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Solar Energy pp 584–607Cite as

Solar Radiation for Solar Energy Utilization

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Definition of the Subject and Its Importance

Present-day concerns of looming energy shortages and drastic climate change resulting from human activities have stimulated deployment of renewable energy systems , including systems to convert solar energy directly into heat or electricity and to substitute sunlight for artificial light.

Solar radiation provides the energy driving the ecosystems and climate of planet Earth. This radiation spans the electromagnetic spectrum from the highly energetic X-ray region through the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared to the far infrared and radio regions. The radiation interacts with the Earth’s electromagnetic and atmospheric envelope, resulting in large variations in the magnitude of solar radiation available for conversion into other forms of useful energy. Most conversion systems utilize only part of the solar spectrum. For daylighting, the energy in the human visual response range (wavelengths of 380–850 nm) is important. Crystal silicon...

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Abbreviations

Aerosol optical depth:

A dimensionless parameter for the extinction of solar radiation by scattering and absorption by aerosol particles between the point of observation and the top of the atmosphere.

Air mass:

The length of the path from an observer’s location to the top of the atmosphere, which passes through the center of the sun, relative to the zenith (perpendicular to the local horizontal = air mass 1).

Broadband radiation:

Photons in a wide electromagnetic spectral wavelength range, typically several hundred nanometers (nm) wide.

Diffuse hemispherical radiation:

Photons scattered in the atmosphere, excluding those from the solar disk, arriving on a horizontal surface originating from the 2π steradian hemisphere of the sky dome.

Direct normal radiation:

Nearly parallel rays of photons arriving on a surface perpendicular to the line from the observer to the center of the solar disk originating from within the 0.5° solid angle centered on the solar disk. Experimentally, this also includes additional sky radiation within 2.5°–3° of the center of the solar disk.

Extinction:

Gradual loss of amplitude in a signal propagating though an absorbing or scattering medium.

Extraterrestrial solar radiation:

Direct normal radiation at the top of the Earth’s atmosphere. Acronym: ETR.

Global hemispherical radiation:

The combination of photons from the sky dome and solar disk (diffuse hemispherical and projection of the direct normal radiation) received on a horizontal surface.

Incidence angle:

The angle between the center of the solar disk and the foot of the normal (perpendicular) of a receiving surface.

Pyranometer:

A radiometer with a 2π steradian (hemispherical) field of view used to measure global hemispherical or diffuse hemispherical radiation.

Pyrheliometer:

A radiometer with a restricted field of view (typically 5°–6°) used to measure direct normal radiation.

Responsivity:

The ratio of the output signal of a radiometer to the optical power intercepted by the sensor.

Solar radiation:

Electromagnetic emissions from the sun between at least 250 and 2,500 nm.

Zenith angle:

The angle between the local vertical and the center of the solar disk; complement of the solar elevation angle (angle from the center of the solar disk to the horizon).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Resource Information and Forecasting Group, Electricity, Resources, and Building Systems Integration Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA

    Daryl R. Myers

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  1. Daryl R. Myers
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Correspondence to Daryl R. Myers .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Plataforma Solar de Almeria Institute of Solar Research DLR – German Aerospace Centre, Cologne, Germany

    Christoph Richter

  2. Institute of Research and Development of Photovoltaic Energy, Chatou Cedex, France

    Daniel Lincot

  3. Solar Consulting Services, Colebrook, NH, USA

    Christian A. Gueymard

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Myers, D.R. (2013). Solar Radiation for Solar Energy Utilization . In: Richter, C., Lincot, D., Gueymard, C.A. (eds) Solar Energy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5806-7_450

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