Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University

School of Technology
Department of Mechanical Engineering
M. Tech. Mechanical (Thermal) Semester – II
Assignment - I
Course: Solar Thermal System (ME 511)
Course Coordinator: Dr. Jatinkumar R. Patel
Date: 26/02/2019

1. Write a program to calculate the extraterrestrial radiation in kWh/m2 on a surface of any

orientation, location, day, and hour. What is the extraterrestrial radiation incident on a
surface located at latitude 45°, longitude 90°, slope 40° and azimuth 15° at 11:00 hours?
2. Develop a program to plot the monthly average daily total extraterrestrial radiation
(kWh/m2) on a surface of any orientation and any latitude between ±60°. Use the 12
average days listed in Table 1.6.1. For latitude 23.2° (Gandhinagar) plot the monthly
average daily radiation on a surface with a slope of 20° and an azimuth angle of 10°
3. Develop a computer program to calculate the 8760 hourly values of the extraterrestrial
radiation on a fixed surface of any orientation and location. For latitude 23.2°
(Gandhinagar) what slope and azimuth angles maximize the annual incident extraterrestrial
radiation?
4. For any location, write a computer program to calculate the annual extraterrestrial radiation
on surface of any slope that rotates on a vertical axis.
5. Use EES (or another convenient program) to generate solar position diagrams like Figure
1.9.1 for any latitude.
6. Calculate the angle of incidence of the beam solar radiation at 1400 (2 PM) solar time on

February 10 at latitude 43.3◦ on surfaces of the following orientations:

 Horizontal

 Sloped to south at 60◦

 Slope of 60◦, facing 40◦ west of south

  Vertical, facing south
 Vertical, facing west

7. Estimate Rb for a collector at Madison (φ = 43◦):

 Sloped 60◦ from horizontal, with γ = 0◦, at 2:30 solar time on March 5

 Sloped 45◦ , with surface azimuth angle of 15◦ , at 10:30 solar time on March 5

8. The monthly average daily solar radiation on a horizontal surface in Lander, WY (φ = 42.8

◦) is 18.9 MJ/m2 in March. How much of this is beam and how much is diffuse?

9. For Minneapolis (φ = 45◦) in February:

 The radiation integrated over the hour from 10:00 to 11:00 on February 8 is 1.57
MJ/m2. What is kT ? Estimate Ib and Id for the hour.
 For February 8, the day’s integrated radiation is 10.80 MJ/m2. What are kT ,Hb,
and Hd?
 For the month of February, the average daily radiation is 8.67 MJ/m2. What are KT
, Hb, and Hd?
10. A solar energy system in Gandhinagar requires two rows of collectors facing south and
titled at a fixed 30 angle. Find the minimum distance at which the second row should be
placed behind the first row for no shading at noon at winter solstice. What percentage of
the second row is shaded on the same day at 9:00 am?