Spatial Interpolation of

Solar Radiation over India

Using GIS
Submitted to:
Dr. Harish Puppala
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Submitted by:
Meriga Vamshi Krishna
1600271C201
BML Munjal University
Abstract

▪ From the past few couple of years India is trying to produce

electricity using renewable sources rather than using fossil fuels.

▪ Our country is the first one to set up a ministry of non-conventional

energy sources ( Ministry of New and Renewable Energy).

▪ Present work helps in finding the solar radiation of an unsampled

location, which is calculated using Inverse Distance Weighted
method in ArcGIS.
Objective

▪ To create a raster surface from the point data where we can see the
solar radiation at every point on that surface, this helps us to choose
optimum location for installation of solar power plant over the area.
Methodology

▪ Inverse Distance weightage (IDW) method is used for calculation of Solar

radiation data.
▪ IDW estimates the values at unknown points using the distance and values of
nearby known points.
▪ Further away the point the less weight in helping define the unknown point.
Work Done

▪ Daily Solar Radiation data is collected for the period 01.01.2000 to

31.08.2019 for 72 locations in and around India using RETScreen
software. Among them 23 cities has chosen for validating with the
values of created raster surface.

▪ Table is prepared in MS Excel with respect to seasons and years.

▪ Using Spatial Analyst Tool in ArcGIS created Raster surface of the
sample data points.
Results

▪ Values of 23 cities chosen for validating is extracted from them raster

surface.
▪ Standard error for all those is calculated and found to be lesss than
10% for every city.
Table 1:Cities chosen for evaluating Standard Error

FID City Name Latitude Longitude 2019S RASTERVALU Standard Error

1 Coimbatore 11.03 77.050 6.561 6.447 1.733
2 Chennai 13.00 80.180 6.477 6.582 1.623
3 Anantapur 14.58 77.630 6.813 6.658 2.279
4 Gadag 15.42 75.630 6.742 6.702 0.588
5 Machilipatnam 16.20 81.150 6.431 6.428 0.034
6 Jamshedpur 22.82 86.180 6.083 5.915 2.754
7 Calcutta/Alipore 22.53 88.330 5.689 5.691 0.039
8 Nagpur 21.10 79.050 6.535 6.521 0.215
9 Sholapur 17.67 75.900 6.722 6.717 0.074
10 Gwalior 26.23 78.250 6.189 6.246 0.916
11 Bhopal 23.28 77.350 6.512 6.557 0.686
12 Aurangabad 19.85 75.400 6.813 6.728 1.244
13 Surat 21.20 72.830 6.799 6.784 0.231
14 Bhaunagar 21.75 72.200 6.799 6.774 0.369
15 Ahmedabad 23.07 72.630 6.773 6.703 1.036
16 Hissar 29.17 75.730 5.924 6.013 1.495
17 Patiala 30.33 76.470 5.978 5.961 0.285
18 Delhi/Safdarjung 28.58 77.200 6.062 6.062 0.005
19 Jaipur 26.82 75.800 6.385 6.262 1.918
20 Vishakhapatnam-Walt 17.70 83.300 6.285 6.285 0.004
21 Jagdalpur 19.08 82.030 6.434 6.327 1.664
22 Patna 25.60 85.100 6.045 5.892 2.526
23 Jodhpur 26.30 73.020 6.496 6.357 2.137
Below pictures are Maps representing Solar radiation of India in 2000 Summer and
2019 Summer.
Conclusion

▪ The above table confirms that IDW method is suitable for developing
the raster surface of solar radiation from data of point shapefiles.

▪ Above work is on a broader view but while planning for a Solar

energy generation project we need to investigate city wise or area-
based considerations and plan accordingly.
Thank You