Solar radiation not only sustains the lives on the Earth, but also creates spatial and temporal variations of hydrological ingredients, such as vegetation, soil moisture, and snow. Precise quantification of spatial solar radiation incident on the Earth's surface which accounts for the topographic modulation, especially in complex terrain, underpins the study of many catchment hydro-meteorological and hydro-ecological processes. Topography is a key parameter that affects the spatial solar radiation pattern across different scales. This article addresses the issue of modelling spatial variability of actual solar radiation caused by topography from the hydrological perspective. Models with different algorithms and different complexities, from the simple empirical equations to process-based physical approach, have been developed to parameterize and calculate the potential radiation (under clear-sky condition) and the actual radiation (under overcast cloudy condition). Based on a review of the general steps of solar radiation modelling and the corresponding models for each step, two models with easily or globally available data for spatial solar radiation modelling in complex terrain, namely, the physically parameterized, remote-sensing-oriented Heliosat-2 model and the sunshine duration-based Angström–Prescott regression model are selected and implemented in a GIS framework. The capability of both models for simulation of cloudy-sky radiation on horizontal surfaces has been verified against observed station data showing an R ² greater than 0.9. The validity of the models for modelling inclined surface is tested by comparing against each other, which has shown a satisfactory agreement and demonstrated that the simple Angström–Prescott method performed reasonably well compared with the more elaborate Heliosat-2 method. Scale sensitivity of the models and the shading effect are examined with different digital elevation model (DEM) resolutions from 30 to 500 m and reveal the existence of a threshold grid size to resolve the topography-induced spatial solar radiation variability. Spatial mapping of potential solar radiation and actual solar radiation has been demonstrated in a small catchment in Southern Germany, with a spatial difference up to 30% in winter and 5% in summer. This may lead to a significant difference for the energy-limited hydrological processes, such as snowmelt, and evapotranspiration.