A partitioning of daily solar radiation using Hierarchical clustering on Principal Components method is proposed based on daily distribution of direct fraction in solar irradiance. This tool, similar to clearness index, is only based on diffuse and global solar radiation measurement, taking in account the local topology. The clustering method is applied on data collected in Reunion island (21• S, 55• E), a southern subtropical site. We obtain five daily solar radiations classes as results. The interpretations of the average time series signals for each class shows that daily dynamics curves are correlated with local meteorological phenomena. The season distribution of classes is correlated to the intensity of trade winds flow. Thus, it helps us to define an approach to predict the solar radiation for different time horizons and the energy potential of the day.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.