Surface meteorological observations from the DATSAV2 database provide the capability to use the METSTAT (meteorological/statistical) model to calculate hourly values of direct normal, diffuse horizontal, and global horizontal solar radiation for locations throughout the world. Opaque cloud cover, a key input parameter to the METSTAT model, is derived from the DATSAV2 layered cloud cover information. Resulting multiyear data sets include solar radiation and other meteorological data such as dry bulb temperature, dew point temperature, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure. Data filling procedures ensure that the multiyear data sets are serially complete. A minor revision to METSTAT improved solar radiation estimates for conditions of high cloud amounts and low ceiling heights. The methodology was applied to regions of Southern Africa and Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.