Estimation and mapping of the global component of solar radiation and wind power density over Chad

Despite its very good potential of Chad in the field of wind and solar energy, very few studies have been conducted in the field of evaluation and estimation of these energies. Therefore, in order to develop the exploitation of these resources, for the first time, finding suitable places for the construction of wind and solar power plants has been done to help the decision-makers in the field of energy in Chad. The purpose of this work is to establish a solar map and the wind map of Chad using the geographic information system(GIS). ArcMap software was used to draw GIS maps, and determining the amount of radiation and wind speed in the neighboring points of the investigated stations was done using the Inverse Distance Weighted(IDW) method. Weibull distribution function was used to estimate wind power density and three analytical methods were used to estimate solar radiation. By comparing the different values of solar radiation, the lowest value was in N'Djamena (5.74kWh/m2/day) and the highest in Abeche (6.35kWh/m2/day). It turns out that the windiest site is Faya-Largeau located in the Saharan area with a value of 28.61W/m2. However, in the Sahelian zone, the wind density of Bokoro is the lowest at 3.16W/m2. Based on the results, the resource maps showing the wind power densities and solar irradiation over the entire regions of Chad were developed. Thus, the exploitation of solar energy seems favorable to meet the deficit in energy needs, and the use of technology namely wind turbines is desirable.