Abstract
This chapter focuses on three topics. First, how to estimate the rate at which solar energy strikes a planar surface, such as a solar cell, oriented at some position with respect to the sun, at a given time and location on the earth is explained. Then, a method for calculating the solar energy transmitted through a glazing is discussed. The final section explains how the solar energy irradiating a solar cell is converted into electric energy.
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Notes
- 1.
The sun’s rays diverge from parallelism by only about 16 min of arc. They may be assumed parallel for our design purposes.
- 2.
This may be shown for the conditions of the example by applying the relations for the sin and cos of the difference of two angles to Eq. 3.8
- 3.
See the comparison of several models in Duffie and Beckman (1991).
- 4.
This relation is sometimes called Bouger’s law.
- 5.
The production of electron-hole pairs by radiation is called the photoelectric effect.
- 6.
Note that the Voc is less than three times that for standard conditions. A logarithmic dependence on the irradiation causes the open circuit voltage to drop at low irradiances.
- 7.
The term load usually means the current drawn by the device being powered, although it can also mean the power drawn.
- 8.
If the cells are not actively cooled, as by a water spray.
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Thacher, E. (2015). Interaction with the Sun. In: A Solar Car Primer. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17494-5_3
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