Chapter 1: Solar radiation

1.1 Basics of Light:

The light that we see everyday is only a fraction of the total energy emitted
by the sun incident on the earth. Sunlight is a form of "electromagnetic
radiation" and the visible light that we see is a small subset of the
electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum describes light as
a wave which has a particular wavelength
1.1.1. Energy of Photon :

A photon is characterized by either a wavelength, denoted by λ or equivalently an energy, denoted by E. There is an inverse
relationship between the energy of a photon (E) and the wavelength of the light (λ) given by the equation:
𝒉𝒄
E=
λ
where h is Planck's constant and c is the speed of light
h = 6.626 × 10 -34 joule·s
c = 2.998 × 108 m/s
By multiplying to get a single expression, hc = 1.99 × 10-25 joules-m
By expressing the equation for photon energy in terms of eV and µm we arrive at a commonly used expression which relates the
energy and wavelength of a photon, as shown in the following equation:
𝟏.𝟐𝟒
E(eV) =
𝝀(𝝁𝒎)
https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/properties-of-sunlight/energy-of-photon

1.1.2. Spectral Irradiance

The spectral irradiance as a function of photon wavelength (or energy), denoted by F, is the most common way of
characterising a light source. It gives the power density at a particular wavelength. The units of spectral irradiance are in
Wm-2µm-1. The Wm-2 term is the power density at the wavelength λ(µm). Therefore, the m-2 refers to the surface area of the
light emitter and the µm-1 refers to the wavelength of interest.
In the analysis of solar cells, the photon flux is often needed as well as the spectral irradiance. The spectral irradiance can be
determined from the photon flux by converting the photon flux at a given wavelength to W/m2
1.1.3. Radiant power density

The total power density emitted from a light source can

be calculated by integrating the spectral irradiance over
all wavelengths or energies
 1.2.Solar Radiation

1.2.1. The Sun

The sun is the central energy producer of our solar

system. It has the form of a ball and nuclear fusion
take place continuously in its center.
1.2.2. Solar Radiation in Space (extraterrestrial)

The radiation intensity of the 6000 K solar surface

corresponds to 70 000 to 80 000 kW/m2. Our planet
receives only a very small portion of this energy. 92.1 % of Hydrogen Fusion
7.8 % of Helium
In spite of this, the incoming solar radiation energy in a
year is more than 10 000 times the yearly energy need of
the whole world.

The solar radiation intensity outside the atmosphere is in Enormous Quantity of

average 1 360 W/m2 (solar constant). Energy
Solar constant (1360 W/m2)
 1.2.3. Terrestrial Solar Radiation
When the solar radiation penetrates through the atmosphere some of the radiation is lost so that on a clear sky
sunny day in summer between 800 to 1 000 W/m2 (global radiation) can be obtained on the ground.
The global radiation consists of direct and diffuse radiation.

Direct Radiation
Direct, or also called “beam radiation” is the solar radiation received from the sun without having been
scattered by the atmosphere.

Diffuse radiation is created when the direct solar rays are scattered from the different molecules and particles in
the atmosphere into all directions, i.e. the radiation becomes unbeamed.

The global radiation is greatly influenced by clouds, the condition of the atmosphere and the path length of the
beams through the atmosphere.

6
Figure 14: Some of the solar radiation entering the earth's atmosphere is absorbed and scattered. Direct beam radiation comes in a direct line
from the sun. Diffuse radiation is scattered out of the direct beam by molecules, aerosols, and clouds. The sum of the direct beam, diffuse,
and ground-reflected radiation arriving at the surface is called total or global solar radiation (Source: ENREL).
 Factors affecting the solar intensity

•Atmospheric Effects
•Latitude
•Longitude
•Zenith angle
•Azimuth Angle
•Elevation Angle (Altitude)
•Air Mass
•Motion of the Sun
•Declination Angle
•The Sun's Position: (azimuth, altitude)
•Solar Radiation on a Tilted Surface
Atmospheric Effects

Atmospheric effects have several impacts on the solar radiation at the Earth's surface. The major effects for
photovoltaic applications are:
• A reduction in the power of the solar radiation due to absorption, scattering and reflection in the atmosphere;
• A change in the spectral content of the solar radiation due to greater absorption or scattering of some
wavelengths;
• local variations in the atmosphere (such as water vapor, clouds and pollution) which have additional
effects on the incident power, spectrum
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Air mass

AM0: extraterrestrial spectrum

AM1.5G : standard terrestrial spectra (global)
AM1.5D : standard terrestrial spectra (direct)
Declination angle
The Earth's rotational axis is tipped over about 23.45 degrees from the plane of its orbit
As seen from the northern hemisphere of the Earth, the declination in the elevation of the Sun varies during the
course of the year between minus 23.45° in the summer and plus 23.45° in the winter.
Only at the spring and fall equinoxes is the declination angle equal to 0°
 Measuring Instruments

Solar radiation data are provided by meteorological stations and are usually also part of simulation programs.
A global meteorological database for solar energy is provided by METEONORM, which is a global climatological
database combined with a synthetic weather generator. The output are climatological means as well as time series
of typical years for any point on earth.