Module 2

Solar Radiation Geometry: Flux on a plane surface, latitude, declination angle,

surface azimuth angle, hour angle, zenith angle, solar altitude angle, expressions for the
angle between the incident beam and the normal to a plane surface (No derivation) local
apparent time, apparent motion of sun, day length, numerical problems.
Solar Thermal Systems: Flat plate collector, Evacuated Tubular Collector, Solar air
collector, Solar concentrator, Solar distillation, Solar cooker, Thermal energy storage
systems, Solar Pond, Solar Chimney (Tower).
Solar Photovoltaic Systems: Introduction, Solar cell Fundamentals, Characteristics
and classification, Solar cell: Module, panel and array construction.

Latitude (Angle of Latitude), (Ø) The latitude of a location on earth’s surface is the angle made
by radial line, joining the given location to the center of the earth, with its projection on the
equator plane as shown in Fig. The latitude is positive for northern hemisphere and negative
for southern hemisphere.

Declination, (δ) It is defined as the angular displacement of the sun from the plane of earth’s
equator. It is an angle that gives the position of point in space in relation to earth. It is positive
when measured above equatorial plane in the northern hemisphere.

Hour Angle, (ω) The hour angle at any moment is the angle through which the earth must turn
to bring the meridian of the observer directly in line with sun’s rays. At any moment, it is the
angular displacement of the sun towards east or west of local meridian (due to rotation of the
earth on its axis).

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

The earth completes one rotation in 24 hours. Therefore, one hour corresponds to 15° of
rotation. At solar noon, as sunrays are in line with local meridian, hour angle is zero. It is +ve
in the forenoon and –ve in the afternoon. Thus at 06:00 hrs it is +90° and at 18:00 hrs it is –90°
as shown in Fig.

Inclination Angle (Altitude), (α) The angle between sun’s ray

and its projection on horizontal surface is known as inclination
angle.

Zenith Angle, (θz) It is the angle between sun’s ray and

perpendicular (normal) to the horizontal plane.

Solar Azimuth Angle (γs) It is the angle on a horizontal plane,

between the line due south and the projection of sun’s ray on
the horizontal plane.

Slope (Tilt Angle), (β) It is the angle between inclined

plane surface, under consideration and the horizontal. It
is taken to be +ve for the surface sloping towards south.

Surface Azimuth Angle, (γ) It is the angle in horizontal

plane, between the line due south (OS) and the
horizontal projection of normal to the inclined plane
surface (OQ). It is taken as +ve when measured from
south towards west.

Local Apparent (Civil) Time: Solar time is measured with reference to solar noon, which is
the time when the sun is crossing observer’s meridian.
At solar noon the sun is at the highest position in the sky. The sun traverses each degree of
longitude in 4 minutes (as earth takes 24 hours to complete one revolution). The standard time
is converted to solar time by incorporating two corrections, as follows:
Solar time = Standard time ± 4 (Lst – Lloc) (min) + E (min)
where Lst and Lloc are the standard longitudes used for measuring standard time of the country
and the longitude of observer’s location, respectively.
The (+ve) sign is used if the standard meridian of the country lies in western hemisphere (with
reference to prime meridian) and (–ve) if that lies in the eastern hemisphere.

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E is the correction arising out of the variation in the length of the solar day due to variations in
earth’s rotation and orbital revolution, and is called equation of time.

Solar energy can be collected either as thermal energy or as the electromagnetic energy. Solar-
cell (photovoltaic) conversion systems are used to convert the electromagnetic energy of sun
directly into electrical energy. In this chapter the thermal collection of solar energy is discussed.
Solar energy collection involves the absorption of solar radiation by exposing a dark surface to
the radiation. A part of the absorbed radiation is transferred to a medium (air or water) for
further utilisation. The thermal energy collected can be of low-temperature type used for the
heating and cooling of buildings or high-temperature type used for the generation of electrical
energy.

Solar Collectors
Collectors are devices with which the solar energy incident on a given area is gathered and
used to heat a flowing fluid. Solar power has low density per unit area. Hence it is to be
collected by covering large ground area by solar thermal collectors. Solar thermal collector
essentially forms the first unit in a solar thermal system. It absorbs solar energy as heat and
then transfers it to heat transport fluid efficiently. The heat transport fluid delivers this heat to
thermal storage tank / boiler / heat exchanger, etc., to be utilized in the subsequent stages of
the system.

Classification

Performance Indices
The important performance indices of a solar collector are: (i) collector efficiency, (ii)
concentration ratio and (iii) temperature range. The performance of a solar collector is
evaluated on the basis of these features.

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

 • Collector efficiency is defined as the ratio of the energy actually absorbed and
transferred to heat transporting fluid by the collector (useful energy) to the energy
incident on the collector.
• Concentration ratio (CR) is defined as the ratio of the area of aperture of the system to
the area of the receiver. The aperture of the system is the projected area of the collector
facing (normal) the beam.
• Temperature range is the range of temperature to which the heat transport fluid is
heated up by the collector.

Liquid Flat Plate Collector

A flat plate collector is placed at a location in a position such that its length
aligns with line of longitude and suitably tilted towards south to have
maximum collection. The positioning of the collector is shown in Fig.

The constructional details of a simple flat plate collector are

shown in Fig. The basic elements in a majority of these
collectors are:
• transparent cover (one or two sheets) of glass
or plastic.
• blackened absorber plate usually of
copper, aluminium or steel,tubes,
channels or passages, in thermal contact
with the absorber plate.
• In some designs, the tubes form
integral part of absorber plate.
• weather tight, insulated container
to enclose the above components.

A liquid, most commonly, water is used as

heat transport medium from collector to
next stage of the system. However,
sometimes mixture of water and ethylene
glycol (antifreeze mixture) are also used if the ambient
temperatures are likely to drop below 0°C during
nights.

As solar radiation strikes on specially treated metallic

absorber plate, it is absorbed and raises its
temperature. The absorber plate is usually made from
a metal sheet ranging in thickness from 0.2 to 1 mm.
The heat is transferred to heat transfer liquid
circulating in the tube (or channels), beneath the
absorber plate and in intimate contact with it.

The metallic tubes range in diameter from 1 to 1.5 cm.

The metal most commonly used, both for absorber
plate, the tubes and the header pipes is copper, but
other metals and plastics have also been tried. In the
bottom and along the sidewalls, thermal insulation,

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provided by 2.5 to 8-cm thick layer of glass wool, prevents heat loss from the rear surface and
sides of the collector.

The glass-cover permits the entry of solar radiation as it is transparent for incoming short
wavelengths but is largely opaque to the longer infrared radiation reflected from the absorber.
As a result, heat remains trapped in the airspace between the absorber plate and glass cover.
The glass cover also prevents heat loss due to convection by keeping the air stagnant. The glass
cover may reflect some 15 per cent of incoming solar radiation, which can be reduced by
applying anti-reflective coating on the outer surface of the glass

Flat Plate Air Heating Collector (Solar Air Heater, Solar Air Collector)

A solar air-heating collector is similar to a liquid flat plate

collector with change in configuration of absorber and tube (riser)
as shown in Fig.

A schematic cross-section of a conventional flat-plate collector

for heating air (commonly referred to as a solar air heater) is
shown in Fig.

The construction of such a collector is essentially similar to that of

a liquid flat-plate collector except for the passages through which
the air flows. These passages have to be made larger in order to
keep the pressure drop across the collector within managed limits.
In the diagram shown, the air passage is simply a parallel plate
duct.

It has following advantages over liquid flat plate collector:

• It is compact, simple in construction and requires little maintenance.
• The need to transfer thermal energy from working fluid to another fluid is
eliminated as air is used directly as working fluid.
• Corrosion is completely eliminated.
• Leakage of air from the duct is less severe.
• Possibility of freezing of working fluid is also eliminated.
• The pressure inside the collector does not become very high.

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 Major disadvantage of air collector are:
• Heat transfer between absorber plate and air is poor.
• There is less storage of thermal energy due to low heat capacity.

Focusing Type or Concentrating Collectors

These are the collectors which focus the solar energy to a line or point, at which point
concentrated heat energy, is transferred to working fluid. The construction and operation of
focusing collectors is entirely different from flat plate collectors. Unlike the flat plate collects,
these use only the beam solar radiation.

Types of Concentrating Collectors

These can be divided into two categories- line focusing type and point focusing. Generally, in
practice line focusing types are used, in which the solar energy is focused on a tube carrying
the fluid. In point focusing type, the energy is focused to a point (like the focal point), for which
a paraboloid is used. Point focusing is not widely used.

The different types of concentrating collectors are:-

– Parabolic collector
– Mirror strip collector
– Fresnel lens collector
– Paraboloid collector
– Compound parabolic concentrator

Parabolic Collector

It is a parabolic or semi-cylindrical device with a highly reflecting front surface. The highly
reflecting surface may be obtained by many ways. As a simple way, mirrors can be arranged
in a parabolic form to focus on to a small heater or the reflecting surface may be obtained by
using plastic aluminised plates, or an extremely highly polished aluminium sheet. Even silver
can be used to obtain the polished surface. Though, silver is a very good reflector, but because
of rapid corrosion on exposure to atmosphere silver is not used, and another reason is it is
costlier.

A schematic diagram of a typical concentrating collector is shown in Fig. The collector consists
of a concentrator and a receiver. The concentrator shown is a mirror reflector having the shape
of a cylindrical parabola. It focuses the sunlight onto its axis where it is absorbed on the surface
of the absorber tube and transferred to the fluid flowing through it. A concentric glass cover
around the absorber tube helps in reducing the convective and radiative losses to the
surroundings. In order that the sun's rays should always be focused onto the absorber tube, the
concentrator has to be rotated. This movement is called tracking. In the case of cylindrical

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parabolic concentrators, rotation about a single axis is generally required. Fluid temperatures
up to 4000C can be achieved in cylindrical parabolic focusing collector systems.

Paraboliodal Collector or Point focusing Collector

It uses a paraboloid dish structure in which either curved mirrors
are provided, or the dish itself is made of a strong reflective
surface. The sun’s rays are focused from the surface to a point,
which is the focal point of the paraboloid.

The schematic arrangement of a paraboloid collector is shown

in Fig. In this, the heat concentrated at the focal point is
transferred to an absorber. The absorber is made of zirconium-
copper alloy and coated with black-chrome selective layer. The
working fluid flows through the absorber with the pipes attached
to it. The structure is designed so as to track the system such that
the dish will always face the sun.By this arrangement, its focal
point lies in line with the surfs rays.

A paraboloid collector has a very high concentration ratio and hence very high temperatures
can be attained. It is possible to obtain temperatures as high as 500°C with paraboloid
concentrators.

Advantages of Concentrating Collectors:

The advantages of concentrating collectors as compared to flat plate collectors are as follows:
1. They require a lesser surface area for the collection of a given amount of solar energy.
2. They need lesser surface area, hence need less space, and structurally simpler.
3. The working fluid attains very high temperature since heat losses are minimum.
4. The amount of heat stored per unit volume is high.
5. There is no problem of fluid freezing.
6. They give high efficiency as compared to flat plate collectors.
Disadvantages of Concentrating Collectors:
1. Only beam radiation can be collected, and diffuse radiation cannot be reflected and
hence cannot be collected.
2. Non-uniform flux on the absorber because the sun rays are not always normal to the
surface.
3. The focusing surface should be of high quality, free from dust and oxidation.
4. The cost of a concentrating surface is higher.
5. Tracking mechanisms are required

Effect of Various Parameters on Performance

1. Selective Surface:
Selective surfaces help in higher absorption and lesser emissivity of heat energy. Hence
higher the quality of the selective surface coating better is the performance of the
collector. The η of the collector can be maximized by coating the absorber plate by
materials which will absorb maximum amount of radiation but emit minimum amount
of radiation. Such a coating is known as selective coating. By applying the selective

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 coating on the absorber plate,input to the collector is maximized while the loss is
minimized by this the η of the collector will improve.
2. Insulation of the collector unit:
Better insulation of the collector units minimize the thermal losses, hence it improves
the collector performance.
3. Type of cover:
For flat plate collector, a cover that allows maximum solar radiation to the absorber and
minimum heat losses is essential. Performance improves with a good radiation
transmitting and low heat loss cover. In a FPC normally one or two glass covers are
used to prevent convective, reflective and refractive losses.
4. Type of Absorber:
An absorber with maximum surface area exposed to the radiation (like corrugated type)
will give a good performance. Generally liquid collector will have better performance
since they use tubes. In air collectors the performance can be improved with the use of
fins attached to the absorber, and/ or with corrugated surface.
5. Fluid inlet temperature:
From the experimental studies the efficiency [η] will decrease with the increase in inlet
temp. This is because, as the inlet temp of the fluid increases the loss from the collector
increases due to increase in the temperature difference between the collector and the
atmosphere. This increase in loss decreases the output resulting in reduced efficiency
[η].
6. Other factors:
Other factors like incident solar flux, position of the collector, number o fcovers,
cleanliness of the cover, etc., also affect the performance of a FPC
Dust on top cover: The dust accumulation on the top cover acts as an insulator for
incident radiation. This decreases the η of the collector. In order to take care of this
correction factor ranging from 0.92 to 0.99 is used. The selection of which depends on
the location, the density of the dust, the collector orientation, cleaning frequency, and
the season.

Solar Distillation (Desalination of Water)

Solar distillation is an inexpensive and simple process of obtaining potable water, in certain
areas tike in arid and coastal places, generally there will be no fresh water source. The water
available there will have high dissolved salts (up to 0.25%) which make it unsuitable for
drinking. In such places, also in farms, obtaining potable water by solar distillation is very
useful and economical. The saline/brackish water can be distilled using solar energy, and the
system used for this purpose is termed a solar still.

In many small communities, the natural supply of fresh water is inadequate in comparison to
the availability of brackish or saline water. Solar distillation can prove to be an effective way
of supplying drinking water to such communities.

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

The principle of solar distillation is
simple and can be explained with
reference to Fig, in which a
conventional basin-type solar still is
shown. The still consists of a
shallow air-tight basin lined with a
black, impervious material which
contains the saline water. A sloping
transparent cover is provided at the
top. Solar radiation is transmitted
through the cover and is absorbed in
the black lining. It thus heals up the water by about 10° to 20°C and causes it to evaporate. The
resulting vapour rises, condenses as pure water on the underside of the cover and flows into
condensate collection channels on the sides. An output of about 3 liters/m2 an associated
efficiency of 30 to 35 % can be obtained in a well-designed still on good sunny day.

Solar Pond
A solar pond is a system for collection and storage of solar energy. It can be natural or artificial.
Artificial solar ponds are more effective and economical, since they are designed to meet the
requirements.

The principle of solar pond is the Absorption of solar energy by the bottom-most layer of salt
water. The heat losses/ transmission are reduced by a non-convective fresh water layers at the
top. A schematic of a solar pond shown in Fig.
It is a mass of shallow water about 1 to 2 meters deep with a large collection area. It contains
dissolved salts to generate stable high density gradient at the bottom. Below this layer a thick
durable plastic liner is laid. This layer is made of butyl rubber, black polyethylene and hypalon
reinforced with nylon mesh. Salts like magnesium chloride, sodium chloride or sodium nitrate
are dissolved in the water concentration up to 30% at the bottom to zero at the top.
• A solar pond has three zones. The
top zone is the surface zone, or
UCZ (Upper Convective Zone),
which is at atmospheric
temperature and has little salt
content.
• The bottom zone is very hot, 70°–
85° C, and is very salty. It is this
zone that collects and stores solar
energy in the form of heat, and is,
therefore, known as the storage
zone or LCZ (Lower Convective
Zone).
• Separating these two zones is the important gradient zone or NCZ (Non-Convective
Zone). Here the salt content increases as depth increases, thereby creating a salinity or
density gradient.
•
If we consider a particular layer in this zone, water of that layer cannot rise, as the layer of
water above has less salt content and is, therefore, lighter. Similarly, the water from this layer
cannot fall as the water layer below has a higher salt content and is, therefore, heavier. This

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gradient zone acts as a transparent insulator permitting sunlight to reach the bottom zone but
also entrapping it there. The trapped (solar) energy is then withdrawn from the pond in the form
of hot brine from the storage zone

The various operational problems associated with solar pond.

 Establishing the Salt Concentration Gradient
 Surface Layer Flow and Lower Layer Flow
 Wind-induced Waves
 Effect of Rain
 Biological Growth
 Fouling Due to Dirt and Leaves
 Effect of Bottom Reflectivity

Thermal Energy Storage

Thermal-energy storage (TES) systems are equivalent of an electrical battery which stores
electrical energy. Thermal-energy storage systems utilize essentially three basic modes. These
include sensible-heat storage, latent heat storage, and quasi- latent heat storage. This latter
system is actually not purely thermal energy as the system involves a chemical reaction.

In the sensible heat storage systems, the heat is simply stored by increasing the temperature of
a solid or liquid. The storage of thermal energy as latent heat occurs in an isothermal process
and occurs as the material undergoes a phase change, usually from a solid to a liquid. Such a
phase change is accompanied by the absorption (charging) or the release (discharging) of
relatively large amounts of thermal energy.

Sensible Heat Storage:

In the sensible heat storage, thermal energy is stored in certain materials using their specific
heat. In addition the energy stored depends on their density and the operating temperature.
Three different types of sensible heat storage systems are discussed here.

Packed Bed Energy Storage:

This is a sensible heat storage system. This consists of a
packed bed of rock, gravel or crushed stones in a container,
placed on perforated screens In this, air is used as the
medium for energy transport mechanism. The materials"
used for the bed (rock, stones) should have a high specific
heat, thus increasing the thermal energy storage capacity of
the unit.

First hot air is passed through the unit, so that the bed
absorbs the heat and hence their temperature is raised. They store this heat energy till it is taken
out from them by passing cold air in the form of sensible heat. Whenever required cold air can
be passed from the opposite side of the unit and heat from the storage unit can be extracted.

Commonly used storage materials include rocks, pebbles, aluminium oxide, silicon oxide, and
magnesium oxide. Of these, silicon oxide has the highest specific heat of 1.26 kJ/kg.K but a
lower density (2600 kg/m3). Aluminium oxide and magnesium oxide have better thermal
storage capacities because of their higher densities and good specific heat capacities.

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

Advantages
i. Solid materials like rocks and oxides can be more easily contained than water.
ii. Easily used for thermal storage at temperature above 100°C.
iii. The heat transfer between air and solid is high and hence the efficiency of the unit
is high.
iv. The cost of storage material and unit is low.
v. Conductivity of bed is low, hence heat losses are less

Liquid Storage System:

Many liquids can also be used for sensible storage systems. Water can be successfully used as
the medium of storage. For water heating and space heating systems hot water storage tanks
are generally used. The storage capacities range from few hundred liters to thousands of liters.

For liquid thermal storage, tanks made of steel, concrete or GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced
Plastic) are widely used. These tanks are properly insulated using glass wool or mineral wool
to minimize the heat losses. For better results even underground storage can also be is used,
where the earth itself acts as the better insulator.
In thermal storage systems using water as the working medium, at atmospheric pressures the
maximum temperature possible is 100°C. However, with the use of pressurised tanks it is
possible to store Water slightly above 100°C.

For storage of temperatures above 100°C and up to 300°C certain oils can be used as the storage
medium. The main disadvantage with oil storage systems is that the oil degrades with time
which needs periodic changing of oil. Also, they pose safety problems and may cause fire
hazards.

Salt Eutectics
Certain molten inorganic salts are useful for sensible heat storage systems. These can be used
for storing temperature above 300°C. An eutectic mixture of NaNO2 (40%W) NaNO3 (7%W)
and KNO2 (53%) is useful salt. This salt solution has a tow melting point of 145°C and can be
used for storing temperatures of the order of 400 to 450°C. For higher temperature ranges
(around 800°C), sodium hydroxide having a melting point 320°C can be used. However, this
salt is highly corrosive and difficult to handle and store

Latent Heat Storage or Phase Change Energy Storage

The transition from solid to liquid or from liquid to vapour is a type of energy storage called
Latent heat storage, in which no temperature range is involved. It is possible for both sensible
and latent heat storage to occur in the same material, as when solid is heated and then melted,
and then raised further in temperature. Energy stored in a material whenever it changes its
phase from solid to liquid or liquid to
and energy is released when the phase
changes back from gas to liquid or
from liquid to solid phase.

The system consists of an insulated

container. The storage material is kept
in long and thin sealed tubes
(vertically or horizontally) in the path
of the heat transfer medium like gas,

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water, etc. When the hot medium parses over the tubes containing the storage medium, the
phase change occurs in the sealed container and energy transfer takes place. When the stored
energy is to be extracted cool air/water is passed on the hot tubes, from where the heat is passed
on to the cool medium.

Advantages
 More compact storage systems as compared to sensible heat storage systems.
 Energy stored per unit volume is high.
 Variety of materials is available too suit the applications.

Solar Cookers
Solar cooker cook the food by using the energy radiated by the Sun. Sunlight isn’t hot enough
to heat water or food. Here, solar cookers convert light energy into concentrated heat energy,
and this energy is used for cooking food. Solar cooker works on the principle that sunlight
warms the pot, which is used for cooking the food. Now, this warming of the pot occurs by
converting light energy to heat energy. Concave mirrors are used in these types of cookers
because these mirrors reflect sunlight into a single focal point. Here, the mirror focuses sun
rays onto a receiver such as a cooking pan. A solar cooker lets the UV light rays in and then
transforms them into longer infrared light rays that cannot escape. Infrared radiations have the
energy to make the water, fat, and protein molecules in food vibrate energetically and heat up.

Working Principle
• Concentrating Sunlight - A mirror surface with high specular reflection is used to
concentrate and channelize light from the sun into a small cooking space.
• Converting Light Energy to Heat Energy - The concentrated sunlight is focused onto
a receiver such as a cooking pan. The interaction between the light energy and the
receiver material helps to convert light into heat by a process called conduction.
• Trapping Heat Energy - To make sure to retain as much heat as possible, minimize
the effects of convection by isolating the air inside the cooker from the external air.
Placing a glass lid on the cooking pot enhances light absorption from the top and
reduces the loss of heat through convection.

Box-Type Solar Cooker

The most commonly used form of solar cooker is the box-type solar cooker. A box-type solar
cooker consists of the following
components:
• Black Box – The box is an insulated
metal or wooden box which is
painted black from the inside to
absorb more heat.
• Glass Cover – A cover made of two
sheets of toughened glass held
together in an aluminium frame is
used as a cover for box B.
• Plane Mirror reflector – The plane
mirror reflector is fixed to box B
with the help of hinges. The mirror
reflector can be positioned at any

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

 desired angle to the box. The mirror is positioned so as to allow the reflected sunlight
to fall on the glass cover of the box.
• Cooking Containers – A set of aluminium containers blackened from the outside are
kept in box B.

The solar cooker is placed in sunlight and a plane mirror reflector is adjusted in a way such that
the strong beam of sunlight enters the box through the glass sheet. The blackened metal surfaces
in the wooden box absorb infra-red radiations from the beam of sunlight and the heat produced
raises the temperature of a blackened metal surface to about 100°C.

The food absorbs heat from the black surface and gets cooked. The thick glass sheet does not
allow the heat to escape and thus, helps in raising the temperature in the box to a sufficiently
high degree to cook the food.

Advantages of Solar Cooker

• Solar cookers use no fuel. This saves cost as well as the environment by not contributing
to pollution.
• Reduces carbon footprint by cooking without carbon dioxide-based fuels.
Disadvantages
• Solar cookers are less useful in cloudy weather.
• Some solar cookers take longer to cook food than a conventional stove or an oven.
• Some solar cookers are affected by strong winds which can slow the cooking process.
• It might get difficult to cook some thick foods such as large roasts and loaves of bread.

Evacuated Tube Collectors

The evacuated tube collector (ETC) consists of a number of sealed glass tubes which have a
thermally conductive copper rod or pipe inside allowing for much high thermal efficiency and
working temperature compared to the flat plate solar collectors even during a freezing cold
day.

The Evacuated or Vacuum tubes collector, also referred as Vacuum Tube Solar Water Heater,
consists of a number of rows of parallel transparent glass tubes connected to a header pipe and
where the heat transfer fluid (usually 50% Propylene Glycol) circulates and absorb heat
generated by tubes.

These glass tubes are cylindrical in shape. Therefore, the angle of the sunlight is always
perpendicular to the heat absorbing tubes which enables these collectors to perform well even
when sunlight is low such as when it is early in the morning or late in the afternoon, or when
shaded by clouds. Evacuated tube collectors are made up of a single or multiple rows of
parallel, transparent glass tubes supported on a frame. Each individual tube varies in diameter
from between 1" (25mm) to 3" (75mm) and between 5′ (1500mm) to 8′ (2400mm) in length
depending upon the manufacturer.

Each tube consists of a thick glass outer tube and a thinner glass inner tube, (called a “twin-
glass tube”) or a “thermos-flask tube” which is covered with a special coating that absorbs solar
energy but inhibits heat loss. The tubes are made of borosilicate or soda lime glass, which is
strong, resistant to high temperatures and has a high transmittance for solar irradiation. Inside
the each glass tube, a flat or curved aluminium or copper fin is attached to a metal heat pipe
running through the inner tube. The fin is covered with a selective coating that transfers heat

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

to the fluid that is circulating through the pipe. This sealed copper heat pipe transfers the solar
heat via convection of its internal heat transfer fluid to a “hot bulb” that indirectly heats a
copper manifold within the header tank.

These copper pipes are all connected to a common manifold which is then connected to a
storage tank, thus heating the hot water during the day. The hot water can then be used at night
or the next day due to the insulating properties of the tank. The insulation properties of the
vacuum are so good that while the inner tube may be as high as 150°C, the outer tube is cooler
to touch. However, the downside is that they can be a lot more expensive compared to standard
flat plate collectors. Evacuated tube solar collectors are well suited to commercial and
industrial hot water heating applications and can be an effective alternative to flat plate
collectors for domestic space heating, especially in areas where it is often cloudy.

Solar Chimney
Solar chimneys are utilized to regulate the temperature of a building's interior and to provide
ventilation. They are practically vertical, hollow containers linked both to the interior and the
exterior of a building and they are considered a green and cost-efficient solution to maintain
the temperature inside a structure at the desired levels. A solar chimney is a technology that
can be used to enhance the ventilation of a residential or commercial structure.

Solar chimney, the sun’s natural heat warms the air in the chimney, causing it to rise and create
a draft that moves the hot air out of the structure. This heating process causes the cooler air
from below to be pulled into the chimney for heating while the hot air is released from the top.
The act of pulling in cooler air creates air movement, which provides ventilation in the
structure. One of the most important things to consider when preparing for a solar chimney is
placement. The solar chimney must be placed on the roof of a structure in an area that is
naturally hit by the sun’s rays. The best scenario is to place the chimney in an area that gets hit
when the sun is strongest in the afternoon. The size of the solar chimney is another important
consideration—the larger the chimney is, the more effective it will be.

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

Photovoltaic Conversion: Description, principle of working and characteristics, applications.

Photovoltaic is the field of technology and research related to the devices which directly
convert sunlight into electricity. The solar cell is the elementary building block of the
photovoltaic technology. Solar cells are made of semiconductor materials, such as silicon. One
of the properties of semiconductors that makes them most useful is that their conductivity may
easily be modified by introducing impurities into their crystal lattice.

Photovoltaic cell (PV cell) also called solar cell, is an electrical device that converts the energy
of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.

Though the photovoltaic effect is exhibited by many materials, the semiconductor materials
undergo the most useful photovoltaic effect under the solar radiation. The photovoltaic
conversion basically involves the release of free electrons by the action of photons from the
solar energy on the semiconductor material. These free electrons are made to flow as electrical
energy in a circuit to do work. The flow of current is achieved by the creation of an electron
hole pair (a pair of opposite charges) and flow through an external electrical circuit.

Photovoltaic Effect:
The photovoltaic effect is a process that
generates voltage or electric current in
a photovoltaic cell when it is exposed to sunlight. It
is this effect that makes solar panels useful, as it is
how the cells within the panel convert sunlight
to electrical energy.

The photovoltaic effect occurs in solar cells.

These solar cells are composed of two different
types of semiconductors - p-type and n-type, that
are joined together to create a p-n junction. By
joining these two types of semiconductors,
an electric field is formed in the region of the
junction as electrons move to the positive p-side and holes move to the negative n-side. This
field causes negatively charged particles to move in one direction and positively charged
particles in the other direction.

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

Light is composed of photons, which are simply small bundles of electromagnetic
radiation or energy. These photons can be absorbed by a photovoltaic cell. When light of a
suitable wavelength is incident on these cells, energy from the photon is transferred to
an atom of the semiconducting material in the p-n junction. Specifically, the energy is
transferred to the electrons in the material. This causes the electrons to jump to a higher energy
state known as the conduction band. This leaves behind a "hole" in the valence band that the
electron jumped up from.

Working or Operation of a solar cells/PV cell

Working principle:
Following are the important steps involved in the working principle of a solar cell:
1. Generation of electron-hole pairs in the cell by the absorbed solar Light.
2. Separation of electron- hole charges by a potential gradient in the solar cell.
3. Removal of charges from the cell and supplied to external load.
In order to perform the above processes, a solar cell consists of the following parts:
I. Semiconductor to create electron-hole pairs by absorbing sunlight.
II. Junction to create potential gradient.
III. Electrodes to store charges

Step 1) Generation of electron-hole pairs:

 Semiconductors like silicon, cadmium sulphide, are used for the purpose of
absorbing the sunlight.
 Semiconductors have two bonds,
valence bond and conduction bond.
The valence bond is completely filled
by electrons and they are at lower
energy level. But conduction bond has
deficiency of electrons and they
are at higher energy level. Due to the
absorption of solar radiation, the
electrons of valence bonds get excited
and they jump to conduction band.
In this way holes are created in the
valence bond and electrons are
generated in the conduction band.
Thus, electron-hole are created in the
solar cell.

Step 2) Separation of electron-hole pairs:

 There must be potential gradient to separate electron-hole charges from solar cell. It
can be achieved by creating p-n junction.
 N-type semiconductor is obtained by doping one. side of the semiconductor material
by phosphorus.
 P-type semiconductor is obtained by doping other side of the same semiconductor
material by boron.
 Thus, the potential gradient is obtained by making the solar cell as a sandwich of two
types of semiconductor, p-type and n-type. This potential gradient is sufficient to

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

 separate electron-hole charges, and cause a flow of direct electric current in the external
load.

Step 3) Removal of charges from cell and supplied to external Load:

 It is achieved by using metal electrodes on front and back side of the solar cell panel.

Solar Cell Characteristic

The performance of a solar cell is also dependent on the current-voltage (V-I) characteristics
of the solar cell. A typical V-I Characteristic of a solar cell is shown in figure.
The current Isc obtained at zero voltage is termed as a short
circuit current, and the voltage (Voc) obtained with an open
circuit is called the open circuit voltage.
The e.m.f. generated by the photovoltaic cell in the open circuit,
i.e. when no current is drawn from it is denoted by VOC(V-open
circuit).
This is the maximum value of e.m.f. When a high resistance is
introduced in the external circuit a small current flows through
it and the voltage decreases. The voltage goes on falling and
the current goes on increasing as the resistance in the external
circuit is reduced.
When the resistance is reduced to zero the current rises to its maximum value known as
saturation current and is denoted as ISC, the voltage becomes zero. The product of open circuit
voltage VOC and short circuit current ISC is known a ideal power.

Ideal Power = VOC× ISC

The maximum useful power is the area of the largest rectangle that can be formed under the V-
I curve. If Vm and Im are the values of voltage and current under this condition, then

Maximum useful power = Vm× Im

The ratio of the maximum useful power to ideal power is called the fill factor

Fill Factor=

Application of PV Cells
• Solar Power Farms
• Off-Grid Power
• Rooftop Solar Panels
• Satellites
• Domestic
• Telecom industry
• Water pump
• Traffic signals
• Street Lights
• CCTVs
• Commercial building system

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

Advantages of Solar cell:
• It uses renewable energy
• No pollution so it is environment friendly
• It lasts for many years
• No maintenance cost
Disadvantages of Solar cell:
• Energy is not produced during rainy, cloudy days and during night times.
• Cost of installation is high.

Solar cell: Module, panel and array construction.

Solar Cell
The basic cell structure of a typical N-on-P, bulk silicon cell is shown in Fig. The bulk
material is P-type silicon with thickness 100 to 350 microns, depending on the technology
used. A thin layer of N-type silicon is formed at the top surface by diffusing an impurity to
get a PN junction. The top active surface of the N layer has an contact with metallic grid
structure to collect the current produced by impinging photons. The metallic grid covers
minimum possible top surface area (less than 10 per cent of the total area) to leave enough
uncovered surface area for incoming photons. Similarly, the bottom inactive surface has an
ohmic metallic contact over the entire area. These two metallic contacts on P and N layers
respectively form the positive and negative terminals of the solar cell. In addition to basic
elements, several enhancement features are also included in the construction. For example,
providing antireflective coating, textured finish of the top surface and reflective, textured rear
surface, to capture maximum photons and direct them toward the junction.

Solar PV Module
A bare single cell cannot be used for outdoor energy generation by itself. It is because:
(i) the output of a single cell is very small and (ii) it requires protection (encapsulation)
against dust, moisture, mechanical shocks and outdoor harsh conditions.
Workable voltage and reasonable power is obtained by interconnecting an appropriate

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

 number of cells. Cells from same batch are used to make PV module. This is done to ensure
that mismatch losses are minimal in the module.

The electrically connected cells are encapsulated, typically by using two sheets of ethylene
vinyl acetate (EVA) at either side. EVA is a good electrical insulator, transparent material
and has very low water absorption. The encapsulant cannot provide rigidity to the module,
for which glass is provided at the front side of the module. At the rear side of the module a
hard polymer material, typically, polyvinyl fluoride (PVF, also known as tedlar) is used.
Theses layers are arranged as shown in Fig. and hermetically sealed to make it suitable for
outside applications for 20-30 years without environmental degradation. This assembly is
known as solar module – a basic building block of a PV system. Most common commercial
modules have a series connection of 32 or 36 silicon cells to make it capable of charging a
12-V storage battery. However, larger and smaller capacity modules are also available in
international market.

Solar PV Panel
Several solar modules are connected in series/parallel to increase the voltage/current ratings.
When modules are connected in series, it is desirable to have each module’s maximum
power production occur at the same current. When modules are connected in parallel, it is
desirable to have each module’s maximum power production occur at the same voltage.
Thus while interconnecting the modules; the installer should have this information
available for each module. Solar panel is a group of several modules connected in series-
parallel combination in a frame that can be mounted on a structure. Fig. shows the
construction of module and panel.

Cell

Module Panel

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur

 Figure shows a series-parallel connection of modules in a panel. In parallel connection,
blocking diodes are connected in series with each series string of modules, so that if any string
should fail, the power output of the remaining series strings will not be absorbed by the
failed string. Also bypass diodes are installed across each module, so that if one module
should fail, the output of the remaining modules in a string will bypass the failed module.
Some modern PV modules come with such internally embedded bypass diodes.

Solar PV Array
In general, a large number of interconnected solar panels, known as solar PV array, are
installed in an array field. These panels may be installed as stationary or with sun tracking
mechanism. It is important to ensure that an installed panel does not cast its shadow on the
surface of its neighboring panels during a whole year. The layout and mechanical design of
the array such as tilt angle of panels, height of panels, clearance among the panels, etc., are
carried out taking into consideration the local climatic conditions, ease of maintenance, etc.

REPP DKB, ME Dept., VCET Puttur