Statistical study of global solar radiation in the Algerian desert: a case study of Adrar town

This study examined the surface global solar irradiation variability in the southern Algerian region, with regard to the regional climatic and environmental features. The statistical analysis used ground data acquired in measurement stations operated by a technical platoon of meteorologists and physicists at the Renewable Energy Research Unit in the Saharan Environment (URER/MS). A graphical statistical analysis of long-term solar irradiance data is performed using appropriate visualizations, such as time series plots, box plots, and histograms. The data used is that of the decade (2011–2020), and the analysis is extended to the last 30 years (1990–2020) based on solar radiation data handed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The present study takes advantage of a unique and high-quality dataset consisting of 10 years of concurrent records of global solar irradiation in the South Algerian region. The results of this study pointed out a remarkable variability in seasonal and annual scales and confirmed that this region has enormous solar energy potentiality, where the average periodic diurnal energy for global solar radiation measured on a horizontal plane exceeds 6.16 kWh/m²/day and an additive total energy of 2. 2 MWh/m²/time on average.