1.

Altitude angle
It is the angular height of the sun in the sky measured from the horizontal. The
angle is measured between an imaginary line between the observer and the sun and the
horizontal plane the observer is standing on. Altitude is 0 degrees at sunrise and 90
degrees when the sun is directly overhead. It varies throughout the day and depends on
the latitude of a particular location and the day of the year.

A = sin-1[sin (D) sin(L) + cos(D) cos(L) cos (HRA)]

Where:
A = altitude angle
D = declination angle
L = latitude of the location of interest (+ve for the northern hemisphere and -ve for the
southern hemisphere)
HRA = hour angle

2. Azimuth angle
It is the compass direction from which the sunlight is coming. It describes the
position of the sun in terms of how many degrees the sun is from the north. At the
equinoxes, the sun rises directly east and sets directly west regardless of the latitude, thus
making the azimuth angles 90 degrees at sunrise and 270 degrees at sunset. In general,
azimuth angle varies with the latitude and time of year.

Azimuth = cos-1{[sin(D) cos(L) – cos(D) sin(L) cos(HRA)] / cos(A)}

Where:
A = altitude angle
D = declination angle
L = latitude of the location of interest (+ve for the northern hemisphere and -ve for the
southern hemisphere)
HRA = hour angle

3. Latitude
It measures the distance north or south of the equator. Latitude lines start at the
equator (0 degrees latitude) and run east and west, parallel to the equator. They are
imaginary lines that divide the Earth and the equator is the most well known parallel. At 0
degrees latitude, it equally divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
From the equator, latitude increases as you travel north or south, reaching 90 degrees at
each pole.

4. Declination angle
It varies seasonally due to the tilt of the Earth on its axis of rotation and the rotation of the
Earth around the sun. If the Earth were not tilted on its axis of rotation, the declination
would always be 0 degrees. However, the Earth is tilted by 23.45 degrees and the
declination angle varies plus or minus this amount. It is only at the spring and fall
equinoxes is the declination angle equal to 0 degrees.

D = -23.45 degrees x cos [360/365 x (d + 10)]

Where:
 D = declination angle
d = day of the year with January 1 as d=1

From the equation above, the +10 comes from the fact that the winter solstice occurs
before the start of the year. The equation also assumes that the sun’s orbit is a perfect
circle and the factor of 360/365 converts the day number to a position in the orbit.

5. Hour angle
It is a measure of the angular distance between the sun at the local solar time and
the sun at solar noon. The sun rises from the east and reaches its highest position at solar
noon. By definition, the solar hour angle is 0 degrees at solar noon.
There are 24 hours in a day, and in that period, the earth rotates 360 degrees, so,
the earth rotates 15 degrees every single hour. Thus, after each hour from solar noon, the
hour angle increases by 15 degrees. And before each hour from solar noon, the hour
angle decreases by 15 degrees. In the morning, the solar hour angle will always be
negative, while in the afternoon, it will always be positive.

HRA = 15 degrees x (LST – 12)

Where:
LST = local solar time in the 24-hour format

HRA = (LST (in min) / 4) – 180 degrees

Where:
LST = local solar time in minutes

6. Zenith angle
It is the angle between the sun and the vertical. It is similar to the altitude angle but it is
measured from the vertical rather than from the horizontal. Thus, making the zenith angle
equal to 90 degrees – altitude.

Z = cos-1[sin(D) sin(L) + cos(D) cos(L) cos(HRA)]

Where:
Z = zenith angle
D = declination angle
L = latitude of the location of interest (+ve for the northern hemisphere and -ve for the
southern hemisphere)

7. Longitude
Lines of longitude, also called meridians, are imaginary lines that divide the earth. They
run north to south from pole to pole, but they measure the distance east or west. The
prime meridian, which runs through Greenwich, England, has a longitude of 0 degrees. It
divides the earth into the eastern and western hemispheres. It is measured in degrees,
minutes and seconds. Longitude lines are furthest from each other at the equator and
meet at the poles.

8. Solar time
It is used in all sun-angle relationships and is based on the apparent angular motion of the
sun across the sky, with solar noon the time the sun crosses the meridian of the observer.
Two corrections are needed to convert from standard time: 1) Correction for difference in
longitude between observer’s meridian and the meridian at which local standard time is
based. 2) Correction from the equation of time which accounts for perturbations in the
earth’s rate of rotation.

Where:
LSTM = local standard time meridian
TUTC = difference of the local time (LT) from universal coordinated time (UTC) in hours or
it is equal to the time zone

EoT = 9.87 sin(2B) – 7.53 cos(B) – 1.5 sin(B)

Where:
EoT = equation of time (in minutes); an empirical equation that corrects for the eccentricity
of the earth’s orbit and the earth’s axial tilt

B = (360/350) (d-81)
Where:
d = number of days since the start of the year

TC = 4(longitude – LSTM) + EoT

Where:
TC = time correction factor (in minutes)
LSTM = local standard time meridian
EoT = equation of time
The factor of 4 minutes comes from the fact that the earth rotates 1 degrees every 4
minutes.

LST = LT + (TC/60)
Where:
LST = local solar time
LT = local time
TC = time correction factor