Compilation and evaluation of solar and wind energy resources in Sudan

A number of years worth of data concerning the solar radiation on a horizontal surface, sunshine duration and wind speed in Sudan have been compiled, evaluated and presented in this article.Measurements of global solar radiation on a horizontal surface at 16 stations for several years are compared with predictions made by several independent methods. In the first method the Angstrom formula was used to correlate relative global solar irradiance to the corresponding relative duration of bright sunshine.Regression coefficients are obtained and used for prediction of global solar irradiance. The predicted values were consistent with measured values (± 8.01% variation).In the second method, by Barbaro et al. Solar Energy, 1978, 20, 431] sunshine duration and minimum air mass were used to drive an empirical correlation for the global radiation. The predicted values compared well with measured values (± 12% variation).The diffuse solar irradiance is estimated. The results of two formulas have close agreement. A radiation map of Sudan was prepared from the estimated radiation values. The annual daily mean global radiation ranges from 3.05 to 7.62 kW h m⁻² per day.Routine wind data from 70 stations were analyzed. Monthly averaged wind speed and average powers were determined for each station. The derived annual average speeds range from 1.53 to 5.07 m s⁻¹. Maximum extractable average wind powers were found to vary between 1.35 and 49.5 W m⁻². A wind map of Sudan was also prepared.Sudan possessed a relatively high abundance of sunshine and moderate wind speed. It is concluded that Sudan is blessed with abundant solar and wind energy.