Renewable Energy Systems

Dr. Sudhakar Subudhi

 Introduction
Energy: It is the capacity for doing work

Forms of
Energy

Chemical Nuclear Mechanical Radiant Electrical

 Energy used by human
beings

Conventional
Unconventional/Renewable
e.g. Fossil fuels (Coal,
(Solar, wind, biomass,
Petroleum products, Natural
geothermal, wave, etc.)
gas etc.)
 Why will we go for
unconventional
energy sources

Production of fossil
Environmental
fuels are not
pollution
sufficient
 Forms of pollution

Acid rain
(Nitric oxides and SO2 from Stratospheric ozone depletion Global warming due to
combustion of fossil fuels+water (Due to Nox of exhaust gases and Greenhouse effects
vapor from atmosphere) CFC of refrigerators) (due to CO2, methane, NOx,)
Solar Energy
 Solar radiation
Sun & Earth
• The sun is a sphere of intensely hot gaseous matter with a diameter
of 1.39 × 109 m
• It is at mean distance of 1.496 × 1011 m from the earth.
• As seen from the earth, the sun rotates on its axis about once
every 4 weeks. However, it does not rotate as a solid body; the
equator takes about 27 days and the polar regions take about 30
days for each rotation.
• The sun has an effective blackbody temperature of 5777 K.
• The temperature in the central interior regions is variously
estimated at 8 × 106 to 40 × 106 K and the density is estimated to be
about 100 times that of water.
• Several fusion reactions are responsible to supply the energy
radiated by the sun.
Structure of the Sun
• It is estimated that 90% of the energy is generated in
the region of 0 to 0.23R (where R is the radius of the
sun), which contains 40% of the mass of the sun.
• At a distance 0.7R from the center, the temperature
has dropped to about 130,000 K and the density has
dropped to 70 kg/m3; here convection processes begin
to become important
• The zone from 0.7 to 1.0 R is known as the convective
zone. Within this zone the temperature drops to about
5000 K and the density to about 10−5 kg/m3.
• The outer layer of the convective zone is called the
photosphere.
Spectral distribution of solar radiation
 Solar Constant
• The solar constant, Isc is the energy from the sun per unit
time received on a unit area of surface perpendicular to the
direction of propagation of the radiation at mean earth-sun
distance outside the atmosphere
• The value of the solar constant is of 1353 W/m2 in the year
of 1971, then it is 1367 W/m2 which is adopted by many
people
• Due to elliptical orbit of earth, the solar constant varies as
 360n 
I sc = I sc 1 + 0.033 cos 
 365 
• where Isc’ is the extra-terrestrial radiation incident on the
plane normal to the radiation on the nth day of the year
 Solar Radiation Parameters
• Beam or Direct Radiation: The solar radiation received from the sun
without having been scattered by the atmosphere.
• Diffuse Radiation: The solar radiation received from the sun after its
direction has been changed by scattering by the atmosphere.
• Total or Global Solar Radiation: The sum of the beam and the diffuse
solar radiation on a surface.
• Irradiance, W/m2: The rate at which radiant energy is incident on a
surface per unit area of surface.
• Irradiation or Radiant Exposure, J/m2: The incident energy per unit area
on a surface, found by integration of irradiance over a specified time,
usually an hour or a day.
• Radiosity or Radiant Exitance, W/m2: The rate at which radiant energy
leaves a surface per unit area by combined emission, reflection, and
transmission.
• Emissive Power or Radiant Self-Exitance, W/m2: The rate at which radiant
energy leaves a surface per unit area by emission only.
•  Latitude, the angular location north or south
of the equator, north positive; −90◦ ≤ φ ≤ 90◦.
Latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
•  Longitude: Longitude lines are
perpendicular to the equator. Longitude varies
from 00 at Greenwich to 1800 east and west.
•  Slope, the angle between the plane of the
surface in question and the horizontal; 0◦ ≤ 
≤ 180◦.
 Declination: Angle made by the line joining the centres of the sun & the earth
with its projection on the equatorial plane, north positive; −23.450 ≤ δ ≤ 23.450. It
arises as earth rotates about an axis which makes around 66.50 with the plane of
its rotation around the sun. The sun–earth distance; shortest distance(147.1 ×106
km) is at January 3 and longest distance(152.1 ×106 km) is at July 4.
The declination δ can be found from the approximate equation of Cooper
(1969),
δ = 23.45 sin(360 ((284 + n)/365))

Annual motion of the earth about the sun

Yearly variation of solar declination

Annual changes in the sun’s position in the sky

(Northern Hemisphere)
• In the Northern Hemisphere, the days get longer as the sun rises
earlier and sets later each day and the sun’s path gets higher in the
sky.
• On June 21 the sun is at its most northerly position with respect to
the earth. This is called the summer solstice and during this day the
daytime is at a maximum.
• Six months later, on December 21, the winter solstice, the reverse is
true and the sun is at its most southerly position.
• In the middle of the 6-month range, on March 21 and September
21, the length of the day is equal to the length of the night. These
are called spring and fall equinoxes, respectively.
• The summer and winter solstices are the opposite in the Southern
Hemisphere; that is, summer solstice is on December 21 and winter
solstice is on June 21.
•  Surface azimuth angle, Angle made in the horizontal
plane between the line due south and the projection of
the normal to the surface on the horizontal plane, with
zero due south, east positive, and west negative; −180◦
≤  ≤ 180◦.
• ω Hour angle, the angular displacement of the sun east
or west of the local meridian due to rotation of the
earth on its axis at 15◦ per hour; morning negative,
afternoon positive. It varies from -1800 to 1800
•  Angle of incidence, the angle between the beam
radiation on a surface and the normal to that surface.
• Zenith angle, z: Angle made by the sun’s rays
with the normal to a horizontal surface.
• Solar Altitude angle, s =900- z , Complement
to Zenith angle
• Solar Azimuth angle, s: 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. Sign convection is
as for Surface azimuth angle
Relation between different angles

Special cases:
(1) For vertical surfaces, =900, so above equation becomes

(2) For horizontal surfaces, =00 , and also angle of incidence is the zenith angle
of the sun, so first equation becomes

Another relation, Braun and Mitchell expression, is given by

The solar azimuth angle s can have values in the range of 180◦ to −180◦. For north
or south latitudes between 23.45◦ and 66.45◦, s will be between 90◦ and −90◦ for
days less than 12 h long; for days with more than 12 h between sunrise and sunset, s
will be greater than 90◦ or less than −90◦ early and late in the day when the sun is
north of the east-west line in the northern hemisphere or south of the east-west line
in the southern hemisphere. For tropical latitudes, s can have any value when δ − φ is
positive in the northern hemisphere or negative in the southern, for example, just
before noon at  = 10◦ and δ = 20◦, s= −180◦, and just after noon s= +180◦. Thus s is
negative when the hour angle is negative and positive when the hour angle is
positive. So the equation for solar azimuth angle is given by
 Hour angle & Day length for Sunrise or Sunset

• The hour angle (s) corresponding to sunrise

or sunset on a horizontal surface (=00,=900)
is given by

The sunrise hour angle is negative of the

sunset hour angle
• The day length(in hours) is given by
Smax
 Local Apparent time or Solar time
• It is the time based on the apparent angular motion of the sun
across the sky with solar noon the time the sun crosses the
meridian of the observer
• We use two corrections to standard time observed on a clock to
obtain solar time:
• First, there is a constant correction for the difference in longitude
between the observer’s meridian (longitude) and the meridian on
which the local standard time is based. The sun takes 4min to
transverse 1◦ of longitude.
• The second correction called equation of time correction is due to
the fact that the earth’s orbit & rate of rotation are subject to small
fluctuations. This correction is based on experimental observations.
• Solar time=Standard time ± 4 (Standard time longitude-longitude of
location) + Equation of time correction (E)
(-ve for eastern hemisphere and +ve for western hemisphere)

Where B is given by and n is the day of the year

 Atmospheric reduction of Solar
radiation
• The solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface is reduced because a large part of
it is scattered, reflected back out into space, and absorbed by the atmosphere.
• As a result of the atmospheric interaction with the solar radiation, a portion of the
originally collimated rays becomes scattered or non-directional.
• Some of this scattered radiation reaches the earth’s surface from the entire sky
vault. This is called the diffuse radiation.
• The solar heat that comes directly through the atmosphere is termed direct or
beam radiation.
• The insolation received by a surface on earth is the sum of diffuse radiation and
the normal component of beam radiation.
• The solar heat at any point on earth depends on:
1. The ozone layer thickness
2. The distance travelled through the atmosphere to reach that point
3. The amount of haze in the air (dust particles, water vapor, etc.)
4. The extent of the cloud cover
• The earth is surrounded by atmosphere that contains various
gaseous constituents, suspended dust, and other minute solid and
liquid particulate matter and clouds of various types.
• As the solar radiation travels through the earth’s atmosphere,
waves of very short length, such as X-rays and gamma rays, are
absorbed in the ionosphere at extremely high altitude.
• The waves of relatively longer length, mostly in the ultraviolet
range, are then absorbed by the layer of ozone (O3), located about
15–40 km above the earth’s surface.
• In the lower atmosphere, bands of solar radiation in the infrared
range are absorbed by water vapor and carbon dioxide.
• In the long-wavelength region, since the extraterrestrial radiation is
low and the H2O and CO2 absorption is strong, little solar energy
reaches the ground.
 Air Mass
• The degree of attenuation of solar radiation traveling through the
earth’s atmosphere depends on the length of the path and the
characteristics of the medium traversed.
• In solar radiation calculations, one standard air mass is defined as
the length of the path traversed in reaching the sea level when the
sun is at its zenith (the vertical at the point of observation).
• The air mass is related to the zenith angle, without considering the
earth’s curvature, by the equation: AB 1
m= =
BC cos  z
• Therefore, at sea level when the sun is directly overhead, that is,
when z= 00, m = 1 (air mass one); and when z= 600, we get m = 2
(air mass two). Similarly, the solar radiation outside the earth’s
atmosphere is at air mass zero.

z
Monthly average daily global radiation
Hg S
• Angstrom’s relation: H = a + b S
c max

where H g = monthly average daily global radiation on

horizontal surface(kJ/m2-day)
H c = average clear-sky daily global radiation for location
and month
a,b = empirical constants
S = monthly average daily hours of bright sunshine (h)
S max = monthly average of maximum possible daily hours
of bright sunshine (h)
(i.e., day length of average day of month)
• Due to difficulties in deciding what constitutes a
clear day, the above equation is modified as
Hg S
= a+b
H0 S max
• Where H 0 is the monthly average of the daily extra-
terrestrial radiation which would fall on a horizontal
surface at a location under consideration.
• For each day of the month, H0 is obtained by
integrating over the day length:
H 0 =  I sc cos dt
 360n  180 180d

I sc = I sc 1 + 0.033 cos , t =  dt =
 365  15 15
• Where t is in hours and  is in radians
• After integrating from -s to +s
 360n 
( s sin  sin  + cos  cos  sin  s )
24
H 0 = 3600 I sc 1 + 0.033 cos
  365 
• Klein has suggested that H 0 value is the value
of H0 for a particular day in each month as
follows:
January 17, February 16, March 16, April 15,
May 15, June 11, July 17, August 16, September
15, October 15, November 14, December 10
Monthly average daily diffuse radiation
• For India,
Hd Hg
= 1.411 − 1.696
Hg H0

Where H d is the monthly average of the daily

diffuse radiation on a horizontal surface (kJ/m2-
day)
Clearness index (kT):
Hg
kT =
H0
Monthly average hourly global radiation
• Collares-Pereira and Rabl’s relation:
Ig
=
I0
(a + b cos  )
Hg H0
a = 0.409 + 0.5016 sin( s − 600 )
b = 0.6609 − 0.4767 sin( s − 60 0 )
• I g = monthly average of the hourly global radiation on a
horizontal surface (kJ/m2-h)
• I 0 = monthly average of the hourly extra-terrestrial radiation on
a horizontal surface (kJ/m2-h)
• An hourly value (kJ/m2-h) can be calculated by obtaining the
instantaneous value (kW/m2) at the mid-point of the hour and
multiplying by 3600; for example:
(sin  sin  + cos  cos  cos  )
 360n 
I 0 = 3600 I sc 1 + 0.033 cos
 365 
Monthly average hourly diffuse radiation
• Liu & Jordan expression:
Id I0
=
Hd H0
• Satyamurty & Lahiri relation:
= (a + b cos  )
Id I0
Hd H0
a = 0.4922 + 0.27 /( H d )  0 .1  H d  0 .7
Hg Hg
= 0.76 + 0.113 /( H d )  0 .7  H d  0 .9
Hg Hg
b = 2(1 − a)(sin  s −  s cos  s ) /( s − 0.5 sin 2 s )
 Hourly Global, Beam and Diffuse
radiation under cloudless skies
(A) On a horizontal surfaces
The global radiation Ig reaching a horizontal surface on the earth
is given by
I g = Ib + I d Sun
Ibn
I b = I bn cos  z
I bn = A exp− B / cos  z , I d = CI bn
Where Ig is hourly global radiation, Ib is hourly beam radiation, Id
is hourly diffuse radiation, Ibn is beam radiation in direction of
rays and z is zenith angle.
The constants A, B and C are determined on a month wise basis
and these values change during the year because of seasonal
changes in the dust and water vapor content of the atmosphere
and also because of the changing earth-sun distance.
(B) On titled surfaces
The radiation on the titled surface is the sum of
the beam and diffuse radiation falling directly on
the surface and the radiation reflected on to the
surface from the surroundings.
cos 
Tilt factor for beam radiation (rb): rb =
(i.e. Ratio of beam radiation on tilted surface to that cos  z
on horizontal surface) 
Ibn

Tilt factor for diffuse radiation (rd):

1 + cos 
rd =
2
1 + cos 
where 2 is the radiation shape factor
for tilted surface w.r.t sky
The tilt factor for reflected radiation (rr):
 1 − cos  
rr =   
 2 

Where  is the reflectivity of the surface

Total flux (IT) falling on the tilted surface at any
instant: I T = I b rb + I d rd + ( I b + I d )rr
Flux ratio between tilted to horizontal surface:
IT Id Id
= (1 − )rb + rd + rr
Ig Ig Ig
 = 0.2 for surfaces of concrete or grass
Monthly average hourly value(I T)(if calculation is
done for representative day of the month):
IT Id Id
= (1 − )r b + r d + r r
Ig Ig Ig
On the representative day:
r b = rb
r d = rd = (1 + cos  ) / 2
r r = rr =  (1 − cos  ) / 2
HT Hd Hd
Similarly = (1 − ) Rb + Rd + Rr
Hg Hg Hg
HT Hd Hd
= (1 − )Rb + Rd + Rr
Hg Hg Hg
 Solar Water-heating Systems
• Two types of solar water-heating systems are
available:
(1) Natural (or passive or thermosyphon)systems:
Natural circulation occurs by natural
convection (thermosiphoning)
(2) Forced circulation (or active) systems:
Forced circulation systems use pumps or fans to
circulate the heat transfer fluid through the
collector
(a) A natural-circulation system (b) One-tank forced-circulation system
• In forced circulation systems, a pump is required; it is
usually controlled by a differential thermostat turning
on the pump when the temperature at the top header
is higher than the temperature of the water in the
bottom of the tank by a sufficient margin to assure
control stability
• A check valve is needed to prevent reverse circulation
and resultant night time thermal losses from the
collector
• The systems using nonfreezing fluids (e.g. ethylene
glycol-water, propylene glycol-water solutions) are
shown in figures (c) and (d)
(c) System with antifreeze loop and internal heat exchanger and
(d) System with antifreeze loop and external heat exchanger
 (a)

(b)

Thermosiphon system configurations. (a) Flat-plate collector configuration. (b) Evacuated tube collector
configuration
Example
Solution
Air-based solar heating Systems for space
heating and hot water

DHW-Domestic Hot Water

Liquid-based solar heating Systems for
space heating and hot water