Clean Energy Technology

Solar Geometry

Dr. Muhammad Uzair

Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NED UET
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The sun
 The sun

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 The sun
• Effective blackbody
temperature of 5777 K
• Hot because of continuous
fusion reactions:
e.g. H + H → He + (Heat
Energy)
• Pores and sunspots on sun
surface

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 The earth
• Very small as compared to sun
• Rotate about its own axis (day)
• Revolve around the sun in orbit (year)

Rotation Revolution
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 Earth-sun distance

152 MKm 147 MKm

• Mean earth-sun distance is 1 astronomical unit

(1au=149.5Mkm)
• It varies by ± 1.7%
• This variation is not responsible for earth’s seasons
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 Earth’s geometry

Northern
Hemisphere

Southern
Hemisphere
 Earth’s geometry
Locating position on earth:
Φ : Latitude
L : Longitude

Unit: Degrees

X
Prime-meridian
at Greenwich Equator
(L=0°) (ø=0°)
 Earth’s geometry
N
Where is Karachi on earth?

Latitude (Φ) : 24.8508°N X

W E
Longitude (L) : 67.0181°E

Try: ”Latitude Karachi” at Google

S

Q1) In which hemisphere, Karachi is located?

Q2) To which direction from Greenwich, Karachi is
located?
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 Exercise-1:
Earth’s geometry
Where the following cities are located?
1) Sydney (Australia)
2) Nairobi (Kenya)
3) Balingen (Germany)
4) Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)
5) Oregon (USA)
6) Greenwich (UK)

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 Magnetic compass directions
• The magnetic poles are not
at the geographic poles.
• Directions shown by a
magnetic compass are not
the “Geographic” directions.
• All solar engineering
calculations are based on
geographic directions!

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 Magnetic declination
• Magnetic declination is the
angle between geographic
north (Ng) and magnetic north
(Nm).
• Facts:
– M.D in Alberta (Canada) is
approx. 16°W
– For Karachi, M.D. is almost 0°!

To get M.D: http://magnetic-declination.com/

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 Magnetic declination

(e.g. 16°W or -16° (e.g. 16°E or 16°

i.e. Nm is 16°W of [email protected]
) i.e. Nm is 16°E of Ng)
 Date and day
• Date is represented by month and ‘i’
• Day is represented by ‘n’
Month nth day for ith date
January i
February 31 + i
March 59 + i
… …
December 334 + i

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Date and day

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 Sun position from earth
• Sun rise in the east and set in the west
• “A” sees sun in south
• “B” sees sun in north
N
A

W E

B
S [email protected]
 Solar noon

Solar noon is the time when

sun is highest above the
horizon on that day
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 Solar altitude angle
• Solar altitude angle (αs) is the angle between
horizontal and the line passing through sun
• It changes every hour and every day

αs
S N
In northern hemisphere
E
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 Solar altitude angle at noon
Solar altitude angle is maximum at “Noon” for a
day, denoted by αs,noon

αs,noon
S N
In northern hemisphere
E
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 Zenith angle
• Zenith angle (θz) is the angle between vertical
and the line passing through sun
• θz = 90 – αs
θz W

S N
In northern hemisphere
E
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 Zenith angle at noon
• Zenith angle is minimum at “Noon” for a day,
denoted by θz,noon
• ϴz,noon = 90 – αs,noon
θz,noon W

S N
In northern hemisphere
E
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 Air mass
•

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 Air mass

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 Solar azimuth angle
• In any hemisphere, solar azimuth angle (γs) is
the angular displacement of sun from south
• It is 0° due south, -ve in east, +ve in west

γs S

E W
Morning Noon Evening
(γs = -ve) (γs = 0°) (γs = +ve)
 Solar declination
Important! March equinox
Equator faces sun directly
June solstice (Spring)
Northern
hemisphere is
towards sun
(Summer)

December solstice
Northern
September equinox hemisphere is away
Equator faces sun directly from sun
(Autumn) [email protected] (Winter)
 Solar declination
Declination June
angles solstice
Equinox +23.45°

-23.45°
W

December
solstice 90 - φ φ
S N
In northern hemisphere
E
Note: Altitude depends upon latitude but declination is independent.
 Exercise-2:
Solar declination and altitude angle
What is the altitude of sun at noon in Karachi
(Latitude=24.8508) on:
1) Equinox
2) June solstice
3) December solstice

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 Exercise-2: Answers
Solar declination and altitude angle
1) 65.1492°S

2) 88.5992°S

3) 41.6992°S

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 Solar declination
•

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 Solar declination
Days to
Remember δ
March, 21 0°
June, 21 +23.45°
September, 21 0°
December, 21 -23.45°
δ

Can you prove this?

n
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 Solar altitude and zenith at noon
• As solar declination (δ) is the function of day
(n) in year, therefore, solar altitude at noon
can be calculated as:
αs,noon = 90 – ø + δ
• Similarly zenith angle at noon can be
calculated as:
ϴz,noon = 90 – αs,noon= 90 – (90 – ø + δ)= ø - δ

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 Exercise-3:
Solar declination and altitude angle
What is the altitude of sun at noon in Karachi
(Latitude=24.8508) on:
1) January, 12
2) July, 23
3) November, 8

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 Exercise-3: Answers
Solar declination and altitude angle

1) 43.3984°S (δ=-21.7508°)

2) 85.1831°S (δ=20.0339°)

3) 47.7675°S (δ=-17.3817°)

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 Solar time
• The time in your clock (local time) is not same
as “solar time”
• It is always “Noon” at 12:00pm solar time

Solar time “Noon” Local time (in your clock)

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 Solar time
•

Try: http://www.powerfromthesun.net/soltimecalc.html
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 Solar time
•

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 Solar time
• The term Equation of time (E) is because of
earth’s tilt and orbit eccentricity.
• It can be calculated as:

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 Hour angle
•

11:00am 12:00pm 01:00pm

ω = -15° ω = 0° ω = +15°
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 Exercise-4:
Solar time from local time
What is the solar time and hour angle in
Karachi (Longitude=67.0181°E) on 8
November 2:35pm local time?

Hint:
Find in sequence LT, LL, GMT, SL, n, B, E, ST and finally ω

Remember! You can always find solar time from local

time if you are given with longitude and day
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 Exercise-4: Answers
Solar time from local time
• LT=2:35pm=12+2+(35/60)=14.583 hrs
• LL=67.0181°E=+67.0181°
• GMT=ceil(67.0181/15)=+5
• SL=+5x15=+75°
• n=304+8=312
• B=306.74°
• E=0.2683 hrs
• ST=14.319 (02:19:08pm)
• ω=+34.795 (after noon)
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 Exercise-5:
Local time from solar time
At what local time, sun will be at noon in
Karachi on 8 November?

Hint:
Solar time is given in terms of “noon”. Find in sequence
ST, LL, GMT, SL, n, B, E and finally LT

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 Exercise-5: Answers
Local time from solar time
• ST=noon=12 hrs
• LL=67.0181°E=+67.0181°
• GMT=ceil(67.0181/15)=+5
• SL=+5x15=+75°
• n=304+8=312 (B=306.74°)
• E=0.2683 hrs
• LT= 12.2638 (12:15:50pm)

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 A plane at earth’s surface
• Tilt, pitch or slope angle: β (in degrees)
• Surface azimuth or orientation: γ (in degrees,
0° due south, -ve in east, +ve in west)
# # W
(γ = +ve)
# #
# #
β
(γ = 0) S N
γ
(γ = -ve)
E
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 Summary of solar angles

Can you write symbols of different solar angles shown in this diagram?
 Interpretation of solar angles
Angle Interpretation Set#
Latitude φ Site location 1
Declination δ Day (Sun position)
2
Hour angle ω Time (Sun position)

Solar altitude αs Sun direction (Sun position)

Zenith angle θz Sun direction (Sun position) 3

Solar azimuth γs Sun direction (Sun position)

Tilt angle β Plane direction

4
Surface azimuth γ Plane direction 45
 Angle of incidence
Angle of incidence (θ) is the angle between
normal of plane and line which is meeting plane
and passing through the sun

# # W
θ
# #
# #
S N

E
 Angle of incidence
• Angle of incidence (θ) depends upon:
– Site location (1): θ changes place to place
– Sun position (2/3):θ changes in every instant
of time and day
– Plane direction (4): θ changes if plane is
moved
• It is 0° for a plane directly facing sun and at
this angle, maximum solar radiations are
collected by plane.
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 Angle of incidence
•

(Set 1+2+4) [email protected] 48

 Angle of incidence
•

(Set 1+3+4) [email protected] 49

 Exercise-6:
Angle of incidence
Calculate angle of incidence on a plane located
in Karachi (Latitude=24.8508°N,
Longitude=67.018°E) at 10:30am (solar time) on
February 13, if the plane is tilted 45° from
horizontal and pointed 15° west of south.
Hint:
Convert given data into solar angles and then check
which equation for calculating θ suits best.
For geeks!
Solve the same problem if 10:30am is local time. 50
 Exercise-6: Answers
Angle of incidence
• φ=24.8505°N=+24.8508°
• ω=10:30am=((10+30/60)-12)x15=-22.5°
• n=31+13=44
• δ=-13.94°
• β=45°
• γ=15° west of south=+15°
• cos(θ)=(-0.0716)-(-0.1493)+(0.5753)+(0.2573)+(-
0.680)=0.2303
• θ=76.68°
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 Special cases for angle of incidence
• If the plane is laid horizontal (β=0°)
– Equation is independent of γ (rotate!)
– θ becomes θz because normal to the plane
becomes vertical, hence:

Remember, θz = 90 – αs
Note: Solar altitude/zenith angle depends
upon location, day and hour.
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 Exercise-7:
Special cases for angle of incidence
Reduce equation for calculating angle of
incidence for the following special cases:
1. Plane is facing south
2. Plane is vertical
3. Vertical plane is facing south
4. A plane facing south and is tilted at angle
equals to latitude

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 Solar altitude and azimuth angle
•

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 Sun path diagram or sun charts
αs

-150° -120° -90° - 60° -30° 0° 30° 60° 90° 120° 150°
γs 55
Note: These diagrams are different for different latitudes.
 Exercise-8:
Sun path diagram or sun charts
Draw a sun path diagram for Karachi with lines
of June, 21 and December, 21.

Hint:
You need to calculate αs and γs for all hour angles of the
days mentioned in question.

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Sunset hour angle and daylight hours
• Sunset occurs when θ z = 90° (or αs = 0°). Sunset hour
angle (ωs) can be calculated as:

• Number of daylight hours (N) can be calculated as:

For half-day (sunrise to noon or noon to sunrise),

number of daylight hours will be half of above.
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 Exercise-9:
Sunset hour angle and daylight hours
What is the sunset time (solar) on August, 14 in
Karachi (Latitude=24.8508°N) and Balingen
(Latitude=48.2753°N)? Also calculate number
of daylight hours for each city.

For geeks!
Also convert solar time (sunset hour angle) to local
time. You will need longitudes of these places.

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 Exercise-9: Answers
Sunset hour angle and daylight hours
• n=212+14=226
• δ=14.1°
• Karachi (ø=+24.8508°): ωs=+96.68° (i.e. 06:26 pm),
N=12.9 hrs
• Balingen (ø=+48.2753°): ωs=+106.3603° (i.e. 07:05
pm), N=14.2 hrs

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Shadow analysis (objects at distance)
• Shadow analysis for objects at distance (e.g. trees,
buildings, poles etc.) is done to find:
– Those moments (hours and days) in year when
plane will not see sun.
– Loss in total energy collection due to above.
• Mainly, following things are required:
– Sun charts for site location
– Inclinometer
– Compass and information of M.D.

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 Inclinometer
A simple tool for finding azimuths and altitudes of objects

http://rimstar.org/renewnrg/solar_site_survey_shading_location.htm 62
 Shadow analysis using sun charts
αs

-150° -120° -90° - 60° -30° 0° 30° 60° 90° 120° 150°

γs 64
 Profile angle
It is the angle through which a plane that is initially
horizontal must be rotated about an axis in the plane of
the given surface in order to include the sun.

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 Profile angle
• It is denoted by αp and can be calculated as follow:

• It is used in calculating shade of one collector (row) on

to the next collector (row).
• In this way, profile angle can also be used in calculating
the minimum distance between collector (rows).

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 Profile angle
• Collector-B will be in shade of collector-A, only when:

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 Exercise-10:
Profile angle and shading
According to figure, for a 25° profile angle, will
the collector-B be in the shade of collector-A?

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 Angles for tracking surfaces
• Some solar collectors "track" the sun
by moving in prescribed ways to
minimize the angle of incidence of
beam radiation on their surfaces and
thus maximize the incident beam
radiation.
• Tracking the sun is much more
essential in concentrating systems
e.g. parabolic troughs and dishes.
(See “Tracking surfaces” in Reference
Information) [email protected] 70