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PPT-2 - Intro To Solar Energy, Solar Radiation and Its Measurement - Unit-2

The document discusses solar energy, including its availability and utilization in India. It introduces solar radiation and how it is measured, as well as solar energy collectors and applications. Key points are that India has over 63 GW of solar capacity and receives over 5 trillion kWh of solar energy annually, and solar radiation is measured by instruments like pyranometers and pyrheliometers.

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710 views11 pages

PPT-2 - Intro To Solar Energy, Solar Radiation and Its Measurement - Unit-2

The document discusses solar energy, including its availability and utilization in India. It introduces solar radiation and how it is measured, as well as solar energy collectors and applications. Key points are that India has over 63 GW of solar capacity and receives over 5 trillion kWh of solar energy annually, and solar radiation is measured by instruments like pyranometers and pyrheliometers.

Uploaded by

avinash
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Renewable Energy

(EE7601)
Unit-2: Solar Energy

By Dr. Trilochan Penthia


EE Dept., NIT Patna
Contents of Unit-2

• Introduction to solar energy


• Solar radiation and its measurement
• Solar energy collectors
• Solar energy storage
• Applications of Solar energy

Refer class copy for more details


Introduction to solar energy
What is Solar Energy?
• Solar Energy is the energy (light or heat) that comes
from the sun.
• Sun is a continuous fusion reactor in which hydrogen
combines to form helium and liberates huge amount of
heat in the process.
• Solar Energy Examples:
a) What makes your car hot when it is parked in the sun?
b) What makes your solar calculator work?
c) What makes plants grow?
d) What makes the solar panels work on the roof of your school?
Solar energy in India
• India stands 4th in solar PV deployment across the globe
as on Dec 2021.
• Solar power installed capacity has reached around 63.3
GW as on 31-12-2022.
• Approx. 15% is solar energy out of total energy
production.
• The calculated solar energy incidence on India's land
area (in 300 clear and sunny days) is about 5 quadrillion
kilowatt-hours (kWh) or 5 EWh per year.
• The solar energy available in a single year exceeds the
possible energy output of all of the fossil fuel energy
reserves in India.
Introduction to solar energy

6% Reflected by atmosphere

20% Reflected by clouds

4% Reflected by Earth’s surface


16% Absorbed by atmosphere

3% Absorbed by clouds

~51% reaches Earth’s Surface

• Solar energy is measured as power per unit area (Watt/m2).

• About half of the incoming solar energy reaches Earth.


Introduction to solar energy
a) Advantages:-
• Solar energy is freely available in nature.
• It is a renewable energy resources.
• It doesn’t pollute the environment.
• It can be directly converted into electricity by employing photovoltaic
cells.
b) Disadvantages:-
• It is available only during daytimes and clear days.
• Solar energy is intermittent in nature due to seasonal variations.
• Electricity generation needs a large area to entrap solar energy.
Introduction to solar energy
Utilization of Solar Energy?
• There are two basic categories of Solar Energy
utilization.
a) Solar Thermal- Using the sun’s energy to heat
things like your house, water, food, etc.
b) Solar Electric- Turning light from the sun directly
into electricity, using solar panels.
Solar energy in India
Solar radiation and its measurement
• Solar radiation is the source of never ending energy.
• In solar energy application, it is essential to know the
amount of sunlight available at a specific location at a
particular time.
• The two common measures which describe solar
radiation are the solar radiance and solar insolation.
• The solar radiance is the instantaneous power density of
sunlight falling per unit surface area.
• The solar radiance range varies throughout the day from
zero kW/m2 at night to a maximum of nearly 1 kW/m2.
• The solar radiance depends strongly on the location
and weather.
Solar radiation and its measurement
• Solar insolation is the quantity of solar radiation, or
electromagnetic energy, received at a certain point on
the surface of the earth.
• Variables such as solar declination angle, zenith angle,
hour angle and Cloud coverage, are necessary to
consider when calculating solar insolation.
• Solar insolation units are normally kWh/m2/day.
(which represents the daily amount of solar energy in
kilowatt hour striking a square meter area on the earth's
surface.)
• The daily insolation is equal in numerically to the
number of sun hours in a day.
Solar radiation and its measurement
• Two basic types of instruments for solar radiation
measurements:
a) Pyranometer (measuring global radiation)
b) Pyrheliometer (measuring beam radiation)

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