Welcome to the segment on

the Sun-Earth relationship. In this segment, we'll identify

the Sun-Earth relationship in space. Explain the seasonality with
respect to the Sun's orbit and identify the terms used in defining
the Sun's position in the sky. Let's begin looking at
the Sun-Earth relationship. We normally think of the Sun
moving across the Earth's sky. But we know in reality,
it's the Earth that moves around the Sun. It's an elliptical orbit around
the Sun and more circular than oval. Thinking about our seasons, they originate
from this orbit in combination with the Earth's tilt which is 23.5 degrees
in the North, South Pole direction. The summer solstice is defined as the time
when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun and ranges from
the spring equinox to the fall equinox. Because the Northern Hemisphere
is tilted toward the Sun, it's generally warmer whereas the Southern
Hemisphere would generally be cooler. The winter solstice, the time when
the Southern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun and ranges from the fall
equinox to the spring equinox. The Southern Hemisphere is closer or
tipped towards the Sun and this results in warmer, and summer-like
weather in the Southern Hemisphere. So how can we use this to our
advantage in planning for solar? What we can numerically define
the tilt of the Earth using a new term called solar declination. Solar declination
which is also shown
by the lowercase Greek letter delta is defined as the angle between
Sun's direction and the equator, known as the equatorial plane. By using the
equatorial plane as a point
of reference, the solar declination at the summer solstice in the Northern
Hemisphere is positive 23.5 degrees. In the winter, it's negative 23.5 degrees. In
the Southern Hemisphere,
it's exactly the opposite. So at the winter solstice,
the declination angle is positive 23.5 degrees pointed towards the Sun or
tilted towards the Sun. The fall and spring equinoxes are when the
angle between the equatorial plane, and the Sun is zero degrees, and it also
happens to be when there's exactly 12 hours of sunlight, and
12 hours of darkness. Now that we can use the term declination
to define the tilt of the Earth at any time of the year, we can also look
at the relationship of sunlight on any point on the Earth using latitude and
longitude. Latitude and longitude values
define location on a Earth surface using a grid pattern of vertical lines,
known as longitudinal lines and horizontal lines,
known as latitudinal lines. Longitudinal ranges go from positive
180 degrees to negative 180 degrees. Because the Earth rotates
in a 24 hour cycle, any given location on the Earth
faces the Sun once every 24 hours. And so that longitudinal location
really doesn't have much impact on sunlight availability. Latitude, however is very
critical to
understanding how much light is available. Latitude tells us the vertical
distance from the equator and ranges from positive 90 degrees to the North Pole
to negative 90 degrees to the South Pole. This distance has a direct
impact on the angle at which sunlight hits every location
on the Earth surface. The next factor we want to think
about is how that declination and latitude help to define sunlight levels. We know
that by based on where
we live on the Earth's surface, there's a variation in temperature and
sunlight. This is due to the combination of
latitude and solar declination. Using some known trigonometry formulas,
we can calculate the solar declination for any time of the year. Solving this
equation for
any numerical date reveals the actual declination on that
date for the Northern Hemisphere and ranges again from positive 23.5
degrees to negative 23.5 degrees. It will be the opposite for
the Southern Hemisphere. Once we solve for the declination or
look it up using an online resource, the other factor to consider
is elevation angle. This is the angle of the Sun above
the horizon for a defined declination. Elevation is zero degrees at sunrise and
at sunset, and reaches its maximum overhead angle at
solar noon which doesn't account for human constructs like daylight
savings time or time zone variations. We can calculate the elevation angle by
inputting the declination on a specific date in the latitude of interest. The other
common solar
term is zenith angle, which is just the compliment
to elevation angle. Zenith angle is the angle
between the Sun and 90 degrees perpendicular
to the Earth's surface. So the PV field tends to focus on
elevation angle instead of zenith angle, but they essentially
tell us the same thing. The final angle that we need to
be concerned with is azimuth. So while the Sun goes from low angles
to high angles during the day define by elevation and
during the year define by declamation, it also travels from east to
west over the course of the day. That angle is define as azimuth angle, which is a
compass-based
direction of incoming sunlight. Northeast to find a zero degrees. Southeast to find
180 degrees. During the day,
the Sun rises in the east, 90 degrees and set in the West, 270 degrees. In Northern
Hemisphere,
180 degrees is considered due south and the Sun reaches that point as solar noon.
These terms may be easier to visualize
by looking at paths of the Sun for the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun always rises
from the east and
sets in the west, and reaches its maximum at noon on that day. On the summer
solstice, in
the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun is at its highest angle and it's at its lowest
in the sky at the winter solstice. It's at mid-range at the equinoxes for
fall and spring, giving us variations in seasons based upon the Earth being
tilted toward or away from the Sun. So what does this mean for solar? Well, we can
now think about where we live
and then how to plan for solar energy. For example, if you live near the equator,
the Sun is generally going to be
overhead all times of the year. However, if we live high in the Northern
Hemisphere, the Sun's angle is very low and there's not much overhead sunlight,
especially during the winter season. So if we want to plan for
photo-voltaic installation, we want to have an idea of both where
we're located on the Earth's surface in terms of latitude as well as how the
seasons might impact solar availability. You should now be able to identify the
Sun-Earth relationship and how the Earth rotates, and its tilt explains
the seasons, and available sunlight. You should also be able to identify
the solar positions using declination, solar elevation,
zenith angle and azimuth angle. In the next segment, we'll explore how
sunlight reaches the Earth's surface and how to measure those sunlight levels.