SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

MS (Mech)

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Solar Energy
INTRODUCTION

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Solar Energy

The Sun emits energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation.

These radiations are received by all planets, not only earth.
The Earth intercepts only about one-half of one-billionth of the Suns
total energy output.
The Sun emits so-called shortwave radiation. The wavelength range
is 3003000nm (0.3-3.0m).
The total spectrum includes near ultraviolet, visible, near infrared and
shortwave infrared light. The spectrum of visible light is 400-700nm
(0.4-0.7m). The shorter the wavelength of light, the more energy it
contains.
The term electromagnetic energy comprises all types of energy that travels from its
source through space in the form of harmonic waves along straight paths at the uniform
speed of light (3x108 m/sec). Radiation is the term that pertains to the emission and
propagation of electromagnetic energy in the form of waves.

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Solar spectrum
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EM Spectrum
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It takes about 8 minutes for sun energy to reach the

atmosphere of the Earth and a part of it is reflected back to
the outer space. The proportion of the incident light which
is reflected back is called planet albedo ( )
As the output of energy from the sun is nearly constant, the
amount of solar energy incident on a small area of the top
of the atmosphere can be calculated. This amount is called
solar constant. The strict definition is that the solar
constant is the amount of solar energy incident in
1s on a 1m2 area along the direction of propagation (units
J/sm2).

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SOLAR RADIATION

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Solar Collectors
Methods for collecting solar energy for the production of
either heat or electricity include:
1. appropriate architecture,
2. at collectors,

3. evacuated tubes,
4. concentrators, and
5. solar ponds.

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Flat collectors
Flat collectors work with both direct and diffused light. They
provide low temperature heat (less than 70 C) useful for ambient
heating, domestic hot water systems, and swimming pools. This
type of collector is affected by weather and its efficiency
decreases if large temperature rises are demanded.

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Flat Plate Solar

Collector

Sheltered Tank
Solar Collector

Vacuum Tube
Solar Collector
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Evacuated Tubes
This type of collector consists of two concentric cylinders, the
outer one of glass and the inner, a pipe through which the
liquid flows. They bear a superficial resemblance to fluorescent
lamps. A vacuum is established between the two cylinders,
reducing the convection heat losses.
Evacuated tubes are non directional and can heat liquids to
some 80C. They are usually employed in arrays with spacing
equal to the diameter of the outer tube. It is customary to place
a reflecting surface behind the array.

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Solar Thermal
Solar heating capacity was 145 GWthermal in 2008.

Solar panels heat

up water without
involving generating
electricity.

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Solar Thermal
Solar energy trapped by
the solar troughs heats
the thermal oil.
Oil circulating in a closed
loop heats high volumes
of water to generate
steam
at
high
temperatures
(up
to
o
400 C).

Steam turbine generates

electricity.

Typical Solar Trough System for

Power Generation (heat to work)
Solar
Troughs
Steam
Turbine
Thermal oil is
circulated in a
closed loop

Steam
Generator

Electric
Generator

Condenser

Cooling Tower

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Solar Thermal
A parabolic trough is a solar thermal energy collector.
It is constructed as a long parabolic mirror (usually coated silver or polished
aluminum) with a Dewar tube (vacuum flask) running its length at the focal point.

Sunlight is reflected by the mirror and

concentrated on the Dewar tube.
The trough is usually aligned on a
north-south axis, and rotated to track
the sun as it moves across the sky
each day.

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Solar Thermal
Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) is the largest solar energy
generating facility in the world.
It consists of nine solar power plants (built between 1984 and 1990) in
California's Mojave Desert,
where insolation is among the best available in the US.
- 354 MW installed capacity
- power 232,500 homes
- have a total of 936,384 mirrors
- cover more than 1,600 acres (6.5 km2)
- lined up, the parabolic mirrors would extend over
370 km.
- 3000 broken mirrors (mostly by wind) per year are
replaced

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Solar Thermal

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Technological status

mature

Average growth

17-20% per year

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Solar Thermal
The solar cooker has a parabolic
reflector to concentrate more than a
m2 of sunlight into an area about 17
cm in diameter.
The control arm allows the reflector to
be set facing the sun and holds the pot
at the focal point regardless of the
reflector tilt angle.
The stand holds the other two together
and allows the cooker to be rotated to
follow the sun as it moves across the
sky.

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DEMONSTRATED TECHNOLOGIES:

Parabolic Trough
Solar Central Receiver
Solar Dish/ Sterling

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Solar Dish/ Sterling

Multiple mirrors that approximate a
parabolic dish.
Receiver absorbs solar energy &
converts to heat.
Heat is delivered to Sterling engine

Average efficiencies >20%

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Solar Central Receiver

Also called Power Towers
Heliostats computer controlled mirrors
Reflect sunlight onto receiver

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Solar Central Receiver Solar Two

10 MW
Two-tank, molten-salt
thermal storage system
Barstow, CA
Demolished in November
2009
Solar Tres is now being built
in Spain will be 17 MW
Source: http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/csp.htm

Molten salt as its working fluid, allowing it to be

stored in the molten state for power generation
at any time.
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CSP Comparisons
All use mirrored surfaces to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver
to run a heat engine
All can be hybridized with auxiliary fuel sources
Higher temperature -> higher efficiency
Annual Measured
Efficiency

Required
Acres/MW

Suns of
concentration

Dish Sterling

21%

3000

Parabolic
Troughs

14%

100

Solar Central
Receiver

16%

1000

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The concept is very straightforward, being

based on the law of physics that hot air
rises.
The tower uses solar insolation and radiation
to heat air beneath a large collector
(greenhouse) that creates a constant flow of
air to drive conventional turbines.
The turbines are located at the base of the
tower in the center of the collector.
the movement of the heated air through
these turbines is caused by the updraft
effect created by the tower

The process is passive, needing no outside

energy input to start or maintain it. The only
moving components in the system are the
rotors of the turbine.
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Solar Energy and geometric effects

Altitude effects the suns radiation reaching on earth

At air mass one (m) the solar input is considered to be 1.07 kw/m2

Solar power density = I = I( )cos

= it is the zenith angle as discussed

alreadyZ
I( ) I (o) 1.07kw / m2

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For larger angle light traverses large thickness of the atmosphere

and more photon are scattered and/or absorbed , Thus, the value
of I decreases with increasing .
The angle varies from sunrise to sunset and also on a monthly
basis as the sun angle at noon (noon being defined as that time
of day when the sun angle, i|f, is at a minimum) varies from L 23.5 in June to L + 23.5 in December, where L, the latitude is in
degrees.

This assumes a Northern Hemisphere location for the solar

collector. In the Southern Hemisphere, the signs should be
reversed.
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Atmospheric effects on solar power input as a function of the solar angle

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Tracking Systems
It is possible to eliminate the geometric portion, cos (), of by tilting
the detector until the sun is aligned with the collector normal. Figure
indicates the angular positions for such a tiltable collector (not yet
perfectly aligned) when positioned in the Northem Hemisphere.
However, such an action will not reduce the length of the
atmospheric path, and, hence, the effect on I( )

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The average year is 365 and a fraction days long, during which time
the sun traverses approximately 47 from north to south and back
again. Therefore, the change in solar angle measured on a north-tosouth basis is approximately eight degrees per month, a relatively
small number. Each day, however, the sun rises in the east and sets
in the west, covering about 180 degrees of arc in an average period
of 12 hours. In computing the total solar insolation (TSI), defined as
the energy received each day directly from the sun, a reasonable
value can be obtained using the following expression:

I
where D is the amount of day light for a given day, I is
determined by computing the solar angle () ; (Figure on last
slide) and using Table, and () is defined in Figure

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Tracking and Collection device configuration

Several solar energy collector configurations of interest:
(A) Collector lying, unmoving, flat upon the ground. In this case, the
angle of the collector with respect to the ground, is zero.
(B) The collector can be mounted upon some mechanism that
insures that the collector is always pointed at the sun with the
angle, ", zero at all times.
(C) A collector can be mounted upon the ground, unmoving, but at
some fixed angle, , to the horizontal. This angle will be
southward facing in the Northern Hemisphere, and will be, clearly,
northward facing in the Southern Hemisphere.
(D) It is fixed at some angle, , in the north-to-south direction, but
is capable of following the sun in its east-to-west motion( Polar Axis
Tracking).

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For A type we can write

Where is the average north-south angle, for a given day,

between the sun and the zenith, and is the east-west angle
between the sun and the surface normal as the sun traverses
the sky from sunrise to sunset.

We may write :

where t is the time (a value of zero

corresponds to sunrise).
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For C type we can write (unmoving, but angled collector)

We may write :

where t is the time (a value of zero

corresponds to sunrise).
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For collector that tracks only from east to west

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The solar insolation (TSI), in kwh/m2 per year is function

of latitudes from zero (the equator) to 70 , collector
orientation and tracking mode
No Tracking mode implies a collector which is fixed at
some north-to-south angle;
East-West Tracking implies a mechanism that moves the
collector only in the east-to-west direction, while the north-tosouth angle is fixed at the given angle (this omits corrections
for changes in the seasonal north-to-south solar orientation);
Ideal Tracking signifies a two-axis tracking mode that
maintains the collector normal pointed at the sun at all times
that the sun is above the horizon.

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Solar input (insolation) per square meter per year at the

earth's surface as a function of latitude and collector tilt, with the
tracking mode as a parameter

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The optimum collector angle

and maximum energy input as
a function of latitude for No
Tracking (fixed), East-West
Tracking (single axis) and Ideal
(two-axis) Tracking .

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Thermal Collector Capture and Loss Mechanisms

To perform an energy balance on a solar thermal collector, one

(5.1)incoming radiation,
usually isolates the surface that absorbs the
and balances energy inflow and outflow to and from it.
In a flat-plate collector, this is called the absorber plate and for a
concentrating collector, it is often called the receiver

where:
- rate of useful energy leaving the absorber (W)
- rate of optical (short wavelength) radiation incident on absorber (W)
- rate of thermal energy loss from the absorber (W)

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The useful energy for a solar thermal collector is the rate of

thermal energy leaving the collector, usually described in terms
of the rate of energy being added to a heat transfer fluid passing
through the receiver or absorber,

m - mass flow rate of heat transfer fluid (kg/s)

cp - specific heat of heat transfer fluid (J/kg.K)
Tout - temperature of heat transfer fluid leaving the absorber (K)
Tin - temperature of heat transfer fluid entering the absorber (K)

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Energy balance on a solar collector absorber / receiver.

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The area of the collector on which the solar irradiance falls is

called the aperture (opening) area of the collector. The
incident solar resource then is:

where:
Ia - solar irradiance entering the collector aperture (global (total) or
direct (beam))(W/m2)
Aa - aperture area of the collector (m2)

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This solar resource is reduced by a number of losses as it passes

from the aperture of the collector to the absorber.
These processes depend on the type and design of the specific
collector,
The rate of optical (short wavelength) energy reaching the absorber
or receiver is the product of the incoming solar resource multiplied by
a number of factors, all less than 1.0 describing this reduction:

- capture fraction (fraction of reflected energy entering or impinging

on receiver)

- reflectance of any intermediate reflecting surfaces

- transmittance of any glass or plastic cover sheets or windows
- absorptance of absorber or receiver surface
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.The capture fraction is a measure of both the quality of the shape of

the reflecting surface, and the size of the receiver. Often this is described
in terms of spillage i.e. the fraction of reflected energy not impinging on or
entering the receiver. A poorly shaped concentrator, or a receiver too small
will make this number considerably less than 1.0.

Reflectance is a property of any reflecting surface associated with the

collector. Properly designed concentrators will have capture fractions of
0.95 or higher, and silver/glass mirrors can have a reflectance of 0.94
and new aluminum reflecting surfaces have a reflectance of about 0.86.
The transmittance is the fraction of solar radiation passing through all
transparent cover material that sunlight passes through on its way to the
absorber. Cover sheets of glass or plastic are used on flat-plate
collectors, above the absorber to reduce convective heat loss.

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The absorption term represents the fraction of solar energy incident

upon the surface, that is absorbed (the remainder being reflected).

A good black surface can have an absorption of greater than 0.98,

however, as surfaces degrade, this value can decrease. It is important
to point out that this property is for radiation in the solar or visible
spectrum. For most real surfaces, the absorption varies as a function
of the wavelength of the incident energy.
There is a class of surfaces used in solar collectors, called selective
surfaces that have a higher absorptance in the visible spectrum than
at longer wavelengths, thereby reducing thermal radiation loss.

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Heat Loss Mechanisms

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FLAT PLATE SOLAR COLLECTOR

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Beam Radiation

Diffused

Ground Reflected

See example 5.9.1 for application of this equation of Solar

Engineering_of_Thermal_Processes_3rd_Edition

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This equation has a draw back that mean temperature is difficult

to find because it is the function of:
a. Collector Design
b. The incident solar radiation
c. Entering fluid properties
Performance of a collector is measured by collection efficiency which
is :

It is ratio of useful gain over some specified time period to incident

solar energy over the same time period
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TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION IN FLAT PLATE COLLECTOR

Figure below shows the schematic of temperature distribution in flat
plat. The energy absorbed by the plate must be conducted along to
the region where tubes are located. Thus the temperature midway
between the tubes will be higher as compared to near vicinity of tubes

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General Assumptions made to develop temperature profile

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Collector overall Heat Loss

hc,p-c1Convection heat transfer

coefficient between two parallel
plates. For simplicity we can
write:

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Collector overall Heat Loss

We can transformed this into a thermal resistance R3

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We can write similar expression for R2, which is resistance

between the two covers.
For resistance from top cover to surrounding is also similar in
expression, but it involve radiation loss to the sky which is
given by hr,c2-a

2nd component for loss coefficient is due to convection, hw ,its

values differ depending upon the convection velocities and type of
convection, section 3.15 of the reference carries a discussion
regarding this
Solar Engineering_of_Thermal_Processes_3rd_Edition
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So we can write R1 as :

Considering these three resistance we can write for top losses, a

combined coefficient

This expression presents a tangled situation , therefore need iterative

procedures to solve.

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Procedure
1. First guess is made for unknown cover temperature
2. From which we calculate radiation and convection heat transfer
coefficient between the plates.
3. With these estimation we find out Ut
4. The top loss is top heat coefficient times the overall temperature
difference.
5. Since energy exchange between two plates is equal to the over
loss heat loss, from here we calculate new cover temperature.
6. This process continuous unless we find the cover temperature
of two successive calculation nearly equal.
Temperature of two adjacent plates can be related as :

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Solve using following empirical relationship

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Energy loss from the bottom of collector

We need to calculate R4 and R5.
R4 is resistant through insulation and R5
through convection.
Usually bottom of collector has sufficient
insulation, therefore can effectively be
considered as zero. So Ub is only
function of R4.
It is approximated as :

K is thermal conductivity of insulation

and L is thickness
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Edge Losses

Usually very small in perfect design, it is approximated on

the basis of perimeter area and collector area.
If UA is edge loss-area product than we can write:
Ue

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(UA)edge
Ac

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Overall Lossess

Overall loss coefficient will be the sum of all coefficients

U L Ut Ub Ue

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Temperature Distribution Between tubes

Assumption: temporarily assume there are no temperature gradient in
flow direction.
Looking at figure 2 a below , if we take an incremental width x with unit
length, we write the energy balance as ( S is absorbed energy per unit
area):
dT
dT

S x U L x(T Ta) k
k
0

dx x
dx x x

Divide by x
dT
dT

k dx k dx

x
x x
S U L (T Ta )
0
x

dT
dT
k
dx
dx x U L

x x
S

T Ta
x
k
UL

d 2T
dx 2

UL
S
T Ta
k
UL

Figure 1

Figure 2
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Applying Boundary conditions,

For convenience we can define

Equation becomes
Transformed BCs would be
The general solution can be written as

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Constants can be found by inserting the BCs. The result will be as under

We can write T

S
cosh mx Tb Ta
UL

T
(W D)
cosh m
2

T S
a
UL

Energy conducted in to the tube region near fin can be written as

Here we can say that

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k m 1

UL
m

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So we can write :

1
W D
S U L Tb Ta tanh m

m
2
We have similar fin on the other side of the tube so actual energy
conducted will be twice of this:
qfin

qfin

2
W D
S U L Tb Ta tanh m

m
2

we can also write

qfin W D S U L Tb Ta

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W D
tanh m

2
W D
m

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qfin W D F S U L Tb Ta

W D
tanh m
2

F
W D
m

The function F is standard fin efficiency for straight fins

The area just above the tube will also contribute to the heat gain
to tube

qtube D S U L Tb Ta

A.. quseful W D F D S U L Tb Ta

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The total gain must be transferred to the fluid inside the tube, the
resistance to heat flow will be bond resistance and tube to fluid
resistance, so we can express this useful gain as:
B..
Resistance due to
bond material
Resistance b/w tube wall and fluid

Cb

kb b

Thermal conductivity of bond

bond width
Bond thickness
Solving equation A & B we can eliminate Tb

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F is the collector efficiency factor. We can say that denominator

term is the heat resistance from fluid to ambient temperature, so
we can write it as 1U
o

We can write then:

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1
U
UL
F
o
1
UL
Uo

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Temperature distribution in flow direction

The useful gain is ultimately transferred to the flowing fluid in tube, if
flow enter at Tf,i and exits at Tf,o, We can write an energy balance of
following form

m
CpT f
n

m
CpT f
n

y y

yquseful
0

1 m
m
CpT f CpT f
0

yquseful

y n
n
y
y y

mCpT

mCpT
0

f y
f y y nquseful
y

mCp

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dT f
dy

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Inserting the value of quseful from equation B

mCp

dT f

nWF S UL T f Ta 0

dy

Solving this equation with a similar procedure as previous with

appropriate BCs (i.e. inlet temperature is Tf,i)

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Collector Heat Removal Factor FR

It is a similar term like effectiveness of heat exchanger which
states that ratio of useful energy gain of a collector to the
useful energy gain if whole collector is maintained at the fluid
inlet temperature .

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Collector flow factor can also be define as the

ratio of FR and F

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The colector removal factor times maximum possible useful energy

gain is equal to the actual useful energy gain Qu

This is an extremely useful equation and applies essentially to all flat

plate collector

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Concentrating Collectors

Collectors are oriented to track the sun so that the beam

radiation will be directed onto the absorbing surface
Collector: Receiver and the concentrator
Receiver: Radiation is absorbed and converted to some other
energy form (e.g. heat).
Concentrator: Collector that directs radiation onto the receiver.
The aperture of the concentrator is the opening through which
the solar radiation enters the concentrator

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Concentrating Collectors

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
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Tubular absorbers with diffusive back reflector

Tubular absorbers with specular cusp reflector
Plane receiver with plane reflector;
Parabolic concentrator
Fresnel reflector
f) Array of heliostats with central receiver
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Concentrating Collectors
Fresnel Lens: An optical device for concentrating light that is made of
concentric rings that are faced at different angles so that light falling on
any ring is focused to the same point.
Parabolic trough collector: A high-temperature (above 360K) solar thermal
concentrator with the capacity for tracking the sun using one axis of
rotation. It uses a trough covered with a highly reflective surface to focus
sunlight onto a linear absorber containing a working fluid that can be used
for medium temperature space or process heat or to operate a steam
turbine for power or electricity generation.
Central Receiver: Also known as a power tower, a solar power facility that
uses a field of two-axis tracking mirrors known as heliostat (A device that
tracks the movement of the sun). Each heliostat is individually positioned
by a computer control system to reflect the sun's rays to a tower-mounted
thermal receiver. The effect of many heliostats reflecting to a common
point creates the combined energy of thousands of suns, which produces
high-temperature thermal energy.
In the receiver, molten nitrate salts absorb the heat energy. The hot salt is
then used to boil water to steam, which is sent to a conventional steam
turbine generator to produce electricity.
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Flate type solar collector are planar and non-concentrating type which
provides concentration ratios of up to four.
Concentration ratio can be increased up to ten by Line focusing. This
type of concentration can produce a high density of radiation on a line
at the focus. Example : Cylindrical parabolic concentrators

much higher density of radiation can be achieved by point focusing

type. Example: Paraboloids

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Concentration Ratio
The degree of concentration of a system is most commonly stated as a
geometrical concentration ratio (C), defined as

where Aa and Ar are the areas of the collector aperture and receiver,
respectively.
This ratio serves as an approximate factor by which the radiative
flux is increased by the system, although the true concentration ratio
is typically lower, due to non-ideal geometric and optical properties.

Often expressed as a number of suns, the concentration ratio can

vary over several orders of magnitude with the numerous possible
collector configurations.

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Concentration Ratio
According to the second law of thermodynamics i the maximum
achievable radiative flux cannot exceed that which is found at the
source of the radiation, the surface of the sun.
By taking the sun as a spherically symmetric source of radiation,
energy conservation dictates that the radiant flux decrease with
1/R2, where R is the distance from the centre of the sun. If we take
r to be the radius of the sun, the flux on the earths surface is
smaller than that on the suns surface by a factor of (r / R)2, where
R is the distance from the centre of the sun to the surface of the
earth.

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This is also known as sine

law of concentration limit.

an ideal 2D, or linear, concentrator

With s = 0.27o, the maximum possible concentration ratio for circular
concentrators is 45,000 and for linear concentrators, it is 212.
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Types of concentrators
NON-IMAGING OPTICS
Branch of optics concerned with the optimal transfer of
light radiation between a source and a target. Unlike
traditional imaging optics, the techniques involved do not
attempt to form an image of the source; instead an
optimized optical system for optical radiative transfer from
a source to a target is desired.
IMAGING OPTICS
The techniques which is used to form image of sun on receiver i.e.
Camera lens

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