SOLA3540 & SOLA9001 Applied Photovoltaics

Tutorial 1

Question 1

The above diagram shows a cross section of the Earth. The two parallel lines represent two direct rays
of light from the Sun. For an observer located at O in the diagram this diagram corresponds to solar
noon. Redraw the figure and label on your diagram:

(a) The Equator

(b) The latitude angle  of the observer at O. Is the latitude North or South of the equator?
(c) The zenith or vertical line from the observer at O.
(d) The horizontal line for the observer at O.
(e) The declination angle, .
(f) The altitude angle of the Sun for an observer facing South, F_Sth
(g) From your diagram prove that for an observer in the northern hemisphere facing South at solar
noon, that:
F_Sth = 90° - (- 
(h) Draw a similar diagram for an observer located in the Southern hemisphere, facing North. Show
that at solar noon:
F_Nth = 90° + ( - 

(i) Show that for an observer located in the northern hemispheres facing north, the equation in part
(h) still applies.
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Question 2
(a) Show that the intensity of the direct solar radiation on a solar panel, tilted at an angle β from the
horizontal Iβ (W/m2), pointing towards the Equator, is given by:
I = IHZ.sin( + )/sin()

Solar
panel Sun’s rays
(side
view) Equator
H
 

Where IHZ is the intensity of the direct solar radiation on a horizontal surface, and  is the altitude of
the Sun

(b) For Sydney (latitude 34° S) on June 21st, IHZ = 400 W/m2, sketch Iβ verses β (0° – 90°).
Which angle gives the maximum direct solar radiation intensity onto the panel?
Discuss the shape of your curve.
(c) For Cairns (latitude 17° S) on December 21st, IHZ = 950 W/m2, sketch Iβ verses β (0° – 90°).
Which angle gives the maximum direct solar radiation intensity onto the panel?
Discuss the shape of your curve.
(d) Use the formula for Iβ to show or explain that for some values of  the direct component of
solar radiation on a tilted surface can be higher than the direct component on a flat surface.
(e) Derive an expression for the optimum value of the tilt angle βopt as a function of α. Is there any
place in the world where βopt = 0 at some time of the year?

Question 3
(a) The sun is at an altitude of 41.8° to the horizontal. What is the corresponding Air Mass?
(b) What is the length of shadow cast by a vertical post of 1 meter height under AM2 illumination?
(c) Calculate the sun’s altitude at solar noon on Dec 21st at Brisbane (latitude 27° S), Shanghai
(latitude 31° N) and Singapore (latitude 1° N). For each location, is the Sun in the Northern or
Southern part of the sky?
(d) The direct radiation falling on a surface normal to the sun’s rays is 900 W/m2 at solar noon on
one winter solstice (June. 21st) in Brisbane (latitude 27° S). Calculate the direct radiation falling
on a solar panel facing north at an angle of 40° to the horizontal. Is the Sun in the Northern or
Southern part of the sky?
(e) Repeat question (d) for Shanghai, except the panel is facing South and tilted at 45° to the
horizontal.
(f) Repeat question (d) for Singapore, except the panel is facing South and tilted at 15° to the
horizontal.

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Question 4
A house owner is considering installing PV panels on the roof of a house. You inspect the property
and find the long side of the house roughly faces North. To be more sure you measure the orientation
by noting that at clock time 10:20 am on October 24th, a pole 1.5 m high on the balcony casts a
shadow, as shown in the Figure below. The house is located in Sydney (33.87S, 151.2E, GMT
+10hrs). Use the SunAngle webpage (http://susdesign.com/sunangle).
(a) What is the local solar time?
(b) What is the altitude and azimuth of the Sun (specify the azimuth in degrees East or West of
North)?
(c) Calculate the orientation of the house. That is how many degrees E or W of North is the
orientation of the house.

Direction house is oriented

post

shadow (viewed from above)

0.45 m

Question 5
The declination of the sun (δ) can be estimated using the following formula:
δ = 23.45 sin [(2π/365) x (284+NDY)]
where δ negative in summer and positive in winter for the southern hemisphere and NDY (from 1 to
365) is the day of the year, where January 1st is d=1.
Plot an approximate diagram of the declination angle versus the months of the year highlighting the
values of delta for the summer and winter solstices.

Question 6
An array of photovoltaic modules is being installed on the flat roof of a hotel in
Hasting Chalet (TAS – latitude 43.41S, longitude 146.87E)
Calculate the solar noon altitude angle for the Hasting Chalet on:
(a) The 21st of June;
(b) The 21st of December;
(c) The 6th of May (Assume that FEB is 28 days long).

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A PV module of 1m length is installed facing north at a tilt angle β of 30° at Hastings Chalet.
(d) Calculate the length of the shadow, d, cast by the module at solar noon on the 6th of May?
(e) A second north facing module at a tilt angle β of 30° is placed directly behind the first one at a
distance d. What is the maximum length of the shadow cast by the first module on the second
module at solar noon?

Question 7
(a) What is the air mass (AM) value of sunlight if the sun is 60 above the horizon?
(b) The Sun’s radiation spectrum and intensity can be described as a blackbody radiating at a
temperature of 5800K. Calculate the radiation intensity, I, (W/m2) at the surface of the Sun
(where F = σT4 W/m2 and σ -8
W/m2/K4).
(c) What is the total power radiated by the Sun? (radius of the Sun = 7x108 m)
(d) The distance of the Earth from the Sun is approximately 152 million km (1.52 x1011 m).
Calculate the intensity of the Sun’s radiation once it reaches the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere.
(You can ignore the thickness of the atmosphere).

Question 8

(a) At a latitude of 20°S, on May 4th, the solar time is 9 am. Calculate the
(i) hour angle, (ii) the altitude and (iii) the azimuth of the Sun.
(b) A vertical post of height 1m is located on horizontal ground. For the situation described in part
(a) draw a diagram (as viewed from above) showing the points of the compass (N,S,E,W) and
showing:
i. the shadow due to the post,
ii. the length of the shadow,
iii. the angle the shadow makes with respect to North and
iv. the azimuth of the Sun.

(c) For the same location and date as in part (a), at solar noon calculate the Sun’s
(i) hour angle, (ii) the altitude and (iii) the azimuth of the Sun.

(d) For part (c) calculate (i) the air-mass, (ii) the intensity of the direct beam component of the sun
falling on a plane at normal incidence to the sun’s rays (assume that the sky is free of clouds),
and (iii) the intensity of the direct beam radiation on an array tilted at 40 degrees to the
horizontal, facing due North.

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Additional Questions:
Recommended for Postgraduates (can be attempted by Undergraduates).

Question 9
More detailed expressions for the Sun’s altitude and azimuth are given in an Appendix of your
textbook. Often these expressions are presented without proof in many texts or derived using a branch
of mathematics called “spherical trigonometry”. It is however much easier to derive these
relationships using simple vector analysis.

The standard relationships are:

sin() = cos()cos()cos()+ sin()sin()
cos()cos(S) = sin()cos() – cos()sin()cos()
where S is the azimuth, and  is the hour angle (see following figure) and all the other symbols have
their usual meaning.

Z (North)

Z
N
E
S



 y

The figure shows the Northern hemisphere of the Earth, with an observer located at a latitude . The
(x,y,z) axes have their origin at the centre of the Earth and corresponding unit vectors (i, j, k). The z
axis coincides with the N-S axis of the Earth and the (x,y) plane coincides with the Equator. The unit
vector S points directly at the Sun. The (x,z) plane is defined such that the vector S always lies in the
(x,z) plane. This defines the orientation of the (x,y,z) frame throughout the year as the Earth orbits the
Sun.
On a daily basis the Earth rotates about it’s N-S axis (i.e the z axis), once per day. This is described
by the hour angle  which is given by:
 = (hour - 12).15

where hour is the local solar time (0 – 24 h). The hour angle varies as the Earth rotates relative to the
Sun such that at solar noon,  = 0, negative in the morning, and positive in the afternoon.

The observer has their own frame of reference with axes (E, N, Z) and unit vectors (E, N, Z). The
vector E always points towards the East, N the North and Z, the Zenith (or vertical).
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QUESTION: Derive the above expressions for the Solar altitude and azimuth.

[Hint: you need expressions for S, N, and Z, in terms of (i, j, k),

More hints: vector dot products are useful and the Sun is a long way from planet Earth, so any vector
parallel to S will have the same angular “properties” as the vector S drawn in the figure. ]

For more info see: “Derivation of the solar geometric relationships using vector analysis” Renewable
Energy, Volume 32, Issue 7, June 2007, Pages 1187-1205,
Alistair B. Sproul

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