World’s Sunniest Spots Hint at Energy Bonanza

Southern California is sunny, the French Riviera is sunny, but NASA says the middle of the Pacific Ocean and the Sahara Desert in Niger are the sunniest — and the information could be worth money.

America’s space exploration agency has located the world’s sunniest spots by studying maps compiled by US and European satellites.
The maps can also gauge solar energy at every other spot on the planet, and have already been used to help businesses to site solar panels in Morocco, for instance, or send text messages to tell sunbathers in Italy to put on more cream.

“We are trying to link up observations of the earth to benefit society,” said Jose Achache, head of the 72-nation Group on Earth Observations (GEO) which seeks practical spinoffs from scientific data, ranging from deep-ocean probes to satellites.

Planet Ark