Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Solar Energy Potential for Domestic and Agricultural Utilization to Diminish Poverty in Jubek State, South Sudan, Africa

The study aimed to generate informative data on solar radiation in order to establish sustainable solar energy that will support domestic needs and agricultural production and processing industries in Jubek State, South Sudan. Solar radiation intensity, timely data variation, site landscape, and environment were considered. Input data used was remotely sensed data, digital elevation model, land used land cover (LULC) processed with Aeronautical Reconnaissance Coverage Geographic Information System (ArcGIS). The spatio-temporal distribution analysis results show that (62%) 11,356.7 km2 of the study area is suitable for solar energy farm with an annual potential of about 6.05 × 109 GWh/year out of which only 69.0158 GW h/year is required to meet the local demand of 492,970 people residing in the study area, i.e., 0.11% (1249.2 km2) of Jubek State. Solar energy required for producing and processing 1 ton of different crop ranges between 58.39 × 10−6 and 1477.9 × 10−6 GWh and area size between 10.7 and 306.3 km2, whereas 1 ton of animal production requires solar energy ranging between 750.1 × 10−6 and 8334 × 10−6 GWh and area of about 137.8 to 1531.5 km2. These findings will assist in the establishment of agro-processing industries which will eventually lead to poverty reduction through job creation and improvement of food quantity and quality. The simple approach applied in this study is unique, especially for the study area, thus it can be applied to some other locations following the same steps.