Directional solar irradiance finder

• Main Author: Teo, Nuan Lin
• Other Authors: Lee Yee Hui
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138895
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The amount of solar energy reaching the surface of Earth in one hour, if harnessed, is sufficient to meet all the electricity demand of the planet for one year. [1] However, due to the uneven distribution across the globe, certain countries or regions, like Singapore, gets higher exposure. This potentially makes us one of the major sources of solar-generated electricity in the future. In the year of 2019, Singapore already house one of the world's largest single floating solar photovoltaic systems in the waters of Singapore's Tengeh Reservoir. [2] The two major forms of solar irradiance are the directional irradiance (direct and diffuse) and the spectral irradiance, the former being the project’s focus. Diffuse radiation is produced when direct radiation is scattered and reflected as it passes through the atmosphere. Solar cells can absorb both diffuse and direct beams but direct solar radiation is the one needed to operate power plants and photovoltaic technologies. Pyranometer is a machine used for measuring solar irradiance on a planar surface and it is designed to measure the solar radiation flux density (W/m2) from the hemisphere above. [3] The three kinds of pyranometer in the existing market namely, thermopile pyranometer, photodiode-based pyranometer and photovoltaic pyranometer can only measure solar irradiance in a single direction. Hence, this project aims to design, improve and extend from a previously built prototype, which is already able to collect solar irradiance values from multiple directions simultaneously. This prototype is put together with DIY materials. Hence, further software and hardware improvements are needed to make the prototype waterproof and efficient for long hours of testing on the rooftop with harsh weather conditions.