SOLAR ENERGY

Nicholas KWARIKUNDA
Physics Department, UNAM
[email protected]
 Outline

Source
Characterisation
Measurement
Applications
 What is Solar Energy?
Comes from
• Thermal nuclear fusion reactions
Spans entire e/m radiation
Has powered life on earth for
millions of years
 The sun
Hot sphere of gaseous matter
oTemperature ≈ 15 × 10 6 K
oDiameter ≈ 1.39 × 10 6 km
oMass ≈ 2.0 × 10 30 kg
Composed of
• Hydrogen (74 %)
• Helium (25 %)
• Other elements (1 %)
 The sun…
Exterior layer (Solar atmosphere)
oPhotosphere
o Most stable
o Coolest layer
o Visible part of sun as disc
oChromosphere
o Higher temperature than photosphere
o Lower density
oCorona
o Significant source of x-rays

Interior layer Source: Universe today: Space and astronomy news,

https://www.universetoday.com/40631/parts-of-the-sun/
o Core
o Radiative layer o Convective layer
o Lower temperature o Binds energy produced in core
o Radiation less significant o Has insulating effects
 Solar radiation
Energy of a photon is given by
ℎ𝑐
𝐸 = ℎ𝜈 =
𝜆
Solar spectral distribution:
o Spectral power density, 𝑃 𝜆 - Incident power of solar radiation per unit area per unit length
 Units- Wm−2 m−1
o Spectral Photon flux, Φ 𝜆 −number of photons per unit area per unit time per unit
wavelength
𝜆
Φ 𝜆 =𝑃 𝜆
ℎ𝑐

o Irradiance 𝐼 Wm−2 - total power from a radiant source per unit area
 Spectral Irradiance

Power density at a
particular wavelength is
the spectral irradiance, 𝐼𝜆

Φ ℎ𝑐
𝐼𝜆 =
Δ𝜆 𝜆
Spectral irradiance for artificial sources (left scale) compared to the sun
(right scale). Source: https://www.pveducation.org/
 Blackbody radiation

Radiates depending on temperature

Absorbs all radiation incident on it
Planck’s law of Black body radiation

2𝜋𝑐 2 ℎ 1
𝐼 𝜆 = ℎ𝑐
𝜆5
𝑒 𝜆𝑘𝐵𝑇 −1
Stefan-Boltzmann law
𝐸𝑟𝑎𝑑 𝜆 = 𝜎𝑇 4
𝜎=5.67 × 10 −8 𝑊𝑚−2 𝐾 −4
Wien’s displacement law:
𝜆𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑇 = 2.9 × 10−3 mK
 Solar spectrum
Sun approximates black body at
𝑇 ≈ 5800 K
⟹ emits 6.42 × 10 7 𝑊𝑚−2
oGiven
𝑅𝑠 = 6.96 × 10 5 km,
𝑑𝑠−𝑒 = 1.496 × 10 8 km
Solar radiation arriving at earth’s
outer atmosphere ≈ 1389 Wm2
o Currently accepted value ≈
1361 Wm2
o Covers whole spectrum
 Solar radiation
Radiation attenuated as it
traverses earth’s atmosphere
o Scattering
o Absorption
o Reflection
by atmospheric components
 Optical Air mass
Under clear sky conditions, irradiance on
earth’s surface determined by distance light
travels through atmosphere
Shortest distance occurs when sun is directly
overhead (at zenith)
• Ratio of actual path length of sunlight to
this minimal distance is the optical air
mass
1
𝐴𝑀 =
cos 𝜃

𝜃=position of sun w.r.t to zenith

 Air mass …

o Spectrum outside earth’s

atmosphere is called Air mass zero
(AM0)
 Irradiance at 𝐴𝑀0 = 1361 Wm2

o Widely used standard for comparing

solar cell performance is AM1.5
spectrum, normalised to a total
irradiance of 1000 Wm−2
 Solar radiation…

Spectral content at earth’s surface has

o direct component -part of the sunlight
that directly reaches the earth’s surface.
o Diffuse (indirect) component due to
scattering and reflection in atmosphere
and surrounding landscape
Air mass thus further defined by
whether or not, measured spectrum
includes diffuse component
o AM1.5g
o AM1.5d
 Solar radiation measurement

Pyranometer:
o Primary instrument for measuring global
solar radiation
o Measures solar energy from all directions
in hemisphere above plane of instrument

Most common pyranometers use

thermopile principle
 Solar radiation measurement…
Thermopile principle
o Multiple thermocouples connected in
series
o Attached to blackened absorbing surface
o Absorbing surface shielded from
convective loss and insulated against
conductive loss
Under the sun, surface attains a
temperature proportional to amount of
radiant energy falling on it.
Temperature is measured and converted
into a readout of the global solar irradiance
falling on the absorbing surface through
accurate calibration
 Solar radiation measurement…
1200
1200

Irradiance W/m^2
1000

Irradiance W/m^2
1000
800
800

600 600

400 400

200 200

0
0 0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00
Time of the day
Time of the day
Typical measurements in Windhoek for a clear (Left) and Cloudy (Right) day
Solar radiation measurement…
Pyrheliometer:-
o Used to measure direct solar
radiation
o Used with a sun tracker to keep
instrument aimed at sun
 Solar Energy applications
Utilised through two main routes
o Solar photovoltaics o Solar thermal
 Direct electricity generation  Direct heating, drying, cooking,
power generation,…
 Solar Photovoltaics
Solar (photovoltaic) cell
o basic building block of a PV system
o directly converts light energy into electrical energy based on principals of
photovoltaic effect
 Solar Photovoltaics…

Photovoltaic effect: Generation of direct current (DC) and voltage

(electrical power) from materials (e.g. semiconductors) when
illuminated by photons
Majority of solar cells are currently produced using semiconductors
• Semiconductors are materials, which behave as insulators at 𝑇 = 0 𝐾 but
become electrically conductive when 𝑇 ≠ 0 𝐾
• Their electrical properties can be modified through doping
• n-type
• p-type
 Solar Photovoltaics…
Two differently doped
Light
semiconductors layers joined to form energy
p-n junction
p-n junction layer

n-type semiconductor

p- type semiconductor n-type semiconductor

Electrical
Power
p- type semiconductor

Voltage is generated across p-n

junction due to absorption of light
energy p-n junction
 Solar Photovoltaics…

Conduction band
• Only photons whose energy is electron
greater than the band gap of Photons
the semiconductor will be
absorbed- hence converted
into electrical energy
hole
Valence band
 Solar Photovoltaics…
• Single solar cells consists of n-type layer sandwiched with p-type layer

N-type

P-type
 Solar Photovoltaics…
• Single solar cell produces only a tiny amount of voltage ≈ 0.5 𝑉
• Many solar cells are interconnected in series or parallel to form a module
with the required voltage and power
Modules are interconnected to form a panel or array
 PV systems/components

PV systems classified according to

o Functional and operational
requirements
o Component configurations
o Connection to electrical loads and or
power sources
Principal classifications
o Stand alone PV systems
o Grid-connected PV systems
 PV systems/components
 Stand alone PV systems
 PV systems/components…
 Grid-connected PV systems
 Installed PV capacity

Source: IEA http://www.iea-pvps.org/fileadmin/dam/public/report/statistics/IEA-PVPS_-_A_Snapshot_of_Global_PV_-_1992-2016__1_.pdf

Solar thermal applications
Agricultural crop drying
 Solar thermal applications…
Day lighting and space heating
 Solar thermal applications…
Active solar heating
o Collectors used to absorb sun’s energy
 Solar Water heating
Solar cooking
Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems

CSPs use mirrors to convert the sun's energy into high-temperature heat. The heat
energy is then used to generate electricity in a steam generator.
Thank you