Page 83 - Design of Solar Thermal Power Plants

72 2. THE SOLAR RESOURCE AND METEOROLOGICAL PARAMETERS

TABLE 2.8 Statistics for Major Meteorological Elements at the Golmud
Meteorological Station
S/N Item Value Memo

1 Multiyear mean temperature/ C 5.3
2 Multiyear extreme maximum 35.5
temperature/ C

3 Multiyear extreme minimum 33.6

temperature/ C
4 Maximum frozen ground depth/cm 105 In November 1997
5 Multiyear maximum snow depth/cm 6 In December 1992
6 Annual mean atmospheric pressure/kPa 72.47
7 Air mean relative humidity/% 32
8 Annual evaporation/mm 2504.1
9 Multiyear hail days/day 0.5
10 Sandstorm annual mean days/day 13.2
11 Multiyear mean wind speed/maximum 2.8/22
wind speed/[(m/s)/(m/s)]
12 Regional oxygen content/% 74 Corresponding
to sea level

2.5.3.2 Solar Radiation on Golmud
Measured solar radiation data for 1971e2007 provided by the Golmud
Meteorological Station indicate that over that 36-year period, the annual
solar radiation distribution variation in Golmud was basically stable with
a respective value interval maintained between 6604.48 and 7181.1 MJ/
2
m . The difference between the maximum and minimum value was only
2
2
538.4 MJ/m ; annual mean solar radiation was 6908.17 MJ/m . During
2
the decade from 1997 to 2007, mean solar radiation was 6852.64 MJ/m .
The maximum annual value during the three-decade study period
2
occurred in 1985 when it reached 7181.12 MJ/m , whereas the minimum
2
value of 6604.48 MJ/m occurred in 1998. July has the largest monthly
2
global radiation, which has reached 803.64 MJ/m , more than two times
that of December and January. Monthly global radiation is mainly
concentrated in the period from April to August, which accounted for
over 54% of global annual radiation. Compared with other areas of China,
Golmud is a region with abundant solar radiation.