Energy Technology. A. Y.

2010-11

Solar Thermal Energy Formulas

21
LESSON 4. SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
FORMULAS
Solar constant: G
c
= 1367 W/m
2
.
Month mean day: n = 17, 47, 75, 105, 135, 162, 198, 228, 258, 288, 318, 344.
Solar constant of day n:
(

|
.
|

\
|
+ =
365
360
cos 034 . 0 1
n
G G
c cn
.
Solar declination of day n:
(

+
=
365
) 284 (
360 sin 45 . 23
n
.
Relationships between equatorial and horizontal coordinates:
cos cos cos sin sin sin cos L L z + = = and

sin
cos
cos
sin = .
Sunset hour angle or mid hour angle of day n: ) tan tan cos( arc L
s
= .
Extraterrestrial solar irradiance on a horizontal surface:
(

+ = =
2
m
W
) cos cos cos sin (sin sin L L G G G
cn cn o
.
Hourly extraterrestrial solar irradiation on a horizontal surface:
(

|
.
|

\
|
+ + =
h m
J

24
cos cos cos sin sin 3600
2

L L G I
cn o
.
Daily extraterrestrial solar irradiation on a horizontal surface:
(

+ =
day m
J
sin cos cos sin sin
360
2 3600 24
2
s
s
cn o
L L G H

.
Monthly average daily extraterrestrial solar irradiation on a horizontal surface:
(

=
day m
J
) day mean month the of (
2
o o
H H .
Monthly average hourly extraterrestrial solar irradiation on a horizontal surface:
(

=
h m
J
) day mean month the of hour the of (
2
o o
I I .
Extraterrestrial solar irradiance on an inclined surface: i G G
cn oi
cos = .
Energy Technology. A. Y. 2010-11

Solar Thermal Energy Formulas

22
Monthly average daily clearness factor:
o
T
H
H
K = .
Relationship between the diffuse component and the global irradiation for monthly average
daily values on a terrestrial horizontal surface:
3 2
11 . 3 53 . 5 03 . 4 39 . 1
T T T
d
K K K
H
H
+ = , with 75 . 0 17 . 0 < <
T
K .
Monthly average daily global irradiation on a terrestrial horizontal surface = beam or direct
component + diffuse component:
d b
H H H + = .
Monthly average hourly global irradiation on a terrestrial horizontal surface = beam or direct
component + diffuse component:
d b
I I I + = .
Relationship between the diffuse component of the monthly average hourly and daily
irradiations on a terrestrial horizontal surface:
d d d
H r I = .
Factor:
s
s
s
s
d
r

cos
360
2
sin
cos cos
24


= .
Relationship between the monthly average hourly and daily global irradiations on a terrestrial
horizontal surface: H r I
t
= .
Factor:
d t
r b a r ) cos ( + = , with ) 60 sin( 5016 . 0 409 . 0 + =
s
a and
) 60 sin( 4767 . 0 6609 . 0 =
s
b .
Monthly average hourly total irradiation on a terrestrial inclined surface:
|
.
|

\
|
+ |
.
|

\
| +
+ =
2
cos 1
2
cos 1 s
I
s
I R I I
d b b T
.
Relationship between the direct irradiation on an inclined surface and on a horizontal surface
for hourly values (with = 0):


cos cos cos sin sin
)cos cos( cos ) sin( sin
L L
s L s L
R
b
+
+
= .
Monthly average daily total irradiation on a terrestrial inclined surface:
|
.
|

\
|
+ |
.
|

\
| +
+ =
2
cos 1
2
cos 1 s
H
s
H R H H
d b b T
.



Energy Technology. A. Y. 2010-11

Solar Thermal Energy Formulas

23
Relationship between the direct irradiation on an inclined surface and on a horizontal surface
for monthly average daily values (with = 0):
s
s
s
s
b
L L
s L s L
R

sin cos cos sin sin
180
)sin cos( cos ) sin( sin
180
+
+

= .
Sunset hour angle or mid hour angle of day n for inclined surface:
| | { } )tan tan( cos arc ; ) tan tan cos( arc s L L MIN
s
= .
Degree-days:

+
=
year month
out in
T T DD
,
) ( .
Calculation of the yearly thermal load of a building based on degree-days:
DD UA T T UA Q
i
i out in
) (
365
1
,
= =

=
+
.
Product of transmissivity and absorptivity of a solar collector:
b
sc

) 1 ( 1
) (

= .
Monthly average hourly radiation absorbed by a solar collector:
g d b d d b b b sc T
s
I I
s
I R I I S ) (
2
cos 1
) ( ) (
2
cos 1
) ( ) (
|
.
|

\
|
+ +
|
.
|

\
| +
+ = =
(

h m
J
2
.
Monthly average daily radiation absorbed by a solar collector:
g d d b b b sc T
s
H
s
H R H H S ) (
2
cos 1
) (
2
cos 1
) ( ) ( |
.
|

\
|
+ |
.
|

\
| +
+ = =
(

day m
J
2
.
Monthly average hourly useful thermal energy obtained by a solar collector based on the
mean temperature of the absorber plate, T
p
:
( )
(

=
|
|
.
|

\
|
(

=

h
J
) ( 3600 ) (
h m
J
) ( 3600
h m
J

2 2
T T U I A T T U S A Q
p L sc T p p L p u

Monthly average daily useful thermal energy obtained by a solar collector based on the mean
temperature of the absorber plate, T
p
:
(

|
.
|

\
|

=
|
|
.
|

\
|
(

day
J
) (
15
2
3600 ) (

day m
J
) (
15
2
3600
day m
J

2 2
T T U H A Q
T T U S A Q
p
s
L sc T p u
p
s
L p u

.

Energy Technology. A. Y. 2010-11

Solar Thermal Energy Formulas

24
Solar collector efficiency factor:
| |
(
(

+
+
=
D h D D d U
d
U
F
fi f L
L

1
) (
1
/ 1
, with
( ) | |
( ) 2 /
2 / tanh
D d m
D d m
f

= and m = (U
L
/k
p
t)
1/2
.
Solar collector heat removal factor:
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
p
L p
L p
p
R
c m
F U A
U A
c m
F
&
&
exp 1 .
Monthly average hourly useful thermal energy obtained by a solar collector based on the inlet
fluid temperature, T
f,in
:
| | | | ) ( 3600 ) ( ) ( 3600
, ,
= = T T U I F A T T U S F A Q
in f L sc T R p in f L R p u

(

h
J
.
Monthly average daily useful thermal energy obtained by a solar collector based on the inlet
fluid temperature, T
f,in
: [J/day]
(

=
(

=

) (
15
2
3600 ) ( ) (
15
2
3600
, ,
T T U H F A T T U S F A Q
in f
s
L sc T R p in f
s
L R p u

.
Solar collector fundamental equation (instantaneous energy balance):
| | ) ( ) (
, , ,
= = = T T U S F A T T c m Q q
in f L R p in f out f p u u
&
&
&
with
sc T
G S ) ( =
&
[W/m
2
].
Solar collector instantaneous efficiency:
T
in f
L R sc R
T p
in f out f p
T p
u
T p
u
i
G
T T
U F F
G A
T T c m
G A
Q
G A
q

= = =
, , ,
) (
) (

&
&

Solar collector mean efficiency:
T p
u
T p
u
T p
u
I A
Q
H A
Q
dt G A
dt q
or = =

T
in f
L R
s
sc R
T p
u
day
H
T T
U F F
H A
Q


= =
,
15
2
3600 ) (


T
in f
L R sc R
T p
u
hour
I
T T
U F F
I A
Q

= =
,
3600 ) ( .
Solar collector normalised efficiency:
*
10
) ( *
10
T
U
F T
U
L
sc R
L
o i
= = , with
T
in f
R
G
T T
F T

=
,
*
10 .
Energy Technology. A. Y. 2010-11

Solar Thermal Energy Formulas

25
Limit values of application of the f-Chart method: 0.6 < ()
b
< 0.9; 5
total p
A F
,
120 m
2
;
2.1 U
L
8.3 W/m
2
K; 30 s 90; 83 U
L
A
p,total
667 W/K.
Calculation ot the thermal load:
) ( ) (

+ + = + + = T T A U T T Mc DD UA Q Q Q Q
use tank tank sup use p lost water hot heating T
.
f fraction of the monthly thermal load supplied by solar energy:
3 2 2
0215 . 0 0018 . 0 245 . 0 065 . 0 029 . 1 Y X Y X Y f + + = ,
with
month T
month ref L R total p
Q
t T T U F A
X
,
,
) (
=

and
month T
month T sc R total p
Q
N H F A
Y
,
,
) (
= , valid for 0 < Y < 3
y 0 < X < 18, where t is the number of seconds of the month, T
ref
is the reference
temperature (100 C), N is the number of days of the month and
sc
) ( is the product of the
monthly average transmissivity and absorptivity of the solar collector.
Practical expressions of parameters X and Y:
month T
total p
month ref
R
R
L R
Q
A
t T T
F
F
U F X
,
,
) (

=


month T
total p
month T
R
R
sc R
Q
A
N H
F
F
F Y
,
,
) (

= .
Factor taking into account the losses in the heat exchanger between the collector or primary
circuit and the storage, consumption or secondary circuit:
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
=

1
) (
) (

1
1
1
1
,
min
p
p
total p L R R
R
C
c m
c m
A U F F
F

&
&
, where is the heat exchanger efficiency and C
min
is the
lower heat capacity rate of the two fluids (primary or secondary circuit).
Correction factor for storage tank different of 75 l/m
2
of solar collectors:
25 . 0
75

|
.
|

\
|
=
r c
C
X
X
,
valid for 37.5 C
r
300.
Correction factor to take into account the water-air heat exchanger of the heating system (for
values of 2

UA
C
min e h

):
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
min e h
c
C
UA
Y
Y

139 . 0
exp 65 . 0 39 . 0 , valid for 0.5 <
UA
C
min e h

< 50.


Energy Technology. A. Y. 2010-11

Solar Thermal Energy Formulas

26
Correction factor for systems without heating (only d.h.w.):

+ +
=
T
T T T
X
X
sup min load
c
100
32 . 2 86 . 3 18 . 1 6 . 11
,
, where T
load,min
is the minimum acceptable
temperature for the hot water and T
sup
is the temperature of the water in the supply conduction
(In the previous formula the temperatures must be in C).