13-Oct-22

Renewable
Energy
Technology

Dr Muhammad Sajid
Office: Room 416
Email: m.sajid@smme.nust.edu.pk

Intro

Intro, CLOs, Grading, Lecture plan

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Solar
Energy

Solar Radiation, Solar Thermal and Solar

Photovoltaic Energy Systems

Atmospheric Attenuation of Solar Radiation

❑ For example in figure,
much of the far infrared
light above 2 µm is
absorbed by water
vapor and carbon
dioxide.

❑ Similarly, most of the

ultraviolet light below
0.3 µm is absorbed by
ozone (but not enough
to completely prevent
sunburn!).

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Atmospheric Attenuation of Solar Radiation

❑ The effect of air mass is illustrated in
Figure which shows the spectral
distribution of beam irradiance for air
masses of 0 (the extraterrestrial curve), 1,
2, and 5 for an atmosphere of low turbidity.

❑ When the sun is overhead, the absorption

due to these atmospheric elements
causes a relatively uniform reduction
across the visible spectrum, so the
incident light appears white.

❑ Why it appears Red at sunset and sunrise

Terrestrial Solar Radiation

❑ In summary, the normal solar radiation incident on the earth’s atmosphere has a
spectral distribution referred to as extraterrestrial .

❑ The x-rays and other very short wave radiation of the solar spectrum are
absorbed high in the ionosphere by nitrogen, oxygen, and other atmospheric
components. Most of the ultraviolet is absorbed by ozone.

❑ At wavelengths longer than 2.5 µm, a combination of low extraterrestrial radiation

and strong absorption by CO2 means that very little energy reaches the ground.

❑ Thus, from the viewpoint of terrestrial applications of solar energy, only radiation
of wavelengths between 0.29 and 2.5 µm need be considered.

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Exploiting Solar Energy

• Want to use solar energy
For What Purpose?

Electricity ? Heating?
Domestic and Commercial Agriculture

Water heating Air heating

Air heating-For drying of fruits and vegetables

Active or Passive
Active or Passive

Solar Dryers for Agriculture

• Drying is an important form of food
preservation that is often carried out at
farm level right after harvest, or
especially with highly perishable crops,
at peak harvest time when local markets
are saturated.
• Drying vegetables, fruits and meat with
thermal energy enables longer storage
times and easier transportation.
• Up to 70 % of agricultural products spoil
during the traditional process of open-
air drying, especially in tropical and
subtropical regions.

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Solar Dryers for Agriculture

• Ventilation is enabled at a constant rate through defined
air inlets and outlets, small solar ventilators or
temperature difference, either due to exposition or
vertical height.
• In direct sun driers the food is put in boxes with a
transparent lid and temperature is raised due to the
greenhouse effect while air exchange is regulated by
vents.
• The food is not exposed to direct sunlight in indirect sun
driers as the fresh air is heated separately from the food Schematic view of a solar
chamber. This is preferable for drying foods which lose dryer
nutritional value when exposed to direct sunlight.
• Hybrid driers combine solar energy with a fossil fuel or
biomass fuel.

Active Vs Passive
• Passive Solar energy converts sunlight
directly into useful energy. Passive solar is
the harnessing of the suns' energy - light
and heat - without the use of any
mechanical devices.
• But it does not give the big energy gains
made possible with active technologies.
• Active solar, on the other hand, utilizes
solar electric technologies such as
photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight
into energy.
•

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Passive Solar energy

• It uses the heat and light from the sun without using
any collectors, grids, or cells.

• Buildings are now being designed to use

passive solar energy. The south side of a
building always gets the most sunlight in
the northern hemisphere.

• Buildings that are designed to use passive

solar energy will have large south facing
windows. Sunlit floors and walls can now be
built with materials to absorb and store the
sun’s solar heating.
•

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Active Solar Thermal Systems

Active Solar Thermal Systems
Unlike passive
solar technologies
Low Temperature thermal High Temperature Thermal systems there is usually a
systems moving part of the
Low temperature solar thermal systems These systems use mirrors and other system involved
are used to heat air and water for reflective surfaces to concentrate solar with active solar
domestic and industrial applications radiation. Parabolic dish can produce technologies
temperatures up to 1000oC hence the word –
active – usually a
• space heating for homes, offices and The resulting high temperatures can be pump type device
greenhouses used to create steam to either drive
• domestic and industrial hot water , pool electric turbine generators, or power
heating, desalination chemical processes such as the
• solar cooking, and crop drying. production of hydrogen

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Low Temp Solar Thermal applications

• Solar water heater systems are a well-
tried and tested technology.

• They are suitable for both new-build

and retrofit.

• A system will typically provide 60-70%

of domestic hot water needs over a
year.

• There are many possible designs for a

solar water heater.

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Low Temp Solar Thermal applications

In general, it consists of three main
components: Passive CHS
system with tank
1. Solar collector, which converts solar above collector

radiation into useable heat.

2. Heat exchanger, pump, controller module,
which transfers the heat from the solar Active system
with pump
collector into the potable water. and controller
driven by a
3. Storage tank to store the solar heated photovoltaic
panel
water.

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Low Temp Solar Thermal applications

Unglazed Flat Plate Solar Collectors

Low cost
Low temperature
Rugged
Lightweight

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Low Temp Solar Thermal applications

Glazed Flat Plate Solar Collectors

Moderate cost
Higher temperature operation
Can operate at mains water
pressure
Heavier and more fragile

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Low Temp Solar Thermal applications

There are two types of solar
collectors for water
heating:

1. Flat plate solar collector.

❑ Unglazed flat plate
solar collector.
❑ Glazed flat plate
solar collector.

2. Evacuated tube solar

collector.

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Low Temp Solar Thermal applications

Evacuated Tube Solar Collector

• Higher cost
• No
convection
losses
• High
temperature
• Cold climates
• Fragile
• Challenging
installation

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Passive Solar Ventilation

In passive solar building
design, windows, walls, and
floors are made to collect,
store, and distribute solar
energy in the form of heat in
the winter.

This is called passive solar

design or climatic design
because, unlike active solar
heating systems, it doesn't
involve the use of mechanical
and electrical devices

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Passive Solar Ventilation

• Passive solar cooling systems work by
reducing unwanted heat gain during the
day, producing non-mechanical
ventilation, exchanging warm interior
air for cooler exterior air when possible,
and storing the coolness of the night to
moderate warm daytime temperatures.
• Passive solar cooling systems include
overhangs or shades on south facing
windows, shade trees, thermal mass
and cross ventilation.

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Passive Solar Ventilation

Thermal chimneys can be
constructed in a narrow
configuration (like a
chimney) with an easily
heated black metal
absorber on the inside T
behind a glazed front that
can reach high 
temperatures and be
insulated from the house.

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High Temp Solar Thermal applications

A clean, large-scale solar thermal
technology known as concentrating
solar power is used in special power
plants (Concentrating Solar Power or
CSP plants) that use different kinds of
mirror configurations to convert the
sun's energy into high-temperature
heat. The heat energy is then used to
generate electricity in a steam
generator.

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High Temp Solar Thermal applications

A clean, large-scale solar thermal
technology known as concentrating
solar power is used in special power
plants (Concentrating Solar Power or
CSP plants) that use different kinds of
mirror configurations to convert the
sun's energy into high-temperature
heat. The heat energy is then used to
generate electricity in a steam
generator.

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High Temp Solar Thermal applications

Mediums; Synthetic Oil for Parabolic
receivers
These plants,
Molten salt for Central receiver/ solar which operate
Fresnel linear plant daily, range in
size from 14 to
80 megawatts
(MW) and
represent a
total of 354 MW
of installed
electric
generating
capacity.
HTF pump: capable of high T
& P mediums

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High Temp Solar Thermal applications

In solar tower plants, a field of distributed mirrors (heliostats)
are used to concentrate solar radiation

The heliostats track the sun and focus the sunlight on a central
receiver at the top of a tower

Very high temperatures can be achieved, from 800°C to

well over 1,000°C, by concentrating the sunlight.

The solar energy is absorbed by a working fluid and then

used to generate steam to power conventional steam
turbines.

World’s largest solar power tower in Seville, Spain- )

produces temperatures of approx. 550 C TO 1500 C

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Working Principle of Solar Power towers

Demonstration plants with capacities
of between 10 and 20 MW have
been or are currently being tested.

Commercial projects are expected to

be large capacity systems in the
medium-term. Plants of 180 MW may
already be commercially available by
2025

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Solar Dish
• The fluid in the receiver is heated to very high
temperatures of about 750oC.
• This fluid is then used to generate electricity in a
small Stirling Engine, or Brayton cycle engine,
which is attached to the receiver.

• Such systems are the most efficient of all solar

technologies, at approximately 25% efficient,
compared to around 20% for other solar thermal
technologies
• Parabolic dish systems can reach 1000°C at the
receiver

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CSP Projects around the world

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Summary
Parabolic Trough Power Tower Parabolic dish
Operating 500-700oC (400oC ~1000oC (565oC
~750oC
Temperature commercially proven) commercially proven)
Concentrated
Commercially available
Solar Power
Prototype CSP
➢Over 12 billion kWh of Scale up
demonstrations
operational experience; demonstration
(research Phase)
Technologies
operating temperature for High
Commercial potential up to 400°C ➢Projected annual
➢Reliability needs to be Temperature
status commercially proven performance values,
improved and Steam
➢14 to 80 MW of the plants investment and
➢Projected cost goals of
in operation (354 MW operating costs still
mass production still
Generation
capacity) need to be proven in
need to be achieved.
➢5-10 m2/KW of land area is commercial operation.
required

Cost Estimations
$/m2 (1992-2030) 630-275 475-200 3100-400
$/Watt (1992-2030) 4.0-2.7 4.4-2.5 12.6-2.8

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Formulas:
• Air Mass
1 1
𝐴𝑀 = =
sin 𝛼𝑠 cos 𝜃𝑧
𝛼𝑠 = 𝐴𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒
𝜃𝑧 = 𝑍𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒

• Altitude Angle
𝛼𝑠 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛−1 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅. 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔. 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛿 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅. 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛿
∅ = 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒
𝜔 = 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒
𝛿 = 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒

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Formulas:
• Zenith Angle
𝜋
𝜃𝑧 = − 𝛼𝑠
2

• Hour Angle ω
• Morning Negative

• Afternoon Positive

• Noon Zero

• ω = ±0.25 × (No. of minutes from local solar noon (standard time))

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Formulas:
• Declination Angle, δ
• For Northern Hemisphere, the declination varies from about +23.5 ° on June 21st (summer solstice) to -23.5
° on December 21st (winter solstice)
284 + 𝑛
𝛿 = 23.45𝑠𝑖𝑛 360
365

• Sunrise/sunset hour angle, 𝜔𝑠

𝜔𝑠 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 −1 −𝑡𝑎𝑛∅. 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛿

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Formulas:
• Azimuth Angle
cos ∅ sin 𝛿 − cos 𝛿 cos 𝜔 sin ∅ cos 𝛿 sin 𝜔
𝛾 = cos −1( ) = sin−1( )
cos 𝛼𝑠 cos 𝛼𝑠

• Angle of incidence
• cos 𝜃 = sin 𝛿 sin ∅ cos 𝛽 − sin 𝛿 cos ∅ sin 𝛽 cos 𝛾 + cos 𝛿 cos ∅ cos 𝛽 cos 𝜔 + cos 𝛿 sin ∅ sin 𝛽 cos 𝛾 cos 𝜔 +
cos 𝛿 sin 𝛽 sin 𝛾 sin 𝜔

• For a horizontal plane facing due south,

𝛾 = 0; 𝛽 =0; 𝜃𝑖 = 𝜃𝑧 (zenith angle)
cos 𝜃𝑧 = sin 𝛿 sin ∅ + cos 𝛿 cos ∅ cos 𝜔

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Problem:
1. Calculate the total day length (Sunshine hours) for the city of Islamabad on 21st
June?

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Problem:
2. Find the solar altitude and azimuth angle at 2hr after local noon on June 15 for
a city located at 40° N latitude. Also find the sunrise and sunset hours and the day
length?

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Problem:
3. Determine the angle of incidence of direct irradiance/solar radiation on an
inclined surface at 45° from the horizontal with orientation of 30° west of south
and located at Islamabad at 1:30 (solar time) on February 16, 2022?

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Problem:
4. Determine the zenith angle of the Sun at Lahore at 9.30 pm on
February 20, 2022.

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