Solar Radiation • Sun–Earth

Relationships• Array Orientation •

Solar Radiation Data Sets
Solar Radiation
• The SUN is a gaseous body composed mostly of
hydrogen.
• Gravity causes intense pressure and heat at
the core initiating nuclear fusing reactions
• This means that atoms of lighter elements are
combined into atoms of heavier elements,
which releases enormous quantities of energy
 A false color image
of the sun enhances
the turbulent nature
of the sun’s
photosphere,
including a roiling
surface, sunspots,
and giant flares.
 SOLAR RADIATION is the radiation, or energy
we get from the sun. It is also known as
short-wave radiation. Solar radiation comes in
many forms, such as visible light, radio waves,
heat (infrared), x-rays, and ultraviolet
rays. Measurements for solar radiation are
higher on clear, sunny day and usually low on
cloudy days. When the sun is down, or there
are heavy clouds blocking the sun, solar
radiation is measured at zero.
 While the solar radiation incident on the
Earth's atmosphere is relatively constant, the
radiation at the Earth's surface varies widely
due to:
• atmospheric effects, including absorption and
scattering;
• local variations in the atmosphere, such as
water vapor, clouds, and pollution;
• latitude of the location; and
• the season of the year and the time of day.
 The above effects have several impacts on the solar radiation
received at the Earth's surface. These changes include variations in
the overall power received, the spectral content of the light and the
angle from which light is incident on a surface. In addition, a key
change is that the variability of the solar radiation at a particular
location increases dramatically. The variability is due to both local
effects such as clouds and seasonal variations, as well as other
effects such as the length of the day at a particular latitude. Desert
regions tend to have lower variations due to local atmospheric
phenomena such as clouds. Equatorial regions have low variability
between seasons.
TYPES

OF SOLAR RADIATION
The total solar radiation, often called as global
radiation is the sum of direct, diffuse and reflected
radiation. The solar radiation available to us is
always a mix of the above mentioned three
components. The actual percentage of each of
these components varies as the different
parameters, such as weather, location etc. change.
In order to monitor and analyze the performance of
solar plants, monitoring the global radiation is
essential but depending upon the plant capacity
and location, monitoring the composition of global
radiation might also make sense.
DIRECT RADIATION
 Direct radiation is received from sun rays travelling in
a straight line from sun to the earth. Direction radiation is
also termed as beam radiation or direct beam radiation.
As direct radiation is sun rays travelling in a straight line,
shadows of the objects which come in the way of sun rays
are formed. Shadows indicate the presence of direct
radiation.
 In sunny regions and during summers, direct
radiation accounts for almost 70-80% of the total radiation
present. In solar plants, solar tracking is implemented to
absorb most of the direct radiation. If solar tracking
system is not installed, valuable direct radiation would go
un-captured.
DIFFUSE RADIATION
 Direct radiation has a fixed direction. Diffuse radiation
does not have any fixed direction. When sun rays are scattered
by particles present in the atmosphere, these scattered sun rays
account for the diffuse radiation. Shadows of the objects will not
form if only diffuse and no direct radiation is present.
 As pollution increases, the amount of diffuse radiation also
goes up. In hilly regions and during winters, the percentage of
diffuse radiation goes up. Maximum amount of diffuse radiation
is captured by the solar panels when they are kept horizontally.
This means, in case of solar panels which are at an angle to
track the most of the direct radiation, the amount of diffused
radiation captured by the panels will go down. Larger the angle
which solar panels make with the ground, lesser would be the
quantity of diffuse radiation captured by the panels.
REFLECTED RADIATION
 Reflected radiation is the component of
radiation which is reflected from surfaces
other than air particles. Radiation reflected
from hills, trees, houses, water bodies
accounts for reflected radiation. Reflected
radiation generally accounts for a small
percent in the global radiation but can
contribute as much as 15% in snowy regions.
RADIATION
 Even over the vast distance, an
enormous amount of energy
reaches Earth from the sun.
Solar
irradiance is
solar radiation
power per unit
area.
 The inverse square law states that
radiation energy is reduced in proportion
to the inverse square of the distance from
the source.
Solar
irradiation
equals the total
solar
irradiance over
time.
 Theelectromagnetic
spectrum is the
range of types of
electromagnetic
radiation, which vary
with wavelength.
 The wavelength distribution of
extraterrestrial solar radiation forms a
spectral signature unique to the sun.
 Solarradiation
entering
Earth’s
atmosphere
becomes
direct, diffuse,
or albedo
radiation.
 Air mass is a representation of the amount
of atmosphere radiation that must pass
through to reach Earth’s surface.
 Peak sun
hours is an
equivalent
measure of
total solar
irradiation in
a day.
 Insolation
maps rate locations by their
average daily peak sun hours.
 The atmosphere absorbs extraterrestrial radiation
at certain wavelengths, resulting in an altered
spectral distribution for terrestrial radiation.
 PV devices are designed to respond to
the wavelengths corresponding to the
greatest amount of solar energy.
A
pyranometer
measures
total solar
irradiance
from the
whole sky.
 Diffuse solar
irradiance can be
measured by adding
a shadowing device
to a pyranometer,
which blocks the
direct component of
total irradiance.
 Handheld pyranometers use
less precise sensors than
precision pyranometers but are
more suitable for field
measurements. Some use
separate sensors that are
connected to a meter, while
some have the sensor and
meter integrated in one unit.
 A pyrheliometer
measures the
direct component
of solar
irradiance, which
is important when
installing
concentrating
collectors.
 Reference cells
output a certain
electrical
current for each
unit of solar
irradiance
received.
 The ecliptic plane is formed by Earth’s
elliptical orbit around the sun.
 The equatorial plane is tipped 23.5° from the
ecliptic plane. Over a year, this orientation
produces a varying solar declination.
 The summer solstice
occurs when the Northern
Hemisphere is tipped
towards the sun. The winter
solstice occurs when the
Northern Hemisphere is
tipped away from the sun.
 The fall and
spring equinoxes
occur when the
sun is directly in
line with the
equator.
 Standard time organizes regions into time zones,
where every location in a time zone shares the
same clock time.
 The Equation of Time value adjusts for
variations in Earth’s orbit and rotation that
affect solar time.
 Solar azimuth and altitude angles are
used to describe the sun’s location in
the sky.
 The sun’s path across the
sky at various times of the
year can be illustrated on a
diagram. The diagrams
change for different
latitudes.
 The solar window is the area of sky containing all
possible locations of the sun throughout the year for
a particular location.
 Array orientation can be described using azimuth and
tilt angles.
 Energy production at certain times of the year can be
optimized by adjusting the array tilt angle.
 The average seasonal
declinations define the
optimal tilt angles for
those periods.
 The National
Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL)
provides solar radiation
data for various
locations, times of the
year, and array
orientations for use in
planning PV
installations.
EARTHS ENERGY BALANCE

 Earth’s energy balance describes how the

incoming energy from the sun is used and
returned to space. If incoming and outgoing
energy are in balance, the earth’s temperature
remains constant.
 Why do I care?
 Theenergy balance drives the weather and life on
earth.
 Essentially 100% of the energy that fuels the earth
comes from the sun. to maintain global average
temperature, all of the sun’s radiation that enters
the earth’s atmosphere must eventually be sent
back to space. This is achieved through earth’s
energy balance.
 100% of the energy entering earth’s atmosphere comes
from the sun.
 -50% of the incoming energy is absorbed by the earths
surface i. e. the land and oceans.
 -30% is directly reflected back to space clouds, the earths
surface and particles in the atmosphere( the earth’s albedo is
0.3 on average)
 -20% is absorbed by the atmosphere clouds.
 The 70% of the sun’s energy that is
absorbed by the earth’s surface, clouds,
and atmosphere causes warming. Any
object or gas that has a temperature
emits radiation outward, and the energy is
emitted as longwave radiation due to the
characteristic temperature of the earth
and atmosphere.
EARTH’S ENERGY BALANCE
 The hydrologic cycle is fueled by energy from the sun.

 Planetary geometry creates areas of energy surpluses and

deficits which drive all active meteorological processes.

 Earth and the atmosphere are the media through which the
energy transport occurs

 Water transport and phase changes [i.e. liquid (oceans) 

vapor (humidity)  liquid (precipitation)] play a major role
energy transport
EARTH’S ENERGY BALANCE
 Short-wave energy from the sun moves through the atmosphere to the earth
more easily than longwave energy can move from earth through the
atmosphere. This keeps the planet warm
 Planetary geometry creates areas of energy surpluses and deficits.
 Incoming solar radiation is uneven because the earth is a sphere which
rotates on a tilted axis.
 Outgoing radiation is more uniform because the temperature of earth’s
atmosphere does not vary all that much from the equator to the poles (~
30 C).
 Energy gradients drive global energy transport processes such as wind and
ocean currents.
EARTH’S ENERGY BALANCE
 Net radiation balance is positive for latitudes below 35 (receive more
radiation than is emitted), and negative for latitudes above 35.

 Therefore there is a net poleward transport of energy to maintain a balance

(2/3 of this transport occurs in atmosphere and 1/3 in the oceans).

 Radiation (both short and longwave) is the energy source leading to

evaporation. Large quantities of energy are carried by water vapor. (This is
the energy absorbed by molecules during phase change from liquid to
vapor)