Abstract
Knowledge of solar radiation, or solar irradiation, at Earth’s surface is of great interest in many fields. However, the development of systems using solar energy need spatially and temporally dense data on solar radiation, sufficiently accurate to simulate, design, generate and optimize the operation of these systems.The main objective of this thesis is to design and develop a method to assess solar irradiation applicable on intertropical regions. The works of the first part focus on the search of a methodological solution to assess solar irradiation on the northern part of the South American continent (Guiana Shield) with a high temporal and spatial resolution and accuracy on the same level of other operational methods under other climates. In the second part, we propose to improve the solar irradiation assessments obtained in the first part, notably those done in cloudy sky. The Guiana Shield being a zone strongly affected by the ITCZ and with recurrent cloudy periods, it appeared necessary to us to complete the changes brought to the original method by introducing a modeling of the cloudy sky. In the third part, we propose to produce maps of indicators by using the assessments of solar irradiation obtained with the modified Heliosat-2 method. Finally, we conclude on the advances obtained in terms of knowledge on solar irradiation and its exploitability on the Guiana Shield.