Solar Radiation

The Earth
 The earth makes one rotation about its axis every
24hrs and completes a revolution around the sun in a
period of 365.25 days approx.
 The earth’s axis of rotation is tilted 23.5 deg. with
respect to its orbit about the sun. In its orbital
movement, the earth keeps its axis oriented in the
same direction.
 This tilted position of the earth, along with the earth’s
daily rotation and yearly revolution, accounts for the
distribution of solar radiation over the earth surface, the
changing length of hours of daylight and night length,
and the changing of the seasons.
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 Earth Data
Mean distance from the Sun: 1.496 x 108 km
Maximum distance from the Sun: 1.521 x 108 km
Minimum distance from the Sun: 1.471 x 108 km
Mean orbital velocity: 29.8 km/s
Sidereal period: 365.256 days
Rotation period: 23.9345 hours
Inclination of equator to orbit: 23°26’
Diameter (equatorial): 12,756 km
Mass: 5.976 x 1024 kg
Mean density: 5520 kg/m3
Escape speed: 11.2 km/s
Surface temperature range: Maximum: 60°C
Mean: 20°C
Minimum: - 90°C 3

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 Insolation
 It is a quantity indicating the amount of incident
solar power on a unit surface, commonly
expressed in units of W/m2.
 At the earth’s outer atmosphere, the solar
insolation on a 1m2 surface oriented normal to the
sun’s rays is called SOLAR CONSTANT (Isc) and
its value is 1367 W/m2.
 Due to atmospheric effects, the peak solar
insolation incident on a terrestrial surface oriented
normal to the sun at noon on a clear day is on the
order of 1000 W/m2.

Insolation
 The earth revolves around the sun in an elliptical
orbit having a very small eccentricity, and with the
sun at one of the foci.
 Consequently, the distance between the earth and
the sun varies a little through the year.
 Because of this variation, the extra-terrestrial flux
also varies.
 The value on any day can be calculated from the
equation
  360n  
I sc'  I sc 1  0.033 cos  
  365  

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 Solar Radiation
 Solar radiation received at the earth’s surface
without change of direction, i.e. in line with the
sun, is called beam or direct radiation.
 A pyrheliometer is an instrument which measures
beam radiation at normal incidence.
 The radiation received at the earth’s surface from
all parts of the sky’s hemisphere (after being
subjected to scattering in the atmosphere) is
called diffuse radiation.
 The sum of the beam and diffuse radiation is
referred to as total or global radiation.
 A pyranometer is an instrument which measures
either global or diffuse radiation.
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Irradiance
 It is an amount of solar energy received on a
unit surface expressed in units of kWh/m2.
 Solar irradiance is essentially the solar
insolation (power) integrated with respect to
time.
 The worldwide average daily value of solar
irradiance on optimally oriented surfaces is
approximately 5 kWh/m2.

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 Air Mass
 The distance travelled by the sunbeam in the
earth’s atmosphere is responsible for the amount
of scattering, absorption and reflection of solar
radiation. The shortest distance travelled by the
sunbeam in the atmosphere is when the sun is at
the Zenith and is longest when the sun is rising or
setting.

 The Zenith angle Өz is the angle made by the

sun’s rays with the normal to a horizontal surface.

Air Mass
 Air mass ‘m’ is defined as :
actual path length travelled AB
m 
vertical depth of the atmosphere AC

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 Basic Earth – Sun Angles
 For calculating solar radiation and designing solar
devices, the knowledge of sun’s path in the sky,
on various days in a year at a particular place is a
pre-requisite.
 Solar altitude angle () and solar azimuth angle
(Az) are the two coordinates locating the sun in
the sky.
 The apparent solar path on a particular day is
shown in the figure thereby showing sun’s zenith
angle (z), altitude () and azimuth angle (Az) at a
particular position of the sun.

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Solar zenith, altitude and azimuth angles, z = zenith angle,

=solar altitude, Az=solar azimuth 12

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 Basic Earth – Sun Angles
 The altitude angle of the sun () is defined as the
angle in a vertical plane between the sun’s rays
and the horizontal projection of the sun rays.
 The azimuth angle (Az) is the angle in the
horizontal plane measured from the south to the
horizontal projection of the sun rays.
Displacements east of south are positive and
west of south are negative.
 To specify the location of a place on the earth,
two angles the latitude () and longitude angle (L)
are required.

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Declination
 The declination is the angle made by the line joining the
centers of the sun and the earth with the projection of this
line on the equatorial plane (angular displacement of the
sun from the plane of the earth’s equator). Its value is
given by
  284  n  
 ( d e g r e e s )  2 3 .4 5 s in  3 6 0  
  365  

where n is the day of the year ( n=1 for January 1). δ

varies from +23.45° (June 21) to -23.45° (December 21). It
is zero on two equinox day (March 21 and September 22).

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 Solar hour angle
The hour angle w is an angular measure of time and is equivalent to 15°
per hour.

This angle is zero at solar noon and varies by 15° per hour from solar noon.
Being positive in the morning and negative in the afternoon.

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Local Apparent Time

 The time used for calculating the hour angle (ω) is the
local apparent time.
 This can be obtained from the standard time observed on
a clock by applying two corrections.
 The first correction arises because of the difference
between the longitude of a location and the meridian on
which the standard time is based. The correction has a
magnitude of 4 minutes for every degree difference in
longitude.
 The second correlation called the equation of time
correction is due to the fact that the earth’s orbit and rate
of rotation are subject to small fluctuations.

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 Local Apparent Time or Local Solar Time
 LAT = S.T. ± 4(Lstd - LLocal) + Equation of time correlation
For India Lstd = longitude of standard meridian = Allahabad = 82.5º

-ve for eastern hemisphere (india) +ve for western hemisphere

EOT = (9.87 sin2β – 7.53 cos β -1.5 sin β) (in minutes)

Where β = 360(n-81)/364
OR
 0.000075  0.001868  cos( B)  0.032077  sin( B) 
EOT = 229.18   
 0.014615  cos(2 B)  0.04089  sin(2 B) 
B  (n  1)  360
365
 Hour angle (ω) = 15 (12 – LAT)
+ve in morning -ve in evening 17

Local Apparent Time or Local Solar Time

Example 1: Determine the local apparent time (LAT)

corresponding to 14:30 (IST) at Mumbai (19°07'N,
72°51'E) and Gandhinagar (23.22° N, 72.64° E) on July 1.
In India, standard time is based on 82°30'E.

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 Angle of Incidence

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Angle of Incidence
• If Ө is the angle between an incident beam of flux and
the normal to a plane surface.

• It can be shown that

cos   sin  (sin  cos   cos  cos  cos  sin  )

 cos  (cos  cos  cos   sin  cos  sin  )
 cos  sin  sin  sin 

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 Angle of Incidence
Where,

Ф = latitude angle (+ve for northern hemisphere and –ve

for southern hemisphere
δ = declination
β = angle of tilt
ω = hour angle (+ve in morning and –ve in evening)
γ = surface azimuth angle (+ve if normal is east of south
and –ve if the normal is west of south

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Angle of Incidence : Special Cases

• Vertical surface β = 90°,

cos   sin  cos  cos  cos   cos  sin  cos 

 cos  sin  sin 
• Horzontal surface β = 0°,

cos  cos z  sin(90   z )  sin  a

 sin  sin   cos  cos  cos 
αa = solar altitude angle

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 Angle of Incidence : Special Cases
• Surface facing due south γ = 0º

cos   sin  (sin  cos   cos  cos  sin  )

 cos  (cos  cos  cos   sin  sin  )
cos   sin  sin(   )  cos  cos  cos(   )

• Surface facing due south γ = 0º and β = 0º

cos   sin  cos  cos   cos  sin 

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Angle of Incidence

Example 2: Calculate the angle made by beam radiation with

the normal to a flat-plate collector on May 1 at 09:00 h
(local apparent time). The collector is located in New
Delhi (28°35‘N, 77°12‘E). It is tilted at an angle of 36°
with the horizontal and is pointing due south.
Repeat the calculation for 12:00 h (local apparent time).

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Example 3: Find the days of the year on which the

sun is directly overhead at 1200 h (LAT) at Pune

(Latitude = 18°32’N) and Gandhinagar (Latitude =

23°22’N)

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Solar azimuth angle

• The solar azimuth angle (γs) is the angle made in the
horizontal plane between the line due south and the
projection of the line of sight of the sun on the horizontal
plane. Thus it gives the direction of the shadow cast in
the horizontal plane by a vertical rod.
• +ve if the projection of the line of sight is east of south.
• -ve if west of south.

cos  s  (cos Z sin   sin  ) / sin  Z cos 

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 Sunrise, Sunset and Day Length
• The hour angle corresponding to sunrise or sunset (ωs)
on a horizontal surface can be found if one substitutes
the value of 90º for the zenith angle

cos s   tan  tan 

s  cos1 ( tan  tan  )
• Day length in hours
2
Smax  cos 1 ( tan  tan  )
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Example 4: Find sunrise and sunset time in IST for

Mumbai (Latitude = 19°08’N, Longitude = 77°55’E)

on 11th September.

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 Inclined Surface Facing Due South
• The hour angle at sunrise or sunset as seen by an observer
on an inclined surface facing south (γ = 0º) will also be given
by above equation is the day under consideration lies
between September 22 and March 21 and the location is in
the northern hemisphere.
cos s   tan  tan 
s  cos 1 ( tan  tan  )
• Day length in hours
2
Smax  cos 1 ( tan  tan  )
15
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Inclined Surface Facing Due South

• If the day under consideration lies between March 21
and September 22, the hour angle at sunrise or sunset

st  cos1 ( tan(   ) tan  )

2
• Day length in hours: Smax  cos 1 ( tan(   ) tan  )
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• Thus for the inclined surface facing south is

wst  min  cos 1   tan   tan   , cos 1  tan      tan   

 
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 Inclined Surface Facing Due North

• For the inclined surface facing north is

wst  min  cos 1   tan   tan   , cos 1  tan      tan   

 

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Empirical equations for predicting the

availability of solar radiation

Since measurements of solar radiation are

often not available, attempts have been made by
many investigators to establish relationships linking
the values of radiation (global or diffuse) with
metrological parameters like number of sunshine
hours, cloud cover, and precipitation.

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 Monthly Average Daily Global Radiation

Hg S
 ab
Ho S max

Hg Monthly average of daily global radiation on a horizontal

surface at a location (kJ/m2-day)

Monthly average of the daily extra-terrestrial radiation which

H0 would fall on a horizontal surface at the location under
consideration

Monthly average of the sunshine hours per day at the

S location (h)

Monthly average of the maximum possible sunshine hours

S max per day at the location(the day length on a horizontal surface33

Monthly Average Daily Global Radiation

24  360   s 
H0  I sc  1  0.033cos n  sin  sin   cos  cos  sin s 
  365  180 
Isc = 1.367 * 3600 (kJ/m2-h)

The calculation of H 0 has been simplified by Klein, who has

determined the particular day in each month on which the
extra-terrestrial radiation is nearly equal to the monthly mean
value. These dates are: January 17, Feb 16, Mar 16, April 15,
May 15, June 11, July 17, Aug 16, Sep 15, Oct 15, Nov 14
and Dec 10.
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 Monthly Average Daily Global Radiation

Example 5: Estimate the monthly average daily global

radiation on a horizontal surface at Vadodara
(22°00’N,73° 10’E) during the month of March if the
average sunshine hours per day is 9.5. (a = 0.28 and b =
0.48).

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Monthly Average Daily Global Radiation

Gopinathan suggested:

Hg S
 a1  b1
Ho S max

  S 
a1   0.309  (0.539  cos  )  (0.0693  E L )   0.290    

  S max  
  S 
b1  1.527  (1.027  cos  )  (0.0926  E L )   0.359    
  S max  
  latitude
E L  Elevation of the location above mean sea level (in kilometers)
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 Monthly Average Daily Global Radiation

Example 6: Use Gopinathan’s correlation to

calculate the value of monthly average daily global
radiation on a horizontal surface for Example 5.

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Monthly Average Daily Diffuse Radiation

Liu and Jordan suggested

2 3
Hd H H  H 
 1.390  4.027 g  5.531  g   3.108  g 
Hg Ho  Ho   Ho 

Hd Monthly average of daily diffuse radiation on a

horizontal surface (kJ/m2-day)
_
Hg
The ratio is often denoted by the symbol KT and called
Ho

the monthly average clearness index

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 Monthly Average Daily Diffuse Radiation

Gopinathan and Soler suggested

Hd H  S 
 0.87813  0.33280 g  0.53039  
Hg Ho  S max 

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Monthly Average Daily Diffuse Radiation

When available Indian data was analyzed the following linear

equation was obtained (Modi and Sukhatme)

Hd H
 1.411  1.696 g
Hg Ho
In a separate study, Garg and Garg have obtained the equation

Hd  S 
 0.8677  0.7365  
Hg  S max 

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 Monthly Average Daily Diffuse Radiation

Example 7: Estimate the monthly average daily

diffuse radiation on a horizontal surface at Vadodara
during the month of March. Use all four correlation
and give your comment.

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Monthly Average Hourly Global Radiation

Collares-Pereira & Rabl suggested

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 Monthly Average Hourly Global Radiation

 360 
I 0  I sc  1  0.033cos n   sin  sin   cos  cos  sin s 
 365 
Isc = 1.367 (kW/m2)

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Monthly Average Hourly Global Radiation

Gueymard modified Eq. Suggested by Collares-

Pereira & Rabl

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 Monthly Average Hourly Diffuse Radiation

Liu and Jordan suggested

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Monthly Average Hourly Global Radiation

Satyamurty and Lahiri suggested

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 Monthly Average Hourly Diffuse Radiation

Example 8: Use the prediction equation to calculate the

monthly average hourly global and hourly diffuse
radiation during the month of April on a horizontal
surface at New Delhi (28°35’ N, 77°12’ E, elevation 216
m). Time: 0900 to 1000 h (LAT). The average number of
sunshine hours per day is 8.6. Compare the predicted
values with the available measurements.

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Monthly Average Hourly Diffuse Radiation

Hg S Hd H
 ab ; a=0.25; b = 0.57  1.411  1.696 g
Ho S max Hg Ho

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 Hourly Global, Beam and Diffuse
Radiation Under Cloudless Skies

Ig = Ib + Id

where, Ig = hourly global radiation,

Ib = hourly beam radiation,
Id = hourly diffuse radiation.

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Hourly Global, Beam and Diffuse

Radiation Under Cloudless Skies

Now, Ib = Ibn cos θz

Ibn = beam radiation in the direction of the rays,
and θz = angle of incidence on a horizontal
surface, i.e. the zenith angle.
Thus, Ig = Ibn cos θz + Id
In the ASHRAE model, it is postulated that
Ibn = A exp (-B/cos θz)
and Id = C Ibn
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Example 9: The following hourly values are measured

around mid-day on a clear day at Nagpur (28°18’N, 77°

51’E) on June 19th between 1300 to 1400 (LAT) is Ig =

3329 kJ/m2-h and Id = 708 kJ/m2-h.

Compared these values with values would be predicted by

the ASHRAE method (Take A = 1092 W/m2, B = 0.185, C

= 0.137.
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Solar Radiation on Tilted Surfaces

Isotropic Diffuse Model (Liu and Jordan, 1963)
IT  I b  rb  I d  rd  ( I b  I d )  rr
Beam Radiation:

Tilt factor for beam radiation

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 Solar Radiation on Tilted Surfaces

Diffuse Radiation:

Tilt factor for diffuse radiation: Ratio of the diffuse radiation

flux falling on the tilted surface to that falling on a

horizontal surface.

1  cos 
rd 
2

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Solar Radiation on Tilted Surfaces

Reflected Radiation:

Tilt factor for reflected radiation: If reflectivity of the

ground is ‘ρ’

 1  cos  
rr     
 2 

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 Flux on Tilted Surfaces
IT  I b  rb  I d  rd  ( I b  I d )  rr
IT  I d  I
  1    rb  d  rd  rr
I g  I g  Ig
Monthly average hourly radiation,
IT  I d  I
  1    rb  d  rd  rr
I g  I g  Ig
rb  rb on the representative day,
1  cos   1  cos  
rd  rd  ; rr  rr     
2  2  55

Example 10: Calculate the monthly average hourly

radiation falling on a flat-plate collector facing south with a
slope of 15°, given the following data
Location: Chennai (13°00’ N)
Month: October
Time: 1100 – 1200 h (LAT)

Ig : 2408 kJ/m 2 -h
Id : 1073 kJ/m 2 -h
Assume ground reflectivity to be 0.2. 56

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 Flux on Tilted Surfaces
Daily radiation falling on tilted surface,
HT  H d  H
 1    Rb  d  Rd  Rr
H g  H g  Hg
Rb   Rb average day (hour angle changes during a day)
1  cos   1  cos  
Rd  rd  ; R r  rr     
2  2 
For the surface facing due south (Liu and Jordan)
Rb   Rb average day
  sin  sin      sin  st cos  cos     
  st 
 s sin  sin   cos  cos  sin  s 
st  sunrise of sunset hour angle (in radians) for tilted surface
s  sunrise of sunset hour angle (in radians) for horizontal surface
57

Thank You

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Example 5: Calculate day length on May 1 and December

1 for a south-facing surface tilted at an angle

of 40° and located at New Delhi.

(28°18’N,77 °51’E)

Ans: 11.59h, 10.29h

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Example 5: Find sunrise and sunset time in IST for a

place in Mumbai (Latitude = 19°08’N, Longitude =

77°55’E) on a hill 20° slope towards south on 11th

September.

Ans: 0634h, 1833h

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