Field Engineering Sciences

Solar Energy & Voltaic (MEC451)

Lecture 1

Dr : Aly Soliman Date : 9/10/2024

Latitude and Longitude
• Φ Latitude, that is the angular location north or south of the equator
north positive −90° < ∅ < 90°

Egypt latitude 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑° 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎′ N Egypt l𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑° 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐′ E

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• The Earth’s axis of rotation is not perpendicular to the plane of the
Earth’s orbit
• It is tilted about 23½° away from the perpendicular & is called the
obliquity.
• The Earth maintains this tilt as it orbits the Sun, with the Earth’s north
pole pointing toward the north celestial pole
Definition sketch for latitude ∅ and longitude 𝜓𝜓

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Seasons
• During part of the year the northern hemisphere of the Earth is tilted
toward the Sun
• As the Earth spins on its axis, a point in the northern hemisphere
spends more than 12 hours in the sunlight
• The days there are long and the nights are short, and it is summer in the
northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere
• The summer is hot not only because of the extended daylight hours but
also because the Sun is high in the northern hemisphere’s sky
• As a result, sunlight strikes the ground at a nearly perpendicular angle
that heats the ground efficiently
• This situation reverses six months later
Seasons are NOT! caused by the changing distance of the Earth from
the sun during the course of a year!
The Seasons are caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis of rotation 23½°
away from the perpendicular & is called the obliquity
 • The Sun appears to trace out a
circular path called the
ecliptic on the celestial
sphere tilted at 23 ½ degrees
to the equator
Sept • The ecliptic and the celestial
equator intersect at only two
21 points
June • Each point is called an
21 equinox
• The point on the ecliptic
farthest north of the celestial
equator that marks the
location of the Sun at the
beginning of summer in the
Dec northern hemisphere is called
the summer solstice
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March • At the beginning of the
northern hemisphere’s winter
21 the Sun is farthest south of the
celestial equator at a point
called the winter solstice
Landmarks on the Earth’s surface are
marked by the Sun’s position in the sky
throughout the year
 Perihelion and aphelion
• The perihelion is the point in the orbit where the earth comes nearest to
the Sun. It is the opposite of aphelion, which is the point in the orbit
where the earth is farthest from the Sun.

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The Four Seasons

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Solar angles

 High sun angles (45o to 90o) mean more intense sunlight.

80o

 Low sun angles (0o to 45o) mean less intense sunlight.

30o

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Declination, δ
• 𝛿𝛿 Declination, that is the angular position of the sun at solar noon
with respect to the plane of the equator. (the angle between the
equator and a line drawn from the center of the Earth to the center of
the sun) north positive.
−23.45° < 𝛿𝛿 < 23.45°
360
𝛿𝛿 = 23.45 sin (𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟)
365(284+𝑁𝑁)
• N = the day number, such that N = 1 on the 1st January.

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Graph of declination angle

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Hour Angle (HRA) 𝝎𝝎
• hour angle, that is, the angular east or west deviation from
displacement of the sun east or west of the local meridian due to
rotation of the earth on its axis at 15° per hour ( one angle each
minute) morning or east (-) afternoon or west (+).
• Line from north to south , crossing through solar zenith- called local
meridian
• The hour angle is defined as zero at local solar noon
𝝎𝝎 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × ( 𝑯𝑯 − 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏)

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Solar Altitude & zenith Angles
• zenith angle : The angle between the vertical and the line to the sun.
This is also the angle of incidence on a horizontal surface for beam
radiation. 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝜽𝜽𝒛𝒛 = 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 ∅ 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 𝜹𝜹 + 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝜹𝜹 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 ∅ 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝝎𝝎
• The solar altitude angle is the angle between the sun's rays and a
horizontal plane. Or is the vertical angle between the sun and the
horizon 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 𝑨𝑨 = 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 ∅ 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 𝜹𝜹 + 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝜹𝜹 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 ∅ 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝝎𝝎
from the horizon , the angle of the sun relative to a line perpendicular to
the earth's surface is called Solar Zenith angle 𝜽𝜽𝒛𝒛 .
𝜽𝜽𝒛𝒛 + 𝑨𝑨 = 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗°

For sunrise and sunset , Altitude is Zero , A=0

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 Azimuth Angle
• The solar azimuth angle 𝒁𝒁 is the angle of the sun's rays
measured in the horizontal plane from due south (true south);
westward is designated as positive for the northern
hemisphere.
cos 𝛿𝛿 sin 𝜔𝜔
sin 𝑍𝑍 =
cos 𝐴𝐴
• 𝜸𝜸 surface azimuth angle ,that is, the deviation of the
projection on a horizontal plan of the normal to the surface
from the local meridian with zero due south, east negatives
west positive −90° < 𝛾𝛾 < 90°
For example, due east would be 90° and due west would be -90°.

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Position of the sun in the sky

𝜽𝜽𝒛𝒛
A
𝒁𝒁

A = Altitude angle
𝒁𝒁 = Solar Azimuth angle
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𝜽𝜽𝒛𝒛 = Zenith angle
Sun Position

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Solar path

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Tilt angle
• β Slope or surface tilt angle from the horizontal. that is, the angle
between the plane surface in question and the horizontal (0° < 𝛽𝛽
< 90° for a surface facing towards the equator); (90° < 𝛽𝛽 < 180° for a surface
facing away from the equator);

For horizontal surfaces: 𝛽𝛽 = 0°

For vertical surfaces: 𝛽𝛽 = 900

𝜷𝜷

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Incidence Angle, Θ
• The solar incidence angle, θ is the angle between the sun's rays and the
normal on a surface.

• For a horizontal plane the incidence angle, θ and the zenith angle 𝜽𝜽𝒛𝒛
are the same.

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𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝜽𝜽𝒛𝒛 = 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 ∅ 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 𝜹𝜹 + 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝜹𝜹 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 ∅ 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝝎𝝎

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Factors Affecting Solar irradiance
• The relative positions of the sun and solar panel will dictate how
much power is actually generated.
Factor Symbol Dependence

Latitude ∅ Geographic
Declination 𝜹𝜹 Temporal (day)
Hour Angle 𝝎𝝎 Temporal (hour)

Sun Altitude 𝑨𝑨 Solar

Sun Azimuth 𝒁𝒁 Solar
Surface Tilt 𝜷𝜷 Panel Surface
Surface Azimuth 𝜸𝜸 Panel Surface

Incidence Angle 𝜽𝜽 Panel & Solar

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𝜔𝜔 = 15 × 3 + 12 + 15
60
− 12 = 48.75
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Solar Radiation measurements
• Pyranometer , Devices that measure the global solar irradiance on a
horizontal surface are called pyranometers. If these devices are
screened from the sun’s direct rays by a fixed ring that covers the
whole path of the sun in the sky, then the device measures only the
diffused radiation. The radiation receiver is seated beneath a
spherical glass cover and consists of a star-shaped arrangement of
black and white thermo-elements. These elements generate
thermo-electromotive forces, depending on their temperature,
which can be measure

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Sun rise , sun set and the length of the day.
• At sun rise and sun set , the sunlight parallel to the ground surface with a zenith
angle of 90°
• the number of hours between sunrise and sunset is

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Solar Time
• Time specific to the sun does not coincide with local clock time for
two reasons. The first is the changes in the rotational and orbital
angular speed of the earth. This correction called the equation of
time (ET) , B is the day angle

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Local time (LT) and local solar time
(LST)
• Local time (LT) is official time in a particular state /region or country. Or in easy
meaning it’s the time shows by everybody stopwatch.
• Local solar time (LST) or Solar time is the time set according to the position of the
sun in the sky
• Twelve noon of local solar time is described as when the sun is highest in the sky.
Solar noon
• Solar noon Time when the sun is directly overhead position of interest. Each hour away from this
position corresponds to a 15o deviation (hour angle). Or Local noon is defined to be
• when the Sun crosses the upper meridian, which is the half of the meridian above the horizon

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Apparent and mean solar time
• Apparent solar time : is based on the apparent motion of the
Sun across the celestial sphere, which varies over the course
of the year ( shortest shadow)
• Mean solar time is based on the motion of an imaginary
mean sun along the celestial equator, which produces a
uniform mean solar day of 24 hours
• Ordinary watches and clocks measure mean solar time
• Equation of time = apparent solar time – mean solar time

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Apparent Solar Time (AST)
Most meteorological measurements are recorded in terms of local
standard time. In many solar energy calculations, it is necessary to obtain
irradiation, wind, and temperature data for the same instant. It is,
therefore, necessary to compute local apparent time, which is also called
the true solar time. Solar time is the time to be used in all solar geometry
calculations.
𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 = 𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳 = 𝑳𝑳𝑻𝑻 ∓ 𝟒𝟒 𝑳𝑳𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 − 𝑳𝑳𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 + 𝑬𝑬
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚)
𝐿𝐿 𝑇𝑇 = 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 (𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 )
𝐿𝐿𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝐿𝐿𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠

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Example
a city of longitude 95 degree east of Greenwich meridian . If the
longitude of standard meridian is 105 degree east of Greenwich meridian
, calculate local solar time (LST) when the local time (LT) is 3:00 pm on
1st march.
answer

n= 31+28+1= 60 , B=93.69 , E= -13 minutes

𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 𝐿𝐿 𝑇𝑇 ∓ 4 𝐿𝐿𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 − 𝐿𝐿𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 + 𝐸𝐸
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 3: 00 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 − 4 105 − 95 + −13
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 15 − (4 105 − 95 /60) + −13/60 = 14.1166
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 2 : 07 pm

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