Solar Irradiance

class pysolorie.irradiance.SolarIrradiance(sun_position: SunPosition)[source]

A class to model the solar irradiance.

To instantiate the SolarIrradiance class, provide the following parameter.

Parameters:: sun_position (pysolorie.SunPosition) – An instance of the SunPosition class.

calculate_extraterrestrial_irradiance(day_of_year: int) → float[source]

Calculate the extraterrestrial solar irradiance for a given day of the year.

The extraterrestrial solar irradiance, \(I\), is the annual average of the Sun’s irradiation intensity. This refers to the amount of solar energy received per unit area per unit time on a surface perpendicular to the Sun’s rays, outside Earth’s atmosphere.

The formula used is:

\[I(n) = SC \times (1 + 0.033 \times \cos (\frac{2\pi~n}{365}))\]

- \(SC\) is the average solar radiation arriving outside
of the Earth’s atmosphere,
which is approximately 1367 Megawatts per square meter [1].
This is also known as the solar constant.
- The factor 0.033, which is two times the eccentricity of
the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, accounts for the variation
in the Earth-Sun distance due to the Earth’s elliptical orbit.
- \(n\) is the day of the year (i.e., day_of_year)

Parameters:: day_of_year (int) – The day of the year, ranging from 1 to 365.
Returns:: The extraterrestrial solar irradiance in Megawatts per square meter.
Return type:: float

Solar Irradiance

References