Dr.

AlanDoolittle,GaTech
Lecture 2: The Nature of Light Lecture2:TheNatureofLight
Reading Assignment Chapter 2 of PVCDROM ReadingAssignment Chapter2ofPVCDROM
Dr.AlanDoolittle*
*Mostofthefiguresandtextarefromtheonlinetextforthis
class,PVCDROM.PVEDUCATION.org.Originalreferencesaregiven
therein.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofLight
Thephotonfluxisdefinedasthe
numberofphotonspersecondperunit
area:
powerdensityinunitsofW/m,
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofLight
The spectral irradiance can be determined from the photon flux by converting the
photon flux at a given wavelength to W/m
2
as shown in the section on Photon Flux.
The result is then divided by the given wavelength as shown in the equation below The result is then divided by the given wavelength, as shown in the equation below.
where:
F is the spectral irradiance in Wm
-2
m
-1
;
is the photon flux in # photons m
-2
sec
-1
; is the photon flux in # photons m
2
sec
1
;
E and are the energy and wavelength of the photon in eV and m respectively; and
q, h and c are constants.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofLight
Modified Xenon lamps with decreased IR content are often used to simulate the solar ModifiedXenonlampswithdecreasedIRcontentareoftenusedtosimulatethesolar
spectrum.OnepopularmethodofremovingsomeIRistouseaDichroic filter.
Thespectralirradianceofxenon(green),halogen(blue)andmercury
(red)lightbulbs(leftaxis)arecomparedtothespectralirradiance
fromthesun(purple,whichcorrespondstotherightaxis).
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofLight
Thetotalpowerdensityemittedfromalightsourcecanbecalculatedbyintegratingthe
spectralirradianceoverallwavelengthsorenergiesofinterest.However,aclosedform
equationforthespectralirradianceforalightsourceoftendoesnotexist.Insteadthe
measuredspectralirradiancemustbemultipliedbyawavelengthrangeoverwhichitwas
measured,andthencalculatedoverallwavelengths.Thefollowingequationcanbeused
to calculate the total power density emitted from a light source. tocalculatethetotalpowerdensityemittedfromalightsource.
where:
HisthetotalpowerdensityemittedfromthelightsourceinWm
2
;
F(l)isthespectralirradianceinunitsofWm
2
m
1
;and
d orA isthewavelength.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
Bl kb d R di ti
TheNatureofLight
BlackbodyRadiation
where:
listhewavelengthoflight(m);
Tisthetemperatureoftheblackbody(K);
F is the spectral irradiance in Wm
2
m
1
; and FisthespectralirradianceinWm
2
m
1
;and
h,c andkareconstants.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofSunlight
The suns internal temperature is ~20 million degrees kelvin due to nuclear fusion reactions.
The inner radiation is strongly absorbed by a layer of hydrogen atoms closer to the sun's surface. The surface
of the sun, called the photosphere, is at a temperature of 5762 50 K and closely approximates a blackbody o t e su , ca ed t e p otosp e e, s at a te pe atu e o 5 6 50 a d c ose y app o ates a b ac body
radiator.
Power density leaving each surface element of the sun, H = 62499432.6 W/m
2
y g , /
The total power emitted by the sun is 9.5 x 10
25
W.
The light is composed of many wavelengths
Different wavelengths show up as different colors, but not all the wavelengths can be seen since some are
"i i ibl " t th h "invisible" to the human eye.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
Atadistantpoint,
TheNatureofSunlight
where:
H is the power density at the sun's surface (in W/m
2
) as determined by Stefan Boltzmann's H
sun
isthepowerdensityatthesun ssurface(inW/m
2
)asdeterminedbyStefanBoltzmann s
blackbodyequation;
R
sun
istheradiusofthesuninmetersasshowninthefigurebelow;and
Disthedistancefromthesuninmetersasshowninthefigurebelow.
h ll ll
where:
H is the radiant power density outside the Earth's atmosphere (in W/m
2
);
Thesevariationsaretypicallysmall
andforphotovoltaicapplications
thesolarirradiancecanbe
consideredconstant.Thevalueof
thesolarconstantanditsspectrum
HistheradiantpowerdensityoutsidetheEarth satmosphere(inW/m
2
);
H
constant
isthevalueofthesolarconstant,1.353kW/m
2
;and
nisthedayoftheyear.
p
havebeendefinedasastandard
valuecalledairmasszero(AM0)
andtakesavalueof1.353kW/m
2
.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofSunlight
AM0(Space) ( p )
Blackbody
AM0(Space)
AM1.5G
The direct spectra is important in concentrator solar cells where the optical acceptance Thedirectspectraisimportantin concentratorsolarcellswheretheopticalacceptance
angleissmall.
Theglobalspectraisimportantforflatplatesolarcellswheretheopticalacceptance
angleishigher
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofSunlight
DifferentspectraaredescribedbyitsAirMass
Th Ai M i th th l th hi h li ht t k th h th t h li d t th h t t TheAirMassisthepathlengthwhichlighttakesthroughtheatmospherenormalizedtotheshortest
possiblepathlength(thatis,whenthesunisdirectlyoverhead).TheAirMassquantifiesthereductionin
thepoweroflightasitpassesthroughtheatmosphereandisabsorbedbyairanddust.TheAirMassis
definedas:
i l ormoresimply,
where u istheanglefromthevertical
(zenithangle).Whenthesunisdirectly
overhead,theAirMassis1.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
ThestandardspectrumattheEarth'ssurfaceiscalledAM1.5G,(theGstandsforglobalandincludes
b th di t d diff di ti ) AM1 5D ( hi h i l d di t di ti l )
TheNatureofSunlight
bothdirectanddiffuseradiation)orAM1.5D(whichincludesdirectradiationonly).
TheintensityofAM1.5DradiationcanbeapproximatedbyreducingtheAM0spectrumby28%(18%
duetoabsorptionand10%toscattering).
Theglobalspectrumis10%higherthanthedirectspectrum.
Roundingoffforconvenience:
Th l l ti i i t l 970 W/
2
f AM1 5G H th t d d AM1 5G Thesecalculationsgiveapproximately970W/m
2
forAM1.5G.However,thestandardAM1.5G
spectrumhasbeennormalizedtogive1kW/m
2
duetotheconvenienceoftheroundnumberandthe
factthatthereareinherentlyvariationsinincidentsolarradiation.
where a = 0 14 and h is the location height above sea level in kilometers wherea =0.14andhisthelocationheightabovesealevelinkilometers
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofSunlight
Relative orientation of the earth to
sun and definition of symbols.
o is the declination angle
| or is the latitude angle (it is positive for
Northern Hemisphere locations and negative for Southern
Hemisphere).
ois the maximum elevation/altitude
l angle
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofSunlight SolarTime
where AT
GMT
is the difference of the Local whereAT
GMT
isthedifferenceoftheLocal
Time(LT)fromGreenwichMeanTime(GMT)
inhours.15=360/24hours.
The equation of time (EoT) (in minutes) is an empirical equation that corrects for the
eccentricity of the Earth's orbit and the Earth's axial tilt.
where
in degrees and d is the number of days since the start of the year. The time correction
EoT is plotted in the figure below.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
Time Correction Factor (TC)
TheNatureofSunlight SolarTime
Time Correction Factor (TC)
The net Time Correction Factor (in minutes) accounts for the variation of the Local Solar
Time (LST) within a given time zone due to the longitude variations within the time zone
and also incorporates the EoT above.
The factor of 4 minutes comes fromthe fact that the Earth rotates 1 every 4 minutes.
Local Solar Time (LST)
The Local Solar Time (LST) can be found by using the previous two corrections to adjust
the local time (LT).
Hour Angle (HRA)
The Hour Angle converts the local solar time (LST) into the number of degrees which the
sun moves across the sky. By definition, the Hour Angle is 0 at solar noon. Since the Earth
rotates 15 per hour, each hour away from solar noon corresponds to an angular motion of
the sun in the sky of 15. In the morning the hour angle is negative, in the afternoon the
hour angle is positive.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
Declination angle is:
TheNatureofSunlight Declination
Declinationangleis:
Wh d i th b Wheredisthenumber
ofdayssincethestartof
theyear.
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofSunlight Declination
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
Theelevationangle(usedinterchangeablywithaltitudeangle)istheangularheightofthesuninthesky
d f h h i l C f i l b h l i d d l i l d d ib h h i h
TheNatureofSunlight Elevation
measuredfromthehorizontal.Confusingly,bothaltitudeandelevationarealsousedtodescribetheheight
inmetersabovesealevel.Theelevationis0 atsunriseand90 whenthesunisdirectlyoverhead(which
occursforexampleattheequatoronthespringandfallequinoxes).Thezenithangleissimilartothe
elevationanglebutitismeasuredfromtheverticalratherthanfromthehorizontal,thusmakingthezenith
l 90 l i angle=90 elevation.
Thepeakelevationangleatsolarnoonis
Where o is the declination angle and | or is the
l tit d l (it i iti f N th latitude angle (it is positive for Northern
Hemisphere locations and negative for Southern
Hemisphere).
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
The azimuth angle is the compass direction from which the sunlight is coming. At solar noon, the
TheNatureofSunlight Azimuthal Variations
Theazimuthangleisthecompassdirectionfromwhichthesunlightiscoming.Atsolarnoon,the
sunisalwaysdirectlysouthinthenorthernhemisphereanddirectlynorthinthesouthern
hemisphere.Theazimuthanglevariesthroughoutthedayasshownintheanimationbelow.Atthe
equinoxes,thesunrisesdirectlyeastandsetsdirectlywestregardlessofthelatitude,thusmaking
the azimuth angles 90 at sunrise and 270 at sunset. In general however, the azimuth angle varies theazimuthangles90 atsunriseand270 atsunset.Ingeneralhowever,theazimuthanglevaries
withthelatitudeandtimeofyearandthefullequationstocalculatethesun'spositionthroughout
thedayaregivenonthefollowingpage.
Where o is the declination angle and | is the latitude angle (it is positive for Northern
Hemisphere locations and negative for Southern Hemisphere). Hemisphere locations and negative for Southern Hemisphere).
The above equation only gives the correct azimuth in the solar morning so that:
Azimuth = Azimuth, for LST <12 or HRA < 0
and
A i th 360 A i th f LST > 12 HRA >0 Azimuth = 360 - Azimuth for LST > 12 or HRA >0
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofSunlight ParametersforAtlanta
Standard time zone: UTC/GMT 5 hours Standardtimezone:UTC/GMT5hours
Latitude: 33 46North
Longitude: 84 25West
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofSunlight EffectofPlateAngle
The equations relating S
module
, S
horiz
and S
incident
are:
where
o is the elevation angle; and
| is the tilt angle of the module | g
measured from the horizontal.
The elevation angle has been previously
given as: g
where | is the latitude; and
o is the declination angle
Dr.AlanDoolittle,GaTech
TheNatureofSunlight PeakHourEstimation
PeakSunHours
Theaveragedailysolarinsolation inunitsofkWh/m
2
perdayissometimesreferred
toas"peaksunhours".Theterm"peaksunhours"referstothesolarinsolation
which a particular location would receive if the sun were shining at its maximum whichaparticularlocationwouldreceiveifthesunwereshiningatitsmaximum
valueforacertainnumberofhours.Sincethepeaksolarradiationis1kW/m
2
,the
numberofpeaksunhoursisnumericallyidenticaltotheaveragedailysolar
insolation.Forexample,alocationthatreceives8kWh/m
2
perdaycanbesaidto
havereceived8hoursofsunperdayat1kW/m
2
.Beingabletocalculatethepeak
sunhoursisusefulbecausePVmodulesareoftenratedataninputratingof
1kW/m
2
.