Global Wind and Solar Energy Estimate and Forecasting

Energy and environmental issues are among the most important problems of public concern, and solar and wind energy are considering to be a clean and sustainable energy. However, for a cost-effective and uninterrupted solar and wind energy supplies, it would be required to know the energy distribution and forecasting. Through our analyses of the National Centers for Environment Prediction (NCEP) data, we confirm that the amount of usable solar and wind energy far exceeds the world's total energy demand, with technology feasibility being considered. We will present global distributions of solar and wind energy, and highlight potential sites for the renewable energy development. We have investigated the accuracy of forecasting solar and wind energy. Our results show that 2 ~ 3 days wind and solar energy forecasting would be useful for scheduling applications and storage of solar and wind energy, a practical approach to maintaining uninterrupted solar and wind-generated electricity. We have developed a web-based tool with which anyone can find solar and wind energy amounts at any location in the world. The tool is available at www.renewableenergyst.org.

References:

Liu, Q., M. Miao, J. Liu, W. Yang, 2009: Solar and wind energy resources and prediction, J. Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 1, 043105,1-12 (http://jrse.aip.org/ ).

Liu, Q., G. Yu, and J. Liu, 2009: Solar Radiation as Large-Scale Resource for Energy-Short World, Energy & Environment, 20, No. 3, 319-329.