Solar Energy Measurements

Muneer, Tariq; Tham, Yieng Wei

Abstract

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has recommended a standard terminology for various radiation fluxes and the classification of the associated instruments. The units have been chosen on the basis of standard use and ease of physical interpretation. Some of the relevant basic concepts are explained in this chapter. According to the European Solar Radiation Atlas (ESRA), solar radiation measurements can be broadly classified as ground‐based measurements derived from geostationary satellites, which measures the energy reflected by the system in different wavelength bands. With any measurement there exist errors, some of which are systematic and others inherent of the equipment used. The sources of operation‐related errors itemized in the chapter are self‐explanatory. Delta‐T Device of Cambridge has produced a relatively new instrument that measures the horizontal global and diffuse irradiance as well as sunshine duration from a single, stationary sensor. Finally, the chapter summarizes a few data quality assessment methods

Citation

Muneer, T., & Tham, Y. W. (2015). Solar Energy Measurements. In Mechanical Engineers' Handbook (1-34). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118985960.meh423

• Online Publication Date: Feb 20, 2015
• Publication Date: 2015-02
• Deposit Date: Aug 1, 2016
• Journal: Mechanical Engineers' Handbook
• Publisher: Wiley
• Pages: 1-34
• Book Title: Mechanical Engineers' Handbook
• Chapter Number: 23
• ISBN: 9781118118993
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118985960.meh423
• Keywords: Solar radiation measurements, ground‐based measurements, geostationary satellites, data quality assessment methods,
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/320865