Open Access

ARTICLE

Spatial and Temporal Distribution Characteristics of Solar Energy Resources in Tibet

Yanbo Shen^1,2, Yang Gao³, Yueming Hu^1,2, Xin Yao⁴, Wenzheng Yu^4,*, Yubing Zhang⁴

1 Public Meteorological Service Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, 100081, China
2 Center for Wind and Solar Energy Resources, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, 100081, China
3 School of Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
4 School of Geographical Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

* Corresponding Author: Wenzheng Yu. Email:

Energy Engineering 2024, 121(1), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2023.041921

Received 11 May 2023; Accepted 31 August 2023; Issue published 27 December 2023

Abstract

The Tibet Plateau is one of the regions with the richest solar energy resources in the world. In the process of achieving carbon neutrality in China, the development and utilization of solar energy resources in the region will play an important role. In this study, the gridded solar resource data with 1 km resolution in Tibet were obtained by spatial correction and downscaling of SMARTS model. On this basis, the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of solar energy resources in the region in the past 30 years (1991–2020) are finely evaluated, and the annual global horizontal radiation resource is calculated. The results show that: 1) The average annual global horizontal radiation amount in Tibet is 1816 kWh/m². More than 60% of the area belongs to the “Most abundant” ( ≥ 1750 kWh/m²) area of China’s solar energy resources category A, and nearly 40% belongs to the “Quite abundant” (1400 ≤ GHI < 1750) area of China’s solar energy resource category B. 2) In space, the solar energy resources in Tibet increased gradually from north to south and from east to west. Lhasa, Central and Eastern Shigatse, Shannan, and Southwestern Ali are the most abundant cities, with a maximum annual radiation level of 2189 kWh/m². 3) In terms of time, the total horizontal radiation in Tibet was the highest in May and the lowest in December. 74% of the total area belongs to the “Very stable” ( ≥ 0.47) area of solar resource stability category A, and 26 % belongs to the “stable” (0.36 ≤ < 0.47) area of solar resource stability category B. Solar energy resources in the region show the characteristics of both strong and stable. Average solar energy resources in the region have shown a fluctuating downward trend over the past 30 years, with an average decline of about 12.86 (kWh/m²) per decade. 4) In terms of solar radiation resources reaching the earth’s surface, the theoretical total amount of annual horizontal radiation in Tibet is about 240.07 billion tons of standard coal or 222.91 billion kilowatts on average.

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Keywords

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