SolarRadiation

Characteristicsofsolarradiation
Characteristics
of solar radiation
Interactionwiththeathmosphere
Directanddiffuseradiation
Geometryofdirectsolarradiation
Solardiagramsanddeterminationofshades
Incidentenergybyradiationperday
Influenceofcloudsthroughclarityparameter
Calculationofcontributiontosolarpannels

WavelengthofRadiatoin
Radiationcanbeaddressedasapropagationofphotonsoran
electromagneticwavewithassociatedwavelength.
Thewavelengthwhereradiationintensityismaximumis
inversetotheabsolutetemperatureoftheemitter.
Solarradiationthereforehassmallwavelengthwhileradiation
fromambientandsurfaceshaslarger.
Thehumaneyeismostsensible at
0.55mwheresolarintensityis
higher while at ambient temperature
higherwhileatambienttemperature
(300K)thepeakisat~10m
The emissivityistheenergyemitted
comparedwiththatofablackbody
Theincidentradiationis absorbed,
reflected andtransmitted.
Incropera

Spectralproperties
Thedifferentwavelengthisimportantbecausetheproperties
ofsurfacesmaychangeconsiderablywithwavelength:
Glasstransmitsmostsolarradiationandabsorbambientradiation
Theabsorptioncoefficientforsolarradiations canbesignificativelly
differentfromtheemissivity fortheambienttemperature
Thereflectivityofthesurfacesforsolarradiationisalsocalledalbedo.

ExtraterrestrialSolarRadiation
Radiationisdirectionalbutduetothelargedistancefromthe
sun,solarradiationmaybeconsideredinasingledirection.
Theintensityoutsidetheathmospherechangesduringtheyear
duetotheellipticearthtrajectoryandisgivenaproximatelyby:

n3

G 1367 90 cos 360

365

n isthedayintheyearand
thecos argumentisindegrees

Duetothevariationoftheearthvelocityinthetrajectorythe(True)
ApparentSolar TimeiscorrectedaddingtotimetheEquivalentTime:
ET 2.2918
2 2918 [0.0075
[0 0075
0.1868 cos( ) 3.2077 sin( )

n 1

sin 360

365

DuffieBeckman

1.4615 cos(2 ) 4.089 sin(2 )]

Thetimecorrectionissmallerthan15min.

LatitudeandLongitude
TheASTisafunctionofthelongitudeoftheplace:

AST LST ON SM 15 ET / 60 (1h in Summer )

LST Localstandardtime(InSummerthetimeisoneadvancedonehour)
ONandSM
ON and SM Longitudeoflocationandofstandardmeridian(W;E+)
Longitude of location and of standard meridian (W; E+)
forthetimezoneconsidered(InPortugal=Greenwich;Azores:15oW)
e.g.InLisbonon30thSept.solarnoonisat:13h26m(seecalculation)
Hour=12+1 (9o8200) 10/60

Thelatitudedefinesthepositionofalocationinanglefromthe
equatorline.Thecombinationoflatitudeanddeclination
d fi
definestheangleofincidenceofsolarradiation.
th
l f i id
f l
di ti
Declinationindegreesis:
n 284

o 23 .45 sin 360

365

Interactionwiththeathmosphere
Dependingonthelatitudeandtimeofthedaysolarradiation
hasadifferentlengthtocrossthroughtheathmosphere.
Atsolarnoonthesunaltitude()ishigherwithavaluein
( )
g
o
st
o
Lisbonof75 in21 June(=23,45 )and28o in21st December.
Intheathmosphere radiationis:
Absorbed bygasesdecreasingtheintensity.
Scattered byparticulatesdispersinginall
directionsformingadiffusepart.

RogrioDuarte

Incropera

Directanddiffuseradiation
Foraclearsky,ASHRAEdefinesthedirectbeamGb andthe
diffuseGd radiationby:
Gd CGb
Gb A exp B sin
wheretheconstantsA,BandChaverepresentativevalueson
the21steachmonthaspresentedinthefollowingtable:
Month
decl. ()

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr.

-20 -10.8

11.6

May Jun.
20

Jul.

Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.

23.45 20.6 12.3

-10.5 -19.8 -23.45

G (W/m2) 1416 1404 1383 1360 1339 1330 1328 1343 1364 1386 1408 1417
A (W/m
(W/ 2) 1209 1193 1164 1115 1084 1069 1066 1088 1131 1172 1199 1212
B

0.142 0.144 0.156 0.18 0.196 0.205 0.207 0.201 0.177 0.16 0.149 0.142

0.058 0.06 0.071 0.097 0.121 0.134 0.136 0.122 0.092 0.073 0.063 0.057

ThesevaluesweredefinedforanaveragesituationinUSAatsealevel.
Therearealsotablesforspecificlocations.
In2009editionthereisafurtherdetailedmodelwithparametersforUSA.

InformationforPortugal
Theinformationthatisregularlyregisteredisthesolar
radiationintensityinanhorizontalsurfaceGh(Whyhor.?)
Clarityindexdefinedfrom0to1with1forclearsky.
(<0.3Encoberto;0.3<kt<0.65Parcialmenteencoberto;>0.65Limpo)

CollaresPereiraandRabiderivedacorrelationforthefraction
ofthedifuseradiationcomparedtototal.(Thereareothers)
0.775 0.00653asSS 90
Gd
0.505 0.00455asSS 90
Gh
cos115 K t 103
Notethatthevaluesdefinedinthisgraph
andcorrelationaredailyaverages.
Therearealsomonthaverages.
Notethatevenincleardaysthereisalways
DuffieBeckman
adiffusecomponentoftheorderof10%

Radiationobservations(Mainland)
Gh Horizontalsolarradiationenergy(Wh/m2 day).
Kt ClarityIndex Characterizesthelevelofskyclarity
Tg Averagegastemperature(oC)
Gh

Bragana Kt
Tg
Gh

Porto

Kt
Tg
Gh

Coimbra

Kt
Tg
Gh

Lisboa

Kt
Tg
Gh

vora

Kt
Tg
Gh

Faro

Kt
Tg

AzoresandMadeira
havealsostudiesto
beincludedlater.

J
Jan

F
Fev

M
Mar

Ab
Abr

M i
Mai

J
Jun

J l
Jul

A
Ago

S t
Set

O t
Out

N
Nov

D
Dez

1638
0.416
2.5
1806
0.445
8
2022
0.480
9
2188
0.490
9
1988
0.443
9
2402
0.505
12.5

2653
0.492
5
2741
0.498
10
2970
0.526
10
3174
0.540
11
2949
0.500
10
3362
0.547
12.5

3844
0.515
7.5
3974
0.526
12.5
4095
0.534
12.5
4343
0.553
13
4022
0.511
12.5
4560
0.566
13

5455
0.578
10
5780
0.609
14
5480
0.574
15
5902
0.611
15
5610
0.580
14
6198
0.634
15.5

6640
0.610
12.5
6668
0.611
15
6212
0.569
15
6864
0.626
17
6655
0.607
17.5
7329
0.667
17.5

7260
0.632
15
7332
0.638
18
6534
0.569
18
7578
0.660
20
7322
0.638
20
7895
0.689
21

7838
0.703
20
7526
0.675
20
6872
0.615
20
7925
0.709
22.5
7816
0.699
24
7979
0.714
23

6762
0.680
20
6613
0.663
20
6244
0.623
20
7070
0.700
22.5
6867
0.679
24
7094
0.697
23

4939
0.607
15
4956
0.603
17.5
4829
0.581
20
5412
0.639
20
5101
0.602
21
5713
0.662
22.5

3205
0.531
12
3384
0.551
15
3557
0.567
15
3794
0.584
1.5
3558
0.546
17.5
4038
0.600
20

2087
0.484
5
2184
0.492
12.5
2428
0.531
12.5
2556
0.529
15
2358
0.486
12.5
2731
0.535
15

1414
0.406
4
1701
0.472
10
2027
0.541
10
2024
0.505
10
1879
0.466
9
2244
0.522
12.5

Directsolarradiationgeometry
Whilediffuseradiationmaybeconsidereduniformfromall
directionsinanhorizontalplane,directradiationhasasingle
directionthatcanbewellcharacterisedbyangles.

FigurefromRenewableEnergyusingthesamenomenclature

Listofrelevantangles

LatitudeLandlongitude
S l
Solaraltitude
ltit d
(b
(beamandhorizontalprojection)
dh i t l
j ti )
Solarazimuthas (horizontalprojectionandsouth)
Surfaceazimuthaw (hor.projectionofnormalandS)
Surfaceinclination (surfaceandhorizontal)
g (
)
Incidenceanglei(normaltosurfaceandsunbeam)
Solarhour(hs)(Solarhournegativeatsunriseand
zeroatnoontobesimilartoazimuthreferential)
hs AST 12

360
24

SolarGeometry
Solarheightcanberelatedtolatitude,declinationand
solarhour.Thatisforagivenplaceandtime.
sin( ) sin s sin L cos s cos L cos hs

Fromthisequationthesunrise/sunsettimecanbe
obtained(fromthecondition=0):
cos hsSR cos hsSS tg s tg L

Thesolarazimuthcanbeobtainedfrom:
The solar azimuth can be obtained from:
sin( a s ) cos s sin hs cos

Thesunpositionisrepresentedintwotypesofsun
trajectorydiagrams:Circularandplanar.

Circularsundiagram
(Suntrajectoryseenfromtop)

Dependson
latitude

JosLuisAlexandre,FEUP

Calculationsindiagram
N 0
0

Azimute

20

Altitude
40

270
W

21 Jun

60

21 Jul/Mai
21 Ago/Abr

80

Forshadowstheangles
canberepresentedas
afunctionofprofile
angle andazimutha
angle
and azimuth as
tg
tg
cos a s

90

21 Set/Mar
21 Out/Fev
21 N
Nov/Jan
/J
21 Dez

Dias ou
declinaes

Horas

8h
10h

S 180

Planarsolardiagram
Suntrajectoryseen
in a circle around
inacirclearound
theobserver
Altitude
Hor
a
Dia

21 Jun
21 Jul/Mai
21 Ago/Abr
21 Set/Mar
21 Out/Fev
21 Nov/Jan
21 Dez

Horas

90 Este

180 Sul

Azimute
270
as Oeste

SolarDiagrams
CircularSundiagram(Sun
j
y
p)
trajectoryseenfromtop)

PlaneSundiagram(Sun
j
y
trajectoryseeninacircle
aroundtheobserver)

Radiationincidentinsurfaces
Theradiationincidentinasurfaceisthesumof
Directradiationthatdependsonthedirectintensityandon
the incidence angle in the surface (calculated by geometry)
theincidenceangleinthesurface(calculatedbygeometry)
Diffuseradiationthatiscomingfromalldirections.
Reflectedradiationfromtheground,dependsonalbedo
Radiationfromothersurfacesintheviewfieldofthesurface.
Thelastisusuallyneglectedwhentemperaturesaresimilarand
/
p
thediffuse/reflectedcontributionsdependontheviewfactor

Thegeometricalcharacteristicsofthesurfaceare
definedbytheanglewiththehorizontalplane()and
theazimuth(aw)

Incidentdirectradiation
Canbecalculatedfromthecosineoftheincidenceanglei:
cos i cos cos a s a w sin sin cos
expressedhereasafunctionofsolaraltitudeandazimuth
dh
f ti
f l
ltit d
d i th
Thiscanalsoberepresentedasafunctionoflatitude,
declination,solartimeandsurfaceazimuth:
cos i sin sin L cos sin cos L sin cos a w
cos cos L cos cos hs cos sin sin a w sin hs
cos sin L sin cos a w cos hs
Foraverticalsurface(=90o)facingsouth(aw=0)then:
cos i cos sin L cos hs sin cos L

Relationwithhorizontalradiation
Fromthehorizontalradiationthedirectsolarbeam
contributioncanbecalculated Gb G h G d sin
Thedirectradiationincidentinasurfacecanthusbe
calculatedfrom:
Gbs Gb cos i G h G d cos i sin
Althoughinstantvaluescanbedefineditisusualtodefine
anaveragevalueastheclarityisalsoanaveragevalue.
Thecalculatedvaluesofcos(i)/sin()forasurfacefacing
The calculated values of cos(i)/sin() for a surface facing
southcanbeexpressedas:
Rb

cos L cos sin a sSS / 180 a sSS sin s sin L

cos L cos s sin a s / 180 a s sin L sin s

andarerepresentedindiagramsfordiferentvaluesofL ()

GraphicalrepresentationofRb.

ThesevaluesaremonthlyaveragedvaluesfortheRbfactor.
Therearegraphsforotherorientationsincludingverticalsurfaces

10

Totalradiationinsurfaces
Theradiationincidentinasurfaceisthesumofthe
direct,diffuseandreflectedcomponents.
Thediffuseandreflectedcomponentsdependonthe
viewfactoroftheskyandthegroundtakenas
respectively:(1+cos)/2and(1cos)/2.
Gs Gbs Gds Grs Gh Gd Rb Gd

1 cos
1 cos
Gr
2
2

G 1 cos
1 cos
Rb d
ground

2
2
Gh

Albedo
Groundreflectivity
RatiodefinedfromClarityIndex

G
Gs Gh 1 d
Gh

ofsolarradiation

AlbedoorGroundReflectance

11

InformationinRCCTE
Forcalculationofheatloadsthroughthewindowsand
opaquesurfaceoverheatingtheheatfluxin(kWh/m2)is
givenasafunctionoforientationforsummer(122days).

Energiasolarmdiaincidentenumasuperfcievertical

Theheatfluxisalsogivenfor orientadaasulnaestaodeaquecimentoGsul(kWh/m2 ms)

averticalsurfacefacingsouth Regies
I1
I2
I3
Continente
108
93
90
duringtheheatingperiod.
70
100

50
80

50
80

Shadow
wCalculationin
nRCCTE

Aores
Madeira

12