Solar Energy Resource and Utilization

Technologies

Dr. Ram Chandra

Assistant Professor
Centre for Rural Development and Technology
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Hauz Khas, New Delhi – 110 016 1
 Solar Energy
The energy radiated from the sun is electromagnetic
waves reaching the planet earth in three spectral regions;
(i) Ultraviolet 6.4 % (ƛ ≤ 0.38 µm),
(ii) Visible 48.0 % (0.38 µm < ƛ < 0.78 µm), and
(iii) Infrared 45.6 % (ƛ ≥ 0.78 µm) of total energy.
Due to the large distance between the sun and the earth
(1.495 × 108 km) the beam radiation received from the
sun on the earth is almost parallel.
The energy flux received from the sun before entering
the earth’s atmosphere is a constant quantity. The solar
constant Isc is the energy from the sun received on a
unit area perpendicular to the sun rays at the mean
distance from the sun outside the atmosphere.
The standard value of the solar constant is 1367 W/m 2

or 1.958 langley per minute (1 langley/min = 1

cal/cm2/min).
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In the term of other units, Isc = 432 Btu/ft /h or 4.921
2
MJ/m /h.
The distance between the sun and the earth varies due to the
elliptical motion of the earth. Accordingly, the extraterrestrial
flux also varies, which can be calculated (on any day) by the
equation:

 360n 
I n = I sc 1 + 0.033Cos 
 365 
Where n is the day of the year counted from the first day of
January.
• Irradiance. The rate of solar radiation falling on a given area at
a moment in time. Irradiance is measured in units of kW/m2.

• Irradiation. The amount of solar energy over time. Irradiation

is measured in units of kWh/m2/day.
Direct Radiation: Solar radiation that reaches to the surface of
earth without being diffused is called direct beam radiation.

Diffused Radiation: As sunlight passes through the atmosphere,

some of it is absorbed, scattered and reflected by air molecules,
water vapour, cloud, dust, and pollutants from power plants,
forest fires, and volcanoes. This is called diffused radiation.

Global Solar Radiation: The sum of diffuse and direct solar

radiation is called global solar radiation.
India: 4 to 5 kWh/day
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Solar Thermal

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 Solar Thermal Energy Collector
Solar Thermal Energy Collector: Solar thermal energy collector
is an equipment in which solar energy is collected by absorbing
the radiation in an absorber and then transferring to a fluid.
There are two type of collectors;
Flat Plate solar Collector:
It has no optical concentrator. Here the collector area and the
absorber area are numerically same. The efficiency of flat plate
collector is low and temperature of working fluid can be raised
only up to 100 0C.
Schematic Cross Section of a Flat Plate Collector
The flat plate collector consists of five major parts as given
below:
1: A metallic flat absorber plate: It is made of copper, steel or
aluminium (having high thermal conductivity) and having
black surface. The thickness of the metal sheet ranges from
0.5 to 1.0 mm.
2: Tubes or channels: they are soldered to the absorber plate.
Water flowing through these tubes takes away the heat
from the absorber plate. The diameter of tubes is around
1.25 cm, while that of the header pipe which leads water in
and out of the collector and distributes it to absorber tubes
is 2.5 cm.
3: A transparent toughened glass sheet: of 5 mm thickness is
provided as the cover plate. It reduces convection heat
losses through a stagnant air layer between the absorber
plate and the glass. Radiation loss are also reduced as the
spectral transmissivity of glass is such that it transparent to
short wave radiation and nearly opaque to long wave
thermal radiation emitted by interior collector walls and
absorbing plate.
4: Fibre glass insulation: of 2.5 to 8.0 cm thickness is provided
at the bottom and on the sides in order to minimize the
heat loss.
5: A container encloses the whole assembly in a box made of
metallic sheet or fibre glass.

The commercially available collector have a face area of 2

2
m . The whole assembly is fixed on a supporting structure
that is installed on a tilted position at a suitable angle facing
south in northern hemisphere. For the whole year, the
optimum tilt angle of collector is equal to the latitude of its
location. During winter the tilt angle is kept 10-150 more
than the latitude of the location, while in summer it should
0
be 10-15 less than the latitude.
Concentrating Type solar Collector:
Here the receiving area of solar radiation is several times
greater than the absorber area and the efficiency is high.
Mirrors and lenses are used to concentrate sun rays on the
absorber. The temperature of working fluid can be raised
0
only up to 500 C. For better performance, the collector is
mounted on a tracking equipment to always face the sun
with its changing position.
Natural Circulation Solar Water Heater
Forced Circulation Solar Water Heater
 Solar Thermal Energy Storage
Solar energy is available only during the sunshine
hours. Consumer energy demands follow their own
time pattern and the solar energy does not fully
match the demand. As a result, energy storage is a
must to meet the consumer requirement.
There are three important methods for storing solar
thermal energy.
 1. Sensible Heat Storage
Heating a liquid or solid which does not change phase comes under this
category. The quantity of heat stored is proportional to the
temperature rise of the material. If T1 and T2 represent the lower and
higher temperature, V the volume and ρ the density of the storage
material, and Cp the specific heat, then the energy stored Q is given by:

T2
Q= V  T1
Cp dT
For a sensible heat storage system, energy is stored by heating a
liquid or a solid. Materials that are used in such a system include
liquids like water, inorganic molten salts and solids like rock, gravel
and refractories. The choice of the material used depends on the
temperature level of its utilization. Water is used for temperature
below 100 0C whereas refractory bricks can be used for
temperature upto 1000 0C.
 2. Latent Heat Storage (Phase change heat storage)
In this system, heat is stored in a material when it melts, and heat is
extracted from the material when it freezes. Heat can also be stored
when a liquid changes to gaseous state, but as the volume change is
large, such a system is not economic.
 3. Thermo-chemical Storage
With a thermo-chemical storage system, solar heat energy can start
an endothermic chemical reaction and new products of reactions
remain intact. To extract energy, a reverse exothermic reaction is
allowed to take place. Actually, thermo-chemical thermal energy is
the binding energy of reversible chemical reactions.
Photovoltaic System
 Photon
An elementary particle that is the carrier of electromagnetic
radiation of all wavelengths. The photon is different from many
other elementary particles, such as the electron, because it has
no mass. That means that it travels (in vacuum) at the speed of
light.
 Photoelectric Effect
When photons of light hit electrons in the silicon lattice and
provide energy to flow. Introducing dopants such as boron and
phosphorus into the silicon lattice provides a direction for the
electrons to flow. Finally, electrons flowing from one cell into the
next cell in a module gain about 1/2 volt from each cell
 Solar Photovoltaic System
Photovoltaic power generation is a method of
producing electricity using solar cell. A solar cell
converts solar optical energy directly into electrical
energy. A solar cell is essentially a semiconductor
device fabricated in a manner which generates a
voltage when solar radiation falls on it.
Solar cells are fixed on a board and connected in
series and parallel combinations to provide the
required voltage and power to form a photovoltaic
(PV) module. To protect the cells from damage the
module is hermetically sealed between a plate of
toughened glass and layers of Ethyl Vinyl Acetate. A
terminal box is attached to the back of module
where the two ends of solar string are shouldered
to the terminals. When the PV module is in use,
terminals are connected directly to the load.
Single PV modules of capacities ranging from 10 Wp
(peak watt) to 120 Wp can provide power for different
loads.
Several panels of module constitute an array which is
rated according to peak wattage it delivers at noon on a
clear day.
For a higher output an array field is created. The size of
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an individual cell varies from 10 - 100 cm and a module
contains about 20 to 40 cells.
A standard modules constituting 30 cells, each of 7.5 cm
diameter, can provide 12 V, 1.2 A and 18 Wp.
Structure of Solar Cell
 Solar Photovoltaic System
A PV module produces DC power. To operate electrical
appliances used in households, inverters are used to convert DC
power into 220 V, 50 Hz AC power. Components other than PV
modules are collectively known as balance of system (BOS) which
includes storage batteries, an electronic charge controller and an
inverter.
 Application of PV Systems
Solar PV power systems are categories into four classes.
1: Standalone
2: PV hybrid
3: Grid connected, and
4: Solar power satellite
Thank You