Clean Energy Technology

Solar Radiation

Dr. Muhammad Uzair

Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NED UET
uzair@neduet.edu.pk
The sun
Solar Radiation
Types of solar radiation

1. Types by components:
Total = Beam + Diffuse
or Direct or Sky
Types of solar radiation

2. Types by terrestre:
Extraterrestrial Terrestrial
• Solar radiations • Solar radiations
received on earth received on earth in
without the presence the presence of
of atmosphere OR solar atmosphere.
radiations received • We can measure or
outside earth estimate these
atmosphere. radiations. Ready
• We always calculate databases are also
these radiations. available e.g. TMY.
Measurement of solar radiation

1. Magnitude of solar radiations:

Irradiance Irradiation/Insolation
• Rate of Energy received per unit area in a
energy given time
(power)
received
per unit
area Hourly: I Daily: H Monthly avg. daily: H
• Symbol: G Unit: J/m2 Unit: J/m2 Unit: J/m2
• Unit: W/m2
Measurement of solar radiation

2. Tilt (β) and orientation (γ) of measuring instrument:

• Horizontal (β=0°, irrespective of γ)
• Normal to sun (β=θz, γ= γs)
• Tilt (any β, γ is usually 0°)
• Latitude (β=ø, γ is usually 0°)
 Representation of solar radiations

• Symbols:
• Irradiance: G
• Irradiations:
I (hourly), H (daily), H (monthly average daily)
• Subscripts:
• Ex.terr.: o Terrestrial: -
• Beam: b Diffuse: d Total -
• Normal: n Tilt: T Horizontal -
 Exercise
Representation of solar radiations

What are these symbols representing?

A B C D

1. Go 1. Io 1. Ho 1. Ho
2. Gn 2. In 2. Hn 2. Hn
3. Gon 3. Ion 3. Hon 3. Hon
4. GT 4. IT 4. HT 4. HT
5. GoT 5. IoT 5. HoT 5. HoT
6. G 6. I 6. H 6. H
7. Gb 7. Ib 7. Hb 7. Hb
Extraterrestrial Solar Radiation
 Extraterrestrial solar radiations

Solar Irradiance Irradiance at

constant at normal horizontal
(Gsc) (Gon) (Go)

Mathematical integration…

Hourly Daily Monthly avg.

irradiations on irradiations on daily irrad. on
horizontal horizontal horizontal
(Io) (Ho) (Ho)
 Solar constant (Gsc)

Extraterrestrial solar radiations received at normal, when

earth is at an average distance (1 au) away from sun.

Adopted by World Radiation Center (WRC)

Gsc
 Ex.terr. irradiance at normal

Extraterrestrial solar radiations received at normal. It

deviates from GSC as the earth move near or away from the
sun.

Gon
 Example
Ex.terr. irradiance at normal
What is the extraterrestrial solar irradiance at normal on
the following days of year:
1. April, 1
2. October, 1
3. June, 10
4. December, 10

14
 Example (Answers)
Ex.terr. irradiance at normal
• 1.Gon≈ Gsc
• 2. Gon≈ Gsc
• 3. Gon=0.96 Gsc
• 4. Gon=1.03 Gsc

15
Ex.terr. irradiance on horizontal
Extraterrestrial solar radiations received at
horizontal. It is derived from Gon and
therefore, it deviates from GSC as the earth
move near or away from the sun.

Go 16
 Example
Ex.terr. irradiance on horizontal
What is the extraterrestrial solar irradiance on horizontal
at 10:00am on February 19, in

1. Karachi (Latitude=24.8508°N)
2. Balingen (Latitude=48.2753°N)
3. Nairobi (Latitude=1.2833°S)

17
 Example (Answers)
Ex.terr. irradiance on horizontal
• 1. Karachi: Go = 0.682 x Gon = 0.682 x (Gsc x 1.02) = 0.696 X Gsc = 952
W/m2
• 2. Balingen: Go = 0.409 x Gon = 0.409 x (Gsc x 1.02) = 0.417 X Gsc = 571
W/m2
• 3. Nairobi: Trust yourself!

18
Ex.terr. hourly irradiation on horizontal

Io 19
 Example
Ex.terr. hourly irradiation on horizontal
What is the extraterrestrial hourly solar irradiations on
horizontal between 10:00am and 11:00am on February 19,
in Karachi (Latitude=24.8508°N)

20
 Example
Ex.terr. hourly irradiation on horizontal
Io = (12x3600)/pi x Gsc x (1.033)(0.2141-0.0227)
= (12x3600)/pi x Gsc x 0.1977
≈ 4 MJ/m2

21
Ex.terr. daily irradiation on horizontal

Ho 22
 Example-5
Ex.terr. daily irradiation on horizontal
What is the extraterrestrial daily solar irradiations on
horizontal on February 19, in Karachi
(Latitude=24.8508°N)

23
 Example-5
Ex.terr. daily irradiation on horizontal
• Ho = (24x3600)/pi x Gsc x (1.033)(0.8835-0.1278)
• = (24x3600)/pi x Gsc x 0.7556
• ≈ 29 MJ/m2

24
 Ex.terr. monthly average daily
irradiation on horizontal

Where day and time dependent parameters are calculated

on average day of a particular month i.e.

Ho 25
Date and day

uzair@neduet.edu.pk 26
 Example-6
Ex.terr. mon. avg. daily irrad. on horiz.
What is the extraterrestrial monthly average daily solar
irradiations on horizontal in the month of February, in
Karachi (Latitude=24.8508°N)

27
 Example-6
Ex.terr. mon. avg. daily irrad. on horiz.
• February 16 is the mean day therefore, n=47
• Ħo = (24x3600)/pi x Gsc x (1.0227)(0.8792-0.1378)
• = (24x3600)/pi x Gsc x 0.7413
• ≈ 28 MJ/m2

28
Terrestrial Solar Radiation
 Terrestrial radiations

Can be…
• measured by instruments
• obtained from databases e.g. TMY, NASA SSE etc.
• estimated by different correlations
 Terrestrial radiations measurement
• Diffuse irradiance can
• Total irradiance can be
measured using
be measured using
Pyranometer Pyranometer with
shading ring
 Terrestrial radiations measurement
• Beam irradiance can be • Beam irradiance can
measured using
Pyrheliometer
also be measured
by taking difference
in readings of
pyranometer with
and without
shadow band:

beam = total - diffuse

A schematic illustration of a pyranometer (a) and a pyrheliometer (b),
 Terrestrial radiations databases

1. NASA SSE:
Monthly average daily total irradiation on horizontal surface ( ) can be
obtained from NASA Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE)
Database, accessible from:

http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/RETScreen/

(See “NASA SSE” in Reference Information)

 Terrestrial radiations databases

2. TMY files:
Information about hourly solar radiations can be obtained from Typical
Meteorological Year files.

(See “TMY” section in Reference Information)

 Terrestrial irradiation estimation

• Angstrom-type regression equations are generally used:

 Terrestrial irradiation estimation

For Karachi:

Where,
is the representation of cloud cover
and is the day length of average
day of month.
 Example-7
Terrestrial irradiation estimation
What is the terrestrial monthly average daily irradiations
on horizontal in the month of February, in Karachi
(Latitude=24.8508°N)

38
 Clearness index

• A ratio which mathematically represents sky clearness.

=1 (clear day)
<1 (not clear day)
• Used for finding:
• frequency distribution of various radiation levels
• diffuse components from total irradiations
 Clearness index

1. Hourly clearness index:

2. Daily clearness index:

3. Monthly average daily clearness index:

CLEAR SKY DIRECT-BEAM RADIATION

Beam,
Diffuse,
Reflected
As the beam passes through the atmosphere, a good
portion of it is absorbed by various gases in the
atmosphere, or scattered by air molecules or particulate
matter.

In fact, over a year’s time, less than half of the radiation

that hits the top of the atmosphere reaches the earth’s
surface as direct beam.

On a clear day, however, with the sun high in the sky,

beam radiation at the surface can exceed 70% of the
extraterrestrial flux.
 Radiations on a tilted plane

To calculate radiations on a tilted plane, following information are

required:
• tilt angle
• total, beam and diffused components of radiations on horizontal (at
least two of these)
• diffuse sky assumptions (isotropic or anisotropic)
• calculation model
Attenuation of incoming radiation is a function of
the distance that the beam has to travel through
the atmosphere, which is easily calculable, as well
as factors such as dust, air pollution, atmospheric
water vapor, clouds, and turbidity, which are not
so easy to account for.

A commonly used model treats attenuation as an

exponential decay function:
• where IB is the beam portion of the radiation reaching the earth’s
surface (normal to the rays),

• A is an “apparent” extraterrestrial flux,

• k is a dimensionless factor called the optical depth.

• m is the air mass ratio

Exercise

Find the direct beam solar radiation normal to the sun’s rays at solar
noon on a clear day in Atlanta (latitude 33.7◦ ) on May 21.

Use Equations to see how closely they approximate Table 7.6.

 Direct-Beam Radiation on collector
The translation of direct-beam radiation IB (normal to the rays) into
beam insolation striking a collector face IBC is a simple function of the
angle of incidence θ between a line drawn normal to the collector face
and the incoming beam radiation

IBC = IB cos θ

IBH = IB
Exercise
In previous Example , at solar noon in Atlanta (latitude 33.7◦ ) on May
21 the altitude angle of the sun was found to be 76.4° and the clear-sky
beam insolation was found to be 902 W/m2. Find the beam insolation
at that time on a collector that faces 20◦ toward the southeast if it is
tipped up at a 52◦ angle.
Diffuse Radiation on Collector
Exercise
At solar noon in Atlanta (latitude 33.7) on May 21, the altitude angle of
the sun was found to be 76.4 degrees and the clear-sky beam
insolation was found to be 902 W/m2.
Find the diffuse radiation at that time on a collector that faces 20
degrees toward the southeast with tipped angle at 52 degrees.
Reflected Radiation on Collector
• Reflection from ground with reflectance (snow, water, etc.)
Exercise
At solar noon in Atlanta (latitude 33.7) on May 21, the altitude angle of
the sun was found to be 76.4 degrees and the clear-sky beam
insolation was found to be 902 W/m2 .
Find the reflected radiation at that time on a collector that faces 20
degrees toward the southeast with tipped angle at 52 degrees, if the
reflectance of the surfaces in front of the panel is 0.2.
Total Radiation on Collector
Exercise
Compare the 40° latitude, clear sky insolation on a collector at solar
noon on the summer solstice for
(a) fixed titled angle of 40° facing south,
(b) single axis polar mount, and
(c) two-axis tracking. Ignore the reflected insolation.
One-Axis Polar Mount Tracking
Two-Axis Tracking
Diffuse sky assumptions
 Diffuse sky assumptions

Diffuse radiations consist of three parts:

1. Isotropic (represented by: iso)
2. Circumsolar brightening (represented by : cs)
3. Horizon brightening (represented by : hz)

There are two types of diffuse sky assumptions:

1. Isotropic sky (iso)
2. Anisotropic sky (iso + cs, iso + cs + hz)
 General calculation model

, , ,

Where,
• XT, Xb, Xd: total, beam and diffuse radiations (irradiance or
irradiation) on horizontal
• iso, cs and hz: isotropic, circumsolar and horizon brightening parts
of diffuse radiations
• Rb: beam radiations on tilt to horizontal ratio
• Fc-s, Fc-hz and Fc-g: shape factors from collector to sky, horizon and
ground respectively
• ρg: albedo
 Calculation models

1. Liu and Jordan (LJ) model (iso, =0°, )

2. Liu and Jordan (LJ) model (iso, =0°, )
3. Hay and Davies (HD) model (iso+cs, =0°, )
4. Hay, Davies, Klucher and Reindl (HDKR) model (iso+cs+hz, =0°, )
5. Perez model (iso+cs+hz, =0°, )
6. Klein and Theilacker (K-T) model (iso+cs, =0°, )
7. Klein and Theilacker (K-T) model (iso+cs, )
 Liu and Jordan model (iso, =0°, )
•
Where,

ρg (albedo) = 0 (dull black surface) to 1 (white shiny surfaces)

[recommended value: 0.2]
Remember: