UNIT I

Solar Radiation
 UNIT-I

I. Introduction

The people of energy dependant countries like India are much aware of the importance
of conversion, conservation and development of new energy sources. Today the Power
Engineer is concerned with three “E‟s” namely Energy, Economics and Ecology
(Environment). Thus the power engineer must try to develop systems that produce large
quantities of energy with minimal cost and with low impact on environment. The proper
balance of these 3 “E‟s” is a major technological challenge.

In any energy conversion process, the energy must be conserved as implied by First
Law of Thermodynamics. (For discussion: Einstein Equation) open system, closed system,
isolated system, energy transformation, energy transfer (involves shaft work) machines).

MAN AND ENERGY:

 ENERGY is the ability to do work.

 ENERGY is the primary and most universal measure of all kind o f

work by human beings and nature.
 Energy: It is the capability to produce motion, force, work, change in shape, change in form
etc.

Energy exists in several forms such as:

 Chemical energy

 Nuclear energy

 Mechanical energy
 Electrical energy

 Internal energy

 Bio-energy in vegetables and animal bodies

 Thermal energy etc.

 CLASSIFICATION OF ENERGY SOURCES:

1. BASED ON USABILITY

a) PRIMARY SOURCES

 These sources are obtained from environment.

 Example: fossil fuels, solar energy, hydro energy and tidal energy.

b) SECONDARY SOURCES

 These resources do not occur in nature but are derived from primary energy resources.

c) SUPPLIMENTRY SOURCES
 It is define as those whose net energy yield is zero and those requiring highest
investment in terms of energy insulation (thermal) is an example of this source.
2. BASED ON TRADITIONAL

a) CONVECTION

 The sources of energy which have been in use for a long time, e.g., coal,
petroleum, natural gas and waterpower.
b) NON CONVECTION

 The resources which are yet in the process of development over the past few
years. It includes solar, wind, tidal, biogas, and biomass, geothermal.
3. BASED ON LONG TERM AVAILABILITY

a) RENEWABLE

 These sources are being continuously produced in nature and are in exhaustible.

 Wood, wind energy, biomass, biogas, solar energy etc.

b) NON RENEWABLE

 These are finite and exhaustible.

 Coal, petroleum etc.

4. BASED ON COMMERCIALAPPLICATION

a) COMMERCIAL

 The commercial energy has great economic value. This energy pollutes the
environment badly. These types of energy are limited in nature. High capital
investment is required in the purification. It is used in urban as well as rural
areas. Coal, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear energy.
 b) NON COMMERCIAL

 The non-commercial energy is cheaper. This is pure and keeps the environment
clean. Abundant in nature. It can be used in raw form. It is dominantly used in
rural areas. Cow dung, charcoal, firewood and agricultural waste.
Advantages of convectional/non renewable energy sources

 The advantage of non renewable energy is its easy and cheap to use.

 There is no better way to store transfer and use energy than gasoline for powering
motor vehicles.
 It's quick to pump fossil fuel into a car. It's stable in the tank and a gas tank hold
quite a bit, and a gasoline powered car is cheap to manufacture.
 Coal is a ready-made fuel. It is relatively cheap to mine and to convert into energy.
Coal supplies will last longer than oil or gas Oil is a ready-made fuel. Relatively cheap
to mine and to convert into energy. It is a relatively cheap form of energy.
 Natural Gas is a ready-made fuel. It's a slightly cleaner fuel than coal or oil, emitting
less carbon dioxide.
 Nuclear has a small amount of radioactive material produces a lot of energy. And
raw materials are relatively cheap and can last quite a longtime. It doesn't give off
atmospheric pollutants.

Disadvantages of convectional/non renewable energy sources

 Non-renewable energy comes from fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas, uranium): they
are non-renewable and fast depleting.
 They leave behind harmful by-products upon combustion, thereby causing a lot of
Pollution; mining of such fuels leads to irreversible damage to the adjoining
environment.
 Fossil fuels pollute the environment. They will eventually run out. Prices for fossil
fuels are rising, especially if the real cost of their carbon is included. Burning fossil
fuels produces carbon dioxide, a major cause of global warming.

NON-CONVENTIONAL SOURCES/RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

 A plenty of energy is needed to sustain industrial growth and agricultural production.

The existing sources of energy such as coal, oil, uranium etc. may not be adequate to
meet the ever increasing energy demands. These conventional sources of energy are also
depleting and may be exhausted at the end of the century or beginning of the next
century.
 Consequently sincere and untiring efforts shall have to be made by the scientists
and engineers in exploring the possibilities of harnessing energy from several
non- conventional energy sources.
 The various non-conventional energy sources are as follows:
1. Solar energy

2. Wind energy

3. Energy from biomass and biogas

4. Ocean thermal energy conversion

5. Tidal energy

6. Geothermal energy

7. Hydrogen energy

8. Fuel cells

9. Magneto-hydro-dynamic generator

10. Thermionic converter

11. Thermo-electric power.

Fig: 1. 1 Classification of Energy sources

1. Direct application of solar energy

1. Solar Space heating and cooling of residential buildings

2. Solar water heating

3. Solar drying of agricultural and animal products

4. Solar distillation

5. Salt production by evaporation of seawater or inland brines

6. Solar cookers
 7. Solar pumping

8. Food refrigeration

9. Solar greenhouses

10. Solar furnaces

11. Solar electric Power generation

12. Solar photovoltaic cells
2. Indirect application of solar energy

1. Wind energy

 A small portion of solar radiation reaches on earth surface causes wind due to:

a) Heating up of earth surface due to absorption of solar radiation and cooling at night.

b) Rotation of earth and its motion around sun.

PRINCIPLES OF SOLAR RADIATION

Role and potential of new and renewable source

India has a vast supply of renewable energy resources, and it has one of the largest programs in
the world for deploying renewable energy products and systems. Indeed, it is the only country in the
world to have an exclusive ministry for renewable energy development, the Ministry of Non-
Conventional Energy Sources (MNES). Since its formation, the Ministry has launched one of the world’s
largest and most ambitious programs on renewable energy. Based on various promotional efforts put in
place by MNES, significant progress is being made in power generation from renewable energy sources.
In October, MNES was renamed the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Specifically, 3,700 MW are currently powered by renewable energy sources (3.5 percent of total
installed capacity). This is projected to be 10,000 MW from renewable energy by 2012.

The key drivers for renewable energy are the following:

o The demand-supply gap, especially as population increases
o A large untapped potential
o Concern for the environment
o The need to strengthen India’s energy security
o Pressure on high-emission industry sectors from their shareholders
o A viable solution for rural electrification

Also, with a commitment to rural electrification, the Ministry of Power has accelerated the Rural
Electrification Program with a target of 100,000 villages by 2012.

Introduction In recent years, India has emerged as one of the leading destinations for investors
from developed countries. This attraction is partially due to the lower cost of manpower and good
quality production. The expansion of investments has brought benefits of employment, development,
and growth in the quality of life, but only to the major cities. This sector only represents a small portion
of the total population. The remaining population still lives in very poor conditions.

India is now the eleventh largest economy in the world, fourth in terms of purchasing power. It
is poised to make tremendous economic strides over the next ten years, with significant development
already in the planning stages. This report gives an overview of the renewable energies market in India.
We look at the current status of renewable markets in India, the energy needs of the country, forecasts
of consumption and production, and we assess whether India can power its growth and its society with
renewable resources.

The Ministry of Power has set an agenda of providing Power to All by 2012. It seeks to achieve
this objective through a comprehensive and holistic approach to power sector development envisaging a
six level intervention strategy at the National, State, SEB, Distribution, Feeder and Consumer levels.

Environmental impacts of solar energy:

Every energy generation and transmission method affects the environment. As it is obvious
conventional generating options can damage air, climate, water, land and wildlife, landscape, as well as
raise the levels of harmful radiation. Renewable technologies are substantially safer offering a solution
to many environmental and social problems associated with fossil and nuclear fuels (EC,1995,1997).
Solar energy technologies (SETs) provide obvious environmental advantages in comparison to the
conventional energy sources, thus contributing to the sustainable development of human activities
Not counting the depletion of the exhausted natural resources, their main advantage is related to the
reduced CO2 emissions, and, normally, absence of any air emissions or waste products during their
operation. Concerning the environment, the use of SETs has additional positive implications such as:

* reduction of the emissions of the greenhouse gases (mainly CO2,NO x) and prevention of
toxic Gas emissions (SO2,particulates)
* reclamation of degraded land;
* reduction of the required transmission lines of the electricity grids; and
* improvement of the quality of water resources

The basic research in solar energy is being carried in universities and educational and research
institutions, public sector institution, BHEL and Central Electronic Limited and carrying out a coordinated
program of research of solar energy.

The application of solar energy is

1. Heating and cooling residential buildings

2. Solar water heating
3. Solar drying of agricultural and chemical products.
4. Solar distillation of a small community scale
5. Salt production by evaporation of sea water
6. Solar cookers
7. Solar engines for water pumping
8. Food refrigeration
9. Bio conversion and wind energy and which are indirect source of solar energy
10. Solar furnaces
 11. Solar electric power generation by
i) Solar ponds
ii) Steam generators heated by rotating reflectors
iii) reflectors with lenses and pipes for fluid circulation
12. Solar photovoltaic cells which can be used for conversion of solar energy directly into
electricity (or) for water pumping in rural agriculture purposes.

PRESENT SENERIO:
TPP - 65.34%
HYDRO - 21.53%

NUCLEAR - 2.7%
RENEWABLE - 10.42%
WIND CAPACITY - 14550 MW.
20,000 MW solar by 2022.
Installed power generation capacity of India 181.558 GW
Per capita energy consumption stood at 704 KW.
1/3 GW of installed capacity by 2017

Solar Radiation

Solar energy, received in the form of radiation, can be converted directly or indirectly in to other
forms of energy, such as heat and electricity. The major draw backs of the extensive application of solar
energy of
1. the intermittent and variable manner in which it arrives at the earth’s surface and
2. The large area requires to collect the energy at a useful rate.
Energy is radiated by the sun as electromagnetic waves of which 99% have wave lengths in the
range of 0.2 to 4.0 micro meter (1 micro meter = 10-6 meter)
Solar energy reaching the top of the earth’s atmosphere consists of about
 8% ultra violet radiation [short wave length >0.39 micrometer]
 46% visible light [0.39 to 0.78 micrometer]
 46 % infrared [0.78 micro meter above]

Solar constant

The sun is a large sphere of very hot gases, the heat being generated by various kinds of fusion
reactions. Its diameter is 1.39 X 106 km while that of earth is 1.27 X 104 km. the mean distance between
the two is 1.5 X 108 km. although the sun is large, its subtends angle of only 32 min. at the earth’s
surface.

The brightness of the sun varies from its center to its edge. However the calculation purpose the
brightness all over the solar disc is uniform.

The total radiation from the sun is 5762 degrees K

 The rate at which solar energy arise at the top of the atmosphere is called the solar constant I sc . This
is the amount of energy received in unit time on a unit area perpendicular to the sun’s direction at the
mean distance of the earth from the sun.

The solar constant value varies up to 3 % throughout the year, because the distance between the
sun and the earth varies little throughout the year.

The earth is close set of the sun during the summer and farthest during the winter.

This variation in distance produces sinusoidal variation in the intensity of solar radiation I that
reaches the earth.

Fig .Solar radiation

ISC = 1367 watts/m2

360 𝑛
= 1+0.033 cos . Where n is the day of the year.
𝐼𝑆𝐶 365

Spectral distribution of solar radiation intensity at the outer limit of the atmosphere
 The luminosity of the Sun is about 3.86 x 1026 watts. This is the total power radiated out into
space by the Sun. Most of this radiation is in the visible and infrared part of the electromagnetic
spectrum, with less than 1 % emitted in the radio, UV and X-ray spectral bands. The sun’s energy is
radiated uniformly in all directions. Because the Sun is about 150 million kilometers from the Earth, and
because the Earth is about 6300 km in radius, only 0.000000045% of this power is intercepted by our
planet. This still amounts to a massive 1.75 x 1017 watts. For the purposes of solar energy capture, we
normally talk about the amount of power in sunlight passing through a single square meter face-on to
the sun, at the Earth's distance from the Sun. The power of the sun at the earth, per square meter is
called the solar constant and is approximately 1370 watts per square meter (W m-2).

Solar Radiation Measuring Instruments (Radiometers)

A radiometer absorbs solar radiation at its sensor, transforms it into heat and measures the
resulting amount of heat to ascertain the level of solar radiation. Methods of measuring heat include
taking out heat flux as a temperature change (using a water flow pyrheliometer, a silver-disk
pyrheliometer or a bimetallic pyranograph) or as a thermo electromotive force (using a thermoelectric
pyrheliometer or a thermo electric pyranometer). In current operation, types using a thermopile are
generally used.

The radiometers used for ordinary observation are pyrheliometers and pyranometers that
measure direct solar radiation and global solar radiation, respectively, and these instruments are
described in this section. For details of other radiometers such as measuring instruments for diffuse sky
radiation and net radiation, refer to ”Guide to Meteorological Instruments and Observation Methods”
and “Compendium of Lecture Notes on Meteorological Instruments for Training Class III and Class IV
Meteorological Personnel “published by WMO.

Pyrheliometers

A pyrheliometer is used to measure direct solar radiation from the sun and its marginal
periphery. To measure direct solar radiation correctly, its receiving surface must be arranged to be
normal to the solar direction. For this reason, the instrument is usually mounted on a sun-tracking
device called an equatorial mount.

The structure of an Angstrom electrical compensation pyrheliometer is shown in Figure.

This is a reliable instrument used to observe direct solar radiation, and has long been accepted
as a working standard. However, its manual operation requires experience.
 This pyrheliometer has a rectangular aperture, two manganin-strip sensors (20.0 mm × 2.0 mm
×0.02 mm) and several diaphragms to let only direct sunlight reach the sensor The sensor surface is
painted optical black and has uniform absorption characteristics for short-wave radiation. A copper-
constantan thermocouple is attached to the rear of each sensor strip; and the thermocouple is
connected to a galvanometer. The sensor strips also work as electric resistors and
Generate heat when a current flows across them.

When solar irradiance is measured with this type of pyrheliometer, the small shutter on the
front face of the cylinder shields one sensor strip from sunlight, allowing it to reach only the other
sensor. A temperature difference is therefore produced between the two sensor strips because one
absorbs solar radiation and the other does not, and a thermo electromotive force proportional to this
difference induces current flow through the galvanometer. Then, a current is supplied to the cooler
sensor strip (the one shaded from solar radiation) until the pointer in the galvanometer indicates zero, at
which point the temperature raised by solar radiation is compensated by Joule heat. A value for direct
solar irradiance is obtained by converting the compensated current at this time. If S is the intensity of
direct solar irradiance and i is the current, then S = Ki2,
Where K is a constant intrinsic to the instrument and is determined from the size and electric
resistance of the sensor strips and the absorption coefficient of their surfaces. The value of K is usually
determined through comparison with an upper-class standard pyrheliometer.

Pyranometers:
A Pyranometer is an instrument which measure’s either global or diffuse radiation falling on a
horizontal surface over a hemispherical field of view. A sketch of one type of Pyranometer as
installed form measuring global radiation is shown in the following figure. Pyranometer consists of
a black surface which heats up when exposed to solar radiation. Its temperature increases until the
rate of heat gain by solar radiation equals the rate of heat loss by convection, conduction and
radiation. The hot junctions of thermopile are attached to the black surface, while the cold junctions
 are located under a guard plate so that they do not receive the radiation directly. As a result an emf
is generated. This emf which is usually in the range of 0 t0 10mv can be read, recorded or integrated
over a period of time and is a measure of global radiation.

The Pyranometer can also be used for measurement of diffuse radiation. This is done by
mounting it at the center of a semi circular shading ring. The shading ring is fixed in such a
way that it’s plane is parallel to the plane of path of sun’s daily movement across the sky and
it shades the thermopile element and two glass domes of Pyranometer at all the times from
direct sunshine. Consequently the Pyranometer measures only the diffuse radiation received from the
sky.

In the case of a pyranometer, methods of ascertaining the temperature difference are as

follows:

1) Several pairs of thermocouples are connected in series to make a thermopile that detects
the temperature difference between the black and white radiation-sensing surfaces.
2) The temperature difference between two black radiation-sensing surfaces with differing areas
is detected by a thermopile.
3) The temperature difference between a radiation-sensing surface painted solid black and a
metallic block with high heat capacity is detected by a thermopile.

Sunshine recorder
 The duration of bright sunshine in a day is measured by means of sun shine recorder. The sun’s
rays are focused by a glass sphere to a point on a card strip held in a groove in spherical bowl mounted
concentrically with the sphere. Whenever there is a bright sun shine the image formed is intensive
enough to burn a part on the card strip. throughout the day as sun moves across the sky, the image
moves along the strip. Thus, a burnt trace whose length is proportional to the duration of sun shine is
obtained on the strip.
Solar Radiation Data

Most radiation data is measured for horizontal surfaces. As shown in figure. It is seen a fairly,
smooth variations with the maximum occurring around noon is obtained on a clear day. In contrast
an irregular variation with many peaks and valleys may be obtained on a cloudy day.

 Peak values are generally measured in April or may with parts of Rajasthan or Gujarat receiving
over 600 Langley’s per day.
 During the monsoon and winter months, the daily global radiation decreases to about 300-
400 Longley per day.
 Annual average daily diffuse radiation received over the whole country is around 175longlays
per day.
 The maximum value is about 300 Langley’s in Gujarat in July, while the minimum values
between 75 and 100 Langley’s per day, are measured over many parts of the country during
November and December as winter sets in.

Solar radiation on tilted surface:

The rate of receipt of solar energy on a given surface on the ground depends on the orientation of
the surface with reference to the sun. A fully sun – tracking surface that always faces the sun receives
the maximum possible solar energy at the particular location.

A surface of the same area oriented in any other direction will receive a smaller amount of radiation
because solar radiation is such a dilute form of energy, it is desirable to capture as much as possible on a
ground area. Most of the solar collectors or solar radiation collecting devices are tilted at an angle to
horizontal surface with Y=0 facing south for tilted surface.
Principle of solar energy conversion to heat:

The principle on which the solar energy is converted into heat is the greenhouse effect. The
name is derived from the first application of green houses in which it is possible to grow
vegetation in cold climate through the better utilization of the available sunlight. The solar
radiation incident on the earth‘s surface at a particular wavelength increases the surface
temp of the earth. As a result of difference in temp between the earth‘s surface and the
surroundings, the absorbed radiation is reradiated back to the atmosphere with its
wavelength increased. The Co2 gas in the atmosphere is transparent to the incoming shorter
wavelength solar radiation, while it is opaque to the long wave length reradiated radiation.
As a result of this the long wavelength radiation gets reflected repeatedly between the
earth‘s atmosphere and the earth‘s surface resulting in the increase in temp of the earth‘s
surface. This is known as the Green House Effect. This is the principle by which solar energy
is converted to thermal energy using collector. In a flat plate collector the absorber plate
which is a black metal plate absorbs the radiation incident through the glass covers. The
temp of the absorber plate increases and it begins to emit radiation of longer wavelength
(IR). This long wave length radiation is blocked from the glass covers which act like the Co2
layer in the atmosphere. This repeated reflection of radiation between the covers and the
absorber plate results in the rise of the temp of the absorber plate.
Solar Collectors

Solar collectors are the key component of active solar-heating systems. Solar collectors gather
the sun's energy, transform its radiation into heat, and then transfer that heat to water, solar fluid, or
air. The solar thermal energy can be used in solar water heating systems, solar pool heaters, and solar
space- heating systems. There are several types of solar collectors:
 Flat-plate collectors
 Evacuated-tube collectors

Residential and commercial building applications that require temperatures below 200°F
typically use flat-plate collectors, whereas those requiring temperatures higher than 200°F use
evacuated-tube collectors.

Flat-plate collectors

Flat-plate collectors are the most common solar collector for solar water-heating systems in
homes and solar space heating. A typical flat-plate collector is an insulated metal box with a glass or
plastic cover (called the glazing) and a dark-colored absorber plate. These collectors heat liquid or air at
temperatures less than 180°F.Flat-plate collectors are used for residential water heating and hydronic
space-heating installations.

Liquid flat-plate collector’s heat liquid as it flows through tubes in or adjacent to the absorber plate. The
simplest liquid systems use potable household water, which is heated as it passes directly through the
collector and then flows to the house. Solar pool heating this home in Nevada has an integral collector
Storage (ICS) system to provide hot water. Also uses liquid flat-plate collector technology, but the
collectors are typically unglazed as in figure below.
 Unglazed solar collectors typically used for swimming pool heating.

Air flat-plate collectors are used primarily for solar space heating. The absorber plates in air collectors
can be metal sheets, layers of screen, or non-metallic materials. The air flows past the absorber by using
natural convection or a fan. Because air conducts heat much less readily than liquid does, less heat is
transferred from an air collector's absorber than from a liquid collector's absorber, and air collectors are
typically less efficient than liquid collectors.

Air flat-plate collectors are used for space heating.

Evacuated-tube collectors

Evacuated-tube collectors can achieve extremely high temperatures (170°F to 350°F), making
them more appropriate for cooling applications and commercial and industrial application. However,
evacuated-tube collectors are more expensive than flat-plate collectors, with unit area costs about twice
that of flat-plate collectors. Evacuated-tube collectors are efficient at high temperatures. The collectors
are usually made of parallel rows of transparent glass tubes. Each tube contains a glass outer tube and
metal absorber tube attached to a fin. The fin is covered with a coating that absorbs solar energy well,
but which inhibits radiative heat loss. Air is removed, or evacuated, from the space between the two
glass tubes to form a vacuum, which eliminates conductive and convective heat loss. A new evacuated-
tube design is available from the Chinese manufacturers, such as: Beijing Sunda Solar Energy Technology
Co. Ltd. The "Dewar" design features a vacuum contained between two concentric glass tubes, with the
absorber selective coating on the inside tube. Water is typically allowed to thermo syphon down and
back out the inner cavity to transfer the heat to the storage tank. There are no glass-to-metal seals. This
type of evacuated tube has the potential to become cost-competitive with flat plates.

Concentrating collectors:

These are the solar collectors where the radiation is focused either to a point (focal point of the
collector) or along a line (focal axis of the collector). Since the radiation is focused, the η of concentrating
collector is always greater than that of non-focusing or FPC.
This is because of the following reasons,

1) In case of focusing collector the area of the absorber is many times smaller than that of the area of
the collector. Where as in a non-concentrating type the area of the absorber equals area of the collector. Hence
here the loss of absorbed radiation is more compared to the concentrating type.
In a concentrating collectors in the radiation is focused, its intensity is always greater than that
in the non-focusing type. Because of these reasons the concentrating collectors are always used
for high temp applications like power generation and industrial process heating
Fig 2.5 Solar Collectors
 Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC):

Compound Parabolic Concentrator consists of two parabolic mirror segments, attached to a flat
receiver. The segments are oriented such that the focus of one is located at the bottom end
point of the other in contact with the receiver. It has a large acceptance angle and needs to bead
just intermittently. Rays in the central region of the aperture reach the absorber directly whereas,
those near the edges undergo one or more reflections before reaching the absorber. The
concentration ratio achieved from this collector is in the range of 3-7.

Cylindrical Parabolic Concentrator:

It consists of a cylindrical parabolic through reflector and a metal tube receiver at its focal line as
shown in figure above. The receiver tube is blackened at the outside surface to increase
absorption. It is rotated about one axis to track the sun. The heat transfer fluid flows through the
receiver tube, carrying the thermal energy to the next stage of the system. This type of collector
maybe oriented in anyone of the three directions: East-West, North-South or polar. The polar
configuration intercepts more solar radiation per unit area as compared to other modes and thus
gives best performance. The concentration ratio in the range of 5-30 may be achieved from these
collectors.

Fixed Mirror Solar Concentrator:

Due to practical difficulty in manufacturing a large mirror in a single piece in cylindrical parabolic
shape, long narrow mirror strips are used in this concentrator. The concentrator consists of fixed
mirror strips arranged on a circular reference cylinder with a tracking receiver tube as shown in
Figure above. The receiver tube is made to rotate about the center of curvature of reflector
module to track the sun. The image width at the absorber is ideally the same as the projected
width of a mirror element; the concentration ratio is approximately the same as the number of
mirrors trips.