Solar Energy
Energy supply in the world by fuel
(sources, IEA, 2002)
2003-09-Yan
Solar Energy
➢Sun is heaviest body of the solar system around which all the planets revolve.
The mass of the sun = 1.98×10 30 kg
Diameter = 1.392×109 ,It is about 109 times the diameter of the earth.
➢The average distance of the sun from the earth =1.496 x 1011m, = one
astronomical unit (AU).
➢The temperature and pressure in the interior of the sun are extremely high, and
the temperature on the surface is 6000K.
➢The light emitted from the sun reaches the earth in 8.3 minutes, and it is the
main source of heat and light energy for all the members of solar system
including the earth.
➢Solar energy is an important, clean, cheap and abundantly available renewable
energy. It is received on Earth in cyclic, intermittent and dilute form with very
low power density 0 to 1 kW/m2.Solar energy received on the ground level is
affected by atmospheric clarity, degree of latitude, etc
Latitude, Solar declination and Solar hour angle
Hour Angle (ω)
The apparent displacement of the sun away from solar noon. An hour angle of
zero degrees indicates that the sun is directly above, and the sign of the hour angle
is determined by occurring either before noon (negative) or after noon (positive).
Angle of Declination (δ)
Declination is the observed angle (due to the polar tilt) between the plane of the
Earth’s equator and the plane of the ecliptic (the plane in which the Earth's orbit
about the Sun lies). Declination has a maximum angle of 23.45° at either solstice.
In this case of coordinates, the sun observed in the North is positive, and in
the South is negative.
Angle of Latitude (ϕ) and Longitude (λ)
Angle of latitude is angle made by a radial line joining the given location to the
centre of the earth with its projection on equatorial plane. The complement of
longitude (λ) in geospatial coordinates is the latitude. When combined together,
we have identified a singular point on the surface of Earth.
Solar Constant
It is defined as the total energy received from the sun per unit of the time, on a
surface of unit area, kept perpendicular to the radiation ,in space just outside the
earths atmosphere when the earth is at its mean distance from the sun. Value of
solar constant 1341W/m2
Solar Declination formula and numerical
The advantages of solar energy
(i)Environmentally clean source of energy and
(ii) Freely available in adequate quantities.
(iii)It is renewable source of energy
(iv)Available widely in any part of world
The main problems associated with solar energy are:
(i) Dilute source of energy and
(ii) Availability varies widely with time.
India, being tropical country receives solar insolation in the order of 1650-
2100 kwh/m2/year for nearly 250-300 days.
Applications of solar energy
1.Heating and Cooling of buildings
2. Solar water and air heating
3. Salt production by evaporation of seawater
4. Solar distillation
5. Solar drying of agricultural products
6. Solar cookers
7. Solar water pumping
8. Solar refrigeration
9. Electricity generation through Photo voltaic cells
10. Solar furnaces
11. Industrial process heat
12. Solar thermal power generation
Devices for measuring Solar Energy
Pyrheliometer
Pyranometer
Sunshine Recorder
Pyranometer
Construction
It is used to measure beam of direct radiation
Sunlight enters the instrument through collimator tube and is directed
onto a thermopile (sensing element) which converts heat to electrical
signal that can be recorded
It collimate the radiation to determine the beam intensity as a function
of incidence angle
Sunshine recorder
• Measures the duration in hours of bright sunshine during the course of day
• consist of a glass sphere installed in a section of “spherical metal bowl”
having groves for holding a recorder card strip and glass sphere
Solar Energy Generations
There are two main ways of utilization of solar energy:
1. Converting sunlight directly into electricity
2. Converting sunlight to heat and temperature
Solar Thermal Energy Technology
❖Solar thermal Energy devices covert radiant energy of the sun into
thermal energy for different productive works.
1. Solar collector
❖In any collection device, the principle usually followed is to expose a
dark surface to solar radiation so that the radiation is absorbed. A part of
the adsorbed radiation is then transferred to a fluid like air or water.
❖When no optical concentration is done, the device in which the
collection is achieved is called a flat-plate collector. When higher
temperatures are required, it becomes necessary to concentrate the
radiation. This is achieved using focusing or concentrating collectors.
❖For low temperature applications i.e., below 1000C, flat plate collector is
used, while for higher temperatures, concentrating collectors are used.
Various Types of Collector
Solar collector
Flat Plate Concentrating
Collector Collector
Liquid FPC
Air FPC
Flat plate collector
The flat plate collector mainly consist of a casing, absorber plate, transparent
glass covers, insulating material and fluid passage tubes .
Working Principle
When the collector is exposed to sun, the radiation (Beam, diffuse radiation) pass
through transparent glass covers. The radiation is absorbed by absorber plate,
which is coated with black absorber paint. The fluid tubes, which are connected to
absorber plate, absorb the heat and transferred to the water passing through the
tubes and gets heated. The hot water collected from all the tubes flow into a
storage tank.
Insulation (paddy husk, saw dust, glass wool) provided to the absorber plate to
avoid loss of heat by conduction. The temperature attained is in the range of 40 –
100o C depending upon the intensity of solar radiation. A liquid flat-plate
collector is usually held tilted in a fixed position on a supporting structure, facing
north if located in the northern hemisphere.
Schematic diagram of liquid flat-plate collector/Solar
Water heater
Working of Flat plate Collector
Different parts of Flat Plate Collector
• An absorbing plate, essentially flat, made of metal upon which solar
radiations fall and are absorbed and charged into heat or thermal energy .
• Tubes, channels or passages are connected to flat-absorbing plate,used for
circulation of fluid into, so that thermal or heat energy of the absorbing plate
may be transferred to for application or utilization.
• An insulting material is sufficiently packed at the back and side of the
absorbing plate may be minimized and hence for the maximize efficiency of
the system
• A transparent cover (one or two sheets) of glass on transparent plastics is
for reducing upward convection and radiation heat losses from the absorber
plate. Single - glazing or double - glazing depending on the requirement
may be recommended.
• A weather tight container/enclosure is required which encloses all above
components of the collector and provides good stability agaist weather.
Different components of FPC
Cylindrical Parabolic Concentrating Collector
➢In this type of collector , the radiation coming on
concentrator is diverted to absorber tube, which is covered
with glass tube to avoid reradiation loss.
➢The heat from the absorber tube is transmitted to the fluid
passing and gets heated up. The hot liquid flows out to a
storage tank for further application.
➢ The direction of concentration is changed with the sun
movement by providing single axis tracking.
➢ The temperature attained by the collector is 100-3000C.
Schematic diagram of cylindrical parabolic concentrating
collector
Paraboloid Concentrating Collector
This type of collector is provided with two axis tracking and is
free to move both on vertical and horizontal axis. The
radiation received on the collector is reflected towards the
concentrator. The concentrator, which is coated with absorber
coating, is heated up with concentrated radiation. The
temperature attained with this type of collector is more than
300oC.
Air Flat Plate Collector
➢The heat absorbed by the absorber plate is transmitted to the
air drawn into the collector .
➢ The hot air leaves the collector to a storage tank for further
use. If the size of collector is large, a blower is used to draw air
into the collector and transmit the hot air to dryer.
➢ The most favorable orientation, of a collector, is due south at
an inclination angle to the horizontal equal to the latitude plus
150 .
Applications of FPC
➢ Heating buildings
➢ Drying agricultural produce and lumber
➢ Heating green houses
➢ Air Conditioning the buildings
➢ Using air heaters as the heat sources for a heat engine
