Solar thermal and solar photonic are two dominant forms of solar energy that can be converted to a useful output. These two are part of the incident energy from the sun that reaches the surface of the earth and depends on several atmospheric conditions including altitude, latitude, humidity, and Earth's positioning relative to the sun. In other words, the available energy is dependent on a geographic location. The performance of solar energy harnessing technologies depends on this geographically variable potential energy. This research investigates the performance of different solar energy harnessing technologies for different regional weather domains around the globe. Based on the performance and price, the technologies are rated for each of these five places.
