Klein 1981
Klein 1981
S. A. Klein
                                                                      Monthly-Awerage Radiation on
                                                                      Inclined Surfaces
                                     J. C. Theilacker
                                                                     An analytical method is developed for estimating R, the ratio of the long-term
                                                                     monthly-average daily radiation on an inclined surface to that on a horizontal
                                     Solar Energy Laboratory         surface. This method differs from the Liu and Jordan [1] method in the manner in
                            University of Wisconsin-Madison          which the beam radiation component is determined. The method is applicable for
                                  Madison, Wis.      53706           surfaces of any orientation. R values calculated in this manner and by the Liu and
                                                                     Jordan method are compared with integrated hourly calculations for 23 years in
                                                                     Madison, WI, Albuquerque, NM and Miami, FL; the comparisons show that.the
                                                                     method described in this paper agrees more closely with the integrated hourly
                                                                     calculations, especially for surf aces facing east or west of south.
                 1  Introduction
                  A method of estimating the monthly-average1 solar                             approximated to be the ratio of the monthly extraterrestrial
                radiation incident on surfaces oriented directly towards the                    radiation on the inclined surface to that on a horizontal
                equator has been developed by Liu and Jordan [1]. The                           surface. This approximation results in the analytical ex-
                method was later extended for surfaces facing east or west of                   pressions for Rb given in equation (8) (for surfaces facing
                south by Klein [2]. In this method, HT, the monthly-average                     directly towards the equator) and equation (11) (for surfaces
                daily total radiation incident on an inclined surface, is related               facing east or west of south) of reference [2], Liu and Jordan
                to H, the monthly-average daily radiation on a horizontal                       indicate that these expressions for Rb are correct only for
                surface, by a factor R.                                                         south-facing surfaces during periods of solar equinox (i.e.,
                                           HT = RH                          (1)                 March and September). As shown in section 3, this manner of
                                                                                                estimating Rb can result in significant errors in the calculated
                R is estimated as the sum of three terms corresponding to the                   values of R, particularly for surfaces facing east or west of
                beam, diffuse, and ground-reflected radiation incident on the                   south.
                inclined surface. Assuming diffuse and ground-reflected                            The isotropic assumption for the diffuse component
                radiation to be isotropic, the Liu and Jordan [1] relationship                  generally results in a conservative (i.e., low) estimate of the
                for R can be written:                                                           monthly-average radiation on surfaces oriented directly
                                                                                                towards the equator; for surfaces oriented east or west of
                                                                                                south, the isotropic assumption may result in an overestimate
                                                                                                of the radiation on an inclined surface. The validity of the
                                                                                                isotropic assumption has been questioned by Hay [3]. Hay has
                                              .,(!=«?)                                   (2)    developed a model which, like the Liu and Jordan model,
                                                                                                separately considers the beam, diffuse, and ground-reflected
                where                                                                           radiation components. In Hay's model however, a portion of
                         13 is the tilt of the surface from horizontal                          the diffuse component is treated as circumsolar, rather than
                         p is the ground reflectance                                            as isotropic. Ground-reflected radiation is assumed to be
                  (Hd/H) is the monthly-average diffuse radiation fraction                      isotropic. Although formulated somewhat differently, Hay,
                       Rb is the ratio of the average beam radiation on the                     like Liu and Jordan, calculates the ratio of beam radiation on
                            inclined surface to that on a horizontal surface                    an inclined surface to that on a horizontal surface from
                                                                                                geometrical considerations.
                  In general, Rb is a function of the transmittance of the                         An alternate means of estimating the beam component was
                atmosphere. However, Liu and Jordan suggest that Rb can be                      proposed by Page [4]. Page developed a table of values of Rb
                                                                                                for five surface orientations and a range of latitudes by in-
                                                                                                tegrating the instantaneous direct radiation incident on in-
                    Monthly-average refers to the average conditions which occur for a par-
                                                                                                clined and horizontal surfaces over an average day. The in-
                ticular month over a long term, such as ten or more years.                      stantaneous direct radiation intensities were obtained from a
                                                                                                standard radiation curve representative of tropical conditions.
                   Contributed by the Solar Energy Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF
                SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the Solar Energy Division      A comparison of values of Rb obtained using the Liu and
                May 12,1980; revised manuscript received October 2,1980.                        Jordan and Page methods appears in reference [2]. A
Nomenclature
                 R=                                                                                             W
                                                                                                                    SR:
                                                          H
                                                                           (10)                                                + I wSR I otherwise
                where the bars above / and Id indicate long-term average
                values of these quantities obtained by summing / and Id (for a
                                                                                                I coss I = MINj ois,\ arcos(^45
                specified time of day) over N days and then dividing by N.
                   Liu and Jordan [8] and Collares-Pereira and Rabl [9] have
                                                                                                                 - C\/A2-B2            + C2)/ (A2 + C 2 )l ]                       (23)
                shown that Id and I can be related to the long-term average
                daily diffuse radiation, Hd, and the daily total radiation, H,
                                                                                                                             "+ lo) ss l i f ( ^ > 0 a n d B > 0 ) o r ( / 4 > f i )
                through the following relations.
                where
                                                                                                  Depending on the surface orientation and time of year, the
                                     rd = —— [ cosoi - cosco„ ]                        (13)    sun may rise and set on an inclined surface once, twice, or not
                                      " 24d                                                    at all. For example, a north-facing vertical surface at 45 deg N
                                          rT= (a + bcosu)rd                            (14)    latitude will receive no direct beam radiation (D = 0) during
                                                                                               January. During July, beam radiation will rise on this north-
                with
                                                                                               facing surface at about 4:30 AM and set at 7:30 AM; it will
                                 a = 0.409+ 0.5016 sin(c^ - 60 deg)                    (15)    rise a second time at 4:30 PM and finally set at 7:30 PM. In
                                b = 0.6609 - 0.4767 sin(co, - 60 deg)                  (16)    this case, D is found to be 0.074 by summing the radiation
                                                                                               incident on the surface during the morning and afternoon
                                                     7T
                                     d=smois                              (17)                 periods, as indicated in equation (19). If this surface were
                                               180- co.cosco.                                  facing south, rather than north, it would be irradiated by
                Substitution of equations (11) through (17) into equation (10)                 direct beam radiation from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM in July and D
                and integration over the period(s) between sunrise and sunset                  would be 0.19. The algorithm given by equations (18) through
                results in the following relation for R.                                       (23) will result in an appropriate value of R in all of these
                                                                                               situations. In addition, the algorithm is valid for negative
                              ,_D+£(!±3!)+,(!^-)                                      „„       latitudes (southern hemisphere) and for surface tilts greater
                                                                                               than 90° or less than 0 deg.
                where                                                                             A simpler algorithm can be derived for surfaces oriented
                                                                                               directly toward the equator (in the northern hemisphere). In
                        fMAXf 0,G(«ss,«!»))                               ifo) s s >w S R      this case
                  D--                                                                                cos(<j> — (3)
                                                                                                                    +
                 G(w
                                11 C/bA
                                    C/bA
                        «^)=2dK^--a^(w,-W2)T80
                                                    \             v   %                                                   f(i±^)-(i^)                                           <M»
                                                                                               where
                             + {a'A— 65)(sino) 1 -sin<o2)
                                                                                                                          ois = arcos( - tan(</> — /3)tan6)                            (25)
                             -a'C(cosco! -cosa> 2 )
                                                                                                                                  us' = min(o)s,a!s")                              (26)
                             + —-(sinoijcosco! -sinw 2 cosco 2 )                               (In the southern hemisphere, replace (0 — /3) with (0 + /3).)
                                bC
                                     (sin 2 ^! -sin 2 oj 2 )j                          (20)
                                                                                                  *The quantity within the square root will be negative if the surface orien-
                                                a' =a-                                 (21)    tation is such that the solar incidence angle is less or greater than 90 deg at all
                                                              H
                                                                                               times; wgR and w ss should be set to -o>s and +u$, respectively, under these
                The sunrise and sunset hour angles, coSR and wss, are found by                 circumstances.
                 distributions of radiation. Both algorithms assume that                        JAN      0.44      1.83       1.72    1.73     0.81    0.70    0.69      0.71
                                                                                                FEB      0.49      1.40       1.39    1.33     0.78    0.69    0.70      0.68
                 radiation is symmetrically distributed about solar noon, and                    •WR     0.50      0.95       0.96    0.94     0.73    0.63    0.66      0.64
                                                                                                 *PR     0.47      0.63       0.65    0.64     0.68    0.57    0.51      0.60
                 that diffuse and ground-reflected radiation are isotropic. The                  •WY     0.51      0.47       0.48    0.49     0.65    0.55    0.57      0.59
                 only difference between the two algorithms is in the manner in                 JUN
                                                                                                 JUL
                                                                                                         0.53
                                                                                                         0.55
                                                                                                                   0.41
                                                                                                                   0.43
                                                                                                                              0.42
                                                                                                                              0.45
                                                                                                                                      0.42
                                                                                                                                      0.45
                                                                                                                                               0.64
                                                                                                                                               0.65
                                                                                                                                                       0.53
                                                                                                                                                       0.54
                                                                                                                                                               0.55
                                                                                                                                                               0.55
                                                                                                                                                                         0.58
                                                                                                                                                                         0.59
                 which the beam radiation component is treated. The Liu and                      \UG     0.55      0.55       0.57    0.57     0.67    0.55    0.57      0.60
                                                                                                SEP      0.52      0.81       0.82    0.81     0.71    0.58    0.61      0.62
                 Jordan method assumes that Rb can be estimated as the ratio                    XT       0.50      1.24       1.21    1.19     0.76    0.63    0.66      0.66
                 of monthly-average extraterrestrial radiation on the inclined                  10V      0.39      1.59       1.57    1.50     0.78    0.67    0.70      0.68
                                                                                                DEC      0.38      1.85       1.77    1.73     0.80    0.68    0.71      0.71
                 surface to that on a horizontal surface. This manner of
                 calculating Rb neglects the fact that the long-term average
                 ratio of instantaneous beam to extraterrestrial radiation
                 varies with the time of day, as indicated by equations (13) and
                 (14). The algorithm given by equation (18) uses this in-
                 formation.                                                                    Table 2    f? values for vertical surfaces in Albuquerque N.Mex. (Lat. 35
                    Both algorithms require an estimate of Hd/H, the monthly-                  clegN)
                 average diffuse radiation fraction. Experimental results have                                               Y = 0°                      Y = + 90°
                 shown that Hd/H is related to KT, the ratio of average daily                             K
                                                                                                              T
                 total to extraterrestrial radiation. Correlations of Hd/H to
                                                                                                                     R
                                                                                                                      2        R
                                                                                                                                3     *18       R
                                                                                                                                                 2     V        V        R
                                                                                                                                                                             18
                 KT have been developed by Liu and Jordan [8], Page [4],                        JAN      0.64       1.63      1.55    1.66     0.77    0.66    0.66      0.68
                 Tuller [10], Collares-Pereira and Rabl [9], and others. These                  FEB      0.67       1.23      1.20    1.18     0.73    0.64    0.64      0.65
                                                                                                1AR      0.68       0.83      0.82    0.82     0.69    0.60    0.62      0.61
                 correlations are not in good agreement; it is not possible at                  m        0.71       0.51      0.53    0.52     0.66    0.55    0.58      0.59
                 this time to determine which of these correlations will result in              "IAY     0.73       0.34      0.36    0.35     0.63    0.51    0.56      0.57
                                                                                                JUN      0.74       0.28      0.30    0.29     0.62    0.50    0.55      0.56
                 the most reliable estimates of R. The Liu and Jordan                           JUL      0.70       0.32      0.33    0.32     0.62    0.47    0.55      0.56
                                                                                                AUG      0.70       0.43      0.46    0.44     0.65    0.50    0.56      0.58
                 correlation is used in the results which follow.                               SEP      0.71       0.69      0.70    0.69     0.68    0.55    0.60      0.60
                                                                                                XT       0.71       1.11      1.07    1.07     0.72    0.61    0.64      0.64
                    Long-term measurements of radiation data on both in-                                 0.67       1.54      1.48    1.47     0.76    0.66    0.67      0.67
                 clined and horizontal surfaces are not available in sufficient                 m
                                                                                                JEC      0.63       1.76      1.68    1.67     0.78    0.66    0.67      0.69
                 quantity at this time to permit an evaluation of the R
                 algorithms described in sections 1 and 2. Even if such data
                 were available, the advantage of estimating the beam
                 radiation component as described in section 2 would be
                 masked by uncertainties in the diffuse and ground-reflected                    Table 3       R values for vertical surfaces in Miami, Fla. (Lat. 25.8 deg N)
                 components.                                                                                                 Y = 0°                      Y •= + 90°
                    The advantage of the algorithm in section 2 is best shown                             K
                                                                                                              T
                 by comparison of the results of both algorithms with values of                                      R
                                                                                                                         2     h       R
                                                                                                                                          18    R2      R
                                                                                                                                                         3'
                                                                                                                                                                 R
                                                                                                                                                                     3    R
                                                                                                                                                                             18
                 R determined from numerical integration of equation (3)                        JAN      0.51       1.16      1.08    1.10     0.68    0.59     0.59     0.60
                 (which defines R). Twenty-three years of hourly radiation                      FEB      0.54       0.92      0.88    0.88     0.66    0.57     0.58     0.59
                                                                                                MAR      0.56       0.65      0.64    0.64     0.64    0.55     0.56     0.57
                 measurements in Madison, Wis., Albuquerque, N. Mex., and                       APR      0.57       0.41      0.43    0.42     0.62    0.52     0.53     0.55
                 Miami, Fla. were used for this purpose [11]. Quarter hour                      HAY      0.53       0.31      0.33    0.32     0.61    0.51     0.54     0.54
                                                                                                JUN      0.48       0.30      0.31    0.30     0.60    0.48     0.54     0.54
                 time steps were used in the integration to minimize the effect,                JUL      0.50       0.30      0.32    0.31     0.60    0.48     0.54     0.54
                 observed by Hay, of a "poorly defined" day length.                             AUG
                                                                                                SEP
                                                                                                         0.49
                                                                                                         0.49
                                                                                                                    0.38
                                                                                                                    0.55
                                                                                                                              0.41
                                                                                                                              0.56
                                                                                                                                      0.38
                                                                                                                                      0.56
                                                                                                                                               0.61
                                                                                                                                               0.63
                                                                                                                                                       0.48
                                                                                                                                                       0.51
                                                                                                                                                                0.53
                                                                                                                                                                0.56
                                                                                                                                                                         0.55
                                                                                                                                                                         0.56
                 Radiation on the inclined surface was estimated using                          OCT      0.52       0.82      0.78    0.79     0.65    0.55     0.57     0.58
                                                                                                NOV      0.52       1.10      1.0?    1.04     0.67    0.58     0.58     0.60
                 equation (4) with the ground reflectance set to 0.2. It should                 DEC      0.52       1.25      1.15    1.18     0.69    0.59     0.59     0.61
                 be noted that only total radiation data on the horizontal
                 surface were available; the hourly diffuse radiation fraction,
                 Id/I, was estimated using the Liu and Jordan [8] correlation.                 the values of R computed using equation (18) are always
                 The hourly diffuse fraction correlation is analogous to (but                  closer to unity than those computed from equation (2) in all
                 different from) the monthly-average diffuse radiation                         three locations; i.e., Rls is lower than R2 during the winter
                 fraction. The hourly and monthly-average diffuse radiation                    and slightly higher during the summer. During the equinox
                 correlations should be related as indicated in equation (27).                 months (March and September), the values of R2 and RIS are
                 The two Liu and Jordan correlations are consistent in this                    nearly identical as expected since an examination of equation
                 manner provided that the long-term distribution (i.e., the                   (8) of reference [2] and equation (24) shows that the beam
                 relative numbers of poor, average and excellent days) of                     radiation component for both algorithms reduces to [cos(</> —
                 radiation is consistent with the Liu and Jordan distribution                 @)/cos4>][l-Hd/H} for surfaces facing directly toward the
                 given in Fig. 9 of reference [8].                                            equator during the equinox (5 = 0). In general, the agreement
                                                                                              between values of RiS and R3 is better than that between R2
                                                                                              and R3.
                                    Hd   _    ±*S J'SR
                                             day-l J
                                                     'SR           \ //                          The algorithms given by equation (2) and equation (18)
                                                                                      (27)    both assume that radiation is symmetrically distributed about
                                     H ~                                                      solar noon. As a result, these algorithms result in the same
                                                                   Idt                        values of R for surfaces facing east as they do for surfaces
                                             d „a „y -=il J""SR
                                                             'SR
                                                                                              facing west. The effect of asymmetry can be seen in Tables 1-3
                   The alternative methods of calculating R are compared in                   by comparing values of ^3+ and ^3" , the values of R deter-
                 Tables 1, 2, and 3 (Madison, Albuquerque, and Miami) for                     mined by numerical integration of equation (3) for the west
                 vertical surfaces facing south, west, and east. (The subscripts              and east facing surfaces, respectively. In all three locations,
                 associated with R in the column headings identify the                        values of ^3+ and Rj are nearly identical for November
                 equation used to calculate R.) For the south-facing surfaces,                through March. In Albuquerque and Miami, however, there