Page 82 - Design of Solar Thermal Power Plants

2.5 DISTRIBUTION OF THE SOLAR RESOURCE IN SEVERAL 71

TABLE 2.7 Monthly Mean Global Solar Radiation in Lhasa
Cumulative Monthly Mean Global
2
Month Solar Radiation (MJ/m )
January 485.27
February 517.40
March 605.50
April 715.78
May 828.90
June 798.79
July 756.51
August 707.50
September 624.97
October 604.39
November 503.20
December 465.69

Golmud River in Qaidam Basin Midsouth Area with a mean elevation of

2780 m. Golmud has a plateau continental climate; it is hot in summer
and cold in winter; the temperature climbs back slowly in spring and
drops quickly in autumn, varying greatly between day and night; the area
has sufficient sunshine, strong solar radiation, scarce precipitation,
extensive evaporation, and extremely arid weather; it is not only a sen-
sitive zone for climate change, but also a fragile ecological environment.
The Golmud area has comparatively stable annual solar radiation
variations with an annual mean sunshine percentage of 70.2%. Monthly
variations indicate that solar radiation is mainly concentrated in the
period from April to August, which accounts for over 54% of the total.
With intensive solar radiation and long sunshine duration, this region has
abundant solar energy resources.

2.5.3.1 Weather Conditions of Golmud [8]
Golmud has a high elevation, few rainy days, long sunshine dura-
tion, high radiant intensity, and excellent atmospheric transparency; the
mean daily sunshine duration approximates 8.5 h with annual mean
sunshine duration of 3096.3 h and annual global solar radiation of
2
6604.48e7181.1 MJ/m ; the area has abundant solar energy resources.
Statistics on major meteorological elements from the Golmud Meteoro-
logical Station are shown in Table 2.8.