A Study of the Relationship between Solar Radiation on the Horizontal and Inclined Plane for the Design of Solar Cells

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study the relationship between solar radiation on the horizontal and inclined plane. This was used for the design of solar cells or PV cells since the total radiation intensity data recorded by the pyranometer is a horizontal type. Also, there are many variables in the referenced equations which are used for the calculation of horizontal to inclined plane radiation. For example, Liu and Jordan equation that was used in this study. The methodology consisted of the installation of four crystalline PV cells with a slope of 20 facing south at the latitude of 14.02 N in Kamphaeng Saen district Nakhon Pathom province. The produced direct current (DC) from the cells was automatically recorded and then calculated to total radiation on the PV cells. The inverter converted the DC to alternating current (AC) and supplied it to the air cooling system for a tested mushroom house. The pyranometer was installed at the nearby location of the PV cells for automatic recording the radiation intensity. The study was done during March 2023. The conclusions from the study were that the relationship between the hourly solar radiation on the horizontal and inclined plane from the tested data was a straight line with the R2 value at 92.95 percent. The p-value was less than the significant level of 0.05. This relationship was the same format as the tested data from the earlier published study and the relationship between average daily solar radiation on the horizontal plane and the inclined plane calculated from the referenced equation. However, there was a percentage difference between the average daily solar radiation on the inclined plane from the tested data and the referenced equation which was in the range of ± 6 percent. This could be concluded that there was a relationship between the solar radiation on the horizontal and inclined plane, but additional data is required to set up the equations for each month.