Chapter 1 Solar Radiation

THE SUN

• The sun is a sphere of intensely hot gaseous matter

with a diameter of 1.39 × 109 m

• It is, on the average, 1.5 × 1011 m away from the earth.

• The sun rotates on its axis about once every 4 weeks,

• It does not rotate as a solid body

• The sun has an effective blackbody temperature of

5777 K♣

• The temperature in the central interior regions is

variously estimated at 8 × 106 to 40 × 106 K

♣1The effective blackbody temperature of 5777 K is the temperature of a blackbody radiating the same amount
of energy as does the sun.
 THE SUN

• Sun’s density is about 100 times that of water.

• Several fusion reactions have been suggested to

supply the energy radiated by the sun.

• The one considered the most important is a process

in which hydrogen combines to form helium

• The energy produced in the interior of the solar

sphere is

• first transferred out to the surface

• and then radiated into space
 THE SOLAR CONSTANT
• The distance between the sun and the earth varies by
1.7% due to the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit

• Nearly fixed intensity of solar radiation reaches to the

outside of the earth’s atmosphere.

• The solar constant Gsc=1367 W/m2

• is the energy from the sun per unit time received on a unit area
of surface perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the
radiation at mean earth-sun distance outside the atmosphere.
 SOME DEFINITIONS
• Air Mass m: The ratio of the mass of atmosphere
through which beam radiation passes to the mass it
would pass through if the sun were at the zenith (i.e.,
directly overhead)

• Beam Radiation: Solar radiation received from the sun

without having been scattered by the atmosphere.
(Often referred to as direct solar radiation)

• Diffuse Radiation: Solar radiation received from the

sun after its direction has been changed by scattering by
the atmosphere. (Referred to in some meteorological
literature as sky radiation or solar sky radiation)
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Total Solar Radiation: The sum of the beam and the

diffuse solar radiation on a surface. (The most common
measurements of solar radiation are total radiation on a
horizontal surface, often referred to as global radiation
on the surface.)

• Irradiance, W/m2: The rate at which radiant energy is

incident on a surface per unit area of surface. The
symbol G is used for solar irradiance, with appropriate
subscripts for beam, diffuse, or spectral radiation.

• Irradiation or Radiant Exposure, J/m2: The incident

energy per unit area on a surface, found by integration
of irradiance over a specified time, usually an hour or a
day.
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Insolation: is a term applying specifically to solar

energy irradiation.
• H is used for insolation for a day.
• I is used for insolation for an hour (or other period if specified).
• H and I can represent beam, diffuse, or total and can be on
surfaces of any orientation.

• Subscripts on G, H, and I are as follows:

• “o” refers to radiation above the earth’s atmosphere, referred to
as extraterrestrial radiation;

• “b” and “d” refer to beam and diffuse radiation;

• “T” and “n” refer to radiation on a tilted plane and on a plane

normal to the direction of propagation.

• If neither “T” nor “n” appears, the radiation is on a horizontal

plane.
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Radiosity or Radiant Exitance, W/m2: The rate at

which radiant energy leaves a surface per unit area by
combined emission, reflection, and transmission.

• Emissive Power or Radiant Self-Exitance, W/m2: The

rate at which radiant energy leaves a surface per unit
area by emission only.

• Any of these radiation terms, except insolation, can

apply to any specified wave-length range (such as the
solar energy spectrum) or to monochromatic radiation.

• Insolation refers only to irradiation in the solar energy

spectrum.
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Any of these radiation terms, except insolation, can

apply to any specified wave-length range (such as the
solar energy spectrum) or to monochromatic radiation.

• Insolation refers only to irradiation in the solar energy

spectrum.
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Solar Time: Time based on the apparent angular motion

of the sun across the sky

• Solar noon: The time the sun crosses the meridian of

the observer.

• Solar time is the time used in all of the sun-angle

relationships; it does not coincide with local clock time.
meridian or longitude
 SOME DEFINITIONS
• It is necessary to convert standard time to solar time
by applying two corrections
• 1st there is a constant correction for the difference in longitude
between the observer’s meridian and the meridian on which the
local standard time is based♠.

• The sun takes 4 min to transverse 1◦ of longitude.

• 2nd correction is from the equation of time, which takes into

account the perturbations in the earth’s rate of rotation which
affect the time the sun crosses the observer’s meridian.

♠ To find the local standard meridian, multiply the time difference between local standard clock time and
Greenwich Mean Time by 15.
SOME DEFINITIONS
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• The geometric relationships between a plane of any
particular orientation relative to the earth at any time and
the position of the sun relative to that plane, can be
described in terms of several angles

• Φ or L: Latitude, • θz:Zenith angle,

• δ: Declination, • αs:Solar altitude angle,
• β: Slope, • γs:Solar azimuth angle
• γ: Surface azimuth angle
• ω or h: Hour angle,
• θ: Angle of incidence,
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• Some solar collectors ‘‘track’’ the sun by moving in

prescribed ways to minimize the angle of incidence of
beam radiation on their surfaces and thus maximize the
incident beam radiation.

• The angles of incidence (θ) and the surface azimuth

angles (γ) are needed for these collectors.

• Tracking systems are classified by their motions:

• Rotation can be about a single axis (which could have any
orientation) but which in practice is usually
• horizontal east-west,
• horizontal north-south,
• vertical,
• or parallel to the earth’s axis
• or rotation can be about two axes
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• Figure shows extraterrestrial radiation on a fixed

surface with slope equal to the latitude and also on
surfaces that track the sun about a horizontal north-
south or east-west axis at a latitude of 45◦ at the
summer and winter solstices
• Summer solstices:
δ=23.5o
• Winter solstices:
δ=-23.5o
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• It is clear that tracking can significantly change the time

distribution of incident beam radiation.
• Tracking does not always result in increased beam
radiation;
• compare the winter solstice radiation on the north-south
tracking surface with the radiation on the fixed surface.
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane rotated about a horizontal east-west axis

with a single daily adjustment so that the beam
radiation is normal to the surface at noon each day,

• The slope of this surface will be fixed for each day and
will be

• The surface azimuth angle for a day will be 0◦ or 180◦

depending on the latitude and declination:
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane rotated about a horizontal east-west axis

with continuous adjustment to minimize the angle of
incidence,

• The slope of this surface is given by

• The surface azimuth angle for this mode of orientation

will change between 0◦ and 180◦ if the solar azimuth
angle passes through ±90◦. For either hemisphere,
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane rotated about a horizontal north-south axis

with continuous adjustment to minimize the angle of
incidence,

• The slope is given by

• The surface azimuth angle γ will be 90◦ or −90◦

depending on the sign of the solar azimuth angle:
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane with a fixed slope rotated about a vertical

axis, the angle of incidence (θ) is minimized when the
surface azimuth and solar azimuth angles are equal.
From Equation 1.6.3, the angle of incidence is

• The slope is fixed, so

• The surface azimuth angle is

 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane rotated about a north-south axis parallel to

the earth’s axis with continuous adjustment to minimize θ,

• The slope varies continuously and is

• The surface azimuth angle is

• Where
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane that is continuously tracking about two axes

to minimize the angle of incidence,
RATIO OF BEAM RADIATION ON TILTED SURFACE TO THAT
ON HORIZONTAL SURFACE
• For solar process design, it is necessary to calculate the
hourly radiation on a tilted surface of a collector from
measurements or estimates of solar radiation on a
horizontal surface.

• The most commonly available data are total radiation

for hours or days on the horizontal surface, whereas
the need is for beam and diffuse radiation on the plane
of a collector.
diffuse
beam

measures all
RATIO OF BEAM RADIATION ON TILTED SURFACE TO THAT
ON HORIZONTAL SURFACE
• The geometric factor Rb, the ratio of beam radiation on
the tilted surface to that on a horizontal surface at any
time, can be calculated exactly by appropriate use of
Equation 1.6.2.
• Figure indicates the angle of incidence of beam
radiation on the horizontal and tilted surfaces.
• The ratio Gb,T /Gb is given by♥

• and cos θ and cos θz are both determined from Equation

1.6.2 (or from equations derived from Equation 1.6.2).

♥The symbol “G” is used in this book to denote rates, while “I” is used for energy quantities integrated
over an hour.
RATIO OF BEAM RADIATION ON TILTED SURFACE TO THAT
ON HORIZONTAL SURFACE
• The optimum azimuth angle for flat-plate collectors is
usually 0◦ in the northern hemisphere (or 180◦ in the
southern hemisphere).
• Thus it is a common situation that γ = 0◦ (or 180◦).
• In this case, Equations 1.6.5 and 1.6.7 can be used to
determine cos θz and cos θ, respectively, leading in the
northern hemisphere, for γ = 0◦, to

• In the southern hemisphere, γ = 180◦ and the equation

is
RATIO OF BEAM RADIATION ON TILTED SURFACE TO THAT
ON HORIZONTAL SURFACE
• A special case of interest is Rb,noon, the ratio for south-
facing surfaces at solar noon.

• From Equations 1.6.8a and 1.6.9a, for the northern

hemisphere,

• For the southern hemisphere, from Equations 1.6.8b and

1.6.9b,
 SHADING

• Three types of shading problems occur so frequently

that methods are needed to cope with them.

• The first is shading of a collector, window, or other

receiver by nearby trees, buildings, or other
obstructions.

• The second type includes shading of collectors in other

than the first row of multirow arrays by the collectors on
the adjoining row.

• The third includes shading of windows by overhangs

and wingwalls.
 SHADING

• At any point in time and at a particular latitude, φ, δ, and

ω are fixed.

• From the equations given above, the zenith angle θz or

solar altitude angle αs and the solar azimuth angle γs
can be calculated.
 SHADING
• A solar position plot of θz and αs versus γs for latitudes of
±45◦ is shown in Figure.
• Lines of constant declination are labeled by dates of mean
days of the months from Table 1.6.1.
• Lines of constant hour angles labeled by hours are shown.
 SHADING
• The angular position of buildings, wingwalls, overhangs,
or other obstructions can be entered on the same plot.

• For example
• if a building or other obstruction of known dimensions and
orientation is located a known distance from the point of interest
(i.e., the receiver, collector, or window),

• the angular coordinates corresponding to altitude and azimuth

angles of points on the obstruction (the object azimuth angle γo
and object altitude angle αo) can be calculated from
trigonometric considerations

• Alternatively, measurements of object altitude and azimuth

angles may be made at the site of a proposed receiver and the
angles plotted on the solar position plot.
 SHADING

• The solar position at a point in time can be represented

for a point location.

• Collectors and receivers have finite size, and what one

point on a large receiving surface ‘‘sees’’ may not be the
same as what another point sees.

• The problem is often to determine the amount of beam

radiation on a receiver.

• If shading obstructions are far from the receiver relative

to its size, so that shadows tend to move over the
receiver rapidly and the receiver is either shaded or not
shaded, the receiver can be thought of as a point.
 SHADING

• If a receiver is partially shaded, it can be considered to

consist of a number of smaller areas, each of which is
shaded or not shaded.

• Or integration over the receiver area may be performed

to determine shading effects.

• These integrations have been done for special cases of

overhangs and wingwalls.
 SHADING

• Overhangs and wingwalls are architectural features that

are applied to buildings to shade windows from beam
radiation.
• The solar position charts can be used to determine when
points on the receiver are shaded.

• The projection P is the horizontal distance from the

plane of the window to the outer edge of the overhang.
• The gap G is the vertical distance from the top of the
window to the horizontal plane that includes the outer
edge of the overhang.
• The height H is the vertical dimension of the window.
 SHADING

• The angle of incidence of beam radiation on a shading

plane can be calculated from its surface azimuth angle γ
and its slope β = 90 + ψ by Equation 1.6.2 or equivalent.
• The angle ψ of shading plane 1 is

• And that for shading plane 2 is

• Note that if the profile angle αp is less than 90 − ψ, the
outer surface of the shading plane will ‘‘see’’ the sun and
beam radiation will reach the receiver
 SHADING
• Shading calculations are needed when flat-plate
collectors are arranged in rows.

• Normally, the first row is unobstructed, but the second

row may be partially shaded by the first, the third by the
second, and so on.

• As long as the profile angle is greater than the angle

CAB, no point on row N will be shaded by row M.

• If the profile angle at a point in time is CA’B’ and is less

than CAB, the portion of row N below point A’ will be
shaded from beam radiation.