Solar Energy
Solar energy is a versatile and sustainable energy source derived from the sun's radiant energy. It can be harnessed through photovoltaic cells for electricity generation or solar thermal systems for heating applications. Understanding solar radiation, its types, measurement techniques, and estimation methods is crucial for the efficient design and application of solar energy systems.
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What we have learnt
- Solar energy is derived from the sun and harnessed for various applications.
- There are different types of solar radiation: direct, diffuse, global, and reflected.
- Estimating solar radiation involves using empirical models and geometric projections.
- Various instruments are used for measuring solar radiation, including pyranometers and pyrheliometers.
Key Concepts
- -- Photovoltaic (PV)
- The direct conversion of sunlight into electricity using semiconductor materials.
- -- Solar Thermal
- The use of solar collectors to convert solar radiation into heat for applications like water heating.
- -- Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI)
- The total solar radiation received per unit area on a horizontal surface.
- -- Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI)
- The amount of direct sunlight received by a surface that's pointing directly at the sun.
- -- Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance (DHI)
- Scattered sunlight that arrives from all directions on a horizontal surface.
Additional Learning Materials
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