1/26/2021

PHYS 3158
Fundamentals of Renewable Energy

26-Jan-21

Learning Objectives
At the end of this session, students should be able to
 Describe the source of and the variability of solar radiation
 Appreciate solar radiation’s effect on the Earth’s temperature.
 Sketch the solar spectrum at source and at the Earth’s surface.
 Identify key processes in solar radiation absorption in the atmosphere, and
how this implies the two spectral ‘windows’ in the Earth’s atmosphere.
 Outline the basic and enhanced greenhouse effects.
 Name measurement methods and instrumentation for solar radiation.
 Estimate solar irradiance (Wm-2) and daily insolation (MJm-2day-1) at any
location and season.

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Source of solar radiation:

The SUN

SUN

Spatial Relations

 An amount of radiant energy emitted, transmitted, or

received per unit time is known as a radiant flux

 In most problems of environmental physics, the watt is a

convenient unit of flux.

 The term radiant flux density means flux per unit area,
usually quoted in watts per m2.

Source: Principles of Environmental Physics by Monteith and Unsworth 4th Edition page 42

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Irradiance Emittance

is the radiant flux (or radiant excitance) is

density incident on a the radiant flux density
surface emitted by a surface

Solar radiation reaches the Earth’s surface at a maximum flux density

(irradiance) of about 1.0 / in a wavelength band between 0.3 and 2.5
(Twidell and Weir 2015).

This solar irradiance at ground level varies from about 3 to 30 MJ/(m2 day),
depending on place, time, and weather (Twidell and Weir 2015).

Adopted from Principles of Environmental Physics by Monteith and Unsworth 4th Edition page 42

 How radiation is transmitted through a cloudless atmosphere

depends on
 (a) the frequency of the radiation, and
 (b) the radiation absorptance of the gases and vapors present.

 The proportion solar radiation that reaches a device depends mostly

on
 time of day,
 geometric factors including orientation and latitude
 weather, clouds, and atmospheric absorption, for example, by water
vapor.

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Variations of the radiance from the Sun is not considered to be

significant for solar energy applications, therefore extra-terrestrial
solar irradiance to be constant.

The area beneath this

curve is the solar
constant

Spectral distribution of extraterrestrial solar irradiance.

Area under curve equals 1366 ± 2 ⁄ . (Twidell and
Weir 2015, 40).

Considering the Sun incident at 45°, the solar spectrum may be

divided into three main regions

solar shortwave radiation irradiance

1 Ultraviolet region < 0.4 ~ 5%
2 Visible region 0.4 < < 0. 7 ~ 43%
3 Near infrared region > 0. 7 ~ 52%

(Twidell and Weir 2015, 40)

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 Solar extra-terrestrial beam radiation is the Solar radiation

incident on the atmosphere from the direction of the Sun
 Diffuse radiation is the observable radiation from the direction of
the Sun’s disc in the direct beam, and also from other directions

(Twidell and Weir 2015, 41)

∗
= cos #
where # is the angle between the beam and the normal to the collector
surface. In particular,
∗
$ = cos #%
where #% is the (solar) zenith angle between the beam and the vertical.

The total irradiance on any plane is the sum of the beam and diffuse
components:
& = + (

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 The axis of the poles is normal to the Earth’s equatorial plane.

 latitude ) is positive for points north of the Equator and negative
south of the Equator.
 By international agreement, longitude * is measured positive
eastwards from Greenwich, England.
 Point P on the Earth surface
 The vertical north–south plane
through P is the local
meridional plane.
 E and G are the points on the
Equator having the same
longitude as P and Greenwich,
respectively.
Definition sketch for latitude )
and longitude *
(Twidell and Weir 2015, 42)

The angle between the Sun’s direction and the equatorial plane is
called the declination +, relating to seasonal changes.

(Twidell and Weir 2015, 44) + = +, sin 360/ 284 + 1 ⁄365

where n is the day in the year (n = 1 on January 1).