Overview of Solar Radiation Resource Concepts

Abstract

Describing the relevant concepts and applying a consistent terminology are important to the usefulness of any handbook. This chapter uses a standard palette of terms to provide an overview of the key characteristics of solar radiation—the fuel for all solar technologies. Beginning with the sun as the source, we present an overview of the effects of Earth’s orbit and atmosphere on the possible types and magnitudes of solar radiation available for energy conversion. An introduction to the concepts of measuring and modeling solar radiation is intended to prepare the reader for the more in-depth treatments in Chapter 3-5. This overview concludes with an important discussion of the estimated uncertainties associated with solar resource data, as affected by the experimental and modeling methods used to produce the data. The reader is referred to Chapter 6 for a detailed treatment of uncertainty in measurement and modeling.