THE NEGEV SOLAR RADIATION SURVEY - TMY V.3

STATE OF ISRAEL Ministry of National Infrastructures Research and Development Division

DATA PROCESSING FOR THE NEGEV RADIATION SURVEY: SEVENTH YEAR

Annual report on the eighth year of research Part 3 - Typical Meteorological Year v. 3.0

Prof. D. Faiman, Dr. D. Feuermann, Dr. P. Ibbetson, and Prof. A. Zemel

DEPARTMENT OF SOLAR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSICS THE JACOB BLAUSTEIN INSTITUTE FOR DESERT RESEARCH BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV SEDE BOQER CAMPUS, 84990 ISRAEL

Dr. A. Ianetz, Dr. V. Liubansky and Dr. I. Seter

RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING BRANCH THE METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE BET DAGAN, 50250 ISRAEL

Research funded under contract No. 2000-1-101/2000-11-007

DECEMBER 2001 RD-13-01

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER (English Language Text) Pages 1 Introduction 2 2 TMY Construction 3 3 The Data Format 3 4 Some comparative observations 4 5 Conclusions 5 6 Bibliography 6

TABLES 1 Arad Monthly direct beam averages 8 2 Beersheba Monthly direct beam averages 8 3 Besor Farm Monthly direct beam averages 8 4 Eilat Monthly direct beam averages 9 5 Hazeva Monthly direct beam averages 9 6 Sede Boqer Monthly direct beam averages 9 7 Sedom Monthly direct beam averages 10 8 Yotvata Monthly direct beam averages 10 9 Format for TMY v.3 and annual data files 10 10 Relative ranking of Negev Radiation Survey stations (beam) 11 11 Sede Boqer monthly global horizontal averages 11 12 Relative ranking of Negev Radiation Survey stations (global) 11

FIGURES 1 Stations of the Negev radiation survey 12 2a Monthly mean daily direct beam radiation averages 13 2b Monthly TMY daily direct beam radiation averages 13 3 Monthly TMY daily global horizontal radiation averages 14

Publication Documentation Page 15

TABLES (see File 3, of this TMY v.3 series) Arad TMY tables 16-17 Beersheba TMY tables 18-19 Besor Farm TMY tables 20-21 Eilat TMY tables 22-23 Hatzeva TMY tables 24-25 Sede Boqer TMY tables 26-27 Sedom TMY tables 28-29 Yotvata TMY tables 30-31

THE NEGEV SOLAR RADIATION SURVEY - TMY v.3

David Faiman, Daniel Feuermann, Peter Ibbetson and Amos Zemel

The Center for Energy and Environmental Physics The Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Sede Boqer Campus, 84990 Israel

and

Amiran Ianetz, Vera Liubansky and Ilan Seter

Research Development and Engineering Branch The Meteorological Service P.O. Box 25, Bet Dagan, 50250 Israel

1. INTRODUCTION

A Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) consists of twelve monthly files of actual hourly meteorological data selected in a particular manner [1]. The months will not, in general, have come from the same year. Instead, each will have been chosen as being a “typical” representative of the month in question and, ideally, the choice for each will have been made from very many years of accumulated data.

The reason for taking actual months of data rather than averaged files is that the former preserve correlations (both known and unknown) that exist among the different measured parameters (e.g. solar radiation and ambient temperature) and also correlations that exist over a period of several days among values of any given parameter. These correlations are often of great importance when one tries to simulate the performance of an energy conversion system that has characteristic time-scales of several days (e.g. passive solar buildings [2], swimming pools [3], etc.).

The term “typical” is somewhat subjective in that its choice depends, to a large extent, on how the data are to be used. For agricultural purposes it might, for example, be sensible to select typical months on the basis of rainfall and ambient temperature. The present study, however, is part of the Negev Radiation Survey, the aims of which are to provide data of relevance to the performance of solar power stations. Clearly, therefore, the relevant criterion for this purpose is solar energy. There are in fact two solar radiation components that are measured: the global horizontal radiation and the normal direct beam component. For any given Negev site the former is found to vary by approximately ± 5 % from year to year. On the other hand, year to year variations of more than 30 % have been observed in the direct beam component, over the comparatively few years that this study has been in progress. Since, moreover, solar power plants will have to be designed in a manner that will enable them to meet contractual obligations - irrespective of weather fluctuations - it is the direct beam component of the solar radiation that is the critical parameter on which the term “typical” must be based.

We expect, therefore, that simulation of a solar power station using one of these TMY files will provide quantitative information about how the system should behave in a typical year. It

3 will not, however, provide any indication as to how the system would behave in an “unusually poor” (from the standpoint of weather) or an “unusually good” year. This information can only come from using data from such years. Again, in an ideal situation where a great many years of data exist, one could construct “unusually poor” and “unusually good” meteorological years in order to meet the needs of such system simulations but this is not yet the situation in which the Negev Radiation Survey finds itself.

Fig.1 shows the locations of the meteorological stations involved in the Negev Radiation Survey. At the present stage, the Survey contains up to eleven years of data from the eight stations, Arad, Beersheba, Besor Farm, Eilat, Hatzeva, Sede Boqer, Sedom and Yotvata. One of the original stations (Sapir Center) had to be abandoned owing to a lack of available personnel to maintain the instrumentation and this station was subsequently replaced by the one at Hatzeva. An additional station, Mitzpe Ramon,started up in 1998, but there are not yet enough data for a TMY.

2. TMY CONSTRUCTION

As already indicated, our TMY files have been chosen for typicality of the direct beam component of the solar radiation. For sites at which we have an odd number of years of data we “tried to choose” the year whose monthly direct beam average rendered it the median year of the available set. On the other hand, where an even number of years of data were available we “tried to choose” the year whose monthly mean was closest to the average taken over all of the years in the set. The words “tried to choose” have been used because sometimes this was not possible owing to large amounts of missing data in the desired file. In such cases a “second best” choice was made.

Regarding missing data, even relatively complete files occasionally have a few hours, or days, when one or more instruments were not working properly. In such cases our practice was to replace the entire day of partially corrupt or missing data by a similar, but complete, day of data taken from a different year. In this way, although the day-to-day correlation information is lost, real data are always used.

Tables 1-8 display the monthly average values of direct beam radiation recorded by each of the stations during the eleven-year period 1989-1999. Values in bold characters indicate the specific months that were ultimately chosen for each site as the basis for TMY v.3.

3. THE DATA FORMAT

The raw data provided by the Israel Meteorological Service include hourly average values of: direct beam radiation; global horizontal radiation; shadow-band pyranometer data; dry-bulb temperature; relative humidity (or alternatively, from some stations, the wet-bulb temperature); wind speed and wind direction. Of the solar radiation data only direct beam and global horizontal are archived, the shadow-band data having been used for consistency checks only. Humidity data have been processed using algorithms given in the ASHRAE chapter on psychrometrics [4] in order to compute the humidity ratio.

The present report is accompanied by a CD-ROM which contains, in addition to the TMY v.3 files for each of the 8 stations in the Negev Radiation Survey, a complete set of all of the historic data files from which the TMYs have been constructed. The latter, although using an identical format to the TMYs, differ in that they frequently contain gaps in the measured data.

These are indicated by the entries “-999” (or “-9” in the case of wind data). Thus, any algorithm which has been designed to access the TMY files will also be able to access the files corresponding to individual years provided the appropriate caution lines have been inserted to prevent the program from misinterpreting missing data as negative input numbers.

The present study employs a format which the University of Wisconsin originally established for the US SOLMET TMY diskettes so that the latter could interface with their TRNSYS simulation program. One diskette was used for each site. For each of the 12 monthly data files, the format allocates successive columns to: month, hour, direct beam, global horizontal, ambient temperature, humidity ratio, wind speed, wind direction, with units as shown in Table 9. Time is specified in Israel Standard Time (i.e. without daylight saving) for Time Zone UT+2 hr. Time bins are hourly integrals specified at the end of the hour (e.g. Hour #1 indicates integrals from midnight till 1 am).

As a historical note we point out that our own TMY v.1 was not widely distributed owing to the relatively small number of data years upon which it was based [5]. The subsequent TMY v.2 contained some v.2.0 files (Beersheba, Eilat, Hatzeva, Sedom) and some v.2.1 files (Arad, Besor Farm, Sede Boqer, Yotvata). The latter incorporated corrections to some slight errors or inconsistencies we had found in the corresponding pre-publication v.2.0 files that may have been released to a small number of interested users. Since it is our intention to update these TMY files on a regular basis, we recommend that users always refer to the specific version they use in any publication, e.g. “Negev Radiation Survey, TMY v.2.1” for the previous release,or “Negev Radiation Survey, TMY v.3.0” in the present case.

4. SOME COMPARATIVE OBSERVATIONS

From Tables 1-8 one sees that three stations (Beersheba, Eilat and Sede Boqer) have provided 11 complete years of data. If we compare the standard deviation with the mean over these eleven years we see that for Beersheba the spread in direct beam radiation during the period 1989-1999 was ± 7.9 %; for Eilat it was ± 5.6 % and for Sede Boqer it was ± 8.6 %. In the case of both Beersheba and Sede Boqer, the best year in this set had more than 30% direct beam energy compared with the worst year.

Two of the stations (Arad and Yotvata) yielded almost complete data during these eleven years, each lacking only a few months. Taking these five complete or almost complete sites as a representative Negev sample, we see that the years 1989 and 1995 were relatively rich in direct beam solar radiation whereas 1992 was unusually poor.

Regarding a relative “ranking” of the eight stations, in terms of their annual direct beam radiation, at least two methods are available: one based on average data, the other on data from the TMY files. Tables 1-8 include an annual average daily radiation value for each site. This average is the average of the annual averages over as many of the eleven years for which there were complete sets of data. The standard deviation has also been indicated. Fig. 2a plots these monthly average direct beam averages for the various sites in the survey.

Table 10 lists the eight stations, ranked in order of descending annual average direct beam radiation, where the annual averages have been computed in the manner described, and multiplied by 365 for purposes of easy comparison with the corresponding TMY results (which are also shown in the table).

A second method of ranking the stations is, of course, to use the annual totals from the TMY files. Tables 13-20 are annual radiation reports, similar in format to the yearly tables we have hitherto published in the Negev Radiation Survey [6-17] but, here, based on our newly constructed TMY v.3 files. (It is the annual direct beam totals from these tables that are shown in the last column of Table 10). The monthly mean direct beam values from the TMY files are plotted in Fig. 2b.

Comparison between the two methods of ranking the stations (Table 10) reveals only slight differences. The annual averages are quite similar and the overall ranking remains the same except within the Eilat, Yotvata, Arad group that are, in any case, extremely close to one another.

Another important use to which the TMY files will be put is in the simulation of non- concentrator systems (e.g. solar ponds [18], photovoltaic solar power plants [19], etc.). Here global radiation is more important than the direct beam component. However, unlike the situation for the direct beam component, the global horizontal radiation fluctuates relatively little from year to year. Table 11 shows the monthly averages for Sede Boqer for all 11 of the years for which we have data. If we compare the standard deviation with the mean over these eleven years we see that for Sede Boqer the spread in annual global horizontal radiation during the period 1989-1999 was ± 3.0 %. Furthermore, the best year in this set had only 10 % more global horizontal energy than the worst year. Similarly small year-to-year variations are observed among the other sets of global horizontal radiation (which are, accordingly, not tabulated).

We may also use the TMY v.3 files in order to rank the various sites for non-concentrator purposes. Table 12 shows the sites ranked according to the annual global horizontal radiation totals to be found in Tables 13-20. Yotvata is highest and Besor Farm lowest. Fig. 3 plots the monthly global horizontal TMY averages for all sites in the survey.

We note that the spread among stations is much “tighter” in Fig. 3 than is the case in Figs. 2a and 2b, and the overall shape is much “smoother”. These characteristics are symptomatic of smaller changes in the global horizontal insolation, both from site-to-site and from year-to- year, compared with the corresponding direct beam insolation values.

5. CONCLUSIONS

This report summarizes the first eleven years of data (1989 - 1999) that have been processed from the Negev Radiation Survey. It accompanies a CD-ROM containing Typical Meteorological Year files (TMY v.3) based on the direct beam component, and the archived hourly data upon which they are based.

The average annual direct beam total for all the stations is 2146 kWh m-2 year-1. For purposes of simulating the performance of solar-concentrator power plants the eight stations fall naturally into two groups: those having direct beam totals up to 10% higher than the mean (Sede Boqer, Eilat, Yotvata, Arad) and those having annual direct beam totals up to 10% lower than the mean (Beersheba, Hatzeva, Sedom, Besor Farm). Sede Boqer is the highest and Besor Farm the lowest, on average. Annual fluctuations in direct beam radiation may, however, be considerable. For example, during the eleven years of data that are discussed in the present report, both Beersheba and Sede Boqer reveal differences of more than 30% between their best and worst years. It is concluded that: (1) sufficient data probably now exist in order to enable

one to identify the best places for locating solar power stations; (2) several more years of data will be necessary before a sufficiently reliable data base will exist for the purpose of simulating solar-concentrator power plant performance and determining their economic benefit.

The average annual global horizontal radiation for all stations is 2029 kWh m-2 year-1. For purposes of simulating solar power plants of the non-concentrator variety the eight stations divide up in a somewhat different manner: those having global horizontal totals up to 5% higher than the mean (Yotvata, Sede Boqer, Arad) and those having global horizontal totals up to 5% lower than the mean (Eilat, Beersheba, Hatzeva, Sedom, Besor Farm). Yotvata is highest and Besor Farm is lowest. We note that for non-concentrator purposes, Eilat changes “leagues” compared with its superior status for solar-concentrator power plants, it here being slightly below the average. We note also that the year-to-year fluctuations in global horizontal radiation are very much smaller than those among the direct beam components. We conclude, therefore, that for non-concentrator purposes we probably now have enough data for reliable simulations.

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] I.J. Hall, “Generation of a Typical Meteorological Year”, in Proc. of the 1978 Annual Meeting of the American Section of ISES, Denver, CO, USA (1978).

[2] J.M. Gordon and Y. Zarmi, “Analytic model for passively-heated solar houses - I. Theory” Solar Energy vol 27 (1981) 331.

[3] D. Govaer and Y. Zarmi, “Analytical evaluation of direct solar heating of swimming pools”, Solar Energy vol 27 (1981) 529.

[4] ASHRAE Handbook - 1977 Fundamentals, (American Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc., New York, 1977).

[5] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson and A. Zemel, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Data for 1993 and 1994 Work performed for the Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure under contract No. 94-11-038, First Interim Report (March 1, 1995).

[6] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson, A. Mannes, A. Zangvil and A. Zemel, Investigation of the distribution of solar energy in Israel: Establishment of a station network and creation of a data base for insolation and related meteorological measurements. Part I - Negev. Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD 55-88 (Jerusalem, November 1988)

[7] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson and A. Zemel, Data processing for the Negev meteorological data base, and experimental validation of the multipyranometer method for measuring beam and diffuse solar radiation components. Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD 14-90 (Jerusalem, July 1990)

[8] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson and A. Zemel, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Second year Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD 03- 92 (Jerusalem, February 1992)

[9] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson and A. Zemel, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Third year: Part 1 - data for 1991 Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD-06-93 (Jerusalem, March 1993)

[10] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson and A. Zemel, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Third year: Part 2 - data for 1992 Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD-07-93 (Jerusalem, October 1993).

[11] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson and A. Zemel, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Fourth year: Part 1 - data for 1993 Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD-30-96 (Jerusalem, September 1996).

[12] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson and A. Zemel, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Fourth year: Part 2 - data for 1994 Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD-31-96 (Jerusalem, September 1996).

[13] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson, A. Zemel, A. Ianetz, A. Israeli, V. Liubansky and I. Seter, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Fifth year: Part 1 - data for 1995 Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD-31-97 (Jerusalem, December 1997).

[14] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson, A. Zemel, A. Ianetz, A. Israeli, V. Liubansky and I. Seter, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Fifth year: Part 2 - data for 1996 Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD-03-98 (Jerusalem, March 1998).

[15] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson, A. Zemel, A. Ianetz, V. Liubansky and I. Seter, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Sixth year: Part 1 - data for 1997 Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD-23-99 (Jerusalem, October 1999).

[16] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson, A. Zemel, A. Ianetz, V. Liubansky and I. Seter, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Seventh year: Part 1 - data for 1998 Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD-14-01 (Jerusalem, September 2001).

[16] D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson, A. Zemel, A. Ianetz, V. Liubansky and I. Seter, Data processing for the Negev radiation survey: Seventh year: Part 2 - data for 1999 Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure publication RD-15-01 (Jerusalem, September 2001).

[18] M. Collares-Pereira, “Low temperature (T < 100 oC) solar thermal electricity” in Proc. 2nd Sede Boqer Symposium on Solar Electricity Production 25-26 February 1987 ed. D. Faiman (BGU publication No. ASCU 87/13) pp 113-125.

[19] D. Faiman, “Solar energy in arid frontiers: Designing a photovoltaic power plant for Kibbutz Samar, Israel”, in The Arid Frontier: Interactive Management of Environment and Development, eds. H.J. Bruins and H. Lithwick (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1998) pp 321-336.

7. TABLES

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Mean σ JAN 3.24 3.45 4.76 3.06 3.78 3.84 5.20 4.20 4.67 3.61 4.07 3.99 0.67 FEB 1.51 4.97 5.11 1.83 4.14 5.34 4.73 3.52 5.25 4.57 4.71 4.15 1.33 MAR 5.34 6.66 4.82 4.08 4.91 4.82 6.61 5.03 4.25 4.91 5.88 5.21 0.85 APR 6.70 5.99 5.43 5.99 6.58 6.03 6.54 5.77 4.57 6.58 6.32 6.05 0.63 MAY 6.71 8.80 6.74 5.03 7.40 7.51 7.07 8.17 6.34 7.17 7.09 1.02 JUN 8.00 9.69 9.25 7.31 8.75 8.81 8.78 8.63 8.84 8.59 7.97 8.60 0.65 JUL 8.66 9.54 8.61 8.00 8.48 8.51 8.21 7.20 8.61 8.51 8.37 8.43 0.56 AUG 7.73 8.98 7.62 7.65 8.04 8.41 8.44 8.31 8.20 7.88 7.78 8.09 0.42 SEP 7.52 8.08 6.91 6.27 7.36 6.89 7.08 6.76 7.21 5.70 6.69 6.95 0.63 OCT 5.23 6.52 5.22 6.07 5.92 5.36 6.84 6.43 5.62 6.77 5.33 5.94 0.63 NOV 5.80 5.10 4.27 4.00 3.85 5.62 5.24 5.50 5.34 5.11 4.93 0.69 DEC 2.32 5.34 2.91 2.91 4.02 4.21 5.79 4.61 4.43 4.47 4.73 4.16 1.06 ANN 7.00 6.04 5.92 6.13 6.79 6.06 6.28 6.12 6.18 6.28 0.37

Table 1: Arad monthly direct beam averages [kWh m-2 day-1]

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Mean σ JAN 4.97 2.60 4.11 2.70 3.39 3.21 4.44 3.73 3.95 3.32 3.60 3.64 0.71 FEB 5.28 3.99 4.75 1.89 3.55 4.58 4.40 3.34 4.99 3.83 3.92 4.05 0.94 MAR 5.11 6.74 4.37 3.87 4.59 3.65 5.72 4.51 3.79 4.41 5.52 4.75 0.94 APR 7.32 5.84 4.59 5.20 5.92 5.41 6.05 5.22 5.03 6.44 6.01 5.73 0.75 MAY 7.22 6.44 5.83 5.32 4.76 6.96 6.99 6.63 7.74 6.11 6.88 6.44 0.88 JUN 8.10 8.63 7.92 6.61 7.99 7.96 8.16 8.38 8.19 8.27 7.77 8.00 0.52 JUL 8.10 8.13 7.21 7.42 7.69 7.70 7.19 6.74 8.07 8.56 7.92 7.70 0.53 AUG 7.40 7.66 6.45 6.85 7.24 7.71 7.40 7.41 7.36 7.97 7.71 7.38 0.43 SEP 6.99 6.67 5.95 5.95 6.55 6.06 6.52 6.93 6.56 6.36 6.94 6.50 0.38 OCT 5.44 5.39 4.53 5.41 5.43 4.83 6.20 5.91 4.86 6.59 5.70 5.48 0.61 NOV 5.38 4.74 4.07 3.66 3.93 3.88 5.31 4.48 4.99 4.90 5.16 4.59 0.92 DEC 5.50 4.59 2.82 2.68 3.42 3.67 4.54 4.36 4.11 4.24 4.87 4.07 0.86 ANN 6.40 5.96 5.22 4.80 5.38 5.47 6.08 5.63 5.81 5.93 6.01 5.70 0.45

Table 2: Beersheba monthly direct beam averages [kWh m-2 day-1]

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Mean σ JAN 2.83 2.83 2.92 3.97 2.85 3.64 3.48 3.63 3.27 0.46 FEB 2.26 2.94 4.50 3.53 2.98 4.89 4.36 3.96 3.68 0.91 MAR 2.52 4.01 3.72 5.02 4.65 4.40 3.30 5.39 4.13 0.94 APR 5.32 5.29 5.14 4.69 5.03 5.87 5.83 5.31 0.42 MAY 4.50 6.45 6.20 6.45 6.97 5.41 6.64 6.09 0.85 JUN 7.06 7.69 7.36 7.41 8.15 7.82 7.45 7.42 7.55 0.33 JUL 3.57 7.44 7.18 7.02 6.66 4.86 7.72 8.15 7.41 7.06 0.99 AUG 6.11 6.73 6.75 6.76 6.26 7.23 6.96 7.25 6.76 0.41 SEP 5.59 5.80 5.16 5.40 5.49 6.67 6.12 6.29 5.82 0.51 OCT 4.92 4.04 5.12 4.62 4.26 5.86 5.66 4.93 0.68 NOV 4.72 3.49 3.41 4.56 3.52 4.65 4.36 4.84 4.19 0.61 DEC 3.29 2.86 3.51 3.65 3.62 3.64 3.76 4.34 3.58 0.42 ANN 4.87 5.01 5.30 4.84 5.58 5.43 5.73 5.25 0.35

Table 3: Besor Farm monthly direct beam averages [kWh m-2 day-1]. (The July 1990 measurement was discarded on grounds that elsewhere in the Negev this year had July readings among the highest on record. This anomalously low Besor Farm reading is attributable to the possibly incorrect alignment of a newly-installed Normal Incidence Pyrheliometer).

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Mean σ JAN 4.97 4.90 5.39 3.97 3.98 4.29 5.05 4.65 4.87 4.80 4.84 4.70 0.45 FEB 5.83 5.90 5.60 3.45 5.97 6.14 4.93 5.26 5.97 5.21 4.19 5.31 0.84 MAR 5.45 6.20 5.39 4.84 6.27 6.27 6.62 5.90 5.98 4.92 6.18 5.82 0.59 APR 6.44 5.58 5.18 5.84 5.99 5.63 6.79 6.86 6.27 6.89 6.27 6.16 0.57 MAY 5.72 7.85 6.05 5.13 4.80 7.41 6.63 6.30 7.09 5.98 5.98 6.27 0.93 JUN 8.23 8.56 8.07 7.17 8.37 8.57 8.32 8.56 8.26 8.10 8.38 8.24 0.39 JUL 8.34 8.39 7.57 7.32 8.21 8.43 8.35 6.93 8.59 8.47 8.45 8.10 0.56 AUG 7.51 8.33 7.41 7.29 7.40 8.00 8.16 7.57 8.04 6.94 7.24 7.63 0.44 SEP 6.87 7.19 6.13 6.65 6.98 6.65 7.25 6.96 7.64 6.57 6.87 6.89 0.40 OCT 6.50 6.10 4.82 5.81 5.56 5.10 6.57 6.63 5.63 5.68 6.33 5.88 0.60 NOV 6.24 4.91 5.04 4.77 4.82 4.80 5.91 5.11 5.85 4.66 6.07 5.29 0.60 DEC 6.22 4.60 3.85 4.35 4.00 5.32 5.67 5.32 4.71 4.79 5.03 4.90 0.71 ANN 6.53 6.55 5.88 5.55 6.02 6.39 6.70 6.32 6.58 6.09 6.33 6.27 0.35

Table 4: Eilat monthly direct beam averages [kWh m-2 day-1]

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Mean σ JAN 3.17 4.56 3.41 4.04 4.02 3.84 0.55 FEB 5.51 3.42 3.31 5.08 3.73 4.21 1.01 MAR 4.60 5.53 4.66 3.61 4.72 4.62 0.68 APR 5.56 5.56 5.63 4.67 6.63 5.61 0.69 MAY 6.83 6.46 6.30 5.97 5.46 5.25 6.05 0.61 JUN 7.70 7.71 8.10 7.19 7.60 6.50 7.47 0.56 JUL 7.91 7.08 6.25 7.31 7.74 7.44 7.29 0.59 AUG 7.38 6.98 6.93 7.38 6.28 7.17 7.02 0.41 SEP 6.00 6.32 6.10 6.18 5.13 5.68 5.90 0.43 OCT 4.84 5.87 5.03 4.00 4.17 4.70 4.77 0.67 NOV 1.08 5.08 5.07 4.43 3.53 3.84 1.67 DEC 4.07 4.26 4.14 3.56 3.60 3.84 3.91 0.29 ANN 5.39 5.75 5.41 5.28 5.22 5.41 0.21

Table 5: Hatzeva monthly direct beam averages [kWh m-2 day-1]

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Mean σ JAN 4.08 3.28 4.35 3.11 3.75 3.92 5.70 4.79 4.70 4.52 4.81 4.27 0.75 FEB 5.63 4.72 4.54 2.33 4.37 5.65 5.30 4.15 6.29 5.06 5.00 4.82 1.04 MAR 5.97 6.17 4.23 3.85 5.10 5.05 6.92 5.64 4.68 5.44 6.48 5.41 0.95 APR 6.70 5.17 4.63 5.18 6.64 6.16 7.12 6.24 5.85 7.18 7.05 6.17 0.88 MAY 7.62 8.41 5.86 5.68 5.29 7.96 7.88 7.65 8.53 6.57 7.58 7.18 1.14 JUN 9.24 9.20 8.58 7.48 9.03 9.21 9.39 9.97 9.44 9.51 9.14 9.11 0.64 JUL 9.46 9.08 8.07 8.27 8.94 9.23 9.00 7.95 9.46 9.72 9.07 8.93 0.59 AUG 8.53 8.26 7.56 7.92 8.30 8.94 8.88 8.53 8.69 8.13 8.63 8.40 0.42 SEP 8.00 6.46 6.65 6.84 7.77 6.98 7.34 7.76 8.05 7.16 8.02 7.37 0.58 OCT 6.15 5.32 4.93 6.13 5.94 5.53 7.09 6.99 5.85 7.17 6.29 6.13 0.73 NOV 5.87 5.16 5.12 4.39 4.55 4.49 6.32 5.17 5.62 5.51 5.87 5.28 0.63 DEC 4.80 5.23 3.29 3.42 3.76 4.75 5.22 5.56 4.61 4.90 5.68 4.66 0.82 ANN 6.84 6.38 5.65 5.39 6.12 6.50 7.19 6.70 6.81 6.75 6.98 6.48 0.56

Table 6: Sede Boqer monthly direct beam averages [kWh m-2 day-1]

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Mean σ JAN 4.90 3.22 4.20 2.49 4.14 3.78 3.73 3.78 0.77 FEB 6.82 3.06 4.21 2.23 4.03 5.14 4.97 4.27 4.34 1.38 MAR 7.61 4.24 4.53 3.95 5.85 3.78 4.40 5.43 4.97 1.28 APR 6.39 5.13 4.92 5.41 5.23 4.48 6.30 5.57 5.43 0.65 MAY 4.86 5.98 5.82 6.06 6.74 5.27 6.06 5.83 0.61 JUN 8.28 8.28 7.84 8.93 7.65 8.19 7.60 7.37 8.02 0.50 JUL 7.92 7.32 7.08 8.46 6.15 7.47 7.65 6.90 7.37 0.69 AUG 6.85 6.68 7.32 7.13 7.51 6.17 6.47 6.88 0.48 SEP 6.44 6.53 6.25 6.35 6.76 5.53 6.16 6.29 0.39 OCT 4.75 4.15 3.95 4.01 5.66 4.64 6.38 5.32 4.86 0.87 NOV 4.11 4.39 4.29 4.61 3.86 3.80 4.18 0.31 DEC 4.95 3.82 2.88 4.82 4.26 3.61 4.07 4.09 4.06 0.66 ANN 5.13 5.27 5.42 5.59 5.50 5.44 5.39 0.17

Table 7: Sedom monthly direct beam averages [kWh m-2 day-1]

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Mean σ JAN 5.02 4.39 5.19 3.93 3.84 4.01 5.38 4.39 5.03 4.79 4.68 4.60 0.53 FEB 5.76 5.09 6.27 2.77 4.52 5.59 5.41 4.77 6.12 5.19 4.75 5.11 0.96 MAR 6.51 6.09 4.90 4.46 5.75 5.41 6.53 5.93 5.20 5.46 6.40 5.69 0.68 APR 5.69 5.08 5.74 6.21 5.72 6.69 6.66 5.31 6.80 6.84 6.07 0.65 MAY 7.38 8.24 7.09 5.12 4.87 7.47 6.76 6.36 7.41 6.09 6.76 6.69 1.02 JUN 9.20 9.02 8.44 7.29 8.58 8.85 8.54 9.18 8.91 8.85 8.68 8.69 0.53 JUL 9.76 8.89 7.86 7.73 8.46 8.81 8.64 7.08 9.23 8.81 8.56 8.53 0.74 AUG 8.32 7.60 7.52 7.94 8.36 8.33 7.44 8.46 7.22 7.92 7.91 0.45 SEP 7.14 6.39 6.51 7.16 6.81 7.13 7.04 7.85 7.20 7.69 7.09 0.46 OCT 5.95 4.95 5.76 5.48 5.21 6.43 6.56 5.63 6.85 6.34 5.92 0.62 NOV 4.62 4.90 4.22 4.65 3.73 5.50 4.83 5.58 4.62 5.75 4.84 0.63 DEC 4.45 3.46 3.69 3.80 4.50 4.85 5.51 4.23 4.58 5.06 4.41 0.64 ANN 6.50 6.01 5.40 5.94 6.21 6.69 6.30 6.58 6.38 6.63 6.26 0.40

Table 8: Yotvata monthly direct beam averages [kWh m-2 day-1]

Parameter # of Columns Units Month of year 3 (1-12) Hour of month1 4 (1-744, 720 or 1-672) Direct beam radiation 6 (kJ/m2) Global horizontal radiation 5 (kJ/m2) Dry-bulb temperature 5 (degC multiplied by 10) Humidity ratio 7 (multiplied by 104) Wind speed 4 (m/s) Wind direction 3 (degrees divided by 10; 0=N, 9=E, 18=S, etc.)

Table 9: Format for TMY v.3 and annual data files

1Time is specified in Israel Standard Time (i.e. without daylight saving) for Time Zone UT+2 hr. Time bins are hourly integrals specified at the end of the hour (e.g. Hour #1 indicates integrals from midnight till 1 am)

Station Average annual beam total TMY annual beam total [kWh m-2 year-1] [kWh m-2 year-1] Sede Boqer 2365 2394 Arad 2292 2264 Eilat 2289 2290 Yotvata 2285 2327 Beersheba 2081 2093 Hatzeva 1975 2021 Sedom 1967 2015 Besor Farm 1916 1909

Table 10: Relative ranking of Negev Radiation Survey stations according to average annual direct beam data (column 2). This ranking is relevant to solar-concentrator systems. Also shown is the slightly different ranking resulting from the corresponding TMY files (column 3).

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Mean σ JAN 3.10 2.90 3.29 2.98 3.19 3.05 3.70 3.31 3.43 3.23 3.53 3.25 0.24 FEB 4.43 4.04 4.18 3.28 4.21 4.49 4.16 4.02 4.61 4.25 4.09 4.16 0.35 MAR 5.70 5.85 5.12 4.98 5.63 5.43 5.83 5.28 5.27 5.22 5.90 5.47 0.32 APR 6.98 6.67 6.01 6.28 7.12 6.90 6.74 6.66 6.60 6.68 6.98 6.69 0.32 MAY 7.74 8.18 7.05 7.00 6.95 7.95 7.74 7.62 7.99 6.98 7.84 7.55 0.46 JUN 8.41 8.63 8.09 7.80 8.33 8.43 8.29 8.34 8.37 8.14 8.36 8.29 0.22 JUL 8.31 8.41 7.74 7.92 8.16 8.18 7.96 7.72 8.27 7.98 8.13 8.07 0.23 AUG 7.56 7.37 7.17 7.23 7.42 7.62 7.52 7.37 7.56 7.14 7.49 7.40 0.17 SEP 6.63 5.61 6.16 6.15 6.54 6.29 6.24 6.44 6.59 6.37 6.50 6.32 0.29 OCT 5.01 4.52 4.69 4.92 4.96 4.80 5.06 5.12 4.94 5.26 5.00 4.93 0.20 NOV 3.93 3.81 3.71 3.45 3.63 3.53 3.91 3.70 3.93 3.92 3.93 3.77 0.18 DEC 3.17 3.41 2.81 2.72 2.92 3.12 3.18 3.36 3.18 3.22 3.39 3.13 0.23 ANN 5.92 5.79 5.51 5.39 5.76 5.82 5.87 5.74 5.90 5.70 5.94 5.76 0.17

Table 11: Sede Boqer monthly global horizontal averages [kWh m-2 day-1]

Station TMY annual global horizontal total [kWh m-2 year-1] Yotvata 2143 Sede Boqer 2103 Arad 2089 Eilat 2022 Beersheba 2007 Sedom 1975 Hatzeva 1971 Besor Farm 1922

Table 12: Relative ranking of the Negev Radiation Survey stations according to TMY annual global horizontal totals. This ranking is relevant to non-concentrator systems.

34oo 35

Negev Radiation Station Map 33 o

32 o

Besor Farm Arad Beersheba 31 o Sedom Sede Boqer Hatzeva Sapir Center

30 o Yotvata

Elat

Figure 1: Stations of the Negev Radiation Survey

4 Sede Boqer Arad Eilat Yotvata 2 Beersheba Hatzeva

Direct Beam Average [kWh/sq.m/day] Sedom Besor Farm

0 0 3 6 9 12

Month

Figure 2a: Mean monthly daily average direct beam insolation for stations in the Negev Radiation Survey (1989-1999)

4 Sede Boqer Arad Eilat Yotvata 2 Beersheba Hatzeva Direct Beam Average [kWh/sq.m/day] Sedom Besor Farm

0 0 3 6 9 12 Month

Figure 2b: Monthly TMY daily average direct beam insolation for stations in the Negev Radiation Survey (1989-1999)

4 Sede Boqer Arad Eilat Yotvata 2 Beersheba Hatzeva Global Horizontal Avg. [kWh/sq.m/day] Sedom Besor Farm

0 0 3 6 9 12

Month

Figure 3: Monthly TMY daily average global horizontal insolation for stations in the Negev Radiation Survey (1989-1999)

PUBLICATION DOCUMENTATION PAGE 1. Publication No. 2. 3. Recipient Accession No. MONI – RD - 13 - 01 4. Title and subtitle 5. Publication Date December 2001 DATA PROCESSING FOR THE NEGEV RADIATION 6. Performing Organization SURVEY: SEVENTH YEAR Project No. 88008301 Annual report on the eighth year of research Part 3 - Typical Meteorological Year v. 3.0 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization D. Faiman, D. Feuermann, P. Ibbetson, A. Zemel, A. Ianetz, Report No. V. Liubansky, and I. Seter 9. Performing organization names and addresses Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center 10. Ministry of Nat. Infra. The Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research Contract No. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer 84990 . 2000-1-101/2000-11-007 11. Sponsoring organization(s) names and address(es) 12. Type of report and (a) Ministry of National Infrastructures period covered: Division of Research and Development P.O.Box 13106, 91130 Jerusalem (b) 13. Sponsoring Org. Code Energy Research 14. Supplementary Notes: This report is in three parts. The first parts contains 1998 data. The second part contains 1999 data.

15. Abstract: This part of the report contains TMY v 3.0 solar radiation data and related meteorological information for the eight Negev stations: Arad, Beersheba, Besor Farm, Eilat, Hazeva, Sede Boqer, Sedom and Yotvata, from the period 1989-1999. The data are presented in tabular format, in a manner aimed at providing useful summaries for designers of solar power stations and for architects. An accompanying CD-ROM contains the corresponding hourly (TMY) files, the raw data from which they were compiled, and copies of previous annual reports in this series.

16. Identifiers/Keywords/Descriptors : Data, Negev, solar radiation, temperature, humidity, wind velocity, Typical Meteorological Year 17. Copies of This Report Are 18. Security Class 20. No. of pages Available from: (this report) 42

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