Certification Training Course
CONFIDENTIAL
SESSION -1: Solar Fundamentals LIMITED USE
1. Introduction
2. Solar Fundamentals
3. PV Technologies
4. PV Modules
5. Inverters
6. Benefits of the PV
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Solar Fundamentals
Objective
• The objective of this module is to review the
theory and tools of solar engineering in order
to have the knowledge in order to properly
orient and install the solar PV panels.
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Solar Fundamentals
The sun as an energy source
Every day we receive from the
sun thousands and thousands of
times the energy we consume
but …
The solar energy is:
• distributed (needs large
collection surfaces)
• discontinuous (seasons,
day/night, meteo conditions)
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Solar Fundamentals
The sun as an energy source
• The term Earth rotation refers to the spinning of the Earth on its
axis. One rotation takes 24 hours and is called a solar day
• The orbit of the Earth around the sun is called Earth revolution
and takes 365 1/4 days to complete one cycle
• The Earth's orbit around the sun is elliptical, thus the Earth's
distance from the sun varies at different times of the year
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Solar Fundamentals
The sun as an energy source
Out the earth atmosphere, the solar irradiance has an average value
of 1367 W/m2 (±3%)
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Solar Fundamentals
The sun as an energy source
An effect of the earth atmosphere is that:
• A portion of the solar energy arrives directly to the ground
• A portion is diffused
• The remaining portion is lost by reflection and absorbtion
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Solar Fundamentals
The solar
radiation
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Solar Fundamentals
The solar radiation
As regards the physical collection of the solar energy we can thus
divide it into:
• A direct fraction (direct radiation)
• A diffuse fraction (diffuse radiation)
• A reflected fraction (reflected radiation)
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Solar Fundamentals
The solar radiation
It is important to consider the path in the atmosphere crossed by sunrays compared to
its thickness:
• AM0 = No crossing
• AM1 = Crossed 1 times
• AM1.5 = crossed 1.5 times
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Solar Fundamentals
The solar radiation
• The Standard Test Conditons (STC) refer to AM1.5
• The spectrum of the solar radiation at STC is in IEC 60904-3
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Solar Fundamentals
The solar radiation
• The solar radiation include all the visible spectrum
• However, the spectrum of the solar radiation extends beyond the
visible portion in the IR and UV portions
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Solar Fundamentals
Databases of
solar radiation
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Solar Fundamentals
Databases of Solar Radiations
• There are several databases on solar radiation and climate data
that cover all the world or specific regions
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Solar Fundamentals
Databases of Solar Radiations
• Interactive maps of MASDAR ReCREMA are available at
http://atlas.masdar.ac.ae/
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Solar Fundamentals
Solar radiation
on a tilted and
oriented plane
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Solar Fundamentals
Solar radiation on a tilted and oriented plane
The most important geometrical factors
which affect calculations of solar
radiation are:
• Latitude ()
• Longitude ()
• Solar declination ()
• Hour angle ()
• Tilt ()
• Azimuth ()
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Solar Fundamentals
Solar radiation on a tilted and oriented plane
The Latitude () of a point
on the Earth's surface is the
angle between the equatorial
plane and the straight line
that joins that point with the
centre of the Earth
(considered spherical)
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Solar Fundamentals
Solar radiation on a tilted and oriented plane
• The Solar Declination () is the angle between the Earth-Sun
axis and the equatorial plane (or also Latitude at which the sun
rays hit the Earth surface orthogonally in a given day of the year)
• The Declination ranges from -23.45° to +23.45° depending on the
day of the year
284 n
23,45 sin 360
365
n = 1 ÷ 365
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Solar Fundamentals
Solar radiation on a tilted and oriented plane
The Tilt () is the angle between the horizontal plane and the plane
of the PV module surface
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Solar Fundamentals
Solar radiation on a tilted and oriented plane
The Azimuth () or Orientation angle is the projected angle between
a straight line from the apparent position of the sun to the point of
observation and a horizontal line normal to the equator
Usually, negative azimuth values indicate an eastern orientation and
positive values, a western orientation
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Solar Fundamentals
Solar radiation on a tilted and oriented plane
The Global Irradiance (G) on a tilted and oriented plane (PV module)
takes into account of the following components:
• Direct Irradiance (B) measured on a plane normal to sunrays
• Diffused Irradiance (D) measured on a horizontal plane
• Reflected Irradiance or Albedo (R) measured on a horizontal plane
1 cos 1 cos
G B cos D R
2 2
• The expression of the Solar Irradiance usually is W/m2 or kW/m2
• The expression of the Solar Radiation (Irradiation) usually is
MJ/m2 or kWh/m2
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