ME 450 Solar Thermal Systems


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Lecture

Syllabus

Handout 1: Solar Physics and Extra-Terrestrial Radiation

Handout 2: Atmospheric Attenuation

Handout 3: History of Solar Thermal Power

Handout 4: The Global Energy Picture Today

HOMEWORK 1             Solar ET Spectrum.xls

Handout 5: Solar Geometry

HOMEWORK 2

Handout 6: Solar Site Design and Planning

HOMEWORK 3

Handout 7:  Measuring Solar Radiation and Solar Data

Handout 8:  Local Solar Radiation Data

Handout 9:  Modeling Solar Radiation

Answers to HW 1-3

Handout 10:  History of Solar Water Heating

HOMEWORK 4

Handout 11: Types of Flat Plate Collectors and Absorbers

Handout 12: Transmittance of Glazing

Handout 13: Absorber Surface Properties

Handout 14: Energy Loss and Useful Energy Delivered to Fluid

HOMEWORK 5 (due Monday, 5/14)

HOMEWORK 6 (problems 2 and 4 are due Monday) 

Handout 15: Solar Water Heating Systems


Laboratory

Lab Safety Form

List of Lab Projects

Flat Panel Collector Spec Sheet

Guide to Writing Lab Reports (tutorials are based on an old version of MS Word.  However, you still want to use the OLD equation editor,

MS Equation 3.0.  To use it, go to Insert, then Object, then scroll down to find MS Equation 3.0)


Videos

Nova (PBS): Secrets of the Sun

Nove (PBS): Power Surge

Powering the Planet (PBS's Earth: The Operators Manual)

YouTube Lecture: Powering the Planet, by Nate Lewis (from Caltech)    Powerpoint slides

 


Links

New Images of the Sun and Solar Prominences, from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

National Solar Radiation Database. For local solar radiation data, download Typical Meteorological Year (TMY3) files from on this page.

Sun Path Diagram Generator, from the University of Oregon's Solar Radiation Monitoring Laboratory

Solargraphs using a Pinhole Camera: These are essentially photographic "plots" of the sun path!

 


Frequently Asked Questions

How do you measure the temperature of a star?   Link 1     Link 2

Who was Samuel Pierpont Langley?  Wikipedia listing  A better biography, with publications and discussion of solar work