Forecasting the Potential of Solar Energy Harvest in Kangar Syafawati A.N. 1 , Salsabila A. 2 , Farhana Z., Arizadayana Z., Razliana N., Norjasmi A.R., Muzaidi O., S. Akhmal School of Electrical System Engineering, School of Microelectronic Engineering Complex, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia 1 syafawati@unimap.edu.my , 2 salsabila@unimap.edu.my Abstract-This paper provides a case study in solar radiation and the potential evaluation of solar energy harvesting at 6.431°N, 100.185°E, in Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia. As a state located in the Northern region, Perlis is highly potential in the development of a solar energy harvesting system. However,in order to start harvesting the solar energy as an alternative electricity utility source, it is essential to investigate the amount of solar radiation received at the location beforehand. This paper, defines the parameters of solar radiation and shows the geometrical relationship of its natural resources in order to determine the potentiality. The value of solar radiation was collected from the installed weather station and from the calculation based on the equations. Keywords- solar, radiation, energy, harvest I. INTRODUCTION Solar radiation is the most important natural energy resource because it drive all environmental processes acting on the surface of the Earth. The sun provides the Earth with an enormous amount of energy [1]. Solar energy is primarily transmitted to the Earth by electromagnetic waves, which is also represented by photons. Solar radiation emission from the sun distributed into the space appears in the form of electromagnetic waves that carry energy at the speed of light. The solar radiation can be absorbed, reflected, or diffused by solid particles at any location in space, but particularly on the earth, its arrival depends on many activities such as the weather, climate, agriculture, and socioeconomic movement. Besides that, the incoming irradiation at any given point takes different shapes depending on the geometry of the earth, its distance from the sun, geographical location at any point on the earth, astronomical coordinates, and the composition of the atmosphere. A significant fraction of the solar radiation is absorbed and reflected back into space through atmospheric events and consequently the solar energy balance of the earth remains the same [2]. The radiation emitted to the ground depends on the geometric relationship of the Earth orbiting the Sun. The position of the Sun, in any moment at any place on Earth, can be estimated by using two methods. Firstly, using a simple equation where the inputs are; the day of the year, time, latitude, and longitude. Secondly, by using complex algorithms providing the exact position of the Sun [1]. Since, the solar radiation varies based on location and time, this paper only focuses on Kangar, the capital state of Perlis (6.431°N, 100.185°E) within the month of March until August of the year 2011. Various data of the weather were collected and recorded in Centre of Excellence in Renewable Energy, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Kangar, Perlis. Perlis, located at the top Northern state in Peninsular Malaysia shared the same border with Thailand as shown in Fig. 1. Meanwhile, the south area is neighboring to the state of Kedah. Perlis covers an estimated area of 793.99km 2 , and it experiences the tropical monsoon and northeast monsoon winds from the Gulf of Siam. These two monsoons occur along the year where the dry season takes place from January until April, while the rainy season is from May until December [3]. Furthermore, Malaysia is one of many Asian countries that is located in equatorial regions which received an abundance of sunlight and rainfall the whole year. The average temperature of Perlis is around 21 – 32 degrees Celsius. Fig. 1: Map of Perlis State [3] 978-1-4673-5074-7/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE 2013 IEEE 7th International Power Engineering and Optimization Conference (PEOCO2013), Langkawi, Malaysia. 3-4 June 2013 77