MSC RENEWABLE ENERGY

MRE502: Solar Energy

Systems
Lecture 2: Solar energy resource
assessment

Prof Emmanuel Mashonjowa

Physics Dept, Univ of Zimbabwe
WHAT IS THIS LECTURE ABOUT?

 The lecture covers the physics of solar

energy as the scientific background of its
exploration in renewable energy
applications.
 To accommodate students of various
majors, certain basic topics in physics as
related to solar energy are presented
from scratch.
2
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this

lecture, you should be able to:
1. demonstrate a knowledge of fundamental aspects of
the structure of the sun, radiation laws and the
interaction of radiation and matter;
2. discuss radiation physics applications in emerging
technologies associated with solar energy;
3. describe experimental and modelling techniques used
(or developed) for assessment of solar radiation
4. characterization of solar potential of various regions
3
and discuss their influence on development of new
technologies
 Outline
Solar Resource
(justification)
Overview of Solar
Radiation Concepts
Factors Affecting
Amount of Solar
Radiation
Solar Radiation
Quantities
Radiation sensors
Exposure of radiation
sensors
Assessment of solar radiation resources
 Radiation and Earth’s Atmosphere
 The earth’s global average surface
temperature in present climate is 15C .
 Without the atmosphere, it would be -18C
(about 33C colder!)
 Atmosphere is the most important component of
the earth’s climate.

 Radiation vs. other heat sources:

 Total energy entering the earth’s atmosphere:
174 petawatts or 174×1015 Watts
 Solar: 99.978%, Geothermal: 0.013%, waste &
5

fossil fuel: 0.007%, tidal: 0.002%

 Earth’s Atmosphere
6

1. What is it?
A thin gaseous envelope around the planet.
Blue sky!
2. Composition
Today’s atmosphere: nitrogen (78%), oxygen
(21%), other (1%) – trace gases!

Nitrogen, oxygen, argon, water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and most
other gases are invisible.
Clouds are not gas, but condensed vapor in the form of
liquid droplets or ice particles.

Ground based smog, which is visible, contains reactants of

nitrogen and ozone.
3. Structure Four layers:
Troposphere (overturning) From surface to 8-18 km
Stratosphere (stratified) From troposphere top to 50 km
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
 The Structure of Earth’s Atmosphere
1. Four layers defined by temperature
Troposphere:
T decreases with elevation
Stratosphere:
T increases with elevation
Mesosphere:
T decreases with elevation
Thermosphere:
T increases with elevation
2. Importance to climate and climate change
Troposphere:
80% of Earth’s gases
Most of Earth’s weather happens
Most of the measurements
Stratosphere:
19.9% of Earth’s gases
Ozone layer: 7
Blocking Sun’s ultraviolet radiation
 Energy from the Sun
1. Characteristics

Travels through space (vacuum)

in a speed of light
In the form of waves:
Electromagnetic waves
In stream of particles (Photons)
Releases heat when absorbed
2. Electromagnetic spectrum

From short wavelength, high energy,

gamma rays to long wavelength, low
energy, radio waves

3. Importance to climate and

climate change
Primary driving force of Earth’s climate engine
Ultraviolet, Visible, Infrared 8
WHAT IS METEOROLOGY?
 Meteorology is the study of phenomena of the
atmosphere – includes the dynamics, physics, and
chemistry of the atmosphere. (from the Greek
meteōros – ‘lofty’)
 In this context restricted to the dynamics and
thermodynamics of the atmosphere as it affects
human life (and renewable energy systems).

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 Weather
 The state of the atmosphere; mainly with respect to
its effects upon human activities. Short term
variability of the atmosphere (time scales of
minutes to months).
Popularly thought of in terms of: temperature, wind,
humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, brightness, and
visibility.
 A category of individual/combined atmospheric
phenomena which describe the conditions at the
time of an observation.
 Climate
 Long term statistical description of the atmospheric
conditions, averaged over a specified period of time -
usually decades.
WHY STUDY METEOROLOGY?
 Resource planning and management
 Solar farm location
 Wind farms, etc
 Warning of severe weather

 Agriculture
 Timing of planting, harvesting, etc to avoid bad weather,
hazards to livestock
 Transport & services
 Shipping, aviation, road gritting, flood warnings,…
 Commerce
 Should a supermarket order BBQs and icecream, or
umbrellas?
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WHAT DO WE WANT TO KNOW?
 Temperature  Trends in all of these
 Wind speed  Timing of significant
 Wind direction changes
 Clouds  Occurrence of extreme

 Type, extent, altitude events

 Precipitation?
 Type, amount, location
 Visibility
 Fog, haze
 Humidity

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HOW FAR AHEAD?
 Ideally:
 as far ahead as possible!
 In practice
 3-5 days is the limit of reasonable
quantitative forecasts.
 Medium-range forecasts (5-10) days are
made, but limited to large-scale
pressure field and winds, NOT detailed
conditions.
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WHY DO WE NEED DATA ON SOLAR ENERGY?

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WHY SOLAR RESOURCE DATA ARE IMPORTANT

 Sunlight is the fuel for all solar energy

generation technologies.
 Like any generation source, knowledge of its
quality and future availability and reliability is
essential for accurate analyses of system
performance and the financial viability of a
project.
 With solar energy systems, the variability of
the supply of sunlight probably represents the
single greatest uncertainty in a solar power
plant’s predicted performance. 15
WHY SOLAR RESOURCE DATA ARE IMPORTANT

 Solar resource data and modelling factor

into three elements of a solar project’s
life:
Site selection
Predicted power plant output
Temporal performance and operating
strategy.

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OVERVIEW OF SOLAR RADIATION
RESOURCE CONCEPTS
• Radiation - the transfer of
energy in the form of
waves or particles.
• These waves are called
electromagnetic (E-M)
waves and the particles
are called photons; both
refer to the same form of
energy.
• This energy is released
when absorbed by an 17
object.
 The heat from the sun excites or disturbs electric
and magnetic fields, setting up a wave-like
activity in space
 with characteristics of both electric fields and magnetic
fields.

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 Electromagnetic Radiation can be described in
terms of a stream of mass-less particles that
travel at the speed of light in wave-like
patterns
 (3 ×108 m/s or 300,000 km/s).

 The radiation spreads in all directions and

moves in straight lines.

 EM Radiation types are distinguished by their

wavelength, their frequency and the differing
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levels of energy found in their photons.

 EM radiation is described by three variables:
 Wavelength,  [m, cm, mm, m, nm]

 Frequency,  (or f ) [s-1, Hz]

 Velocity, c [m/ s]

 (c = “speed of light” ~ 3 × 108 m/s)

c c
  c   
 
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 The relationship between the frequency or
wavelength of radiation and energy (E) of each
radiative particle (or photon) is:

E  h h c

where h is Planck’s constant (6.626 × 10-34 J s)

Short wavelengths carry more energy per

wave or photon than long wavelengths.
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 ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 thedistribution of radiative energy over
different wavelengths, or frequencies.

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RADIATION IN THE EARTH-ATMOSPHERE
SYSTEM

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Solar (short wave) radiation

UV < 0.4 “Near” IR > 0.7

Vis

Visible ~ 0.4 – 0.7 m 24

FACTORS AFFECTING AMOUNT OF
SOLAR RADIATION
• Total Solar Irradiance (Solar Constant)
• Atmospheric gases (CO2, N2….)
• Ozone
• Clouds (droplet and ice)
• Total precipitable water
• Aerosols and dust
• Location (space)
• Time of day
• Surface Albedo
25
FACTORS AFFECTING AMOUNT OF
SOLAR RADIATION
• Total Solar Irradiance (Solar Constant)
• Atmospheric gases (CO2, N2….)
• Ozone
• Clouds (droplet and ice)
• Total precipitable water
• Aerosols and dust
• Location (space)
• Time of day
• Surface Albedo
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 SOLAR RADIATION
 The sun emits ~ 7 × 107 W/m2

 The amount of radiation that reaches the surface of the

earth is greatly reduced because of the distance between
the sun and the earth.

 In accordance with the Inverse Square Law:

 states that the amount of radiation passing through a
specific area is inversely proportional to the square of
the distance of that area from the energy source.

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INVERSE SQUARE LAW:

28
THE AMOUNT OF SOLAR RADIATION RECEIVED BY
ANY OBJECT LOCATED AT A DISTANCE OF r FROM
THE SUN IS:

2
R
I  2  E sun
r
where:
R = radius of the Sun = 6.96 x 105 km = 6.96 x 108 m
Esun = Irradiance (flux) at the surface of the Sun
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SOLAR CONSTANT, S0

 the amount of solar radiation that

reaches a surface oriented perpendicular
to the sun’s rays at the top of the earth’s
atmosphere at the mean sun-earth
distance (1.5 × 108 km).
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To calculate S0 :

2
R
S0   Esun
2
r

with r = average Sun-Earth Distance

= 1.5 x 108 km = 1.5 x 1011 m

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TO CALCULATE S0:
• Assuming Tsun = 5800K, Esun = 6.4 × 107 W/m2:

6.96 10  8 2

1.510 
7 2
S0   6.4 10  1381 W / m
11 2

• The actual value of S0 is lower, ranging between

1369 and 1375 W/m2 with a mean of 1373 W/m2.

32
FACTORS AFFECTING AMOUNT OF
SOLAR RADIATION
• Total Solar Irradiance (Solar Constant)
• Atmospheric gases (CO2, N2….)
• Ozone
• Clouds (droplet and ice)
• Total precipitable water
• Aerosols and dust
• Location (space)
• Time of day
• Surface Albedo
33
Absorption by the atmosphere removes about
20% of the solar radiation before it reaches the
Earth’s surface (on a clear day).

Shaded areas show

absorption by
atmospheric gases

34
THERE ARE TWO ATMOSPHERIC WINDOWS:
 Atmospheric Window: a spectral range where the
atmosphere is nearly transparent to radiation.
 visible range window (0.4 - 0.7 m):
 lets most solar radiation through to the surface;

 enables solar radiation to “deliver” the bulk of its energy

to the surface (for use in physical processes).
 longwave (thermal) window (8- 14 m):
 lets some terrestrial radiation through to space;

 enables Earth to “vent off” some of its energy back to

35
space.
SOLAR RADIATION (SHORTWAVE)
ABSORBERS:

 UV-absorbers: ozone (O3), oxygen (O2)

 visible range (0.4 - 0.7 µm): almost

none

 atmospheric window
36
TERRESTRIAL RADIATION (LONGWAVE)
ABSORBERS:

 IR absorbers:
- H2O, CO2, N2O, O3, O2
 peak terrestrial radiation (8 - 14 µm)

 almost none
 atmospheric window

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GREENHOUSE EFFECT
 The atmosphere is transparent for solar
radiation, but nearly opaque for
terrestrial (longwave) radiation:
 greenhouse radiation trap
greenhouse effect
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IF THESE WINDOWS ARE CLOSED…..

visible range window (0.4 - 0.7 m):

o due to increased cloud cover, and/or

reflective aerosol

- increase in global albedo

- reduction of energy input into E/A system

- cooling effect
39
IF THESE WINDOWS ARE CLOSED…..

longwave window (8 - 14 m):

 due to increased H2O, CO2, methane or

other greenhouse gases

− increased IR-absorption in atmosphere

− warming effect
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 the enhanced Greenhouse Effect
ATMOSPHERIC INFLUENCES ON RADIATION

41
FACTORS AFFECTING AMOUNT OF
SOLAR RADIATION
• Total Solar Irradiance (Solar Constant)
• Atmospheric gases (CO2, N2….)
• Ozone
• Clouds (droplet and ice)
• Total precipitable water
• Aerosols and dust
• Location (space)
• Time of day
• Surface Albedo
42
RADIATION INCIDENT ON EARTH
 Insolation
Is affected by:

 earth’s rotation about its own axis

 the earth’s elliptical orbit around the

sun

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44
 EFFECT OF ATMOSPHERE
 Earth's atmosphere reduces the amount of insolation
striking earth's surface.
 Earth's atmosphere and tilt combine to explain variation
in received solar radiation.

45
SOLAR INSOLATION AT EARTH’S SURFACE AS A
FUNCTION OF LATITUDE AND MONTH (W/m2)

46
THE SEASONS

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 EFFECT OF THE EARTH'S AXIS ON
INSOLATION
 Orientation of the Earth's axis affects the
amount of solar radiation (insolation)
reaching the Earth in three ways:
1) period of daylight,
2) the angle that solar radiation impacts the earth's
atmosphere,
3) the amount of atmosphere that must be
penetrated by the solar radiation.

48
PERIOD OF DAYLIGHT
 During the winter months in either

hemisphere, all latitudes north or south of

66.5º (the Arctic and Antarctic Circles) receive
no sunlight during the solstices.
 During the summer months these locations

receive continuous daylight!

49
 THE ANGLE THAT SOLAR RADIATION
IMPACTS THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE

 Solar (elevation) angle

• the angle that the sun makes with the horizon.
• is 90º when the sun is directly overhead at solar
noon.
 Beam Spreading
• the increase in the surface area over which radiation
is distributed.
• As the solar angle ses, beam spreading ses.
• The greater the spreading the less intense is the
radiation over a particular surface area. 50
SOLAR RADIATION STRIKING THE
SURFACE

 I = S cos

• I = Insolation

• S = clear day solar insolation on a surface

perpendicular to incoming solar radiation.

•  = Zenith Angle

51
 ZENITH ANGLE OF THE SUN ( )
 the angle from the zenith (point directly
overhead) to the sun's position in the sky.
 depends on:
 Time of day
 The latitude of the site, .
 the solar declination angle,  :
− the angle between the orbital plane and the earth’s
equatorial plane.
 cos = sin sin + cos cos cos 52
 THE HOUR ANGLE OF THE SUN ( )

 The fraction of 2 that the earth has turned

after local solar noon.
•  = t/24 × 2
• t is the time from noon (hours) = time - 12
• time is given in solar time as the hour of the day
from midnight.
 eg 4 pm = 16

53
FACTORS AFFECTING AMOUNT OF
SOLAR RADIATION
• Total Solar Irradiance (Solar Constant)
• Atmospheric gases (CO2, N2….)
• Ozone
• Clouds (droplet and ice)
• Total precipitable water
• Aerosols and dust
• Location (space)
• Time of day
• Surface Albedo
54
 Solar Radiation Quantities
• Beam Irradiance
Beam irradiance Gb (direct solar radiation) is the flux
from the sun's disc on a surface perpendicular to the
beam. It is about 900 W/m2 in bright sunlight.

• Diffuse Irradiance
Diffuse irradiance Gd (diffuse solar radiation) is the solar
radiation from the sky, omitting the sun's disc, on a
horizontal surface. It is about 100 W/m2 under a clear
sky, and 300 W/m2 to 600 W/m2 under cloudy skies.
55
 Solar Radiation Quantities
• Global Irradiance
Global irradiance G (global solar radiation) is the sum of the
direct and diffuse irradiances on a horizontal surface (facing
upwards).

56
 Global Irradiance
Global irradiance is given by:

G = Gbcos z + Gd,

where z is the zenith angle of the sun (see below).

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IRRADIANCE ON A FLAT SURFACE

58
Effect of Sun angle on surface solar power

Power is reduced when beam is

spread over a larger area as Sun’s
elevation angle is decreased.
Reduction in power is proportional to
ratio of x/y.

X b
a
y
a = elevation angle
b = zenith angle
59
x/y = sin (a) = cos (b)
 Array orientation can be described using
azimuth and tilt angles.

60
 61

Solar radiation irradiance measurements on a clear day

 DETECTORS FOR RADIATION
MEASUREMENT
 There are 4 types of detectors for
radiation measurement.
 Calorimetric
 Thermo-mechanical detectors
 thermal detectors, and
 photon detectors.

62
 CALORIMETRIC DETECTORS
 Radiant energy is incident on a high conductivity
metal coated with a non-selective black paint of high
absorbance
 The radiant energy is converted into heat that can
be measured as follows:
1. The heat is carried away by a flowing fluid whose
change in anthalpy is measured. The change in enthalpy
is a measure of the incident radiant flux
2. The heat gives rise to a change in enthalpy of the
absorbing metal. The increase in enthalpy can be easily
measured and related to the incident radiation
3. The temp difference across a transducer is maintained
constant by additional electrical heating required
between a shielded and exposed phases in a cavity. The
irradiance is proportional to the difference in cavity
electrical heating in the two phases. 63
 THERMO-MECHANICAL DETECTORS
 The radiant flux is measured thru bending of a
bimetallic strip (two metal strips with different thermal
expansivities)
 One end is fastened and the other is free to move

 One strip is coated with a highly absorbent black paint

and the other given a highly reflective coat.
 The blackened strip is exposed to solar radiation and the
other is shielded from it.
 The two strips are insulated from each other to prevent
heat flow from one to the other
 The unequal temp and unequal coefficients of thermal
expansion cause bending of the strip into a curve.
 The distortion is transmitted optically or mechanically
64
to an indicator and is related to the incident radiation
 THERMAL DETECTORS

 The principle underlying the thermal detectors is the

heating effect of incident radiation causing a change
in some physical property of the detector.
 The most commonly property used is electromotive
force (e.m.f.)
 The detector consists of two dissimilar metallic wires
with their ends connected.
 An emf is developed when the two junctions are at
different temperatures
 The emf is proportional to the temp difference, and
hence on the incident radiation.
65
 Principle of operation

Thermocouples connected in series (a thermopile)

are used to make the temperature difference
measurement in pyranometers.

66
Besides radiation, convection and conduction will
affect temperature of the plate
It is therefore necessary to protect the black
detector coating against external influences which
67
may affect the measurement; such as
precipitation, dirt and wind.
In a high-quality radiation sensor, a black disk is
protected from wind and rain by glass domes so
heating of the disk is only a function of the radiation.
The temperature
difference
between the
exposed disk and
the shaded
sensor body is
proportional to the
radiation.

68
 PHOTON OR PHOTOVOLTAIC DETECTORS
 Photon detectors convert some of the incident radiation
directly into electricity, which is proportional to the
incident radiation.

69
 Solar Radiometers
<<< A high-quality solar radiation
sensor has a black disk exposed under
glass domes for wind and rain
protection.
The less costly sensor, below, uses a
photo-detector similar to a camera light
meter. It is less accurate, but suitable
for an operational weather station.

70

These sensors are called pyranometers (fire (of the Sun) meters)
Photo-detector Pyranometer

- very non-linear and does not cover the full solar spectrum.
- calibrated for solar spectrum, so OK for weather stations
- not calibrated for other radiation sources – e.g. growth rooms
or reflected solar radiation measurements
71
- ideal for photosynthesis measurements (“quantum” sensor)
 Measuring diffuse radiation
 A pyranometer shaded from direct solar radiation can be
used to measure diffuse radiation. One implementation
uses a band stretching from the eastern to the western
horizon that is oriented according to the solar declination
to shade the pyranometer with the plane of the band
parallel to the celestial equator.
Since the solar
declination changes,
this band must be
adjusted with a
frequency that
depends on accuracy
requirements and
time of year. 72
SUNSHINE RECORDER
 A sunshine recorder is
a device that records the
amount of sunshine at a
given location.
 Older recorders, like the
Campbell-stokes
recorder used a glass
ball to focus the rays
onto a strip of card
 As the sun moved round
during the day, the card
is scorched creating a
record of how many
sunshine hours there
were.
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 SUNSHINE PYRANOMETER
 The Sunshine Pyranometer
uses an array of seven,
miniature thermopile sensors
and a computer-generated
shading pattern to measure the
direct and diffuse components
of incident solar radiation.
 All seven thermopiles receive
an equal amount of diffuse
light.
 From the individual thermopile
readings, a microprocessor
calculates the global and diffuse
horizontal irradiance and from
these values an estimate of 74

sunshine state is made.

 Terrestrial (long wave) radiation

All “far” IR

32 Escape to space

368

Atmosphere absorbs most of the long

wave radiation emitted by the Earth’s
surface, and sends much of it back to 75
the surface. 400 333
Estimating long wave radiation from surface & atmosphere

Earth’s surface: Lout =  T4, T is air temp in degrees K

Use  = 5.67 x 10-8 to get Lout in W/m2
Atmosphere: Lin =   T4
 = emission efficiency ~ 0.8 when clear, ~1.0 when overcast
32 Escape to space

Check that these “values” for surface and

sky long wave radiation give numbers 368
similar to the diagram on the right.
The Earth’s average temperature is about
15°C, and average atmospheric emission
efficiency is about 0.85.
76

400 333
Pyranometer - glass dome
transmits short wave, but not
long wave, radiation.
Change the dome to silvered
silicon (below), which
transmits long wave, but
reflects short wave radiation,
and you have a….
...Pyrgeometer >>>
(fire of the earth meter)

77
 What is Net Radiation?
Solar in Reflected solar Sky LW Surface LW

Net Radn = Solar in + Sky LW – Reflected solar – Surface LW

= Sin + Lin - Sout - Lout

(albedo) x Sin
78
* Very important variable in studies of evaporation from
water bodies, crops and forests.
 A “net pyrradiometer” (net radiometer)

Incoming radiation is sensed by the warming of the black plate. An

identical plate on the bottom side senses outgoing radiation.
Output = Top – Bottom, so…
Net radiation = Sin + Lin – (Sout + Lout)
Some models cover the plates with polyethylene domes, which
transmit both short and long wave radiation. Why add a dome?
How could we use
thermocouples to give
a signal proportional
to the temperature
difference between
the two black plates?
This signal would give
us the net radiation
directly. 79
This sensor measures all 4 components of net radiation
separately. It provides signals for each component, or an
overall net radiation signal.
Lin Sin

80

Lout Sout
 Exposure of radiation sensors
Errors Unique to Radiometers:
(1) Instruments must be kept level
(2) Instruments should always be kept clean
→ dust, rain, dew, and bird droppings can adversely
affect window transparency
→ regular cleaning
→ fan aspirators should maintain regular flow of air
over radiometer domes to keep them free of dust,
dew, and rain
(3) No condensation inside the instrument
(4) Site must exhibit no shadows for all annual sun angles
81
(5) Site must exhibit no reflections for all annual sun
angles
 Exposure of radiation sensors
- For weather station, clear view of horizon is required to avoid
shadows on the sensor and allow all direct and diffuse
radiation from the sky to be recorded.
- If monitoring a
partly shaded
area, keep
radiometer
close to surface
so timing of
shadows on
panel and
radiometer
match. 82
 Sources of Radiometric
Uncertainty
Sources of radiometric uncertainty contributing to the
overall uncertainty in a result can be categorized as
originating from three sources:
• Characterization (calibration) of measurement
instrumentation
• Data acquisition and recording equipment
• Data reduction and processing (mathematical manipulation
or modelling)
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