The meteorological satellite images as data source to evaluate the ground irradiance components become the state of the art in the field of solar energy systems. The strongest argument is the high spatial coverage, and the fifteen minutes temporal granularity when using images from MSG. They also have the advantage to provide «real time» data used for example to assess the proper operation of a solar plant. On the other hand, long term ground data are very scarce concerning the beam irradiance. The use of secondary inputs such as polar satellite data and ground information increases significantly the precision of the algorithms, mainly for the beam component. Following a paper from Zelenka concerning the nuggets effect, the interpolation distance to the nearest ground measurement site is limited to 10 to 30 km, depending on the irradiance parameter. This strengths the satellite derived data argument.