Name: Laguiab, Jamil Mansor M.

Yr/Crs/Sec: 4BSABE-A Date: 3/8/2022

ABE 422

Renewable Energy for AB Materials

LABORATORY REPORT No. 1

Estimation of Solar Energy Resource

Introduction

The electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun is known as solar resource. Using a

number of technology, solar radiation may be absorbed and converted into useful forms of

energies such as heat and electricity. However, the technical viability and cost-effectiveness of

these systems at a given site are determined by the amount of solar energy available. Solar

resource is abundant, but it is also intermittent. Because the sun only shines during the day,

solar input can usually only be relied on for part of the 24-hour daily cycle. The intensity of solar

radiation varies from one moment to the next. They change depending on the time of day and

the weather conditions in the area. This can only suggest that solar energy cannot provide a

continuous source of energy. Estimating a region's solar resource is critical as it has a vital role

when deciding the development of a project such as concentrating solar power plants or CSP

plants. Development of such plants cost an astronomical amount of investments, so when the

estimated solar resource is larger than the actual data measured at the site after the plant has

been built, it means that it is a loss of investment. Grid operators can also use estimation of

solar resource to predict and balance energy generation and demand. In this way the operator

1
Name: Laguiab, Jamil Mansor M.
Yr/Crs/Sec: 4BSABE-A Date: 3/8/2022

can greatly optimize how they can dispatch their controllable units, assuming the grid operator

has a mix of generating assets at their disposal.

Discussion

Solar Radiation 11/11/2019

1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM
00 45 30 15 00 45 30 15 00 45 30 15 00 45 30 15 :00 :45 :30 :15 :00 :45 :30 :15 :00 :45 :30 :15 :00 :45 :30 :15
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
12 12 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 7 8 9 9 10 11 12 12 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 7 8 9 9 10 11

Solar Energy on 11/11/2019

24

21

18

15

12

0
AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM
:00 :45 :30 :15 :00 :45 :30 :15 :00 :45 :30 :15 :00 :45 :30 :15 2:00 2:45 1:30 2:15 3:00 3:45 4:30 5:15 6:00 6:45 7:30 8:15 9:00 9:45 0:30 1:15
12 12 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 7 8 9 9 10 11 1 1 1 1

2
Name: Laguiab, Jamil Mansor M.
Yr/Crs/Sec: 4BSABE-A Date: 3/8/2022

The graphs shown above represents the solar radiation and solar energy on November

11, 2019. The values on each graph shows a rise and fall between 5:00 am to 5:00 pm, having

the greatest spike somewhere on the middle. This behavior means that the highest intensity of

solar energy is at noon, when the sun’s angle reaches closest to 90 degrees. The average values

on the solar radiation also greatly differ to the average values on the solar energy. The reason

for difference is that solar radiation refers to the overall amount of energy emitted by the sun,

while solar energy refers to the sun's radiant light and heat that is captured using a variety of

technologies. That is why solar energy’s value is lower than the solar radiation. When you

consider that the intensity of the solar energy is greatest the closer it is to 90 degrees and

lowest when it is at the furthest. One would assume that the rise and fall of the values should

be smoother unlike what is shown above. The reason for this is the weather conditions on the

location where the solar resource is measured. Clouds can block the sun resulting to a drop of

measured solar resource.

Average Solar Radiation and Solar Energy on August: 195.698 and 4.20802

3
Name: Laguiab, Jamil Mansor M.
Yr/Crs/Sec: 4BSABE-A Date: 3/8/2022

Average Solar Radiation and Solar Energy on September: 204.639 and 4.40029

Average Solar Radiation and Solar Energy on October: 235.27 and 5.05897

Average Solar Radiation and Solar Energy on November: 196.498 and 4.22526

4
Name: Laguiab, Jamil Mansor M.
Yr/Crs/Sec: 4BSABE-A Date: 3/8/2022

Average Solar Radiation and Solar Energy on December: 179.655 and 3.86311

The figures shown above are the graphical representation of all solar radiation and solar

energy throughout the duration of August to December of 2019. The straight lines on each line

graphs represent the average of the measured values if we all of them. As observed, except the

month of October, all of them has a large fluctuations of peak solar radiation and solar energy

measured. This can be attributed to the weather conditions of the location where they are

measured. We can assume that the month of October experienced a sunny weather, at least

between its daily midday and the rest of the month experienced blockage of clouds on its

middays. Due to this, October has the highest measured solar radiation and solar energy. While

5
Name: Laguiab, Jamil Mansor M.
Yr/Crs/Sec: 4BSABE-A Date: 3/8/2022

the month of December has the lowest measured values on both average or the peak values

shown on the graphs. We can think of several reasons for this. If they are measured on the

Philippines, it is reasonably to think because during the December on the Philippines the earth

is tilted upward on its axis resulting for less exposure to sun. If it’s not measured in the

Philippines, it may be somewhere on the northern hemisphere of the earth, where the sun

have less impact because the sun’s rays come in at an angle.

Summary

The graphs showed the rise and fall of measured values of solar radiation and solar

energy. It is observed that on the beginning of the sunrise to midday, the measured values

slowly rises. The peak values is always observed on midday. And from midday to sunset, the

measured values slowly decreases. The rise and fall isn’t always smooth and often has

fluctuations, it is because of the weather conditions on the area such as cloudy skies, etc. The

measured values on November, 11, 2019 is represented by a line graph. You can see that the

former statement is true as the midday has the highest measured value. The second statement

is also true as the rise and fall has fluctuations because of weather conditions. All of the

measured values throughout the five-month duration is also represented by a line graph,

having the month of October had the most even measured peak values compare to other

months. October also has the highest average while December has the lowest. It can be

observed on other months that the peak values fluctuates on certain days of a month, and it

can be attributed to the weather conditions that day.

6
Name: Laguiab, Jamil Mansor M.
Yr/Crs/Sec: 4BSABE-A Date: 3/8/2022

Conclusion/Recommendation

The estimation of solar resource of a certain region is very important, especially if we

will plan on building a solar-based power plants. By doing so, we can avoid on the loss of

investment. It is also shown on several graphs that the measured values of both solar radiation

ad solar energy is at the highest in the middle of the day. And even if the values between solar

radiation and solar energy greatly differ to one another, the rise and fall of values on solar

radiation and solar energy on the same day are the same to one another. It is because the solar

radiation is the total amount of energy emitted by the sun while solar energy is the measure of

captured radiant light of a technology. So it can be assumed that they are proportional to one

another. As observed on the graph the closer the sun is to 90 degrees, the higher the measured

values are. So if that is the case the rise and fall should be smooth, but the majority on the

graphs shows ragged lines. It is mostly due to the weather conditions of the region. The

measuring device may also contribute to it. So if someone plans to build a solar power plant, it

is recommended it is built near the equator or at least to a region where the weather is mostly

stable sunny weather.

References

Dise, S. (2021, August 11). What is the value of accurate solar forecasting for utility-scale PV plants?

SolarAnywhere. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from

https://www.solaranywhere.com/2017/accurate-solar-forecasting-value/

email, adminS. an, Admin, email, S. an, & adminWebsite. (2021, November 28). Why is the Noon Solar

Intensity greater. Lisbdnet.com. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://lisbdnet.com/why-is-the-

noon-solar-intensity-greater/#:~:text=around%20solar%20noon.-,At%20what%20time%20of

7
Name: Laguiab, Jamil Mansor M.
Yr/Crs/Sec: 4BSABE-A Date: 3/8/2022

%20day%20is,greatest%20in%20the%20northern%20hemisphere%3F&text=Regardless%20of

%20latitude%20or%20time,midpoint%20of%20the%20day%3A%20noon.

Gamil, J. T. (2016, November 3). Cold–not just rainy–weather to start in December. INQUIRER.net.

Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/839576/cold-not-just-rainy-

weather-to-start-in-december

Price, H., Mehos, M., Kearney, D., Cable, R., Kelly, B., Kolb, G., & Morse, F. (2020, November 27).

Concentrating solar power best practices. Concentrating Solar Power Technology (Second

Edition). Retrieved March 7, 2022, from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128199701000207

Solar radiation basics. Energy.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2022, from

https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-radiation-basics#:~:text=Solar%20radiation%2C

%20often%20called%20the,using%20a%20variety%20of%20technologies.

Solar Resource Assessment. Energy.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2022, from

https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-resource-assessment

Solar Resource Assessment. Solar Resource Assessment - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.).

Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/solar-

resource-assessment#:~:text=Accurate%20solar%2Denergy%20forecasting%20and,integrated

%20into%20the%20electricity%20grid.

Solar resource. Solar Resource - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2022,

from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/solar-resource

Why is Winter Cold and summer hot? The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8,

2022, from https://www.childrensmuseum.org/blog/why-winter-cold-and-summer-hot