Global solar energy data is considered as the most important parameter in smart grid applications, particularly for sizing the photovoltaic system and demand driven supply. However the data of global solar energy is rarely available on hourly basis, even for those stations where measurement has already been done. Due to lack of such measured data, the estimation of global solar energy at the earth's surface is an important study in the present scenario to meet the energy requirement from green energy sources. This paper is based on fuzzy logic approach for modeling and estimating the global solar energy using mean duration sunshine per hour, temperature, latitude, longitude, altitude and months of the year as input parameters. Fortunately, these important for accurate parameters estimation of solar energy are commonly available. Results obtained from fuzzy logic approach are used for the prediction of SPV system output for smart grid application. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.