ESTIMATION AND MAPPING OF LINKE TURBIDITY FACTOR FROM SOLAR RADIATION MEASUREMENT FOR INDIAN CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

For development, installation, and examining the performance of solar energy devices, it is necessary to have knowledge of solar radiation. Solar radiation gets attenuated by factors such as optical thickness, water content, and aerosols, etc. All these factors are expressed in terms of Linke turbidity (LT). In this study, an attempt is made to assess the Linke turbidity values through a calculative approach. Linke turbidity is a key input for several models that assess solar radiation under clear skies. The Linke turbidity for each month at every location of India was estimated using the MATLAB program. The value obtained from the MATLAB program was further validated by measured values taken from the SoDa site and Linke turbidity maps were generated using Surfer software. These generated maps show year around mean value of each Indian location. As observed from developed Linke turbidity maps, LT value is high in summer (April - June) and lower in winter (October - February). The value of LT lies in the range of 1-4.1 during the winter season while it increases to cover a range of 4.6-6 in the summer season.