Open AccessPersistence of the high solar potential in Africa in a changing climate
Author(s) -
Pedro M. M. Soares,
M.C. Brito,
João António Martins Careto
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
environmental research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.37
H-Index - 124
ISSN - 1748-9326
DOI - 10.1088/1748-9326/ab51a1
Subject(s) - climate change , renewable energy , solar resource , photovoltaic system , environmental science , solar energy , solar irradiance , electrification , population , limiting , solar power , concentrated solar power , geography , climatology , meteorology , power (physics) , ecology , physics , electricity , engineering , mechanical engineering , demography , quantum mechanics , sociology , biology , geology
The African continent faces several challenges and threats: high vulnerability to climate change, the fastest population increase, the lowest degree of electrification and the need for an energy transition towards renewable energies. Solar energy constitutes a viable option for addressing these issues. In a changing climate the efficient implementation of solar capacity should rely on comprehensive information about the solar resource. Here, the newest and highest resolution regional climate simulation results are used to project the future photovoltaic and concentrated solar power potentials for Africa. We show that the high potentials for solar energy will not be reduced much throughout Africa with climate change. However, the PV solar potential is projected to decrease up to about −10% in limited areas of eastern central Africa; increases are also projected to the northwest and southern Africa (up to about +5%). These changes are mostly determined by changes in solar irradiance but in certain areas the warming is a critical factor limiting PV potential.