Saudi Arabian solar radiation network operation data collection and quality assessment

From 1993 to the present (2000), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted a joint solar radiation resource assessment project to upgrade the solar resource assessment capability of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. KACST has deployed a high quality 12-station network in Saudi Arabia for monitoring solar total horizontal, direct beam, and diffuse radiation. One- and 5-min network data are collected and assessed for quality. 80% or more of the network data fall within quality limits of +/-5% for correct partitioning between the three radiation components. We describe the network, quality assessment procedures, data formats and availability. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.