Outline

Renewable Power Generation Sources

Solar energy

Dr. V. Sankaranarayanan

Associate Professor
National Institute of Technology
Trichirappalli

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Outline

Outline

1 Basics
Concepts

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Outline

1 Basics
Concepts

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Solar system

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Sun - Universal source of energy

Facts

The temperature of the sun is approximately 15 106 K

Nuclear fusion on the surface
Hydrogen converted in to helium
650MT/s hydrogen is converted into 646 MT/s helium
4MT/s is converted into energy
E = mc2

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Radiation

Radiation
The transfer of energy via electromagnetic waves that travels at speed
of light

The velocity of the light at vacuum 3 108 m/s.

Sun light takes 8 min 20 sec to reach the earth surface.
Any body above the temperature of absolute zero (< 200 deg C)
can radiate energy to its surroundings
Wiens law - The wavelength of emission from any body is
inversely proportional to its absolute temperature.
C
=
T
C - 2897 T - Temperature

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Electro magnetic radiation

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 Basics Concepts

Radiation

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 Basics Concepts

Reflection

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 Basics Concepts

Solar constant I

Computation
The radiant flux density of any body is related through
Stefan-Boltzmann constant

Rx = Tx4 W/m2

Tx - Temp of the body in K

- Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.57 108 W K 4 /m2 )
The radiant flux density radiated from a source x at a distance r
can be computed by
Tx4 R2
Tr =
4r2
Compute this for sun !
The temperature of the sun in photosphere is 5778 K

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Solar constant II

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 Basics Concepts

Elliptical orbit of the earth

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 Basics Concepts

Variations on solar constant

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Important definition

Irradiance is given in W/m2 and is represented by the symbol G.

The rate at which radiant energy is incident on a surface per unit
area of surface.
Irradiation is given in J/m2 and is the incident energy per unit
area on a surface determined by integration of irradiance over a
specified time, usually an hour or a day.
Insolation is a term used to solar energy irradiation
Radiosity is the rate at which radiant energy leaves a surface, per
unit area, by combined emission, reflection and transmission.

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Atmosphere

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 Basics Concepts

Various measures

Sun related angles

Declination angle
Solar time
The hour angle
Solar altitude angle
Solar azimuth angle
Zenith angle

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 Basics Concepts

Declination angle

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Declination angle

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Orbit

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 Basics Concepts

Solar time I

The time based on the apparent position of the sun in the sky.

Lst = Lsd + 4(Lsm Llo ) + E

Lst - Local solar time, Lsd - Local standard time, Lsm - Local
standard meridian, Llo - Longitude of the location

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Solar time II

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 Basics Concepts

The hour angle I

The hour angle

The angle between the projected line of the solar noon meridian to
the observer meridian

= 15(ts 12)
ts - Local time

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

The hour angle II

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 Basics Concepts

The hour angle III

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 Basics Concepts

Zenith angle and Altitude angle

The angle between the sun-earth line from the reference point and the
line normal to the horizontal surface.

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS
 Basics Concepts

Solar Azimuth angle

The angle between the south reference line to the line due to solar
beam projection on the horizontal surface.

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 Basics Concepts

All angles

V. Sankaranarayanan RPGS