Insolation
WorldPhysical EnvironmentAverage annual levels of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface
NOAAA map shows areas of insolation (incoming solar radiation) across the world, categorized by watts per square meter.
The map illustrates global insolation, showing variations in incoming solar radiation from the tropics to the polar regions. In the Northern Hemisphere, high insolation (220 to 280 plus watts per square meter), highlighted as dark green to dark red spans from northwestern Mexico through southern Texas, Florida, and the Caribbean, across the Atlantic to North Africa and Southwest Asia, with peaks in the eastern Sahara and Arabian Peninsula. In the Southern Hemisphere, high insolation areas stretch from East Africa to South Africa and across the Indian Ocean to most of Australia, with other high insolation zones in the Central Pacific and south-central South America. Middle insolation values (120 to 219 watts per square meter), highlighted as light blue to green, are found between 50 degrees north and 50 degrees south latitude, excluding high insolation regions. Low insolation areas (80 to 119 watts per square meter), highlighted as blue to light blue, are located north of the 50-degree lines to the poles in North America, the North Atlantic, and Eurasia, and around the Southern Ocean in Antarctica. The lowest insolation values (less than 80 watts per square meter), highlighted as dark blue, are in the ocean east of northern Greenland.
240–259 | 220–239 | 200–219 | 180–199 | 160–179 | 140–159 | 120–139 | 100–119 | 80–99 | Less than 80 | Risk level 1 (very low) | Risk level 2 | Risk level 3 (low) | Risk level 4 | Risk level 5 (moderate) | Risk level 6 | Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability (2 m) | Class | Rank | Score | AES Deepwater Oil Plant TX USA | Baxter Wilson Oil Plant MS USA | Bayboro Oil Plant FL USA | Benning Oil Plant DC USA | Blue Lake Oil Plant MN USA | Bowline Point Oil Plant NY USA | Burlington Oil Plant CO USA | Burnside Combustion Turbines Generating Station Canada | Buzzard Point Oil Plant DC USA | Buzzard Roost Oil Plant SC USA | Canal Oil Plant MA USA | Chillicothe Oil Plant MO USA | Cleary Flood Oil Plant MA USA | Commonwealth Chesapeake Oil Plant VA USA | Courtney Bay Oil Power Plant Canada (Shutdown) | Croydon CT Generating Station Oil Plant PA USA | Dalhousie Oil Power Station Canada | Darbytown Oil Plant VA USA | DeBary Oil Plant FL USA | Delaware Generating Station Oil Plant PA USA | Devon Station Oil Plant CT USA | Edgewater Oil Plant OH USA | ExxonMobil Beaumont Refinery Oil Plant TX USA | Fermi Oil Plant MI USA | Frederickson Oil Plant WA USA | G E Turner Oil Plant FL USA | Gerald Andrus Oil Plant MS USA | Gravel Neck Oil Plant VA USA | Hay Road CCGT Power Plant DE USA | Holtsville Oil Plant NY USA | Holyrood Thermal Generating Station Canada | Honolulu Oil Plant HI USA | Indian River Oil Plant FL USA | Intercession City Oil Plant FL USA | Jones Street Oil Plant NE USA | Kalaeola Cogen Plant Oil Plant HI USA | Kemper County Oil Plant MS USA | Lagoon Creek Oil Plant TN USA | Lincoln Combustion Oil Plant NC USA | Maalaea Oil Plant HI USA | Manatee Oil Plant FL USA | Marshalltown Oil Plant IA USA | Martin Oil Plant FL USA | McKee Run Oil Plant DE USA | McManus Oil Plant GA USA | Miami Wabash Oil Plant IN USA | Middletown Oil Plant CT USA | Millbank OCGT Generating Station Canada | Millinocket Mill Oil Plant ME USA | Montville Station Oil Plant CT USA | Myrtle Beach Oil Plant SC USA | Newington Oil Plant NH USA | North Pole Oil Plant AK USA | Northeast Oil Plant MO USA | Northport Oil Plant NY USA | Northside Generating Station Oil Plant FL USA | Oakland Power Plant Oil Plant CA USA | Oswego Harbor Power Oil Plant NY USA | P L Bartow Oil Plant FL USA | Panda Brandywine LP Oil Plant MD USA | Parkdale Oil Plant TX USA | Point Beach Oil Plant WI USA | Port Everglades Oil Plant FL USA | Potter Station 2 Oil Plant MA USA | PPL Shoreham Energy LLC Oil Plant NY USA | PSEG Albany Generating Station Oil Plant NY USA | Richmond Generating Station Oil Plant PA USA | Riviera Oil Plant FL USA | Roseton Generating Station Oil Plant NY USA | Schuylkill Generating Station Oil Plant PA USA | Sherman Avenue Oil Plant NJ USA | Spirit Mound Oil Plant SD USA | Stony Brook Oil Plant MA USA | Suwannee River Oil Plant FL USA | Thomas Fitzhugh Oil Plant AR USA | Tufts Cove Oil Generating Station Canada | Turkey Point Oil Plant FL USA | Vienna Operations Oil Plant MD USA | Wading River Oil Plant NY USA | Waiau Oil Plant HI USA | Warren Oil Plant PA USA | Werner Oil Plant NJ USA | West Springfield Oil Plant MA USA | Wilson Oil Plant GA USA | |
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| 13.3% | 34.1% | 49.4% | 36.1% | 40.7% | 37.0% | 24.4% | 42.3% | 44.7% | 2.23% | 49.2% | 8.45% | 12.0% | 18.7% | 9.20% | 0.891% | 0.318% | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||