Abstract: Based on analysis of the different kinds of calculation methods on solar radiation, a simple, practical and easy operative model was built to estimate daily solar radiation in China. The inputs of the model needed were the sunshine hours and geological information of calculating stand. The simulated results for 9 representative stations in the different regions of China were compared and statistically validated with the observation values. The results showed that the simulated solar radiations had significantly related to the observation values (R~(2)=0.81-0.93). The average error of calculation was 16.5%, the average absolute and the standard deviation were 0.77, 2.09 and 2.65 MJ m~(-2) d~(-1) respectively. The simulation parameters needed to be adjusted in the special regions.

Key words: Daily solar radiation, Daily solar radiation, Clear sky radiation, Sunshine hour, Simulation