Validation of eight sunshine-based global radiation models with measured data at seven places in Yunnan Province, China

In this paper, the validation of eight sunshine-based models for estimating global solar radiation on horizontal surfaces is conducted with the measur ed data of solar radiation and climatic parameters at seven meteorological stations in Yunnan Province, China. It is found that the Bahel model and th e Gopinathan model are unsuitable for estimating the global radiation in Yu nnan Province, and the best model in this region is the Page model. The per formances of the Rietveld model, the monthly specific Rietveld model, the D ogniaux-Lemoine model, the monthly specific Dogniaux-Lemoine model and the Glover-McCulloch model are better than that of the Bahel model and the Gopi nathan model but worse than that of the Page model. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.