Fundamental of Solar

Energy

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 The Light

 Today, quantum-mechanics explains both the

observations of the wave nature and the particle
nature of light.
 Light is a type of quantum-mechanical particle,
called a Photon, which may also be pictured as
“wave-packet”.

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 Photon

 A photon is characterized by either a wavelength (λ) or energy (E), such that:

 h = Plank’s constant = 6.626 × 10 -34 joule·s

 c = Speed of light = 2.998 × 108 m/s
 Therefore, a short wavelength photon will posses high energy content and
vice versa.
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 Light Spectrum

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 Light Spectrum

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 Photon Flux

 The photon flux is defined as the number of photons per second

per unit area:

 Note that the photon flux does not give information about the
characteristics of striking photons i.e. energy or wavelength.

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 Power Density
 The power density is calculated by multiplying the photon flux by
the energy of a single photon:

 Where, q = Electronic charge = 1.6 x 10-19 joules

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 Photon Flux and Power Density

 The photon flux of high energy (or

short wavelength) photons needed
to give a certain power density will be
lower than the photon flux of low
energy (or long wavelength) photons
required to give the same power
density.

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 Spectral Irradiance
 The spectral irradiance (F) is given as a function of wavelength λ,
and gives the power (energy per unit time) received by the surface
for a particular wavelength of light.

 It gives an idea of how much power is being contributed from each

wavelength.
 It is the most common way of characterizing a light source.

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 Spectral Irradiance

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 Radiant Power Density
 The total power density emitted from a light source can be calculated
by integrating the spectral irradiance over all wavelengths.

 Where: H = total power density emitted from the light source = W/m2
F(λ) = spectral irradiance = W/m2μm
dλ = wavelength = μm

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 Blackbody Radiations
 A blackbody absorbs all radiation incident on its surface and emits
radiation based on its temperature.
 Many commonly encountered light sources, including the sun and
incandescent light bulbs, are closely modeled as "blackbody"
emitters.
 The spectral irradiance from a blackbody is given by Planck's
radiation law, shown in the following equation
Where:
λ = wavelength of light (m)
T = temperature of the blackbody (K)
F = spectral irradiance (W/m2m)
k = Boltzmann’s constant(1.380 × 10-23 joule/K)
c = speed of light (m/s),
h = Plank’s constant (j.s)
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 Blackbody Radiations
 The total power density from a blackbody is determined by integrating
the spectral irradiance over all wavelengths, which gives:
 Where:
σ = Stefan-Boltzmann const. (5.67x10-8 W/m2K4 )
T = temperature (K)
 The peak wavelength is the wavelength at which the spectral irradiance is
highest.
 It can be determined as:
 In other words, it is the wavelength where most of the power is emitted.

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 Blackbody Radiations

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 Blackbody Radiations

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 Solar Radiations Spectrum

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