Solar Resource for Urban Communities in the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico
Autor
Perea Moreno, Alberto Jesús
Hernández-Escobedo, Quetzalcoatl
Editor
MDPIFecha
2016Materia
Urban communitiesSolar irradiation
Assessment
Geographic information system (GIS)
Baja California Peninsula
METS:
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Several studies have determined that Mexico has great renewable energy potential, and one
of its most abundant resources is solar energy, a source that could be exploited to provide development
opportunities to its population, however it is necessary to calculate the amount of this source available.
The aim of this study was to assess solar irradiance at urban communities in the Baja California
Peninsula. For this purpose data recorded every 10 min during 6 years (2010–2015) by the Automatic
Meteorological Stations (AMSs) and Synoptic Automatic Meteorological Stations (SAMSs) of the
National Meteorological System of Mexico (NMS) were analyzed. Satellite data from the Surface
and Meteorology Energy System (SMSE) were also used, and a linear regression was performed to
compare the measured and satellite data. The highest R-square value found was 0.97 and the lowest
was 0.82. Daily patterns show that Cabo San Lucas had the highest average solar irradiation/day,
with 1000 W/m2. Considering the urban areas, total solar irradiation reaching the Peninsula is
about 447 106 kWh, which represents around 447 times the total Baja California Peninsula
yearly energy consumption. Geographic Information System (GIS) helped to identify the zones
and months with higher solar resources. May is the month registering the highest irradiation, more
than 8.1 kWh/m2/day, while the average solar resource for the whole Peninsula is 5.7 kWh/m2/day.