Fundamental of Solar

Energy

Lecture reference
1 Naveed ur Rehman
 The Earth
 Very small as compared to sun
 Rotate about its own axis (day)
 Revolve around the sun in orbit (year)

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 Earth-sun distance
 Mean earth-sun distance is 1au (149.5Mkm)
 It varies by ± 1.7%
 This variation is not responsible for earth’s seasons

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 Earth’s geometry

 Locating position on earth:

 Φ : Latitude
 L : Longitude
 Unit: Degrees

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 Earth’s geometry

 Where is Karachi on earth?

 Latitude (Φ) : 24.8508°N
 Longitude (L) : 67.0181°E
 Try: ”Latitude Karachi” at Google

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 Magnetic compass directions

 The magnetic poles are not at the geographic poles.

 Directions shown by a magnetic compass are not the “Geographic”
directions.
 All solar engineering calculations are based on geographic
directions!

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 Magnetic declination
 Magnetic Declination is the angle between geographic north (Ng )
and magnetic north (Nm).
 Nm is M.D. away from Ng .
 Facts:
 M.D in Alberta (Canada) is approx. 16°W
 For Karachi, M.D. is almost 0°!
 To get M.D: http://magnetic-declination.com/

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 Magnetic declination

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 Date and day

 Date is represented by month and ‘i’

 Day is represented by ‘n’

Month nth day for ith date

January i
February 31+i
March 59+i
… ….
December 334+i

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 Sun position from earth

 Sun rise in the east and set in the west

 “A” sees sun in south
 “B” sees sun in north

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 Solar noon
 Solar noon is the time when sun is highest above the horizon on
that day

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 Solar altitude angle

 Solar altitude angle (αs ) is the angle

between horizontal and the line
In northern hemisphere
passing through sun
 It changes every hour and every day
 Solar altitude angle is maximum at
“Noon” for a day, denoted by αs,noon

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 Zenith angle

 Zenith angle (θz ) is the angle between

vertical and the line passing through sun
 θz = 90 – αs
 Zenith angle is minimum at “Noon” for a
day, denoted by θz,noon
 ϴz,noon = 90 – αs,noon

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  Air masses are large portions of
gasses and particles that have
Air Mass similar temperature, chemistry
and pressure.
 Another representation of solar altitude/zenith
angle.
 Air mass (A.M.) is defined as the path length of
the direct sunbeam through the atmosphere
expressed as a ratio relative to the sun at the
zenith.
 A first-order approximation for 𝐴. 𝑀. = 1/cos 𝜃𝑧
 If A.M.=1 => θz=0° (Sun is directly overhead)
 If A.M.=2 => θz=60° (Sun is away, a lot of mass
of air is present between earth and sun)

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 Air Mass

 The spectrum generated by sunlight at Air Mass 1 is commonly

known as “Air Mass 1 Global” (AM1G) radiation spectrum,
meaning “one atmosphere”.
 The spectrum generated by sunlight at AM1 (at 0° from the zenith)
to AM1.1 (at 25° from the zenith) is a useful range for estimating
the performance of solar cells in equatorial and tropical regions.
Because it passes through no air mass, the extraterrestrial
spectrum is called the “Air Mass 0” (AM0) spectrum.

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 Solar azimuth angle
 In any hemisphere, solar azimuth angle (γs ) is the angular
displacement of sun from south
 It is 0° due south, -ve in east, +ve in west

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 Solar Declination

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 Solar declination (at solstice)

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 Solar declination (at equinox)

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 For any day in year, solar declination (δ)
Solar Declination can be calculated as:

Where, n = numberth day of year

• Maximum: 23.45 °, Minimum: -23.45°
• Solar declination angle represents “day”
• It is independent of time and location!

Note: Altitude depends upon latitude

20 but declination is independent.
 Solar altitude and zenith at noon

 As solar declination (δ) is the function of day (n) in year, therefore,

solar altitude at noon can be calculated as:
αs,noon = 90 – ø + δ
 Similarly zenith angle at noon can be calculated as:
ϴz,noon = 90 – αs,noon= 90 – (90 – ø + δ)= ø - δ

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 Solar Time

 The time in your clock (local time) is not same as “solar time”
 It is always “Noon” at 12:00pm solar time

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 Solar Time
 The difference between solar time (ST) and local time (LT) can be
calculated as:

 Where,
 ST: Solar time (in 24 hours format)
 LT: Local time (in 24 hours format)
 SL: Standard longitude (depends upon GMT)
 LL: Local longitude (+ve for east, -ve for west)
 E: Equation of time (in hours)

Try: http://www.powerfromthesun.net/soltimecalc.html
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 Solar Time

 Standard longitude (SL) can be calculated as:

SL = (𝐺𝑀𝑇 × 15)
 Where GMT is Greenwich Mean Time, roughly:
If LL > 0 (Eastward): 𝐺𝑀𝑇 = 𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑙 𝐿𝐿Τ15
If LL < 0 (Westward): 𝐺𝑀𝑇 = −𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝐿𝐿 Τ15
 GMT for Karachi is 5, GMT for Tehran is 3.5.
 It is recommended to find GMT from standard database e.g.
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/

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 Hour Angle
 Hour angle (ω) is another representation of solar time
 It can be calculated as:
𝜔 = (𝑆𝑇 − 12) × 15
 (-ve before solar noon, +ve after solar noon)

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