Trends in Downward Solar Radiation at the Surface over North America from Climate Model Projections and Implications for Solar Energy

Figure 8

(a) The trend of downward shortwave radiation at surface at 3 p.m. local time of US West Coast, defined in the same manner as Figure 6(c) but for the average over January, from GFDL CM2.0 simulations. (b) The same as (a) but from MRI CGCM2.3.2 simulations. Panels (c) and (d) are the counterparts of (a) and (b) but for 9 a.m. local time of US West Coast, also averaged over January. The trends in all four panels are defined as January 2100 average minus January 2000 average. The color scale with units of W/m² is shown on the right for each panel.