Solar potential of western Himalayan Indian state of Himachal Pradesh is assessed using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based global solar radiation (GSR) prediction model. J48 algorithm in Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA)is used for the selection of input parameters for ANN model for predicting GSR. Most relevant input parameters are found to be temperature, altitude and sunshine hours whereas latitude, longitude, clearness index and extraterrestrial radiation are found to be least influencing variables. The usefulness of J48 algorithm in variable selection is checked by developing five ANN models: ANN-1, ANN-2, ANN-3, ANN-4 and ANN-5. The maximum mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) for ANN-1, ANN-2, ANN-3, ANN-4 and ANN-5 are found to be 16.91%, 16.89%, 16.38%, 6.89% and 9.04% respectively. ANN-5 model is used to develop the solar maps of Himachal Pradesh. The estimated GSR varies from 3.59 to 5.38 kWh/m(2)/day indicating good solar potential for solar energy applications. A correlation is developed between NASA satellite data and ground measured GSR data to find values close to ground measured GSR for different locations. The correlation coefficient is found to be 0.97. Models developed can be used to assess solar potential of any location worldwide. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.