Assessing The Solar Energy Resource Potential In Trans-Nzoia County For Decentralized Domestic Power Generation

Abstract

The main economic activity in Trans-Nzoia County is maize farming. The cost of farming has been rising annually while the yield and maize price keep fluctuating thus making life hard for the people there. Considering that Trans-Nzoia county is within the equatorial region which receives solar radiation throughout the year, this study was therefore necessary to assess the possibility of utilizing this natural source of energy. The objective of this study was to assess the solar resource energy potential in Trans-Nzoia County for decentralized domestic power generation. The data used in carrying out this study include sunshine hours, cloud data (0600Z and 1200Z) and solar irradiance for Kitale meteorological station. The data was sourced from the Kenya meteorological department headquarters. Quality control was performed by plotting single mass curves for the data. The single mass curves clustered about a straight line indicating that the data used was homogeneous. Time series plots for sunshine hours showed that the area receives an average of 8.1 hours of sunshine daily. The solar radiation plots showed that the area receives an average of 6.1 kwh/m2/day. The solar energy resource potential was computed and found to be 632.5GW but 126.5GW is extractable when the efficiency of photovoltaic panels is factored in. These values are an indication that the area is endowed with enormous solar energy resource that can be extracted for domestic power generation. Cloud analysis results is in agreement with the sunshine hours analysis for they both confirmed that December-January-February and June-July-August seasons are the seasons with maximum and minimum transparency of solar radiation respectively. From the study, it is recommended that the residents of Trans-Nzoia County should tap into this naturally occurring resource since it is a cleaner and cheaper source of power. Further studies should also be carried out in this area to capture the effects of topography on the available solar energy.