The Solar Resource
Dec 24, 2015
The Solar Resource
Overview
• Overview of the solar resource in the U.S. • Features impacting solar irradiance
» Latitude, cloud cover, seasonality• Converting power to energy• Tools to measure solar energy and shading• An overview of solar energy systems
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Solar PV
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Germany47%
Spain23%
Japan8%
USA8%
Rest of EU6%
Rest of world8%
World PV market in 2007, 2826 MW total
Solarbuzz LLC.
So Germany must be sunny, right?
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Measuring the solar resource
• Magnetic declination• Solar pathways• Solar math (power to energy)• Latitude and curvature• Air currents
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What impacts solar gain each day?
Latitude (winter solstice)
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Sun Path – New York
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E
W
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Winter Solstice
Equinox
Summer Solstice
This angle should be equal to your latitude
Magnetic Declination
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http://sos.noaa.gov/images/Land/magnetic_declination.jpg
True south and declination
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Declination corrections
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Magnetic NorthTrue North
True South
12°48’ Whttp://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/Declination.jsp
Solar Angles by month in Morrisville
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What impacts solar gain each day?
• Latitude
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Morrisville’s Solar Resource
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Month Mean W/m2/day kWh/m2/day
January 63.8February 98.8
March 140.9April 182.1May 220.5June 231.5July 224.2
August 203.0September 159.6
October 101.0November 59.3December 44.7
Morrisville’s Solar Resource
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kWh/m2/day =Month Mean W/m2/day kWh/m2/day
January 63.8February 98.8
March 140.9April 182.1May 220.5June 231.5July 224.2
August 203.0September 159.6
October 101.0November 59.3December 44.7
Morrisville’s Solar Resource
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Month Mean W/m2/day kWh/m2/day
January 63.8 1.5February 98.8 2.4
March 140.9 3.4April 182.1 4.4May 220.5 5.3June 231.5 5.6July 224.2 5.4
August 203.0 4.9September 159.6 3.8
October 101.0 2.4November 59.3 1.4December 44.7 1.1
kWh/m2/day =
Yearly mean power?• 144.1 W/m2/day
Yearly mean energy?• 3.5 kWh/m2/day
Wh1000
kWh 1
Day
Hrs 24/dayW/m2
Solar energy throughout the year
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Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
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Solar Energy
MSC weather station data
How does central NY compare?
• Average of solar energy throughout the year is 3.5 kWh/m2/day. » This is 1277.5 kWh/m2/year (365 days * 3.5 per
day)» Albany has a daily average of 4.3 kWh/m2/day
(1569.5 kWh/m2/year)» San Diego has 7.3 kWh/m2/day (2664.5
kWh/m2/year)
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Solar energy
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Cloud cover
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Air Cells
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Low pressure
High pressureDeserts(sunny)
Rain Forests (cloudy)
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Global Solar Energy
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Solar energy systems
• If you assume that systems costs are comparable in NY and southern California, which location has more expensive solar energy?
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Estimating the Solar Resource
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Estimating the Solar Resource
Estimating the Solar Resource
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Estimating the Solar Resource
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June (lowest line): 1+1+2+2+3 = 9%July (next up): 1+1+2+3+3 = 10%May: 1+1+2+3+3 = 10%August: 1+1+2+2+3 = 9%April: 1+2+2+3 = 8%September: 1+2+2 = 5%October: 1%
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Estimating the Solar Resource
Month kWh/m2/dayPercentage
Lost Daily
Energy Monthly Energy
January 1.5 0 1.5 46.5February 2.4 0 2.4 67.2
March 3.4 0 3.4 105.4April 4.4 8% 4.048 121.44May 5.3 10% 4.77 147.87June 5.6 9% 5.096 152.88July 5.4 10% 4.86 150.66
August 4.9 9% 4.459 138.229September 3.8 5% 3.61 108.3October 2.4 1% 2.376 73.656
November 1.4 0 1.4 42December 1.1 0 1.1 34.1
Total annual energy 1188.24
Solar energy systems
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Photovoltaics
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Solar Thermal Electricity
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Parabolic mirrors
Solar Hot Water
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Domestic solar hot water system• Flat plate collector (low temp)• Evacuated tubes (higher temp)• Solar hot water tank with heat exchanger
Images courtesy of John Siegenthaler
Passive Solar Heating
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Large windows facing south
Conifers to the north
Small windows to north
Thermal mass
Summary
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• New York has an adequate solar resource for solar PV, solar hot water, and passive solar homes
• Solar power can be easily converted to solar energy (and we can account for shading)
• Incoming solar energy is affected by many factors such as latitude, cloud cover, and time of year
• Many systems can take advantage of solar energy
Phil Hofmeyer, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorPh: 315-684-6515Email: [email protected] Web: http://people.morrisville.edu/~hofmeypv/
Ben Ballard, Ph.D.Director, RETCAssistant ProfessorPh: 315-684-6780 Email: [email protected] Web: http://people.morrisville.edu/~ballarbd/
Contact Information
http://retc.morrisville.edu