EEE 488 Renewable and Alternate

Energy Systems

Renewable Energy Resources: Solar

Energy
Dr. Muhammad Iqbal
 Solar Energy: An introduction

• The heat generation at the sun is mainly due to

various kinds of fusion reactions specially, the one
in which hydrogen atoms combine to form helium
4( 1 H 1 ) → 2 He4 + 26.3MeV
• The sun emits radiant energy at a temperature of
about 5500 𝑜𝐶 of which only small amount is
intercepted by earth
• Core of the sun has several million 𝑜𝐶
• The solar irradiance just outside the atmosphere is
about 1353 𝑊 Τ𝑚2
• Total power falling on the horizontal surface is
1
about 1000 𝑊 Τ𝑚2
Intensity of Sun's radiation at Earth's orbit

• Sun gives out 384 Yotta Watts

• =384x1024 W
• =3.84x1026 W
3.84𝑋1026
• =
4𝑋3.14𝑋(1.49𝑋1011 )2

=1377 W/𝑚2

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 Area of Earth's disc:

Power received from the Sun by Earth

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Energy received from the Sun, by
Earth each year

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 Energy received from the Sun, by
Earth each year

Since 30% of the incident energy is reflected back, on the

surface of earth, the energy used by humankind each year
is received in:
0.79
=1hour
0.7

• Earth received nearly 5.5 million exa joules of energy

from the Sun each year
• The entire energy used by humankind each year, is
received on the surface of the earth, from the sun,
each hour!
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An imaginary scenario

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 Dyson Sphere

A Dyson Sphere is a hypothetical megastructure envisioned by

physicist Freeman Dyson in 1960. It is designed to completely or
partially surround a star to capture its energy output for advanced
civilizations. The concept is often associated with the Kardashev
Scale, where a Type II civilization would require such a structure to
harness stellar energy efficiently.
There are different variations, including:
• Dyson Swarm: A collection of satellites orbiting the star to
capture energy.
• Dyson Bubble: A large number of lightweight solar sail
satellites forming a shell.
• Dyson Shell (impractical): A rigid, continuous structure
encompassing the star.
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 Classification of civilizations based
on Kardashev Scale
• The Kardashev Scale, proposed by Nikolai Kardashev in 1964, classifies
civilizations based on their energy consumption and technological
advancement. It has three main levels, with extensions proposed later:
• Type I – Planetary Civilization
– Utilizes all available energy on its home planet
– Humanity is currently around 0.72 on the scale, as per Carl Sagan’s
interpolation.
• Type II – Stellar Civilization
– Harnesses the total energy output of its star
– Could achieve this via a Dyson Sphere or similar megastructures
• Type III – Galactic Civilization
– Controls energy at the scale of an entire galaxy

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 175 PW

[Link]
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Equator

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Day night variations

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Conclusions from previous discussions

• Solar energy is absorbed and released through a

wide range of phenomena on earth
• Geographical location and seasons are important
aspects impacting solar energy received by specific
locations
• Time of the day is an important parameter
impacting the intensity of solar energy received

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 Solar Energy: An introduction

• Global irradiance
– Direct beam radiation from the sun (𝐼𝑏 )
– Diffuse radiation from the sky (𝐼𝑑 )
• Variations in the amount of radiation received
– Throughout the day
– Seasonal variation
– There is huge variation in the amount of radiation
 from 2 MJ/m2/day or 0.55 kWh/m^2/day (in northern region) to 20
MJ/m2/day or 5.55 kWh/m^2/day (in tropical regions)
• Solar radiation can be converted into other useful
forms of energy
– Heat, mechanical or electrical
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 Solar Energy: An introduction
• Solar radiation is the energy radiated by sun
– The radiated energy received on earth surface is called
solar irradiation
– Solar radiation received on a flat horizontal surface on the
earth is called solar insolation
• Extraterrestrial solar radiation
– The intensity of sun’s radiation outside the earth’s
atmosphere is called extraterrestrial
• Terrestrial solar radiation
– The radiation received on the earth surface is called
terrestrial radiation which is nearly 70 % of the
extraterrestrial radiation.
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 Solar Energy: An introduction

Extraterrestrial radiation

Solar insolation

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Solar Energy: An introduction

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Solar Energy: An introduction

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 Solar Energy: An introduction
• Air mass: indicates the path length of radiation

𝑚𝑎 = sec 𝜃𝑧 when 𝑚𝑎 >3

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 Solar Energy: An introduction
• Air mass: indicates the path length of radiation

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 Solar Energy: An introduction
• Solar constant: 𝐼𝑠𝑐
– Solar constant is the energy from the sun received on a unit
area perpendicular to solar rays at the mean distance from the
sun (1.5 ∗ 108 𝑘𝑚) outside the atmosphere
– It is constant and not affected by daily, seasonal, atmospheric
condition, clarity of atmosphere etc.
– It is on surface normal to the sun rays.
– It has measured value of 1353 W/m^2
– The value of apparent extraterrestrial solar irradiance changes
with location because earth-sun distance changes seasonally
with time. It can be calculated using
360(𝑛 − 2)
𝐼𝑜 = 𝐼𝑠𝑐 1 + 0.033cos
365 20
 Solar Energy: An introduction
– Clarity index
 The ratio of the solar radiation arriving at the earth’s surface to
extraterrestrial radiation.
 The ratio of radiation received on earth’s horizontal surface over a given
period to radiation on equal surface area beyond earth’s atmosphere in
direction perpendicular to the beam.
– Concentration ratio
 It is the ratio of solar power per unit area of the concentrator surface
(kW/m^2) to power per unit area on the line focus or point focus
(kW/m^2)

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 Solar radiation geometry: Earth
• Latitude angle (𝜙):
– Latitude of the place is the angle subtended by the radial line
joining the place to the Centre of the earth, with the projection of
the line on the equatorial plane

Latitude angle of point

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 Solar radiation geometry: Earth
• Declination angle (𝛿):
– It is the angle made by the line joining the centers of the sun and the earth with its
projection on the equatorial plane. This angle varies from +23.5 to -23.5

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 Solar radiation geometry: Earth
• Declination angle (𝛿):
– The declination in degrees for any day may be calculated by using the following
equation.
 360 
 = 23.45sin  (284 + n) 
 365 

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 Solar radiation geometry: Earth
• Declination angle (𝛿):
– Variation of declination angle

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 Solar radiation geometry: Earth
• Declination angle (𝛿):
– Variation of declination angle

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 Solar radiation geometry: Earth
• Declination angle (𝛿):
– Variation of declination angle: Winter

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 Solar radiation geometry: Earth
• Declination angle (𝛿):
– Variation of declination angle

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 Solar radiation geometry: Earth
• Declination angle (𝛿):
– Variation of declination angle

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 Solar radiation geometry: Earth
• Declination angle (𝛿):
– Variation of declination angle

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Hour angle (𝜔):
– The angular displacement of the sun east or west of the local meridian due to the
rotation of the earth
– 15° per hour – noon is zero, so morning negative, afternoon positive
– Depends on Local Solar Time
(LST) or Local Apparent Time

𝜔 = 15(𝐿𝑆𝑇 − 12)

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Altitude angle (𝛼) or solar altitude:
– It is a vertical angle between the projection of the sun rays on the
horizontal plane and the direction of the sunrays passing through
the point.

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Solar azimuth angle (𝛾𝑠 ):
– It is the horizontal angle measured from north to the horizontal
projection of the sun’s rays.
– This is positive when measured west wise.

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Zenith angle (𝜃𝑧 ):
– 𝜃𝑧 = Zenith angle = the angle between the vertical (zenith) and
the line of the sun

Latitude angle Hour angle Declination angle

Solar azimuth angle

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Surface azimuth angle (𝛾):
– It is the angle of the deviation of the projection (of the normal
to the surface) on a horizontal plane from the local meridian,
with zero due south, east negative, and west positive, the zero
point being south, east positive and west negative

Incident angle

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Slope or tilt angle (𝛽):
– It is the angle made by the plane with the horizontal

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Incident angle (𝜃):
– It is the angle being measured between the beam of rays and
normal to the plane.
– The power collected by the collector surface is less than the
power available from the sun rays by factor cos𝜃
– The angle of incident depends on the position of sun in the sky
Where
θ is the angle of incidence [°]
β is the slope of the surface [°]
γ is the azimuth of the surface [°]
Φ is the latitude [°]
δ is the solar declination [°]
ω is the hour angle [°]
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Angle of Incidence

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Incident angle (𝜃):
Where
θ is the angle of incidence [°]
β is the slope of the surface [°]
γ is the azimuth of the surface [°]
Φ is the latitude [°]
δ is the solar declination [°]
ω is the hour angle [°]

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Incident angle (𝜃):
Where
θ is the angle of incidence [°]
β is the slope of the surface [°]
γ is the azimuth of the surface [°]
Φ is the latitude [°]
δ is the solar declination [°]
ω is the hour angle [°]

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Incident angle (𝜃):
Where
θ is the angle of incidence [°]
β is the slope of the surface [°]
γ is the azimuth of the surface [°]
Φ is the latitude [°]
δ is the solar declination [°]
ω is the hour angle [°]

𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Incident angle (𝜃):
Where
θ is the angle of incidence [°]
β is the slope of the surface [°]
γ is the azimuth of the surface [°]
Φ is the latitude [°]
δ is the solar declination [°]
ω is the hour angle [°]

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Solar geometry: Sun angles: Sunset
angle and day length

s = Sunset angle
 = Declination
 = Latitude

Note:
Day length is in hours

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Solar geometry: Sun angles: Sunset
angle and day length

At sunrise, the angle of incident is 90 degree s = Sunset angle

So the above equation is reduced to  = Declination
cos s = − tan  tan   = Latitude

2
Day length = cos−1 ( − tan  tan  ) Note:
15 Day length is in hours

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Local solar time (LST)
– It is the time used for calculating the solar angle. LST can be
obtained from the standard time observed on the clock by
applying following corrections
 The correction which arises due to difference in longitude between a
location and the meridian on which standard time is based
– This correction has a magnitude of 4 minutes for every degree
difference in longitude
 This correction called the equation of time correction which is due to
the fact that earth’s orbit and rate of rotation are subject to small
perturbations Earth rotates 15 degrees per hour or it
takes 4 minutes to rotate 1 degree
Local solar time (LST)=standard time ± 4(standard time
longitude-longitude of the location) + equation of time correction
 The positive sign is used for western hemisphere and –ve sign for
eastern hemisphere.
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 Solar radiation geometry
• Apparent motion of sun
– The apparent motion of sun caused by the rotation of earth
about its axis, changes the angle at which direct component of
the light will strike the earth.
– From the fixed location on earth the sun appears to move
throughout the sky.
– The position of the sun depends on the location of the point on
the earth, the time of the day and the time of the year.
– This apparent motion of the sun has major impact on the
amount of power received by the solar collector.
– The complete modeling of the sun’s angle to a fixed position
on earth requires the altitude, longitude, day of the year and the
time of day.
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 Solar radiation geometry
• Example: Determine the sunset hour angle and day-
length at a location latitude of 32 degree on March 30

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Example: Determine the sunset hour angle and day-
length at a location latitude of 32 degree on March 30

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Example: Determine the sunset hour angle and day-
length at a location latitude of 32 degree on March 30

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 Solar radiation geometry
• Example: Determine the sunset hour angle and day-
length at a location latitude of 32 degree on March 30

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Solar Energy: Advantages, disadvantages

Advantages Disadvantages
• It is clean, cheap and • High capital cost
abundantly available • Limited to sunshine
• It is re-usable source of • Need of tracking the sun
energy • There is need of storage
• It is eco-friendly
• It decreases green house gas
emissions