Analysis of instrumentation system for photovoltaic pyranometer used to measure solar irradiation level (original) (raw)

A Pyranometer for Solar Radiation Measurement-Review

Adele University journal of Engineering and Technology, 2020

There is a problem of availability of sufficient and functional instruments for measuring solar radiation in Nigeria due to higher importation costs and maintenance. So, it is preferred to construct devices from locally available equipment. This paper reviews the pyranometer to measure solar radiation, to assess the availability of solar energy arriving on Earth, it is important to measure solar radiation at some locations. From the reviewed existing research works, Silicon Photodiode-based pyranometers are preferred to thermopile-based pyranometers as the former has lower cost, more portable and requires little maintenance.

DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW-COST SOLAR PYRANOMETER

Granthaalayah Publications and Printers, 2023

Effective solar projects require effective solar data collection, however with the high cost of pyranometers in the market, there arose the need to construct a low-cost device for the purpose of solar radiation measurements. A device was thus developed in the University of Port Harcourt, River's state, Nigeria by utilizing a photodiode, a thermistor, a lcd among other readily available components. Using a reference pyranometer for calibration, the device was able to deliver a mean global solar radiation value of 16.00MJ/m2/day, while the maximum value obtained during the test period was 20.70MJ/m2/day. The performance of the locally developed device compares and competes favourably with what is available in the market.

Development of a solar radiation sensor system with pyranometer

International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE), 2022

Solar energy is a result of the nuclear fusion process in the form of a series of thermonuclear events that occur in the Sun's core. Solar radiation has a significant impact on the lives of all living things on earth. The uses, as mentioned earlier, are when the solar radiation received requires a certain amount and vice versa. As a result, a more accurate instrument of solar radiation is required. A specific instrument is typically used to measure solar radiation parameters. There are four solar radiation parameters: diffusion radiation, global radiation, direct radiation, and solar radiation duration. Thus, it needs to use many devices to measure radiation data. The paper designs to measure all four-radiation data by pyranometer with particular modification and shading device. This design results have a high correlation with a global standard with a value of R=0.73, diffusion with a value of R=0.60 and a sufficiently strong direct correlation with a value of R=0.56. It can be said that the system is much simpler, making it easier to monitor and log the various solar radiation parameters.

Solar radiation and pyranometer- a review

ABSTRACT: This paper reviews in brief about solar radiation and pyranometer to measure the same.In order to assess the availability of solar energy arriving on the earth, measurement of solar radiation at some locations is essential. From measurements, empirical models are developed to predict the availability of solar energy at other locations.[8] The common, commercial pyranometer design uses a thermopile, setting up a voltage proportional to the radiation based on temperature readings. This necessitates temperature compensation.Using photovoltaic silicon cells, instead of thermocouples, the global irradiance as well as its direct and diffuse components to great accuracy can be measured. Pyranometer is basically just comprised of two solar cells and a voltage amplifier.

CONSTRUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A PYRANOMETER USING LOCALLY AVAILABLE MATERIALS FOR GLOBAL SOLAR RADIATION MEASUREMENT

The high cost and maintenance of imported equipment for solar radiation measurement makes the equipment a scarce commodity in Meteorological and Research Centers in Nigeria and other Developing Countries in the world. In order to alleviate this problem, a pyranometer for global solar radiation measurement was therefore developed locally at Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki. The pyranometer consists of Photodiode, electrical wires, transparent plastic material and a digital multimeter. The calibration of the constructed pyranometer was done on a clear sky day, Thursday 18th August, 2011. The calibration constant for the Eistrain Lungs Pyranometer, Spektron-100(GN01-30-93) Reference Pyranometer is 7.3 x 10-5VW-1m-2. Hence, using the average output of the Reference and Constructed pyranometers for two hours (12:00pm to 2:00pm) on sunny that day 18th August, 2011, 55.39mV and 49.46mV respectively. The calibration constant of the Constructed Pyranometer was obtained as 6.58 x 10-5VW-1m-2. The maximum irradiances of 895.70W/m2 and 1043.83W/m2 were recorded with the Constructed and Reference Pyranometers respectively and these occurred on 06/09/2011. We are happy to remark that there was no significant difference between the performances of the Constructed and the Reference pyranometers.

Comparison of pyranometers vs. PV reference cells for evaluation of PV array performance

2012 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2012

As the photovoltaics (PV) industry has grown, the need for accurately monitoring the solar resource of PV power plants has increased. Historically, the PV industry has relied on thermopile pyranometers for irradiance measurements, and a large body of historical irradiance data taken with pyranometers exists. However, interest in PV reference devices is increasing. In this paper, we discuss why PV reference devices are better suited for PV applications, and estimate the typical uncertainties in irradiance measurements made with both pyranometers and PV reference devices. We assert that the quantity of interest in monitoring a PV power plant is the equivalent irradiance under the IEC 60904-3 reference solar spectrum that would produce the same electrical response in the PV array as the incident solar radiation. For PV-plant monitoring applications, we find the uncertainties in irradiance measurements of this type to be on the order of ±5% for thermopile pyranometers and ±2.4% for PV reference devices.

Modern Method used for Measuring the Intensity of Solar Radiations

Proceedings of the 23rd International DAAAM Symposium 2012, 2012

Measuring the intensity of solar radiation is one of the directions used at investigation of solar power and necessary for the implementation of photovoltaic systems in a particular geographical area. This can be done by using specific measuring equipment as pyranometer sensors, based on a thermal or photovoltaic principle. In this paper, it is presented a method for measuring solar radiation that has two main components-direct radiation and diffuse radiation, with sensors based on the photovoltaic principle. These data are processed for positioning solar panels, in order their efficiency to be maximized, being critical in the selection of solar panels. The future researches would be foccused on implenetation of solar panels in others areas of Bihor County from Romania.

Design and simulation of electronic Instruments for Solar Energy measurement systems

2012

The terrestrial solar radiation is very important data for evaluating the performance of solar energy conversion system. One can use the electronic integrator for total radiation measurement. The principle of the electronic integrator is based on the use of voltage and current consumption of solar cell . A typical solar radiation measuring station usually installs the pyranometer quite far from the integrator. Since the EMF output signal from the pyranometer is very small. The signal is in microvolt level ,which results more noise coupling. The insolation value is also printed out locally. To make the insolation data base for wide area, we have to install many stations. This makes difficulty to collect data. The proposed work describes the alternative method by connecting the Solar cell to the high-resolution analog to digital converter and the use of computer software along with the memory card for computing the insolation including the use of internet server for sending the everyd...

Solar Cell Based Pyranometers: Evaluation of the Diffuse Response

The responsivity to diffuse radiation of a solar cell based pyranometer is studied. Diffuse measurements are made using a shade disk for a LiCor Pyranometer and an Eppley PSP pyranometer mounted side by side on an automatic tracker. The difference in the diffuse responsivity varies by 30 to 40% between cloudy conditions and clear skies. This difference is attributed to the spectral dependence of the LiCor pyranometer. A slight sensitivity in the diffuse responsivity was found for both ground based relative humidity measurements and ambient temperature. A simple method to estimate the spectral dependence of the diffuse responsivity of the LiCor pyranometer is presented. Implication of the spectral dependence of the solar cell based pyranometers is discussed for LiCor calibrations and for measurements made by rotating shadowband instruments using solar cell based pyranometers.

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SOLAR RADIATION METER USING PV PANEL AS A SENSOR

Photovoltaic cells are characterized via a static relationship that describes their current–voltage relationship. This relationship is a complicated implicit algebraic equation that depends, in a nonlinear way, on two critical uncertain parameters: temperature and solar irradiance. The efficient operation of the panel relies on the knowledge of these key parameters. While it is technologically feasible to measure the former, a sensor for the latter is usually expensive and difficult to calibrate. This paper describes the implementation of a low cost solar radiation (W/m2) meter using photovoltaic panel as a sensor. The meter is easy to use and can display instantaneous sun radiation by the constant monitoring the open circuit voltage , short circuit current and temperature of the solar panel. This work pretends to avoid the use of classical solar irradiance sensors (e.g. pyronometer), which are expensive. The instrument consists of a solar panel, a simple sensing circuit and a microcontroller based control unit. The performance of the meter is validated through detailed computer simulations and experimental prototyping using real outdoor measurements at different atmospheric conditions.