kWh/m2/day; 22-year Annual Average (July 1983 - June 2005); average over each one degree latitude by one degree longitude (not point data); 64,800 (180x360) data points measured by satellite. †Obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center

Surface meteorological and Solar Energy (SSE) web portal supported by the NASA LaRC POWER Project.

Distinctions not made

• Different Layers of potential

– Theoretical

– Geographic

– Technical

– Economic

– Implementation

• Just talking of Total Solar Radiation (Insolation)

-90

-60

-30

0

30

600

2

4

6

8

10

12

-180-150

-120-90

-60-30

030

6090

120150

LatitudeLongitude

1. At the Top of the Atmosphere(same shape from North or South)

“Solar Energy Resource Assessment: Direct Normal Irradiation” Source: Franz Trieb, Christoph Schillings, Marlene O‘Sullivan, Thomas Pregger, Carsten Hoyer-Klick (2009) , “Global Potential of Concentrating Solar Power” Then excludes land due to land use, water, dunes, national parks, etc. CSP for Mediterranean Countries looks in detail at 25 countries. Institut fur Technische Thermodynamik

89

59

29

-1

-31

-610

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

-180-150

-120-90

-60-30

030

6090

120150 Latitude Longitude

2. Solar Insolation At Ground level from North side

-90

-60

-30

0

30

600

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

-180-150

-120-90

-60-30

030

6090

120150 Latitude Longitude

3. At Ground level from South side

0.0%

0.5%

1.0%

1.5%

2.0%

2.5%

3.0%

3.5%

%age of Earth's Solar Insolation and Land Area per Nation

InsolationArea

0.00%

0.50%

1.00%

1.50%

2.00%

2.50%

Ru

ssia

Au

stra

liaB

razi

lC

hin

aU

SAC

anad

aIn

dia

Arg

enti

na

Alg

eria

Sud

anD

R C

on

goSa

ud

i Ara

bia

Mex

ico

Kaz

akh

stan

Lib

yaIn

do

nes

iaIr

anC

had

Mal

iN

iger

Sou

th A

fric

aA

ngo

laEg

ypt

Per

uEt

hio

pia

Mo

ngo

liaM

auri

tan

iaB

oliv

iaC

olo

mb

iaG

reen

lan

dTa

nza

nia

Nig

eria

Ve

nez

uel

aN

amib

iaM

oza

mb

iqu

eZa

mb

iaP

akis

tan

Som

alia

Cen

Afr

Rep

Sou

th S

ud

anC

hile

Ken

yaA

fgh

anis

tan

Turk

eyM

adag

asca

rB

ots

wan

aM

yan

mar

Yem

enC

amer

oo

nTh

aila

nd

%age of Earth Solar Insolation at Ground Level per Nation (Top 50)

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

Relative Per Capita Insolation(Top 20 Nations)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

G20 Nations

Per Capita Insolation

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

Fin

lan

d

Esto

nia

Swed

en

Latv

ia

Lith

uan

ia

Irel

and

Spai

n

Cyp

rus

Bu

lgar

ia

Luxe

mb

ou

rg

Cro

atia

Gre

ece

Au

stri

a

Ro

man

ia

Hu

nga

ry

Fran

ce

Slo

ven

ia

Port

uga

l

Slo

vaki

a

Den

mar

k

Cze

chia

Pola

nd

Ital

y

Ger

man

y

UK

Bel

giu

m

Net

her

lan

ds

EU Nations

Per Capita Insolation

-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

log10(Solar/$GDP) for G20 Nations

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2015 Full Report, p. 43

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Energy Consumption/Solar Resource (top end)

Note: This uses annual consumption figures from BP (2015) divided by annual solar insolation converted to mtoe, assuming "one million tonnes of oil or oil equivalent produces about 4400 gigawatt-hours (=4.4 terawatt hours) of electricity in a modern power station", (BP, 2015).

0

0.00005

0.0001

0.00015

0.0002

0.00025

Energy Consumption/Solar Resource (bottom end)

Note: This uses annual consumption figures from BP (2015) divided by annual solar insolation converted to mtoe, assuming "one million tonnes of oil or oil equivalent produces about 4400 gigawatt-hours (=4.4 terawatt hours) of electricity in a modern power station", (BP, 2015).

Graph A: Left-hand Scale: 0 to 4 Graphs B: Left hand Scale

0 to 1 in 4000

Graph A

Graph B

Top and Bottom End of the graph of

Energy Consumption/ Solar Resources pa

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Log(National Fossil Fuel Reserves in terms of Years of their Solar Insolation)

Note: This uses Oil, Gas and Coal Reserves from BP (2015) converted into mtoe, summed and divided by annual solar insolation converted to mtoe, assuming "one million tonnes of oil or oil equivalent produces about 4400 gigawatt-hours (=4.4 terawatt hours) of electricity in a modern power station",

(BP, 2015). Thus it is the fossil fuels reserves of each country divided by that countries solar insolation in one year.