Eastern Mediterranean University

Department of Mechanical Engineering

MENG442 Lecture Notes

Chapter 1 Solar Radiation
 THE SUN
• Sun is a sphere of intensely hot gaseous

D≈ 1.39 billion m
(1.39 million km) L≈ 150 billion km
Earth

Sun

• Sun rotates about its axis but it does not rotate as a

solid body
effective blackbody
temperature♣= 5777 K
Temperature of central
interior regions at
8 × 106 to 40 × 106 K ≈ 4 weeks

♣1The effective blackbody temperature of 5777 K is the temperature of a blackbody radiating the same amount
of energy as does the sun.
 THE SUN

• Sun’s density is about 100 times that of water.

• Several fusion reactions have been suggested to

supply the energy radiated by the sun.

• The one considered the most important is a process

in which hydrogen combines to form helium

• The energy produced in the interior of the solar

sphere is

• first transferred out to the surface

• and then radiated into space
 THE SUN

• It is estimated that
90% of the energy is
generated in the
region of 0 to 0.23R
(where R is the radius
of the sun), which
contains 40% of the
mass of the sun.

• At a distance 0.7R
from the center, the
temperature has
dropped to about
130,000 K and the
density has dropped
to 70 kg/m3
 THE SOLAR CONSTANT
• Distance between the sun and the earth varies by 1.7%
due to the eccentricity* of the earth’s orbit

• Nearly fixed intensity of solar radiation reaches to the

outside of the earth’s atmosphere.

• The solar constant Gsc=1367 W/m2

• is the energy from the sun per unit time received on a unit area
of surface perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the
radiation at mean earth-sun distance outside the atmosphere.

earth's orbit

a b

a≠b

*amount by which an orbit

around another body deviates
from a perfect circle.
SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL
RADIATION
• In addition to the total energy in the solar spectrum (i.e.,
the solar constant), it is useful to know the spectral
distribution of the extraterrestrial radiation,

• that is, the radiation that would be received in the

absence of the atmosphere.
SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL
RADIATION

• The average energy

Gsc,λ (in W/m2.μm)
over small bandwidths
centered at
wavelength λ is given
in the second column.

• The fraction f0−λ of the

total energy in the
spectrum that is
between wavelengths
zero and λ is given in
the third column.
 VARIATION OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL RADIATION
• Two sources of variation in extraterrestrial radiation must
be considered:
• the variation in the radiation emitted by the sun
• variation of the earth-sun distance

• For engineering purposes, the energy emitted by the sun

can be considered to be fixed

• Variation of the earth-sun distance, does lead to variation

of extraterrestrial radiation flux in the range of ±3.3%.

Gsc=1367 W/m2
 VARIATION OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL RADIATION

• There are two eqns. for evaluating the extraterrestrial

solar radiation for a particular day in a year.

• Second eqn. provides more accurate results

• where Gon is the extraterrestrial radiation incident on the

plane normal to the radiation on the nth day of the year
and B is given by:
 SOME DEFINITIONS
• Air Mass m: The ratio of the mass of atmosphere
through which beam radiation passes to the mass it
would pass through if the sun were at the zenith (i.e.,
directly overhead)

m2 m1
AM1.5 = m1 / m2
 SOME DEFINITIONS
• Beam Radiation: Solar radiation received from the sun
without having been scattered by the atmosphere.
(Often referred to as direct solar radiation)

• Diffuse Radiation: Solar radiation received from the

sun after its direction has been changed by scattering by
the atmosphere. (Referred to in some meteorological
literature as sky radiation or solar sky radiation)
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Total Solar Radiation: The sum of the beam and the

diffuse solar radiation on a surface. (The most common
measurements of solar radiation are total radiation on a
horizontal surface, often referred to as global radiation
on the surface.)

• Irradiance, W/m2: The rate at which radiant energy is

incident on a surface per unit area of surface. The
symbol G is used for solar irradiance, with appropriate
subscripts for beam, diffuse, or spectral radiation.

• Irradiation or Radiant Exposure, J/m2: The incident

energy per unit area on a surface, found by integration
of irradiance over a specified time, usually an hour or a
day.
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Insolation: is a term applying specifically to solar

energy irradiation
• H is used for insolation for a day.
• I is used for insolation for an hour (or other period if specified).
• H and I can represent beam, diffuse, or total and can be on
surfaces of any orientation.

• Subscripts on G, H, and I are as follows:

• “o” refers to radiation above the earth’s atmosphere, referred to
as extraterrestrial radiation;

• “b” and “d” refer to beam and diffuse radiation;

• “T” and “n” refer to radiation on a tilted plane and on a plane

normal to the direction of propagation.

• If neither “T” nor “n” appears, the radiation is on a horizontal

plane.
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Radiosity or Radiant Exitance, W/m2: The rate at

which radiant energy leaves a surface per unit area by
combined emission, reflection, and transmission.

• Emissive Power or Radiant Self-Exitance, W/m2: The

rate at which radiant energy leaves a surface per unit
area by emission only.
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Any of these radiation terms, except insolation, can

apply to any specified wave-length range (such as the
solar energy spectrum) or to monochromatic radiation.

• Insolation refers only to irradiation in the solar energy

spectrum (0.3-3 μm).
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• Solar Time: Time based on the apparent angular motion

of the sun across the sky

• Solar noon: The time the sun crosses the meridian of

the observer.

• Solar time is the time used in all of the sun-angle

relationships; it does not coincide with local clock time.

meridian or
longitude
 SOME DEFINITIONS
• It is necessary to convert standard time to solar time
by applying two corrections
• 1st there is a constant correction for the difference in longitude
between the observer’s meridian and the meridian on which the
local standard time is based♠.

• The sun takes 4 min to transverse 1◦ of longitude.

• 2nd correction is from the equation of time, which takes into

account the perturbations in the earth’s rate of rotation which
affect the time the sun crosses the observer’s meridian.

♠ e.g.: Local std. meridian of

Famagusta= +2 x 15 = 30o

Local meridian of
Famagusta = 35.1o

♠ To find the local standard meridian, multiply the time difference between local
standard clock time and Greenwich Mean Time by 15.
 SOME DEFINITIONS

• The difference in minutes between solar time and

standard time is

• Where,
• Lst is the standard meridian for the local time zone,
• Lloc is the longitude of the location in question, and longitudes
are in degrees west, that is, 0◦< L < 360◦
• The parameter E is the equation of time (in minutes) from
Figure below or Equation:

• Where, n is the day of the year. Thus 1 ≤ n ≤ 365.

SOME DEFINITIONS
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• The geometric relationships between a plane of any
particular orientation relative to the earth at any time and
the position of the sun relative to that plane, can be
described in terms of several angles

• Φ or L: Latitude, • θz: Zenith angle,

• δ: Declination, • αs: Solar altitude angle,
• β: Slope, • γs: Solar azimuth angle
• γ: Surface azimuth angle
• ω or h: Hour angle,
• θ: Angle of incidence,
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• Φ or L Latitude, the angular location north or south of
the equator, N positive; −90◦ ≤ φ ≤ 90◦.

Φ= 30o Hong Kong Φ= +22.3o

Φ= 0o

Φ= -60o
PerthΦ= -32.0o
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• δ Declination, the angular position of the sun at solar
noon (i.e., when the sun is on the local meridian) with
respect to the plane of the equator, N positive; −23.45◦ ≤
δ ≤ 23.45◦.
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• β Slope, the angle between the plane of the surface in
question and the horizontal; 0◦ ≤ β ≤ 180◦. (β > 90◦
means that the surface has a downward-facing
component.)
• γ Surface azimuth angle, the deviation of the projection
on a horizontal plane of the normal to the surface from
the local meridian, with zero due S, E negative, and W
positive; −180◦ ≤ γ ≤ 180◦.
β = 0o

β
β = 90o

β
β > 90o
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• ω or h Hour angle, the angular displacement of the sun
east or west of the local meridian due to rotation of the
earth on its axis at 15◦ per hour; morning negative,
afternoon positive.
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• θ Angle of incidence, the angle between the beam
radiation on a surface and the normal to that surface.
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• θz Zenith angle, the angle
between the vertical and the
line to the sun, that is, the
angle of incidence of beam
radiation on a horizontal
surface.
• αs Solar altitude angle, the
angle between the
horizontal and the line to
the sun, that is, the
complement of the zenith
angle.
• γs Solar azimuth angle,
the angular displacement
from south of the projection
of beam radiation on the
horizontal plane.
Displacements east of
south are negative and west
of south are positive.
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• The declination δ can be found from the approximate
equation of Cooper (1969),

• or from the more accurate equation (error < 0.035◦)

[from Spencer (1971), as cited by Iqbal (1983)]
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION

• The day of the year n can be conveniently obtained with

the help of below Table
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• There is a set of useful relationships among the above
angles

• Equations relating the angle of incidence of beam

radiation on a surface, θ, to the other angles are

• The angle θ may exceed 90◦, which means that the sun
is behind the surface.
• Also, when using first Equation it is necessary to ensure
that the earth is not blocking the sun (i.e., that the hour
angle is between sunrise and sunset).
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• There are several commonly occurring cases for which
Equation 1.6.2 is simplified.

• For fixed surfaces sloped toward the S or N, that is, with

a surface azimuth angle γ of 0◦ or 180◦ (a very common
situation for fixed flat-plate collectors), the last term
drops out.

• For vertical surfaces, β = 90◦ the equation becomes

 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• For horizontal surfaces, the angle of incidence is the
zenith angle of the sun, θz.
• Its value must be between 0◦ and 90◦ when the sun is
above the horizon.
• For this situation, β = 0, and Equation 1.6.2 becomes

• Cosθz=Sinαs
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• The solar azimuth angle γs can have values in the range
of 180◦ to −180◦.

• γs is negative when the hour angle is negative and

positive when the hour angle is positive.

• The sign function in Equations 1.6.6 is equal to +1 if ω is

positive and is equal to −1 if ω is negative:
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• Useful relationships for the θ sloped due N or due S can
be derived from the fact that surfaces with slope β to the N
or S have the same angular relationship to beam radiation
as a horizontal surface at an artificial latitude of φ − β.

• The relationship is shown in Figure for the northern

hemisphere. Modifying Equation 1.6.5 yields

• For the southern hemisphere modify the

equation by replacing φ − β by φ + β,
consistent with the sign conventions on
φ and δ:
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• For the special case of solar noon, for the S-facing
sloped surface in the N hemisphere,

• and in the S hemisphere

• where β=0, the angle of incidence is the zenith angle,

which for the N hemisphere is

• where β=0, the angle of incidence is the zenith angle,

which for the S hemisphere is
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• Equation 1.6.5 can be solved for the sunset hour angle
ωs , when θz= 90◦:

• The sunrise hour angle is the negative of the sunset

hour angle.

• It also follows that the number of daylight hours is

given by
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• A convenient nomogram for determining day length has
been devised by Whillier (1965)
• Information on Φ and δ for either hemisphere leads
directly to times of sunrise and sunset and day
length.
 DIRECTION OF BEAM RADIATION
• Profile angle (αp) of beam radiation on a receiver plane
R that has a surface azimuth angle of γ.

• It is the projection of the solar altitude angle on a

vertical plane perpendicular to the plane in question.

• αp is useful in calculating
shading by overhangs and
can be determined from
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• Some solar collectors ‘‘track’’ the sun by moving in

prescribed ways to minimize the θ of beam radiation on
their surfaces and thus maximize the incident beam
radiation.

• The angles of incidence (θ) and the surface azimuth

angles (γ) are needed for these collectors.

• Tracking systems are classified by their motions:

• Rotation can be about a single axis (which could have any
orientation) but which in practice is usually
• horizontal east-west,
• horizontal north-south,
• vertical,
• or parallel to the earth’s axis
• or rotation can be about two axes
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• Figure shows extraterrestrial radiation on a 1- fixed

surface with slope equal to the latitude and also 2- on
surfaces that track the sun about a horizontal N-S and 3-
E-W axis at a Φ of 45◦ at the summer and winter
solstices
• Summer solstices:
δ=23.5o
• Winter solstices:
δ=-23.5o

N-S

E-W
Apparent daily path of the sun in
the sky throughout the year
(northern hemisphere)

Apparent daily path of the sun in

the sky throughout the year
(southern hemisphere)
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• It is clear that tracking can significantly change the time

distribution of incident beam radiation.
• Tracking does not always result in increased beam
radiation;
• compare the winter solstice radiation on the N-S tracking
surface with the radiation on the fixed surface.

N-S

E-W
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane rotated about a horizontal E-W axis with a

single daily adjustment so that the beam radiation is
normal to the surface at noon each day,

• The β of this surface will be fixed for each day and will
be

• The surface azimuth angle for a day will be 0◦ or 180◦

depending on the latitude and declination:

E-W
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane rotated about a horizontal E-W axis with

continuous adjustment to minimize the θ,

• The slope β of this surface is given by

• The surface azimuth angle for this mode of orientation

will change between 0◦ and 180◦ if the solar azimuth
angle passes through ±90◦. For either hemisphere,

E-W
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane rotated about a horizontal N-S axis with

continuous adjustment to minimize the θ,

• The slope β is given by

• The surface azimuth angle γ will be 90◦ or −90◦

depending on the sign of the solar azimuth angle:

N-S
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane with a fixed slope rotated about a vertical

axis, the angle of incidence (θ) is minimized when the
surface azimuth and solar azimuth angles are equal.
From Equation 1.6.3, the angle of incidence is

• The slope is fixed, so

• The surface azimuth angle is

 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane rotated about a N-S axis parallel to the

earth’s axis with continuous adjustment to minimize θ,

• The slope varies continuously and is

• The surface azimuth angle is

• Where
 ANGLES FOR TRACKING SURFACES

• For a plane that is continuously tracking about two axes

to minimize the angle of incidence,
RATIO OF BEAM RADIATION ON TILTED SURFACE TO THAT
ON HORIZONTAL SURFACE
• For solar process design, it is necessary to calculate the
hourly radiation on a tilted surface of a collector from
measurements or estimates of solar radiation on a
horizontal surface.

• The most commonly available data are total radiation

for hours or days on the horizontal surface, whereas
the need is for beam and diffuse radiation on the plane
of a collector.
diffuse
beam

measures all
RATIO OF BEAM RADIATION ON TILTED SURFACE TO THAT
ON HORIZONTAL SURFACE
• The geometric factor Rb, the ratio of beam radiation on
the tilted surface to that on a horizontal surface at any
time, can be calculated exactly by appropriate use of
Equation 1.6.2.
• Figure indicates the angle of incidence of beam
radiation on the horizontal and tilted surfaces.
• The ratio Gb,T /Gb is given by♥

• cos θ and cos θz are both determined from Equation

1.6.2 (or from equations derived from Equation 1.6.2).

Gb=GbnCosθz
Beam radiation on
tilted surface
Beam radiation on
horizontal surface

Beam radiation at Beam

normal incidence radiation
at normal
incidence
♥The symbol “G” is used in this book to denote rates, while “I” is used for energy quantities integrated
over an hour.
RATIO OF BEAM RADIATION ON TILTED SURFACE TO THAT
ON HORIZONTAL SURFACE
• The optimum azimuth angle for flat-plate collectors is
usually 0◦ in the N hemisphere (or 180◦ in the S
hemisphere).
• Thus it is a common situation that γ = 0◦ (or 180◦).
• In this case, Equations 1.6.5 and 1.6.7 can be used to
determine cos θz and cos θ, respectively, leading in the
N hemisphere, for γ = 0◦, to

• In the S hemisphere, γ = 180◦ and the equation is

RATIO OF BEAM RADIATION ON TILTED SURFACE TO THAT
ON HORIZONTAL SURFACE
• A special case of interest is Rb,noon, the ratio for south-
facing surfaces at solar noon.

• From Equations 1.6.8a and 1.6.9a, for the N

hemisphere,

• For the S hemisphere, from Equations 1.6.8b and

1.6.9b,
 SHADING

• Three types of shading problems occur so frequently

that methods are needed to cope with them.

• The first is shading of a collector, window, or other

receiver by nearby trees, buildings, or other
obstructions.

• The second type includes shading of collectors in other

than the first row of multirow arrays by the collectors on
the adjoining row.

• The third includes shading of windows by overhangs

and wingwalls.
 SHADING

• At any point in time and at a particular latitude, φ, δ, and

ω are fixed.

• From the equations given above, the zenith angle θz or

solar altitude angle αs and the solar azimuth angle γs
can be calculated.
 SHADING
• Solar position plot of θz and αs versus γs for latitudes of
±45◦ is shown in Figure.
• Lines of constant declination δ are labeled by dates of mean
days of the months from Table 1.6.1.
• Lines of constant hour angles ω labeled by hours are shown.
 SHADING
• Angular position of buildings, wingwalls, overhangs,
or other obstructions can be entered on the same plot.

• Eg:
• if a building or other obstruction of known dimensions and
orientation is located a known distance from the point of interest
(i.e., the receiver, collector, or window),

• angular coordinates corresponding to αs and γ angles of points

on the obstruction (object azimuth angle γo and object altitude
angle αo) can be calculated from trigonometric considerations

• Or, measurements of αo and γo angles are made at the site of

proposed receiver and angles plotted on the solar position plot.
 SHADING

• The solar position at a point in time can be represented

for a point location.

• Collectors and receivers have finite size, and what one

point on a large receiving surface ‘‘sees’’ may not be the
same as what another point sees.

• The problem is often to determine the amount of beam

radiation on a receiver.

• If obstructions are far from the receiver relative to

receiver size, so that shadows tend to move over the
receiver rapidly and the receiver is either shaded or not
shaded, the receiver can be thought of as a point.
 SHADING

• If a receiver is partially shaded, it can be considered to

consist of a number of smaller areas, each of which is
shaded or not shaded.

• Integration over the receiver area may be performed to

determine shading effects.

• These integrations have been done for special cases of

overhangs and wingwalls.
 SHADING
• Overhangs are features that are applied to buildings to
shade windows from beam radiation.

• Solar position charts  find when points on the receiver

are shaded.

• P is the horizontal distance from the plane of the window

to the outer edge of the overhang.

• G is the vertical distance from top of window to

horizontal plane that includes outer edge of overhang.

• The height H is the vertical dimension of the window.

 SHADING
• Angle of incidence θ of beam rad. on a shading plane
can be calculated from its surface azimuth angle γ and
its slope β = 90+ψ by Eqn 1.6.2.

• The angle ψ of shading plane 1 is

• And that for shading plane 2 is
• If profile angle αp<90−ψ the outer surface of shad.
plane will ‘‘see’’ sun and beam rad. will reach receiver
 SHADING
• Shading calculations are needed when flat-plate
collectors are arranged in rows.

• 1st row is unobstructed, but the 2nd row may be partially

shaded by the first, the 3rd by the s 2nd, and so on.

αp

• As long as the profile angle is greater than the angle

CAB, no point on row N will be shaded by row M.

• If the profile angle at a point in time is CA’B’ and is less

than CAB, the portion of row N below point A’ will be
shaded from beam radiation.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL RADIATION ON A HORIZONTAL
SURFACE
• Often normalized radiation levels are used, that is the
ratio of radiation level to the theoretically possible
radiation that would be available if there were no
atmosphere.

• At any point in time, the solar radiation incident on a

horizontal plane outside of the atmosphere is the normal
incident solar radiation divided by Rb given by

• where Gsc is the solar constant and n is the day of the

year.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL RADIATION ON A HORIZONTAL
SURFACE
• Go for a horizontal surface at any time between sunrise
and sunset:

• It is often necessary for calculation of daily solar

radiation to have the integrated daily extraterrestrial
radiation on a horizontal surface, Ho.
• This is obtained by integrating Eqn 1.10.2 over the
period from sunrise to sunset.
• If Gsc is in W/m2, Ho in J/m2 per day is:

• where ωs is the sunset hour angle, in degrees, from

Equation 1.6.10.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL RADIATION ON A HORIZONTAL
SURFACE
• The monthly mean daily extraterrestrial radiation 𝑯𝒐 is a
useful quantity.

• For latitudes in the range +60 to −60 it can be calculated

with Eqn. 1.10.3 using n and δ for the mean day of the
month♦ from Table 1.6.1.

• Mean radiation Ho is plotted as a function of latitude for

the N and S hemispheres in below figures.

• The curves are for dates that give the mean radiation for
the month and thus show 𝑯𝒐 .

• Values of Ho for any day can be estimated by

interpolation.

♦The mean day is the day having Ho closest to 𝐻𝑜

EXTRATERRESTRIAL RADIATION ON A HORIZONTAL
SURFACE
EXTRATERRESTRIAL RADIATION ON A HORIZONTAL
SURFACE
EXTRATERRESTRIAL RADIATION ON A HORIZONTAL
SURFACE
• Exact values of 𝑯𝒐 for all latitudes are given in Table
EXTRATERRESTRIAL RADIATION ON A HORIZONTAL
SURFACE
• It is also of interest to calculate the extraterrestrial
radiation on a horizontal surface for an hour period.

• By integrating Equation 1.10.2 for a period between hour

angles ω1 and ω2 which define an hour (where ω2 is the
larger),

• Note that the limits ω1 and ω2 may define a time other

than an hour