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= Soutb, 9u
=
wcst ) is obtained using (4)-(7) as follows [6];
cos u
s
=(sinsiny
s
- sino) cos cos y
s
(4)
sino
s
= cos o
s
sin cos y
s
(5)
sino
s
< u o
s
= -cos
-1
(cos o
s
) (6)
If sin o
s
> u o
s
= cos
-1
(cos o
s
) (7)
The position of the sun at a specific time of a day is shown
in Fig. 1.
D. Solar Angle of Incidence
Solar angle of incidence, (0
)
Z
s
: Zenith Angle of the Sun
o
m
: Module azimuth angle (Nortb = u
0
, Eost = 9u
)
and,
Z
s
= 9u
- y
s
(9)
Fig. 1. The position of the sun at a specific time of a day
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International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013
ICRERA 2013 185
Fig. 2. Solar angle of incidence
III. CASE STUDY : GROUND MEASUREMENT OF SOLAR
PANEL OUTPUT DATA IN NORTHERN CYPRUS AND
EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF COLLECTED DATA
In this part of the paper, the geographical characteristics,
energy production and consumption profile of Northern
Cyprus are explained in brief. This brief data is then followed
by a short description of experimental system setup used for
site measurements and data collection. The collected data is
then analyzed and the results are discussed.
A. Geographical Characteristics, Energy Profile and Solar
Energy Development in Northern Cyprus
Cyprus as the 3
rd
largest island in the Mediterranean is
located at 33
0
east of Greenwich and 35
0
north of the equator.
At the same time Cyprus is one of the best places for solar
energy research and applications due to its geographical
position. Cyprus has a Mediterranean climate with hot dry
summers and mild winters [7].
1) Energy Production and Consumption Profile in
Northern Cyprus: The energy consumption profile of
Northern Cyprus is presented in Fig. 3. As it is clearly visible
from the graphics the largest amount of energy, (32%), is used
in houses. The most of the energy is consumed in houses for
space and water heating applications.
Due to a forecast made by [8], the growth rate of PV
energy production in Northern Cyprus is 20% in 2010 which
is followed by 13% up to 2020, 6% up to 2030 and 3% up to
2040.
Fig. 3. Energy consumption profile in Northern Cyprus
B. Experimental Site Measurement and Data Collection
System
The data used for analyses are measured and collected
using a system consisting of software and hardware parts. The
system which is constructed for data collection and
measurements is somehow similar to the one introduced in
[9].
The hardware part of the system consists of 6
commercially available crystalline silicon solar panels (P
max
=
15 W, I
sc
= 0.96 A, V
oc
= 21.6 V) which are mounted at 17 m
height from sea level on top of the Electrical and Electronic
Eng. Dept. and an electronic circuit which is designed to
transfer the collected solar data to a computer. The solar
panels are aligned toward 6 different directions with a tilt
angle of 4S
= Soutb, 9u
=
wcst. The mentioned solar panels are shown in Fig. 4.
TABLE II. ANGULAR ORIENTATIONS OF SOLAR PANELS
Panel Alignment Position
South SSS
0
SouthEast 28S
0
SouthWest 6S
0
North 18S
0
NorthEast 227
0
NorthWest 14u
0
An electronic circuit, as shown in Fig. 5, is responsible of
converting the analog input data collected from solar panels to
digital and send them to a PC using serial port.
The terminals of each individual solar panel are connected
in parallel to a constant valued power resistor, (load), to
record the variation in panel output characteristics caused by
changes in the sun`s position in the sky.
Measurements and data monitoring tasks are held using a
visual basic based computer software. The software presents
the opportunity for real-time monitoring of output voltage,
current and power of each solar panel sent by the
microcontroller and saves this data for further analyses.
Fig. 4. Six solar panels in different alignements mounted at 17 m height
from sea level on top of Electrical and Electronic Eng. Dept., Eastern
Mediterranean University, used for ground measurement of solar data
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International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013
ICRERA 2013 186
C. Analysis of Collected Data
During this part of the study the collected ground
measured solar panel output power data for three sample days
are analyzed and the results are discussed and compared. The
first set of data is collected on 08.05.2012 which is
representing a sunny day. The second data set belongs to
16.05.2012 which is representing cloudy sky conditions and
the last sample solar data set belongs to 21.05.2012 which is
representing a day with heavy rain. The data are measured and
logged every 15 min. along 24 hours. The main goal during
the above mentioned analyses is to analyze the effects of
movement of the sun in the sky during a full day on solar
panel output characteristics and to show that the output power
of each solar panel reaches to its maximum value as the
incidence angle of sunlight beams reach to the closest value to
9u
8
i
22
"
. The Julian day numbers
required for the calculations are obtained using Table I. Also
declination angle, altitude angle and azimuth angles required
for the calculations are calculated according to (1)-(7). As a
result of the calculations, the sun`s position in the sky is
obtained at different times for the specified three sample days.
The sun`s positions for the 1
st
sample day is presented in
Fig. 6, as an example. The mentioned data is presented in
terms of sun`s altitude and azimuth angles in polar
coordinates. Straight lines represent sun`s azimuth angle and
the circles show sun`s elevation or altitude angles in degrees.
2) Solar Angle of Incidence: The solar angles of incidence
are calculated according to (8) for all panel positions during
each sample day. The results are presented in Fig. 7. All the
graphics are based on Local Solar Time. It is obvious that for
the 1
st
sample day (08/May/2012) the minimum incidence
angle is reached at 12:00 (solar noon) for the South panel.
This means that the incoming sun light is reaching the panel
surface with the closest angle to perpendicular at this time.
Analysis results show that panel output power increases as the
incidence angle of the sunlight gets closer to 9u
.
The minimum incidence angles on the South panel for the
2
nd
and 3
rd
sample days (16/May/2012) and (21/May/2012) are
also obtained at 12:00. It is thought that cloud coverage and
rain fall is preventing the panel to generate the maximum
amount of output power when the minimum incidence angle
values are obtained.
Fig. 5. The electronic circuit designed for data measurement, analog/digital
data conversion and data transferring
As it is obvious from Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, the sun is due
South at solar noon (12:00) and has the highest elevation or
altitude in the sky at this time. Also the solar angle of
incidence takes its smallest value at this time showing that the
sunlight rays come on the module surface with the closest
angle to normal at this time.
Fig. 6. Simulated sun`s position in the sky in a sunny day (08/May/2012)
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International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013
ICRERA 2013 187
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 7. Calculated solar angels of incidence, a) sunny day (08/May/2012), b)
cloudy day (16/May/2012), c) rainy day (21/May/2012)
3) Solar Panel Output Characteristics: As a result of the
analysis, it is obvious that the South panel has been producing
the highest amount of power among the other panels for the
first two sample days (Sunny and Cloudy conditions). The
maximum value of power output for the 1
st
day for South
panel is obtained at 13:15 pm (Local Time). Taking the
differences between the local solar time and local time into the
consideration, it is observed that this is the time when the
incidence angle of sunlight beams has the closest value to
normal and the sun has its maximum height in the sky. Hence
it is confirmed that the maximum power output is obtained
when the sunlight is hting the panel surface with the closest
angle to 9u