CHM 110 - CHEMISTRY AND ISSUES IN THE ENVIRONMENT

List of Chemicals for the Home Labs

Home Laboratory # 3
C. Ophardt, Elmhurst College c. 2001

ABSORPTION OF SOLAR RADIATION - GREENHOUSE

EFFECT

PRE-LAB: GREENHOUSE VISUALIZER

GREENHOUSE VISUALIZER

The visualization graphics have been created using a copyrighted program "Climate
."Watchers
Daniel C. Edelson (d-edelson@nwu.edu), Institute for the Learning Sciences and School of
Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, 1890 Maple Avenue, Evanston, IL
60201
Energy from the sun provides the heat for the earth's surface and atmosphere. The energy
provided by the sun to the earth each day must be in balance with the energy that is
radiated back into space from the earth. A hot "body" such as the sun emits radiation in the
short wave region (U.V. and visible), while the earth a cooler "body" emits radiation in the
.(long wave region (infrared, IR
The purpose of this investigation is to use data from satellites to understand the various
energy relationships of the earth and its atmosphere. In the process a greater understanding
.of the greenhouse effect will be achieved
:INSOLATION

The energy from the sun called "insolation" contains ultraviolet and visible light. The
majority of the U.V. light is absorbed by the ozone layer and heats the atmosphere, as a
consequence the majority of the solar output that reaches the earth's surface, and is
absorbed, is in the form of short wave radiation of visible light. The measurements are
made by satellite above the atmosphere. If no other effects are operating, the surface of the
.earth should have an average temperature of -18 degrees C
:ALBEDO

A significant portion of the incoming solar radiation is immediately reflected back into
space by clouds, ice, snow, sand, water, and other reflecting surfaces. Shortwave
Reflectance measures the amount of the sun's energy that is reflected due to the albedo of
Earth-Atmosphere system. Short wave radiation is measured in watts per meter squared.
.The measurements are made by satellite above the atmosphere
 :SHORTWAVE ABSORPTION

On the average about 50% of the incoming solar radiation is absorbed by the earth surface,
.while another 20% is absorbed by the clouds and gases such as ozone in the atmosphere

SURFACE TEMPERATURE
Surface Temperature provides a measure of the temperature all over the Earth. The
temperatures are measured in Kelvin. To convert to Celsius temperature subtract 273 from
.the Kelvin temperature. The heat at the surface is translated into long wave radiation
:LONG WAVE TERRESTRIAL EMISSION

Outgoing Long wave Terrestrial Emission (also called long wave radiation) measures the
amount of energy leaving the Earth arising from the Earth's surface temperature. Long
wave emissions of energy are in the thermal infrared, IR, region of the spectrum. This IR
.energy is in the form of heat, analogous to the heat from a hot electric burner on a stove
:GREENHOUSE EFFECT ENERGY
Greenhouse Effect is the amount of energy retained by the Earth's atmosphere. The natural
Greenhouse Effect is not a bad or unusual thing, and is absolutely necessary for
maintaining life on Earth. However, if the amount of energy stored in the atmosphere
increases, it could cause the average temperature of the earth to increase as well -- this is
called global warming and could have significant effects on earth's basic climate and
.agricultural cycles
The Greenhouse Effect Energy stored in the atmosphere is calculated by computing how
much radiation is on average produced by the surface temperature (using a conversion
method called the black body model) and then subtracting the amount that leaves the
atmosphere (i.e. the outgoing long wave radiation). The difference is the Greenhouse
.Effect Energy being retained in the atmosphere measured in watts per meter squared
As the IR energy is emitted from the earth's surface, only a small fraction of the energy
actually escapes to outer space. Two major molecules, water and carbon dioxide
temporarily absorb specific wavelengths of IR radiation that correspond to the energy
required to bend the molecules. Shortly, the vibrationally excited molecules lose their
energy either by colliding with other molecules and heating up their surroundings, or by
remitting the radiation. Either process occurs in all directions, half of the energy flows
upwards toward outer space, while half flows back to the surface and further heats the
surface and the atmosphere. This process is known as the natural greenhouse effect and
results in the average surface temperature of +15 degrees C rather than -18 C. This natural
greenhouse effect makes the earth habitable. As a comparison, Venus has a much higher
concentration of carbon dioxide, an extreme greenhouse effect with surface temperatures
of as high as 800 degrees F. On the other hand, Mars with little atmosphere and virtually
no gaseous carbon dioxide has temperatures that vary from 80 during the day to -100
.degrees F at night
:PERCENT GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Greenhouse Percent measures the amount of energy stored in the atmosphere. So, its quite
similar to the Greenhouse Effect Energy. However, it shows the Greenhouse Effect as a
fraction of the total possible energy that could be stored in the atmosphere, rather than as
an amount. This way of measuring the Greenhouse Effect is useful for detecting changes in
it over time, since it measures it as an absolute number, thus providing easy comparison
.between different months or years
This all is partially summarized in: ProfONotes: Graphic summarizing the Earth Energy
Balance
PROCEDURE TO USE THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT VISUALIZER
(Pre lab Questions: (4 points

The visualization graphics have been created using a copyrighted program "Climate
."Watchers
Daniel C. Edelson (d-edelson@nwu.edu), Institute for the Learning Sciences and School of
Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, 1890 Maple Avenue, Evanston, IL
60201
.Each visualization has been pre-formatted for your use

:TEMPERATURE AND MAP RESOLUTION

Just like maps, some visualizations are very detailed while others provide a much more
general "averaged" view. The level of detail provided by a visualization is called its
resolution. The resolution is described by how many degrees of latitude and longitude are
.covered by a single averaged number

QUES. 1: For example, look at January surface temperature at the highest resolution at 2.5
degrees per square. Give the coldest and warmest temperatures and general location by
.matching the colors with the color bar
? __________ The coldest temperature is _________ at
a. 55 F at Brazil b. 96.5 F at Brazil c. -46.4 at North Pole
? __________ Ques. 2: The warmest temperature is _________ at
a. 55 F at Brazil b. 96.5 F at Central Australia c. -46.4 at North Pole
.________ ?Ques. 3: The mean temperature for the whole world
a. 55 F at Texas b. 96.5 F at Central Australia c. -46.4 at North Pole

TOTAL RADIATION BUDGET

The earth not only absorbs energy from the sun it also has to give it off energy by
retransmitting it. This energy balance is called maintaining the earth's radiation budget. At
different parts of the year some portions of the earth absorb more heat than they give off
.whereas other places give off more heat than they absorb
 .These next visualizations show the radiation budget for the earth as a whole

QUES. 4-6: Read the mean value to give the global single average (Read this in the Data
Set in the upper left corner). These are given for March. Report the values read from the
map obtained. The energies are given in watts per meter squared in the multiple choice
.questions below

Ques. 4. Insolation (March) - The radiation comes from the sun to earth in the form of
.sunlight
a. 345 b. 439 c. 15.5
Ques. 5. Shortwave reflectance (March) - The sunlight that is reflected is called short
wave reflected radiation. This radiation does not affect processes on earth, since it is never
.absorbed. Therefore, reflected sunlight does not cause anything to heat up
a. 7.5 b. 189 c. 99.4
Ques. 6. Shortwave absorption (March) - The sunlight that is not reflected is absorbed by
.the earth- atmosphere system
a. 391 b. 246 c. 7.97

Ques 7. Calculate the percentage of sunlight reflected compared to the total insolation?
(____________ (Show work
Note: Answers may not agree exactly with graphic link - Energy Balance on bottom of the
.Pre lab. That is OK

Ques. 8. Calculate the percent sunlight absorbed compared to the total insolation?
(___________ (Show work

Ques 9. Outgoing Long wave Terrestrial Emission (March) measures the amount of
energy leaving the Earth arising from the Earth's surface temperature; also called terrestrial
radiation or emission
a. 118 b. 300 c. 233

Greenhouse Effect Energy (March) - Substantial amounts of energy are stored in the
earth's atmosphere. The amount and location of this energy also varies with the seasons.
______163_This value is provided for you from a calculation that I did for you

The Greenhouse Effect Energy stored in the atmosphere is calculated by computing how
much radiation is on average produced by the surface temperature (using a conversion
method called the black body model) and then subtracting the amount that leaves the
atmosphere (i.e. the outgoing long wave radiation). The difference is the Greenhouse
.Effect Energy being retained in the atmosphere measured in watts per meter squared
Ques. 10. Percent Greenhouse Effect (March) - Shows the Greenhouse Effect as a
percent of possible energy that is stored in the atmosphere compared to the total outgoing
_____ .energy produced by the earth as a black body
a. 13.8 b. 26.8 c. -7.71

Ques. 11. Carbon Dioxide Emissions - Cite three general areas of the world where the
largest emissions of carbon dioxide occur as a result of burning fossil fuels. THREE
.ANSWERS REQUIRED
a. Western United States b. Eastern United States c. South America d. Western Europe e.
Russia f. India g. Eastern China

Ques. 12: Note the notation of units, for example 4.5e+5 stands for exponential notation =
.4.5 x 10 ^5 or 450,000; mi^2 means miles squared
What is the exact values and give the exact units of measurement for the mean values of
?carbon emissions
a. 5.27e+06 pounds carbon per mile
b. 415,000 pounds of carbon per square mile per year
c. 41,500 pounds of carbon per square mile per year
ProfONotes: Graphic summarizing the Earth Energy Balance

:INTRODUCTION TO THE SOLAR ABSORPTION LABORATORY

?What is the most effective method to absorb solar radiation

Solar radiation will be absorbed a series of cups containing colored solutions. The amount
.of heat absorbed will be calculated and applied to a method of heat storage
Clear plastic cups filled with colored water, and/or placed in a quart jar in bright sunshine
for one hour and the change of temperature is measured. Using the volume of the water
and the temperature change, calculations are made to determine the most effective
.""absorber
Directly or indirectly, solar energy has provided almost all of the Earth's energy since it
was formed. The amount of radiation energy that reaches the surface of the earth in one or
two weeks is equivalent to the fossil fuel energy stored in all of the earth's known reserves
of coal, oil, and natural gas. In the United States, the solar energy that reaches 1/500th of
the land area could satisfy our entire present energy needs if it could be converted at only
20% efficiency. Thus, development of efficient absorbing materials is very important in
.the search to harness solar energy

(PART 1: EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE USING ONLINE DATA: (7 points

 ****All
Data for Part 1 is given online****
You do not actually have to complete these procedures. Dr. Ophardt did them for you****
and took pictures of the results. You should read the procedures to see what was done,
*****.record the data, and answer the questions

One objective of this lab is to apply the scientific method in the design of one control
(plain water) and four variable experiments to find the best solar absorbing material. Exact
.directions will not be given, but some suggestions about variables will be made

:General Procedure of the Experiment

Use a clear plastic cup and fill it with exactly one half cup of clear tap water as the .1
"control" experiment. For variable changes again use exactly one half cup of tap water and
.add 10 drops of different food color dyes
Alternative: Use clear water as the control, but then use a variety of solids such as sand,
.soil, salt, or sugar instead of the colored water. Still use one half cup

Quart jar Greenhouse: As one variation, put a wide mouth quart jar upside down on top .2
of the cup. Make a comparison to a cup that does not have the quart jar. The quart jar may
be left plain or it may be lined with a semicircle of aluminum foil, plain white paper, or
black paper to act as a solar reflector "concentrator" of the solar radiation. Be sure to leave
an opening for the sunlight to enter. ProfO Notes: Sample Set up Graphic

Let the cups stand in the location for the experiment to allow them to come to room .3
temperature for about 30 minutes before preceding. Record the initial temperature (T init.)
of each sample on the data sheet. Then place all of the samples in the direct sunshine* for
1 hour. Finally, record the temperature (T final) of each cup. (The temperature should
(increase 1-10 degrees
Note: If strong sunshine is not available, then use a strong lamp or light bulb placed *
.about 1-2 feet away from the cups

QUES. 13: EXPERIMENTAL RECORD: Write the exact details of the experiments
that you conduct as this will be evaluated on the proper use of the scientific method i.e. use
of control and three variables. The minimum requirement is to use a control and three
variables - different solutions in the cups, with and/or without the quart jar. How did you
set up the experiments? What is the hypothesis of why each jars is set up as it is? Where
did you put the jars? Try to be a little bit descriptive of what you did in this experiment.
Do not forget to answer this question. Even though you do not actually do the
.experiment, still talk about it based upon the pictures

ProfONotes: Online Experimental Set-Up

 :QUES. 14: DATA TABLE

.Water Volume = 1/2 cup = 120 ml; also Water Weight = 120 grams

Time On __11:30 AM______ Time Off ___12:30 PM_______ Absorption Time = 60

.Min

:Assume the solar radiation is only absorbed on the top surface of the container

Diameter (d) of cup Absorbing Surface __6.5__ cm

Ques. 14: Calculation: Top of Cup - Absorber Surface: Area = 3.14 multiplied by
(diameter squared divided by 4) = _________ cm2
.approx. ans. 25-50 square cm) Show your work)

TABLE 1: TEMPERATURES OF THE COLORED WATER ABSORBERS

Variable Variable Variable
Water Variable 1 Variable 3 Variable 4
2 5 6
red dye in
water
red dye in omit omit
covered by
Brief plain red dye in water omit unless unless unless
beaker
.Desc water watercovered by doing Part 2 doing doing
with
beaker Part 2 Part 2
aluminum
foil
Final
19.5 21 23 24
Temp
Initial
15 15 15 15
Temp
Temp
Change
Ques. 15: Report the temperature changes
_____ Water _____ Variable 1 _____ Variable 2 _____ Variable 3

.Variables 4,5, 6 are usually omitted, unless you do the optional Part 2

:Conversion
Units
cal = 1 kcal 1000
Specific heat of water = 1 cal / g oC (no math is implied - these are just the units of
(specific heat. 1 cal is absorbed by water per gram per degree Celsius
(cm = 1 meter (m 100
cm = 1 ft 30.5
ml of water = 1 gram of water because the density of water = 1.0 g/ml 1
 :CALCULATIONS
Water Variable 1 Variable 2 Variable 3

.Show a sample calculation for each question below

= QUES. 16. Calories absorbed per 120 ml water per hour

(specific heat of water x grams water x temperature change (ans. Q15

Water Variable 1 Variable 2 Variable 3

(ans. approx. 200-1400)

(QUES. 17. Kilocalories (kcal) absorbed per hour ((ans. Q16) divided by 1000
Water Variable 1 Variable 2 Variable 3

(ans approx. 0.2-1.4)

QUES. 18. Kcal absorbed per square centimeter per hour

(ans. Q17) divided by the Total cup surface area (ans. Q14)
Water Variable 1 Variable 2 Variable 3

(approx. ans. = 0.005 - 0.05)

______________ :QUES. 19. Convert one square meter to square centimeters

(area = length X width)
(meter = 100 cm 1)

QUES. 20. Kcal absorbed per square meter per hour

(ans. Q18) multiplied by (ans. Q19)
Water Variable 1 Variable 2 Variable 3
 (approx ans. = 50 - 2000)
As a comparison: Average Solar Input for Illinois = 1200 kcal / hr m2

QUES. 21: Which type "solar absorber" was the most effective solar collector? Least
effective? How many kilocalories of heat are absorbed per hour per square meter for the
best and the poorest "solar absorber"? Do the results agree with your hypothesis in
?Question13

QUES. 22: Application: If a wall 10 feet high and 20 feet long on the south side of your
house had the same absorbing characteristics as the best solar absorber, how much total
?heat could be collected in an 8 hour day

a. First convert feet to cm then meters. Then find the area in square meters(length x width).
_____________ = Answer
(approx ans. on wall area= 15- 25 square meters)
.Show work

b. Then use (ans. Q22a) and (ans. Q20) and eventually the 8 hours - the sun only shines 8
hours in the winter not 24 - to find the total heat absorbed by the solar panel in an 8
.hour day
(approx final ans. = 10,000 - 60,000)
.Show work

QUES. 23: Using the above results, calculate the percent of heat that could be absorbed
and supplied by your solar collector, if the house needs 17,640 kcal per hour on a typical
.cold winter day
.a. First calculate the total heat needed by the house in kcal for 24 hours for the house
.Show work

b. Then calculate the percent heat that could be supplied by the solar panel. Use formula
.below

percent heat from solar panel = heat supplied by absorber solar panel divided by total heat
.needed by the house, and finally multiply by 100 to get percent

QUES. 24: Describe a design for a passive solar heated house, showing how (and
location) the solar collector wall of water would be utilized. Remember that the solar
collector has to reradiate the heat during the evening hours. Do not just copy the diagram
in the text since this uses "active" solar heating. Some internet sources show a concrete
wall; I want you to use the wall of water idea. This is an application question asking you to
apply what you did in this experiment to a large scale house. Try to be creative and use the
materials used in this lab, but make them into a large solar panel as described in QUES.
.22. This is worth 2.5 points
Solar Home Passive designs

(Part 2: Optional and Extra Credit - At home collection of lab data (4 points
Do Part 1 at home using solar energy. You could try two experiments. The first is to use a
cup of plain water. The second would be to use a cup filled to the same depth as the water
but use solid salt or sugar in place of the water. Using these conditions it would not be
.necessary to cover them with another jar. The rest of the experiment would be the same
.Carry out the same calculations as was done with the computer generated data
Report carefully your procedures, make table of the data, and show the results of the
.calculations, and the conclusions

,,
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Solar Grain Drying

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Availability of solar energy | Solar collectors | Collector configurations | The Alberta

Agriculture Experimental Collector

".Everything," said Goethe, "has been thought of before. The difficulty is to think of it again
Direct solar energy has been applied to grain drying for years. The sun and wind dry crops in the
field, stack or windrow. Artificial drying has supplemented this process to increase the harvest
rate during inclement weather or to minimize field losses. This article investigates solar grain
.drying as one alternative
Availability of Solar Energy
Radiant energy from the sun reaching the earth's surface is known as shortwave radiation, solar
radiation, solar energy or insolation. The total radiation may be 'direct', from the sun; 'diffuse',
.scattered by the atmosphere; or 'reflected', from adjacent surfaces

.Figure 1. Average monthly values of solar radiation on a horizontal surface at Edmonton

.Figure 2. Average monthly values of solar radiation on a 30° south-facing slope at Edmonton

.Figure 3. Average monthly values of solar radiation on a 60° south-facing slope at Edmonton
 .Figure 4. Average monthly values of solar radiation on a 90° south-facing slope at Edmonton
Figures 1 to 4 show the availability of direct and diffuse solar radiation at Edmonton for the year.
.Surface orientations are horizontal, 30°, 60° and 90° south-facing
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate that in the fall more radiation falls on the tilted collectors, while in the
summer the horizontal collectors have the advantage. For July, the horizontal and 30° tilt
collectors collect similar amounts of direct radiation. In August the 30° tilt is best. In September
the 30° and 60° tilts are similar. In October the 60° tilt is best. In November the 60° and 90° tilts
.are similar

.Figure 5. Average monthly solar radiation on a horizontal surface at Edmonton

Figure 5 shows daily solar energy during different months of the year. Grain drying months of
.August to November at illustrated
 Solar Collectors
The units of energy are the average total number of megajoules per square metre per day for each
month (MJ/m2 - day). A horizontal solar collector in September has about 7 MJ/m2 - day
available to it. From this information, a 30 per cent efficient collector will need an area of 12,000
m2 to equal the capacity of a 1,000,000 BTU/h (300 kW) hot air dryer. This would be a very large
.collector covering about three acres
As the cost of a large solar collector required for high-temperature, high-speed drying is
prohibitive, this article considers low-temperature, low-speed solar drying. The collectors
described here have a flat plate configuration using air as the heat exchange medium. Covered
.collectors are much more efficient than uncovered ones
A covered solar collector consists of a radiant-energy-transmitting material and an energy-
absorbing material. Figure 6 shows both covered and uncovered flat plate collectors. The
transmitting material for a covered plate collector may be glass, fibreglass or clear polyethylene.
The absorbing section may be metal, wood, paper or plastic. The closer the absorbing material is
.to dull black, the greater is its efficiency in absorbing solar radiation
:A covered solar collector using air (see Figure 6) operates as follows
;a) Most of the solar radiation passes through the transparent cover
b) Solar radiation is absorbed on the black surface or absorbing plate which subsequently heats
;up
;c) Air flowing over the absorbing plate is then heated
.d) The heated air flowing out of the collector is used for grain drying
 .Figure 6. Flat plate air type solar collectors
Collector Configurations
Figure 7 shows an air collector mounted on a grain bin. The walls of the bin are painted
black.This system is suited to a low air flow drying system (1-2 cfm/bu), because of the small
collector area. Drying time will be in excess of 2 to 3 weeks. Only part of the bin is covered to
take advantage of the direct and not the diffuse radiation. The efficiency of this type collector is
.low when exposed to only diffuse radiation or not direct sunlight
 .Figure 7. Air collector mounted on the bin wall
The collectors described have been simple flat plate collectors with a black absorber and a clear
cover. Figures 8 and 9 indicate two alternatives that increase collection by increasing the
.absorbing area

.Figure 8. Cross-section of flat plate collector where the absorbing area has been tripled
 .Figure 9. Long tube configuration of a flat plate collector
The Alberta Agriculture Experimental Collector
An experimental solar collector was constructed by Alberta Agriculture to assess the practicality
.of solar grain drying in Alberta. The following is a brief summary of the results
A collector of the type illustrated in Figure 8 was constructed using heat sealed 10 mil black and
10 mil clear polyethylene. Collector size was 10 m x 25 m. Air was blown by a 7 kW fan motor
through the collector and into a grain drying bin at 5000 cfm. The drying time for the 500 bushels
of barley in the bin was 14 daylight hours over a period of four days. Figure 11 shows a
.comparison of drying with ambient air and drying with air heated by the solar collector

Figure 10. Temperature rise for 250 m2 polyethylene-covered flat plate air collector at
.Edmonton for a typical October day
Figure 11. Drying time to dry 500 bushels of barley from 18% to 15% moisture content. Grain
temperature 7°C, ambient temperature 10°C, ambient relative humidity 50%, air heated to 18°C
.by the collector. The depth of grain dried is 1.2 m
Experience in the Edmonton area indicates that solar grain drying alone is not a dependable grain
drying alternative. Solar collection relies on direct sunshine which is not always available when
.drying is required
Collector cost is a major obstacle to solar drying. Considering reliability and cost, both hot air and
.ambient air grain drying are more appropriate than solar grain drying in Alberta
:Information prepared
1986
.Source: Agdex 736-9

.For more information about the content of this document, contact Duke
.This information published to the web on September 1, 2002

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WIKI DEFINITION

Incident Solar Radiation

Incident solar radiation (insolation) refers to the amount of energy falling on a flat surface. It is not
affected in any way by the surface properties of materials or by any internal refractive effects as it is
concerned only with the radiation actually striking the surface. Material properties only affect what
.happens next - the amount of solar radiation absorbed and/or transmitted by the surface
:The total insolation (Gincident) at any instant is therefore affected only by
;(The angle of incidence of the solar radiation (A •
;The current shaded fraction of the surface by surrounding geometry (Fshad), and•
;(The fraction of diffuse sky radiation actually visible from the surface (Fsky •
These factors affect the direct (Gdirect) and diffuse sky (Gdiffuse) radiation components differently, such
:that

.For more information on this, refer to the Solar Radiation Components topic
Direct Angle of Incidence
When radiation from the sun strikes the surface of an object from directly front-on, the energy density
per unit area will be much higher than if the radiation struck from a much greater angle. This effect
can be calculated using the cosine law, where the radiant energy from the sun is simply multiplied by
.the cosine of the incidence angle
The incidence angle is always calculated relative to the surface normal of each plane. Radiant energy
density is at its maximum at normal incidence when the incidence angle approaches 0°. It is at its
.minimum at grazing incidence when the incidence angle approaches 90°

.Figure 1 - The effect of incidence angle, illustrating the cos law

In the examples shown above, when the radiation strikes at 75° it imparts only 26% of its energy to
the surface. At 15° it imparts 96% of its energy. Obviously at 0° it would impart 100% and at 90° it
.would impart 0% as it no longer actually strikes the surface
This is a relatively simple calculation for the direct beam component as it can be considered as
originating from a very distant point source (the Sun) whose position at any date and time is known or
can be quickly calculated (Szokolay, 2004). Thus incidence is determined by the 3-dimensional angle
between the surface normal (a line from the centre of the object directly outwards at 90° to the
surface) and a line from the object centre running out towards the sun. This is illustrated in Figure 2
.below

Figure 2 - The incidence angle is the 3-dimensional angle between the surface normal
.and the current Sun position
This is an important concept as diurnal and seasonal changes in sun position will affect surfaces at
various orientations quite differently, especially at mid-latitudes. For example, if a vertical equator-
facing window is compared to a flat roof, at noon in winter the Sun is lower in the sky - thus closer to
normal incidence for the window but closer to grazing incidence for the roof. In summer when the Sun
is much higher in the sky, at noon it is closer to grazing incidence on the window and closer to normal
.incidence on the roof, as shown in Figure 3 below

Figure 3 - As the daily Sun-path changes with season, incidence angles increase on
.vertical windows in summer whilst reducing on a horizontal roof

This is only a simple example, however it does illustrate that surfaces at different angles will be more
.sensitive to some parts of the sky than others
Diffuse Angles of Incidence
Unlike direct radiation, which comes from a very specific part of the sky, diffuse radiation arrives
from the whole sky. As shown in Figure 3, the angle of the surface will mean that, irrespective of the
distribution of radiation over the sky dome, some parts of the sky will contribute more than others
.simply due to incidence effects
For a horizontal surface under a uniform sky, the diffuse radiation arriving from a segment at the
zenith of the sky will impart greater energy than a segment of equal area at the horizon. This is simply
because the light from the zenith arrives close to normal incidence on a horizontal surface whereas
.that from the horizon is closer to grazing incidence
Whilst it is possible to generate a calculus equation for any given surface for the continuous integral
of the diffuse contribution from each part of the sky, it is usually much quicker to simply break the
sky up into a large number of small segments, and then calculate the sum of their individual effect.
This is known as sky subdivision and is a widely used technique as it has a range of other benefits
.which will also be explained
Diffuse Effects
Once the sky has been subdivided, the orientation and tilt angle of any surface can be used to
determine which parts of the sky it is actually exposed to. For example a vertical surface, no matter
which way it faces, will only ever 'see' at best one half of the sky dome - meaning that it will only ever
receive a maximum of one half of the available diffuse component. A horizontal surface that faces
.upwards, however, could see it all
However for a horizontal surface, any light from the zenith of the sky arrives normal to that surface
whilst light from the horizon arrives at grazing incidence. For a vertical surface the reverse is true -
light from the zenith arrives at grazing incidence whilst light from the horizon arrives along its
normal. This means that the area of the sky that contributes most to any surface depends greatly on its
.tilt angle
Figure 4 below shows a surface at different inclinations and its corresponding incidence angle effect
mapped over a mask. This is simply the cosine of the incidence angle the geometric centre of each sky
.segment makes with the surface normal

Figure 4 - Different areas of the sky dome 'visible' to surfaces at various tilt angles,
.together with their corresponding diffuse incidence masks

Thus, for horizontal surfaces the zenith is of most significance whereas for vertical surfaces it is those
.sky segments closer to the horizon and directly in front
Absorbed and Transmitted Radiation
Once the amount of instantaneous radiation incident on a surface has been calculated, it is possible to
determine how much of that radiation is absorbed or transmitted through any model surface. This
depends on the material properties assigned to the surface. This is, of course, where things get
complex because there is a wide range of 'interpretation' within the industry as to the exact meaning of
different terms for material property that affect absorption and transmission - and some of these values
.even inter-relate
Absorbed solar radiation (Gabsorbed) is affected by the solar absorption value assigned to a material
(Fabs), and its transparency value (Ftrans). The transmitted component is affected by the transparency of
the material (Ftrans) as well as, for windows, their shading coefficient (SC) and the effects of refraction
:(Frefract), such that

:For window/glazing materials the transmitted radiation is given as

:(For opaque materials (those without a defined shading coefficient or refractive index

:The refraction based on a glass material's refractive index is given by

The basic properties that affect absorption and transmission in ECOTECT can be set in the Material
.Properties dialog for each material in the library, and are described as follows
Solar Absorption and Colour
The amount of solar radiation that is absorbed by any surface is assumed to be all that isn't reflected or
transmitted. For an opaque surface, its reflectivity is really a function of its surface colour. A highly
gloss surface will reflect just as much solar radiation as a matte surface if their colours are exactly the
same - its just that the matte surface will reflect diffusely in all different directions whilst the gloss
will reflect the majority of light in a specular direction. The specularity value of a material is therefore
not important unless considering the amount of radiation reflected from that surface onto other parts
.of the model
In reality, colours are defined by a complex continuous spectrum in which some frequencies are
absorbed more than others. However, colour specification in computer software is mostly done using
only red, green and blue (RGB) components. Whilst these three values are sufficient for our eyes to
perceive almost any colour, the relative energy value of solar radiation varies significantly with
.frequency
It should also be noted that solar radiation comprises frequencies both above and below the frequency
range we perceive as light. Therefore colour alone is not sufficient to fully define this property. As a
result, ECOTECT allows you to assign opaque materials a solar absorption parameter with a value
between zero and one. However, most people usually only know the colour of the material they are
creating, so ECOTECT also monitors changes to each material's external colour and offers to calculate
an updated solar radiation based on the new setting. Obviously this is not as accurate as entering the
solar absorption value obtained from the manufacturer, however if you use a darker colour, this will
.affect the amount of solar absorption so you will be prompted to update
To calculate the absorption value from the assigned colour, in which each RGB component is given as
a value from 0 to 255, ECOTECT uses the following formula as described for daylight spectral
:(response in the Radiance Technical Manual (Ward, 1994

For opaque materials, ECOTECT simply uses the solar absorption value as a modifier for the incident
radiation. For window/glazing materials, which do not have such a property, the absorption value is
derived from the assigned external glass colour and is applied to that radiation which is not reflected
.or transmitted
This gets a little trickier for transparent materials that are not WINDOW elements. As transparency is
defined as the relative amount of light/radiation actually passing through an object, ECOTECT
assumes that this is given by the manufacturer as relative to the amount of incident radiation (as this is
the easiest and most obvious to measure). Thus, if a material is assigned a transparency of 0.5, then
50% of the incident radiation is assumed to pass through. This means that the assigned solar
.absorption value cannot be greater than (1 - transparency), otherwise a warning is displayed
Transparency and Shading Coefficient
Another issue sometimes encountered in ECOTECT is the ability to define both a transparency and a
solar heat gain coefficient value for a WINDOW material. Traditionally the solar heat gain coefficient
is to solar radiation what the transparency value is to light. One difference is that the solar heat gain
coefficient can also be used to account for the effects of external and internal shading, but not usually
.in a dynamic way
However, to maintain consistency between WINDOW and other elements, both values affect the
transmission of light through windows in ECOTECT's calculation functions. In fact, both are
completely inter-changeable and cumulative. Thus, if you specify both a transparency and shading
.(coefficient of 0.5, the total transmission will actually be 25% (0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25
:There were a number of reasons for doing this
The first was that users were altering WINDOW transparency values and not •
seeing any change in the solar radiation - which caused much confusion to those
.new to the software
Second was the need to maintain consistency - if transparency affects solar •
absorption in a WALL or ROOF element, then it should also affect transmission in a
.WINDOW element
Thirdly, as they are cumulative, having the two values offers a way of applying •
dynamic shading to a window by using blanket coefficients derived from a more
complex shading mask study. Alternatively, the transparency of the WINDOW
material could be manipulated with a script to simulate dynamic shading without
.losing the solar heat gain coefficient data for that particular glazing configuration
Refractive Index
Refraction is an effect that occurs at the interface between transparent materials of different densities,
such as air and glass. The bending of light and solar radiation that results from refraction is due to the
longer time it takes the waves to move through the denser of the two materials. It is dependent on two
factors: the incident angle and the refractive index of each material. The main effect of refraction is to
.significantly increase the effective surface reflectivity at angles close to grazing incidence
The refractive index property applies only to WINDOW materials and the transparent covers of
SOLAR COLLECTORS. The higher its value, the greater the effect. ECOTECT ignores values less
.than 1.0 as this represents an air-to-air interface at which there is no refraction
It is important to note that this effect is very different from the reflectivity of a shiny opaque surface.
For opaque surfaces, shininess is a manifestation of the degree of specularity - which in turn means
how much of the reflected light travels in a specular direction (exitAngle = -entryAngle when
measured about the surface normal). Reflectivity actually depends only on the colour of the surface.
Two surfaces with exactly the same colour, but one matte and the other gloss, will reflect exactly the
.same amount of light - its just that the matte surface reflects it diffusely in all different directions
Specularity
The specularity value of a material is given in the range 0-1 and defines the concentration of reflected
light/radiation in the specular direction. A mirror has a very high specularity, which means that the
majority of the energy from a focused beam of light would be reflected at an angle equal to the
incidence angle on its surface, but mirrored around its surface normal. If that same beam fell on a
surface covered with talcum powder, the myriad of tiny individual grains would reflect parts of the
beam in all different directions. Being very white the same amount of light would be reflected from
the powder surface as from the mirror, but the reflection would be diffuse, spread out at all angles
such that the patch of the beam incidence on the surface was visible from anywhere around it not just
.in the specular reflection angle
 .Figure 5: The effect of different material specularity values

Thus for short-wave radiation transfer, the reflectance of a material is multiplied by its surface
.specularity in order to calculate the effects of reflected radiation
Emissivity
The emissivity value of a material is given in the range 0-1 and describes its ability to absorb and emit
long-wave radiation. This occurs at much lower frequencies that light, usually referring to the infra-
red radiation from objects at terrestrial temperatures (below 100°C). As a result, emissivity values are
important in thermal calculations when considering long-wave radiant exchange between surfaces, but
.do not play a significant role in ECOTECT's solar incidence calculations

REFERENCES
Geoffrey G. Roy et al, 1995, The Development of Modelling Strategies for .1
Whole Sky Spectrums under Real Conditions for International Use, University of
.(Sydney and Murdoch University, (view as PDF

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Home > Engineering > Civil Engineering > Construction

Building Better for Solar Heating and Cooling

( Article by John Moehring (2,810 pts

Edited & published by Lamar Stonecypher (72,000 pts ) on Apr 27, 2010

See More Ab Solar RadiationEnergy

SourcesSun
:out

As a source of constant solar radiation, the sun can be a warming presence, a source of energy, or an
.annoying heater depending on the albedo of materials and type of construction used
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Solar Radiation
Ah, the sun. Much graceful, illuminating prose has been dedicated to its appearance, benefits, and
even harmful effects. But since this is a technical article there won’t be any of that here. Instead this
will be a rather dry, straightforward review of some of the ways to either use or mitigate its ever
.present energies in building construction
All that energy starts at the source, the sun, which is more that just a glowing ball in the daytime. It’s
a roiling mass of superheated elements undergoing energetic subatomic reactions which gives off
copious amounts of electromagnetic solar radiation. And after traveling through space for around 8
minutes, this radiation winds up in our back yards and on our roofs. Depending on the albedo (the
ratio of solar radiation absorbed and emitted over time) of the materials and their incorporation into
the building construction, this may cause the occupants to sit down and write graceful, illuminating
.prose, or to turn on an air conditioner and write dark, not so graceful prose
.

Building Construction Using Solar Heating And Cooling Techniques

How can building construction help reduce the amount of dark, not so graceful prose? Living plants
like trees can evapo-transpirate, animals like dogs can sweat. It’s a great way to moderate temperature
in the presence of excessive heat, like being in the sun on a hot, dry day. Dousing a building with
water would also have a great cooling effect, but would not be very efficient use of a precious natural
resource. Instead several forms of construction, some old and some new, can be incorporated in the
:presence of the sun to great advantage. These include
Shade: An obvious choice for millennia. Works by blocking solar radiation, •
preventing absorption by the building surfaces. Landscaping, awnings, porch
roofs, and facades can provide strategic amounts of shade. Planning the
orientation of new construction can also optimize the amount of shade a building
receives by taking advantage of topography and existing greenery. Solar panels
and passive solar hot water systems can do double duty by providing shade while
absorbing radiation and converting its energy to another useful form. The
“building within a building” technique uses a shading façade or shell to create a
.livable sunspace envelope while maintaining a cooler interior space
Insulation: Works by limiting heat transfer from warm objects to cooler objects, as •
from a hot, sun exposed roof or wall to cooler interior spaces. Can be a discrete
building material applied to attic, floor, and wall cavities or be integrated into
structural building components. Planted roofs are an increasingly popular
insulation choice, as are earth berm walls. Another popular construction option is
to super insulate the outer shell of a building to minimize heat transfer,
accompished by controlling vented spaces like attics and crawl spaces, sealing all
penetrations, incorporating large R-value insulating materials, and insulating slabs
.and ground contact walls
Coatings: Works by controlling the amount of solar radiation absorbed and •
converted into heat. Low emissivity windows, paints which reflect the infrared and
UV portions of solar spectrum, and reflective foils are all effective in limiting
absorbed radiation, thereby increasing albedo. Some coatings can actively cool at
night be emitting long infrared radiation back into the night sky, which acts as an
.almost infinite radiative heat sink
Thermal Mass: Works by absorbing the sun’s energy during the heat of the day•
and releasing it at night when it is cooler. This may be as simple as using high
mass materials such as log walls and concrete floors at strategic locations in the
building. Exposure to the sun, either directly in a passive system or as part of an
active heat pump system, slowly increases the temperature of the massive
material. At night, if outside temperatures fall below interior temperatures, the
warm mass of the walls or floors maintains the interior temperatures at
.comfortable levels

Constant Solar Innovation

These are just a few of the construction techniques available to better utilize the readily available
energy from the sun. Changes in the world climate, increasing costs of other energy sources, and just
plain innovative curiosity are driving development of more ideas and technology to keep the sun off
.our shoulders and doing useful work

About hhe Author

John Moehring is a practicing Engineering Technologist in civil, geological, biological, and electrical
.engineering fields. And one of these days he may actually get it right
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 Optical Remote Sensing

Optical remote sensing makes use of visible, near infrared and short-waveinfrared sensors to form
images of the earth's surface by detecting thesolar radiation reflected from targets on the ground.
Different materials reflect and absorb differently at different wavelengths. Thus, the targets can be
differentiated by their spectral reflectance signatures in the remotely sensed images. Optical
remote sensing systems are classified into the following types, depending on the number of
.spectral bands used in the imaging process
Panchromatic imaging system: The sensor is a single channel detector •
sensitive to radiation within a broad wavelength range. If the wavelength
range coincide with the visible range, then the resulting image resembles a
"black-and-white" photograph taken from space. The physical quantity being
measured is the apparent brightness of the targets. The spectral information
or "colour" of the targets is lost. Examples of panchromatic imaging systems
:are
IKONOS PAN○
SPOT HRV-PAN○
Multispectral imaging system: The sensor is a multichannel detector with•
a few spectral bands. Each channel is sensitive to radiation within a narrow
wavelength band. The resulting image is a multilayer image which contains
both the brightness and spectral (colour) information of the targets being
:observed. Examples of multispectral systems are
LANDSAT MSS○
LANDSAT TM○
SPOT HRV-XS○
IKONOS MS○
Superspectral Imaging Systems: A superspectral imaging sensor has many•
more spectral channels (typically >10) than a multispectral sensor. The bands
have narrower bandwidths, enabling the finer spectral characteristics of the
:targets to be captured by the sensor. Examples of superspectral systems are
MODIS○
MERIS○
Hyperspectral Imaging Systems: A hyperspectral imaging system is also•
known as an "imaging spectrometer". it acquires images in about a hundred
or more contiguous spectral bands. The precise spectral information contained
in a hyperspectral image enables better characterisation and identification of
targets. Hyperspectral images have potential applications in such fields as
precision agriculture (e.g. monitoring the types, health, moisture status and
maturity of crops), coastal management (e.g. monitoring of phytoplanktons,
:pollution, bathymetry changes). An example of a hyperspectral system is
Hyperion on EO1 satellite○

Solar Irradiation
Optical remote sensing depends on the sun as the sole source of illumination. The
solar irradiation spectrum above the atmosphere can be modeled by a black body
radiation spectrum having a source temperature of 5900 K, with a peak irradiation
located at about 500 nm wavelength. Physical measurement of the solar irradiance
.has also been performed using ground based and spaceborne sensors

After passing through the atmosphere, the solar irradiation spectrum at the ground is modulated
by the atmospheric transmission windows. Significant energy remains only within the
.wavelength range from about 0.25 to 3 µm
 .Solar Irradiation Spectra above the atmosphere and at sea-level

Spectral Reflectance Signature

When solar radiation hits a target surface, it may be transmitted, absorbed or
reflected. Different materials reflect and absorb differently at different
wavelengths. The reflectance spectrum of a material is a plot of the fraction of
radiation reflected as a function of the incident wavelength and serves as a unique
signature for the material. In principle, a material can be identified from its spectral
reflectance signature if the sensing system has sufficient spectral resolution to
distinguish its spectrum from those of other materials. This premise provides the
.basis for multispectral remote sensing

The following graph shows the typical reflectance spectra of five materials: clear water, turbid
.water, bare soil and two types of vegetation
 Reflectance Spectrum of Five Types of Landcover

The reflectance of clear water is generally low. However, the reflectance is maximum at the blue
end of the spectrum and decreases as wavelength increases. Hence, clear water appears dark-
bluish. Turbid water has some sediment suspension which increases the reflectance in the red
end of the spectrum, accounting for its brownish appearance. The reflectance of bare soil
generally depends on its composition. In the example shown, the reflectance increases
.monotonically with increasing wavelength. Hence, it should appear yellowish-red to the eye
Vegetation has a unique spectral signature which enables it to be distinguished readily from other
types of land cover in an optical/near-infrared image. The reflectance is low in both the blue and
red regions of the spectrum, due to absorption by chlorophyll for photosynthesis. It has a peak at
the green region which gives rise to the green colour of vegetation. In the near infrared (NIR)
region, the reflectance is much higher than that in the visible band due to the cellular structure in
the leaves. Hence, vegetation can be identified by the high NIR but generally low visible
reflectances. This property has been used in early reconnaisance missions during war times for
.""camouflage detection
The shape of the reflectance spectrum can be used for identification of vegetation type. For
example, the reflectance spectra of vegetation 1 and 2 in the above figures can be distinguished
although they exhibit the generally characteristics of high NIR but low visible reflectances.
Vegetation 1 has higher reflectance in the visible region but lower reflectance in the NIR region.
For the same vegetation type, the reflectance spectrum also depends on other factors such as the
.leaf moisture content and health of the plants
The reflectance of vegetation in the SWIR region (e.g. band 5 of Landsat TM and band 4 of
SPOT 4 sensors) is more varied, depending on the types of plants and the plant's water content.
Water has strong absorption bands around 1.45, 1.95 and 2.50 µm. Outside these absorption bands
in the SWIR region, reflectance of leaves generally increases when leaf liquid water content
decreases. This property can be used for identifying tree types and plant conditions from remote
sensing images. The SWIR band can be used in detecting plant drought stress and delineating
 burnt areas and fire-affected vegetation. The SWIR band is also sensitive to the thermal radiation
emitted by intense fires, and hence can be used to detect active fires, especially during night-time
.when the background interference from SWIR in reflected sunlight is absent

Typical Reflectance Spectrum of Vegetation. The labelled arrows indicate the common
wavelength bands used in optical remote sensing of vegetation: A: blue band, B: green band;
;C: red band; D: near IR band
E: short-wave IR band

Digital Image Interpreting Optical RS Images

Go to Main Index

Please send
comments/enquiries/suggesti
ons about this tutorial to Copyright �
Dr. S. C. Liew at
scliew@nus.edu.sg

StrawBaleFarms.com
Sustainable Living Tours
 !Home Page | PORTAGE & MAIN OUTDOOR WOOD FURNACE | Home Tour |

Our Story Pa

StrawbalePassive solar heating and cooling represents an

Buildingimportant strategy for displacing traditional
energy sources in buildings. Anyone who has
Passive Solarsat by a sunny, south facing window on a winter
day has felt the effects of passive solar energy.
Active SolarPassive solar techniques make use of the steady
supply of solar energy by building designs that
Solar/On Demandcarefully balance their energy requirements
Domestic Hot Waterwith the building site and window orientation.
The term "passive" indicates that no additional
Masonry heatermechanical equipment is used, other than the
normal building elements. All solar gain is
Passive Geothermalbrought in through windows and minimum use
is made of pumps or fans to distribute heat or
Photovoltaiceffect cooling. All passive techniques use
building elements such as walls, windows,The Strawbale House takes advantage
PV and Solar Hot Waterfloors, and roofs, in addition to exterior building
Site Analysiselements and landscaping to control heat
generated by solar radiation. Solar heating
Home Tourdesigns collect and store thermal energy from
direct sunlight. Passive cooling minimizes the
Additonal Resourceseffects of solar radiation through shading or
generating air flows with convection
.ventilation
Pas

Passive solar heating of buildings occurs when sunlight passes through a window,
absorbed and converted into heat. The most efficient window orientation for heat gain
any orientation within 30 degrees of due South is acceptable. Once the heat has en
various techniques are used to keep and distribute it. To let the sun in, a ratio of
window to floor area is recommended for South walls. Although this number is small
remember it comes from the floor area, which is much larger than the wall area.
heating and is a significant issue. Once the heat is in, a well insulated and air tight
helps prevent heat loss and allows solar heat to provide more of the heating needed. A
of the energy efficient building envelope is the window system. Common double glaze
escape. High performance windows, with insulated frames, multiple glazing, low e-c
glass spacers, and inert gas fills can reduce heat loss by 50 to 75 percent. Also, insula
will prevent heat from radiating out at night. Passive solar can supply up to 70 percent
 Passive Solar Building Design

The techniques of passive solar building design

were practiced for thousands of years, by
necessity, before the advent of mechanical
heating and cooling. There is evidence that
ancient cultures considered factors such as solar
orientation, thermal mass, and ventilation in the
construction of residential dwellings. Fully
developed solar architecture and urban planning
methods were first employed by the Greeks,
Chinese, and Aboriginal peoples of the
America's Southwest, who oriented their
buildings toward the South to provide warmth
and light. Nearly two and a half millennia ago
the ancient Greek philosopher Aeschylus wrote
"Only primitives and barbarians lack the
knowledge of houses turned to face the winter
sun". Similarly, Socrates said "Now, supposing
a house to have a southern aspect, sunshine
during winter will steal under the verandah, but Direc
in summer, when the sun traverses a path right
over our heads the roof will afford and
(agreeable shade, will it not"? (Wikipedia

Principa
 To understand how a passive solar ho
you need to understand how heat mov
be stored. As a fundamental law,
warmer materials to cooler ones until t
temperature difference between the t
heat throughout the living space, a p
design makes use of this law through t
:movement and heat-st

Elements of Passive Solar Design

Conduction is the way heat moves through materials, traveling from molecule to mol
molecules close to the heat source to vibrate vigorously, and these vibrations spre
molecules, thus transferring heat energy. For example, a spoon placed into a hot cup
.heat through its handle and into the

Convection is the way heat circulates through liquids and gases. Lighter, warmer fluid
denser fluid sinks. For instance, warm air rises because it is lighter than cold air, which
warmer air accumulates on the second floor of a house, while the basement stays cool. S
.homes use air convection to carry solar heat from a south wall into the

Radiant heat moves through the air from warmer objects to cooler ones. There are two
important to passive solar design: solar radiation and infrared radiation. When radiatio
it is absorbed, reflected, or transmitted, depending on certain properties of that objec
absorb 40% to 95% of incoming solar radiation from the sun, depending on their c
typically absorb a greater percentage than lighter colors. This is why solar-absorber s
dark colored. Bright white materials or objects reflect 80% to 98% of incoming sola
home, infrared radiation occurs when warmed surfaces radiate heat towards cooler surf
your body can radiate infrared heat to a cold surface, possibly causing you discomfort.
.include walls, windows, or c

Clear glass transmits 80% to 90% of solar radiation, absorbing or reflecting only 10% t
radiation is transmitted through the glass and absorbed by the home, it is radiated agai
surfaces as infrared radiation. Although glass allows solar radiation to pass throu
infrared radiation. The glass then radiates part of that heat back to the home's interior.
.traps solar heat

Th
Thermal capacitance refers to the ability of materials to store heat. Thermal mass refe
that store heat. Thermal mass stores heat by changing its temperature, which can be do
from a warm room or by converting direct solar radiation into heat. The more thermal m
can be stored for each degree rise in temperature. Masonry materials, like concrete, ston
are commonly used as thermal mass in passive solar homes. Water also has been suc
(Dep
!February 4, 2010 | New Images of a Photvoltaic System

Modern Physics
Michael Fowler, University of Virginia
Home
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Black Body Radiation

Michael Fowler, University of Virginia, 9/7/08
Query 8: Do not all fix’d Bodies, when heated beyond a certain degree, emit Light and shine; and is
?not this Emission perform’d by the vibrating motion of its parts
.Isaac Newton, Opticks, published 1704
Heated Bodies Radiate
We shall now turn to another puzzle confronting physicists at the turn of the century (1900): just how
do heated bodies radiate? There was a general understanding of the mechanism involved—heat was
known to cause the molecules and atoms of a solid to vibrate, and the molecules and atoms were
themselves complicated patterns of electrical charges. (As usual, Newton was on the right track.)
From the experiments of Hertz and others, Maxwell’s predictions that oscillating charges emitted
electromagnetic radiation had been confirmed, at least for simple antennas. It was known from
Maxwell’s equations that this radiation traveled at the speed of light and from this it was realized that
light itself, and the closely related infrared heat radiation, were actually electromagnetic waves. The
picture, then, was that when a body was heated, the consequent vibrations on a molecular and atomic
scale inevitably induced charge oscillations. Assuming then that Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetic
radiation, which worked so well in the macroscopic world, was also valid at the molecular level, these
.oscillating charges would radiate, presumably giving off the heat and light observed
?How is Radiation Absorbed
What is meant by the phrase “black body” radiation? The point is that the radiation from a heated
body depends to some extent on the body being heated. To see this most easily, let’s back up
momentarily and consider how different materials absorb radiation. Some, like glass, seem to absorb
light hardly at all—the light goes right through. For a shiny metallic surface, the light isn’t absorbed
either, it gets reflected. For a black material like soot, light and heat are almost completely absorbed,
and the material gets warm. How can we understand these different behaviors in terms of light as an
electromagnetic wave interacting with charges in the material, causing these charges to oscillate and
absorb energy from the radiation? In the case of glass, evidently this doesn’t happen, at least not
much. Why not? A full understanding of why needs quantum mechanics, but the general idea is as
follows: there are charges—electrons—in glass that are able to oscillate in response to an applied
external oscillating electric field, but these charges are tightly bound to atoms, and can only oscillate
at certain frequencies. (For quantum experts, these charge oscillations take place as an electron moves
from one orbit to another. Of course, that was not understood in the 1890’s, the time of the first
precision work on black body radiation.) It happens that for ordinary glass none of these frequencies
corresponds to visible light, so there is no resonance with a light wave, and hence little energy
absorbed. That’s why glass is perfect for windows! Duh. But glass is opaque at some frequencies
outside the visible range (in general, both in the infrared and the ultraviolet). These are the
.frequencies at which the electrical charge distributions in the atoms or bonds can naturally oscillate
How can we understand the reflection of light by a metal surface? A piece of metal has electrons free
to move through the entire solid. This is what makes a metal a metal: it conducts both electricity and
heat easily, both are actually carried by currents of these freely moving electrons. (Well, a little of the
heat is carried by vibrations.) But metals are recognizable because they’re shiny—why’s that?
Again, it’s those free electrons: they’re driven into large (relative to the atoms) oscillations by the
electrical field of the incoming light wave, and this induced oscillating current radiates
electromagnetically, just like a current in a transmitting antenna. This radiation is the reflected light.
For a shiny metal surface, little of the incoming radiant energy is absorbed as heat, it’s just reradiated,
.that is, reflected
Now let’s consider a substance that absorbs light: no transmission and no reflection. We come very
close to perfect absorption with soot. Like a metal, it will conduct an electric current, but nowhere
near as efficiently. There are unattached electrons, which can move through the whole solid, but they
constantly bump into things—they have a short mean free path. When they bump, they cause
vibration, like balls hitting bumpers in a pinball machine, so they give up kinetic energy into heat.
Although the electrons in soot have a short mean free path compared to those in a good metal, they
move very freely compared with electrons bound to atoms (as in glass), so they can accelerate and
pick up energy from the electric field in the light wave. They are therefore very effective
.intermediaries in transferring energy from the light wave into heat
Relating Absorption and Emission
Having seen how soot can absorb radiation and transfer the energy into heat, what about the reverse?
Why does it radiate when heated? The pinball machine analogy is still good: imagine now a pinball
machine where the barriers, etc., vibrate vigorously because they are being fed energy. The balls (the
electrons) bouncing off them will be suddenly accelerated at each collision, and these accelerating
charges emit electromagnetic waves. On the other hand, the electrons in a metal have very long mean
free paths, the lattice vibrations affect them much less, so they are less effective in gathering and
radiating away heat energy. It is evident from considerations like this that good absorbers of radiation
.are also good emitters
In fact, we can be much more precise: a body emits radiation at a given temperature and
frequency exactly as well as it absorbs the same radiation. This was proved by Kirchhoff: the
essential point is that if we suppose a particular body can absorb better than it emits, then in a room
full of objects all at the same temperature, it will absorb radiation from the other bodies better than it
radiates energy back to them. This means it will get hotter, and the rest of the room will grow colder,
contradicting the second law of thermodynamics. (We could use such a body to construct a heat
(!engine extracting work as the room grows colder and colder
But a metal glows when it’s heated up enough: why is that? As the temperature is raised, the lattice of
atoms vibrates more and more, these vibrations scatter and accelerate the electrons. Even glass glows
.at high enough temperatures, as the electrons are loosened and vibrate
The “Black Body” Spectrum: a Hole in the Oven
Any body at any temperature above absolute zero will radiate to some extent, the intensity and
frequency distribution of the radiation depending on the detailed structure of the body. To begin
analyzing heat radiation, we need to be specific about the body doing the radiating: the simplest
possible case is an idealized body which is a perfect absorber, and therefore also (from the above
.”argument) a perfect emitter. For obvious reasons, this is called a “black body
But we need to check our ideas experimentally: so how do we construct a perfect absorber? OK,
nothing’s perfect, but in 1859 Kirchhoff had a good idea: a small hole in the side of a large box is an
excellent absorber, since any radiation that goes through the hole bounces around inside, a lot getting
absorbed on each bounce, and has little chance of ever getting out again. So, we can do this in
reverse: have an oven with a tiny hole in the side, and presumably the radiation coming out the hole is
as good a representation of a perfect emitter as we’re going to find. Kirchhoff challenged theorists
and experimentalists to figure out and measure (respectively) the energy/frequency curve for this
“cavity radiation”, as he called it (in German, of course: hohlraumstrahlung, where hohlraum means
hollow room or cavity, strahlung is radiation). In fact, it was Kirchhoff’s challenge in 1859 that led
!directly to quantum theory forty years later
What Was Observed: Two Laws
:The first quantitative conjecture based on experimental observation of hole radiation was
Stefan’s Law (1879): the total power P radiated from one square meter of black surface at
:temperature T goes as the fourth power of the absolute temperature

Five years later, in 1884, Boltzmann derived this T 4 behavior from theory: he applied classical
thermodynamic reasoning to a box filled with electromagnetic radiation, using Maxwell’s equations to
relate pressure to energy density. (The tiny amount of energy coming out of the hole would of course
have the same temperature dependence as the radiation intensity inside.) See the accompanying notes
.for details of the derivation
Exercise: the sun’s surface temperature is 5700K. How much power is radiated by one square meter
of the sun’s surface? Given that the distance to earth is about 200 sun radii, what is the maximum
?power possible from a one square kilometer solar energy installation
:Another important finding was Wien’s Displacement Law
As the oven temperature varies, so does the frequency at which the emitted radiation is most intense.
:In fact, that frequency is directly proportional to the absolute temperature

Wien himself deduced this law theoretically in 1893, following Boltzmann’s thermodynamic)
reasoning. It had previously been observed, at least semi-quantitatively, by an American astronomer,
.Langley.) The formula is derived in the accompanying notes
In fact, this upward shift in fmax with T is familiar to everyone—when an iron is heated in a fire, the
first visible radiation (at around 900K) is deep red, the lowest frequency visible light. Further increase
in T causes the color to change to orange then yellow, and finally blue at very high temperatures
(10,000K or more) for which the peak in radiation intensity has moved beyond the visible into the
.ultraviolet
This shift in the frequency at which radiant power is a maximum is very important for harnessing
solar energy, such as in a greenhouse. The glass must allow the solar radiation in, but not let the heat
radiation out. This is feasible because the two radiations are in very different frequency ranges—
5700K and, say, 300K—and there are materials transparent to light but opaque to infrared radiation.
.Greenhouses only work because fmax varies with temperature
 What Was Observed: the Complete Picture
By the 1890’s, experimental techniques had improved sufficiently that it was possible to make fairly
precise measurements of the energy distribution in this cavity radiation, or as we shall call it black
body radiation. In 1895, at the University of Berlin, Wien and Lummer punched a small hole in the
.side of an otherwise completely closed oven, and began to measure the radiation coming out
The beam coming out of the hole was passed through a diffraction grating, which sent the different
wavelengths/frequencies in different directions, all towards a screen. A detector was moved up and
down along the screen to find how much radiant energy was being emitted in each frequency range.
(This is a theorist’s model of the experiment—actual experimental arrangements were much more
sophisticated. For example, to make the difficult infrared measurements higher frequency waves were
eliminated by multiple reflections from quartz and other crystals.) They found a radiation
:(intensity/frequency curve close to this (correct one

.The visible spectrum begins at around 4.3×1014 Hz, so this oven glows deep red
One minor point: this plot is the energy density inside the oven, which we denote by ρ(f, T),
meaning that at temperature T, the energy in Joules/m3 in the frequency interval f, f + Δf is ρ(f,
.T)Δf
To find the power pumped out of the hole, bear in mind that the radiation inside the oven has waves
equally going both ways—so only half of them will come out through the hole. Also, if the hole has
area A, waves coming from the inside at an angle will see a smaller target area. The result of these
two effects is that the
.(radiation power from hole area A = ¼ Ac ρ(f, T
(.Detailed derivation of the ¼ is in the notes)
They were also able to confirm both Stefan’s Law P = σT 4 and Wien’s Displacement Law by
:measuring the black body curves at different temperatures, for example
Let’s look at these curves in more detail: for low frequencies f, ρ( f, T) was found to be proportional
to f 2, a parabolic shape, but for increasing f it fell below the parabola, peaking at fmax, then dropping
.quite rapidly towards zero as f increased beyond fmax
For those low frequencies where ρ( f, T) is parabolic, doubling the temperature was found to double
the intensity of the radiation. But also at 2T the curve followed the doubled parabolic path much
.(further before dropping away—in fact, twice as far, and fmax(2T) = 2fmax(T
The curve ρ( f, 2T), then, reaches eight times the height of ρ( f, T). (See the graph above.) It also
spreads over twice the lateral extent, so the area under the curve, corresponding to the total energy
.radiated, increases sixteenfold on doubling the temperature: Stefan’s Law, P = σT 4
Understanding the Black Body Curve
These beautifully precise experimental results were the key to a revolution. The first successful
theoretical analysis of the data was by Max Planck in 1900. He concentrated on modeling the
oscillating charges that must exist in the oven walls, radiating heat inwards and—in thermodynamic
.equilibrium—themselves being driven by the radiation field
The bottom line is that he found he could account for the observed curve if he required these
oscillators not to radiate energy continuously, as the classical theory would demand, but they could
only lose or gain energy in chunks, called quanta, of size hf, for an oscillator of frequency f. The
.constant h is now called Planck’s constant, h = 6.626 × 10-34 joule.sec
With that assumption, Planck calculated the following formula for the radiation energy density inside
:the oven

The perfect agreement of this formula with precise experiments, and the consequent necessity of
.energy quantization, was the most important advance in physics in the century
But no-one noticed for several years! His black body curve was completely accepted as the correct
one: more and more accurate experiments confirmed it time and again, yet the radical nature of the
quantum assumption didn’t sink in. Planck wasn’t too upset—he didn’t believe it either, he saw it as a
.technical fix that (he hoped) would eventually prove unnecessary
Part of the problem was that Planck’s route to the formula was long, difficult and implausible—he
even made contradictory assumptions at different stages, as Einstein pointed out later. But the result
was correct anyway, and to understand why we’ll follow another, easier, route initiated (but not
. successfully completed) by Lord Rayleigh in England
Rayleigh’s Sound Idea: Counting Standing Waves
In 1900, actually some months before Planck’s breakthrough work, Lord Rayleigh was taking a more
direct approach to the radiation inside the oven: he didn’t even think about oscillators in the walls, he
just took the radiation to be a collection of standing waves in a cubical enclosure: electromagnetic
oscillators. In contrast to the somewhat murky reality of the wall oscillators, these standing
.electromagnetic waves were crystal clear
This was a natural approach for Rayleigh—he’d solved an almost identical problem a quarter century
earlier, an analysis of standing sound waves in a cubical room (§267 of his book). The task is to find
and enumerate the different possible standing waves in the room/oven, compatible with the boundary
conditions. For sound waves in a room, the amplitude of the sound goes to zero at the walls. For the
electromagnetic waves, the electric field parallel to the wall must go to zero if the wall is a perfect
.(conductor (and it’s OK to assume this—see note later
So what are the allowed standing waves? As a warm up exercise, consider the different allowed
:modes of vibration, that is, standing waves, in a string of length a fixed at both ends

:The possible values of wavelength are

So the allowed frequencies are

These allowed frequencies are equally spaced c/2a apart. We define the spectral density by stating
that
number of modes between f and f + Δf = N(f )Δf
where we assume that Δf is large compared with the spacing between successive frequencies.
Evidently for this one-dimensional exercise N(f ) is a constant equal to 2a/c, each mode corresponds to
.an integer point on the real axis in units c/2a
 :The amplitude of oscillation as a function of time is

more conveniently written

:The allowed values of k (called the wave number) are

The generalization to three dimensions is simple: in a cubical box of side a, an allowed standing wave
must satisfy the boundary conditions in all three directions. This means the choices of wave numbers
:are

:That is to say, each modes is labeled with three positive integers

:and the frequency of the mode is

Details of the electromagnetic waves, and derivation of this formula, are given in the accompanying )
(.notes
For infrared and visible radiation in a reasonable sized oven, frequency intervals measured
experimentally are far greater than the spacing c/2a of these integer points. Just as in the one-
dimensional example, these modes fill the three-dimensional k-space uniformly, with density (a/π)3,
.but now this means the mode density is not uniform as a function of frequency
The number of them between f and f + Δf = N(f )Δf is the volume in k-space, in units (π/a)3, of the
spherical shell of radius k = 2πf/c, thickness Δk = 2πΔf/c, and restricted to all components of k being
.positive (like the integers), a factor of 1/8
Including a factor of 2 for the two polarization states of the standing electromagnetic waves, the
:density of states as a function of frequency in an oven of volume V = a 3 is

giving the density of radiation states in the oven

Details of this analysis can be found in the notes. If you’re wondering why it’s OK to have an oven with essentially)
perfectly reflecting walls when we were previously insisting on absorbing walls, Kirchhoff proved long before that two
such ovens at the same temperature will have the same radiation intensity—otherwise energy could be transferred from
(.one to the other, violating the Second Law
?What about Equipartition of Energy
A central result of classical statistical mechanics is the equipartition of energy: for a system in thermal
equilibrium, each degree of freedom has average energy ½kT. Thus molecules in a gas have average
kinetic energy 3/2kT, ½kT for each direction, and a simple one-dimensional harmonic oscillator has
.total energy kT: ½kT kinetic energy and ½kT potential energy
Comparing now the formula for the number of modes N(f )Δf in a small interval Δf

:with Planck’s formula for radiation energy intensity in the same interval

For the low frequency modes hf << kT we can make the approximation

.and it follows immediately that each mode has energy kT

But things go badly wrong at high frequencies! The number of modes increases without limit, the
energy in these high frequency modes, though, is decaying exponentially as the frequency increases.
Ehrenfest later dubbed this the ultraviolet catastrophe. Rayleigh’s sound approach apparently
.wasn’t so sound after all—something crucial was missing
It is perhaps surprising that Planck never mentioned equipartition. Of course, as Rayleigh himself remarked, equipartition
was well-known to have problems, for example in the specific heat of gases. And in fact Planck wasn’t even sure about the
existence of atoms: he later wrote that in the 1890’s “I had been inclined to reject atomism” (see notes). In fact, even
Boltzmann was very unsure how well oscillators came to thermal equilibrium with electromagnetic radiation—after all, it
was well known that oscillation of diatomic molecules failed to reach classical thermal equilibrium with kinetic energy.
(As long ago as 1877, Maxwell had pointed out that hot gases emit light at particular frequencies. The frequencies do not
change with temperature, so the oscillations must be simple harmonic—but such an oscillator would surely also be excited
(?by collisions at low temperatures, so why was energy not being fed into this mode
Einstein Sees a Gas of Photons
As mentioned earlier, after Planck announced his result in December, 1900 there was a deafening
silence on the subject for several years. No-one (including Planck) realized the importance of what he
had done—his work was widely seen as just a clever technical fix, even if it did give the right answer
.((the curve itself was completely accepted as correct
Then in March, 1905, Albert Einstein turned his attention to the problem. He first rederived the
:Rayleigh result assuming equipartition
and observed that this made no sense at high frequencies. So he focused on Planck’s formula for high
:frequencies, hf >> kT

.(actually identical in this region to an earlier formula by Wien)

.Einstein perceived an analogy here with the energy distribution in a classical gas
Recall from the last lecture that the (normalized) probability distribution function for classical atoms
as a function of speed v was

,
and the corresponding energy density in v is

The radiation formula at high frequencies is

Einstein pointed out that if the high frequency radiation is imagined to be a gas of independent
particles having energy E = hf, the energy density in frequency in the radiation is

Comparing this with the expression for atoms, the analogy is close: recall that for the radiation,
frequency is proportional to wave number and, on quantization, to momentum; for the (nonrelativistic)
atoms velocity is proportional to momentum, so both these distributions are essentially in momentum
space. Of course, the normalization factors differ, because the total number of atoms doesn’t change
with temperature, unlike the total radiation. Nevertheless, the analogy is compelling, and led Einstein
to state that the radiation in the enclosure was itself quantized, the energy quantization was not some
special property only of the wall oscillators, as Planck thought. The radiation quanta are of course
.photons, but that word wasn’t coined until later
Einstein had been troubled by Planck’s derivation of his result, depending as it did first, on a classical
analysis of the interaction between the wall oscillator and radiation, followed by a claim that the
interaction was in fact not like that at all. But the answer was right, and now Einstein began to see
why. In contrast to the poorly understood wall oscillators, the electromagnetic standing wave
.oscillations in the oven were completely clear
Energy in an Oscillator as a Function of Temperature
Einstein realized that, in terms of Rayleigh’s electromagnetic standing waves, the blackbody radiation
curves have a simple interpretation: the average energy in an oscillator of frequency f at temperature T
is

Furthermore, Planck’s work made plausible that this same quantization held for the material
.oscillators in the walls
Einstein took the next step: he conjectured that all oscillators are quantized, for example a vibrating
atom in a solid. This would explain why the Dulong Petit law, which assigns specific heat 3k to each
atom in a solid, does not hold good at low temperatures: once kT << hf, the modes are not excited,
so absorb little heat. The specific heat falls, as is indeed observed. Furthermore, it explains why
diatomic gas molecules, such as oxygen and nitrogen, do not appear to absorb heat into vibrational
.modes—these modes have very high frequency
It’s worth thinking about the constant exchange of energy with the environment for an oscillator in
thermal equilibrium at temperature T. The random thermal fluctuations in a system have energy of
order kT, this is the amount of energy, approximately, delivered back and forth. But if an oscillator
has hf = 5kT, say, it can only accept chunks of energy of size 5kT, and will only be excited in the
unlikely event that five of these random kT fluctuations come together at the right place at the right
time. The high frequency modes are effectively frozen out by this minimum energy requirement. The
exponential drop off in excitation with frequency reflects the exponential drop off in probability of
getting the right number of fluctuations together, analogous to the exponential drop off in probability
.of tossing a coin n heads in a row
Simple Derivation of Planck’s Formula from the Boltzmann’s Distribution
Planck’s essential assumption in deriving his formula was that the oscillators only exchange energy
with the radiation in quanta hf. Einstein made clear that the well-understood standing electromagnetic
.waves, the radiation in the oven, also have quantized energies
As discussed in the previous lecture, the probability of a system at temperature T having energy E is

proportional to Boltzmann’s formula. It turns out that this formula continues to be valid in
quantum systems. Now, a classical simple harmonic oscillator at T will have a probability distribution

proportional to so the expectation value of the energy is

.just the classical equipartition of energy

But we now know this isn’t true if the oscillator is quantized: the energies are now in steps hf apart.
Taking the ground state as the zero of energy, allowed energies are
… ,hf, 2hf, 3hf ,0
and assuming the Boltzmann expression for relative probabilities is still correct, the relative
:probabilities of these states will be in the ratios
To find the oscillator energy at this temperature, we use these probabilities weighted by the
:corresponding energy, and divide by a normalization factor to ensure that the probabilities add up to 1

This is indeed the correct result from the black body experiments. Evidently Boltzmann’s relative

.probability function is still valid in quantum systems

A Note on Wien’s Displacement Law
It is easy to see how Wien’s Displacement Law follows from Planck’s formula: the maximum

radiation per unit frequency range is at the frequency f for which the function is a
.maximum. Solving numerically gives hfmax=2.82kT
It can be established theoretically (and is confirmed experimentally) that the equation connecting the
:frequency of maximum energy intensity in units of Joules/m3/Hz is

However, the law is often stated in terms of the wavelength at which the intensity, now measured in
Joules/m3/m, that is, per unit interval of wavelength, and

The important point to notice here is that these formulas do not give the same result, as is easily

verified, since , not the speed of light! The reason is that the two measures,
per unit interval of frequency and per unit interval of wavelength, are different, so a claim that, say,
sunlight is most intense in the yellow has to specify which is being used (actually it would be
.(wavelength, frequency would give the near infrared
The graphs of black body radiation as a function of temperature were generated using an Excel
spreadsheet. You are welcome to download this spreadsheet and use it to explore how radiation varies
.with temperature. It’s very easy to use—you just put in the temperature and watch the graph change
DOWNLOAD SPREADSHEET
A nice example of black body radiation is that left over from the Big Bang. It has been found that the
intensity pattern of this background radiation in the Universe follows the black body curve very
precisely, for a temperature of about three degrees above absolute zero. More details can be found
.here
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Absorbed Solar Radiation

Solar radiation absorbed by various materials
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Absorbed Solar Radiation by Surface Color
In general the solar energy absorbed can be approximated by the surface color
Absorb Factor - Fraction of Incident
Surface Color Radiation Absorbed
(approximated)

White smooth surfaces 0.40 - 0.25

Grey to dark grey 0.50 - 0.40

Green, red and brown 0.70 - 0.50

Dark brown to blue 0.80 - 0.70

Dark blue to black 0.90 - 0.80

Absorbed Solar Radiation by Material

Absorb Factor - Fraction of Incident
Substance
Radiation Absorbed

Aluminum, polished 0.30

 Aluminum paint 0.20

Aluminum, anodized 0.15

Brick, glazed 0.35

Brick, common light red 0.55

Brick, common red 0.68

Brick, wire cut red 0.52

Brick, blue 0.89

Cork 0.45

Limestone, light 0.35

Limestone, dark 0.50

Linoleum, red-brown 0.84

Sandstone, light grey 0.62

Sandstone, red 0.73

Marble, white 0.44

Soft rubber, gray 0.65

Marble, dark 0.66

Granite, reddish 0.55

Magnesium oxide, evaporated 0.08

Graphite 0.84

Porcelain 0.50

Steel, vitreous enameled green 0.76

Steel, vitreous enameled dark red 0.81

Steel, vitreous enameled blue 0.80

Iron, galvanized new 0.64

Iron, galvanized dirty 0.92

Iron, galvanized white washed 0.22

Concrete 0.60

Copper, polished 0.18

Copper, tarnished 0.64

 Lead, old 0.79

Asbestos cement, roof tiles old 0.83

Asbestos cement, roof tiles red 0.69

Asbestos slate 0.81

Asphalt roofing, new 0.91

Asphalt roofing, old 0.82

Bitumen-covered roofing sheet, brown 0.87

Slate, blue grey 0.87

Tile, clay red 0.64

Tile, concrete uncolored 0.65

Tile, concrete black 0.91

Vitreous enamel, white 0.39

White Dutch tile 0.18

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1977 Googin, John M. (Oak
Googin,
Ridge,John
TN), M.
Schmitt,
(Oak
4048980
Ridge,
CharlesTN),
R. (Oak
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James
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United States The United States ofhttp://w

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Solar radiation absorbing material
United States Patent 4048980

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:US Patent References

High efficiency solar panel
Kapany - October, 1976 - 3985116

Solar heat absorbing tubing

Spielberg - July, 1976 - 3968786

Solar energy trap

Brantley, Jr. - May, 1976 - 3958553

N/A
Ersek - October, 1971 - 3612059

Solar heater
Bangues - July, 1965 - 3194228

:Inventors

(Googin, John M. (Oak Ridge, TN

(Schmitt, Charles R. (Oak Ridge, TN
(Schreyer, James M. (Oak Ridge, TN
(Whitehead, Harlan D. (Clinton, TN

:Application Number

05/664859

:Publication Date

09/20/1977

:Filing Date

03/08/1976
 :Export Citation

Click for automatic bibliography generation

:Assignee

The United States of America as represented by the United States Energy (Washington,
(DC

:Primary Class

126/661

:Other Classes

165/133 ,138/145 ,126/907 ,126/663

:International Classes

F24J2/48; F24J2/00; (IPC1-7): F24J3/02

:Field of Search

138/145 ,165/133 ,126/271 ,126/270

:View Patent Images

Download PDF 4048980 PDF help

:US Patent References

31297 126/2
Surfaces for collectors of solar radiation April, 1964 Tabor
03 70

30792Thermally resistant articles and method for February, Johnso 165/1

73 their fabrication 1963 n 33

29178 December, 126/2

Receiver for solar energy collectors Tabor
17 1959 70
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:Primary Examiner

.Camby, John J
 :Assistant Examiner

.Yuen, Henry C

:Attorney, Agent or Firm

.Carlson, Dean E
.Hamel, Stephen D
.Uzzell, Allen H

:Claims

:What is claimed is

In a solar collector comprising in combination means for absorbing solar energy from .1
incident solar radiation and means for conducting said energy to a heat transfer
medium, the improvement wherein said means for absorbing solar energy is provided
with a solar selective surface comprising carbon, said surface having a majority of
.external pores within the range of about 0.2-2 micrometers

The solar collector of claim 1 wherein said means for absorbing solar energy .2
comprises a thermally conductive substrate and said solar selective surface comprises a
solar selective array of carbon particles in a binder for adhering said carbon particles
.together and to said thermally conductive substrate

The solar collector of claim 2 wherein a majority of said carbon particles have .3
.diameters within the range of about 0.2-10 micrometers

The solar collector of claim 2 wherein said carbon particles have been fired to above .4
.1900° C

A method of providing a thermally conductive substrate with a selective solar energy .5

absorbing coating, said method comprising adhering a coating comprising carbon
particles to said surface, a majority of said carbon particles having diameters within the
.range of 0.2-10 micrometers

.The method of claim 5 wherein said carbon particles are fired to above 1900° C .6

The solar collector of claim 2 wherein said carbon particles have a majority of external .7
.pores within the range of about 0.2-2 micrometers

The solar collector of claim 7 wherein said carbon particles have been fired to above .8
.1900° C

A method of providing a thermally conductive substrate with a selective solar energy .9

absorbing coating, said method comprising adhering a coating comprising carbon
particles to said surface, said carbon particles having a majority of external pores within
.the range of about 0.2-2 micrometers

.The method of claim 9 wherein said carbon particles are fired to above 1900° C .10
 :Description

In general, a solar collector is an apparatus having a collector surface and adapted for absorbing
energy from incident solar radiation and conducting the energy as heat to a heat transfer means for
transport to the site of ultimate use or conversion to another form of energy. For purposes of this
invention, a solar collector is an apparatus comprising in combination means for absorbing energy
from incident solar radiation and means for conducting the absorbed energy as heat to the heat transfer
means. In solar collectors, the energy absorbing means often is a black coating on a metallic substrate.
The metallic substrate also functions as a heat conductive means. The coating in combination with the
metallic substrate (usually polished) absorbs energy from incident solar radiation and conducts the
energy through the metallic substrate to a circulating heat transfer fluid such as water. An example of
a heat conductive substrate provided with a selective solar energy absorbing coating is shown and
described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,413 issued to James R. Lowry on Nov. 18. 1975. The Lowry patent
shows a heat conductive metal surface provided with a selective solar energy absorbing coating of
electrodeposited black nickel. The solar selective coating method of the present invention is useful for
coating such a metallic substrate as well as a thermally conductive non-metallic coating, and solar
collectors coated according to this invention are useful for heating heat transfer fluids for use in
.heating buildings, generating electricity and other applications
PRIOR ART
A variety of coatings for absorbing solar energy are known in the prior art. Any black material such as
some of the alkyd resin enamels or flat black paints containing high color carbon black pigment will
provide a surface with a high solar energy absorbtivity. Unfortunately, such paints are non-selective
for solar energy, and they emit much of the absorbed solar radiation as infrared radiation to the
surroundings. Solar energy is utilized substantially more efficiently when the coating is solar
selective. Solar selective coatings are characterized by a high absorbitivity for visible light and a low
.emissivity (high reflectivity) for infrared radiation
Solar selective coatings in the prior art include ceramic enamels containing lead sulfide, chromium
oxide, the mixed oxides of copper, or the mixed sulfides of nickel-zinc; and electrodeposited black
coatings, such as black chrome, black nickel, black zinc, as well as black copper. These coatings are
typically applied as thin (1000-3000A) coatings to metal substrates. The metal substrates are thus
treated to lessen infrared emissivity, and the coating and the substrate function as a selective solar
.absorber
The chief disadvantage of the prior art solar coatings are the high costs associated with their initial
application and maintenance. Coating thickness control is critical to the prior art coatings because for
each coating material used there is an optimum thickness range for the ratio of solar energy
absorbtivity to solar emissivity. This ratio needs to be kept as high as possible without significant loss
in absorbtion in the visible wavelengths to obtain maximum efficiency. As the thickness in these
coatings increases above the optimum value, selectivity is lost and the coatings resemble non-selective
black paint in properties. Because precise surface preparation and thickness control is essential to the
efficiency of these coatings, the cost of the coating operations is often prohibitive. In a November,
1974 NASA technical memorandum; NASA TM-X-71730 "Survey of Coatings for Solar Collectors"
N-75-23989, available from the National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of
Commerce, Springfield, Va.; the price of coating surfaces is disclosed. The quoted prices excluded
surface preparation and materials cost and ranged from 50 cents per sq. ft. for ALKYD enamel and
.black copper to 80 cents per sq. ft. for black chrome and black zinc
Metal surface preparation for prior art coatings methods include sand blasting and abrasive-grit
honing, organic solvent washing, anodic surface dissolution cleaning, acid cleaning, preelectroplating,
electrolytic alkaline chelating cleaners, rinsing, etc. For paints, the metal surface must be freed of
loose oxide, and coating with an anticorrosion coating and primer. Some electodeposition processes
require electrodeposition of a metal layer before the black coating. For example, when black chrome
is used as a solar-selective coating on steel, the steel needs first to be plated with nickel to prevent the
steel from rusting since the black chrome provides no such protection. If black chrome is plated on
aluminum, the aluminum either is first plated with nickel, after zincating, or is plated directly with
.chromium prior to plating with black chrome
Some of the prior art coatings are subject to ultraviolet deterioration, deterioration by corrosion and
contamination, or thermal degradation. Thin electrodeposited black coatings are easily lost by
.abrasion
Furthermore, the cost of repairing the prior art coatings is substantially higher since the solar collector
.must be disassembled and subjected to the expensive surface repreparation and coating processes
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a solar selective surface and coating method requiring
.substantially reduced material cost and application cost
It is a further object to provide a solar selective surface and coating method which functions
.independently from the surface coated and requires no strict thickness control
It is a further object to provide a coating method with substantially less expensive surface treatment
.than prior art coatings
It is also an object to provide a solar collector having a solar selective surface which is easily
.repairable by non-skilled personnel and without extensive disassembly
These and other objects are accomplished according to this invention by providing in a solar collector
comprising in combination means for absorbing solar energy from incident solar radiation and means
for conducting said energy to a heat transfer medium, the improvement wherein said means for
absorbing solar energy is provided with a solar selective surface comprising carbon, said surface
.having a majority of external pores within the range of about 0.2-2 micrometers
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
An aspect of this invention is the use as a solar selective surface of a material of high absorbtivity for
visible light in a porous configuration capable of reflecting infrared radiation, thereby reducing the
thermal emissivity of the surface. Such a surface therefore functions as a "black hole" for visible light
.and a reflector for infrared radiation. Carbon is a particularly suitable material for this purpose
It has been found according to this invention that carbon in suitable configuration has solar selective
properties comparable to expensive prior art solar selective coatings. A solar selective carbon surface
according to this invention is a porous surface having a majority of pores within the range of 0.2-2
micrometers. Such a carbon surface has good absorbtive properties for the visible wavelengths of
solar radiation, but acts as a reflector for longer wavelengths of infrared radiation, above about 2
micrometers wavelength. The desired results are achievable in any surface having sufficient pores
within the 0.2-2 micrometers range to demonstrate solar selectivity. Though some degree of solar
selectivity is demonstrated in coatings having fewer than a majority of pores within the range, the
greater the pore fraction within the range of about 0.2-2 micrometers, the more solar selective will be
the surface. While the solar selective surface of this invention consists essentially of carbon or carbon
particles in a suitable binder, minor amounts of impurities may be present without seriously detracting
from the performance of the coating. Types of carbon useful for providing solar selective surfaces of
this invention are those forms which have high absorbtivity for visible light, and include amorphous,
semigraphitic, and graphitic carbon, as opposed to diamond which is substantially transparent to
visible light. Configurations of carbon which demonstrate solar selective properties include solid
microporous carbon articles having a majority of surface pores within the range of 0.2-2 micrometers,
and an array of carbon particles or fibers having interparticle or interfiber spaces in the range of 0.2-2
micrometers. As used herein, the terms "pore size" or "diameter" referring to pores or particles refers
to the equivalent area diameter of the particle or pore (the diameter of a circle having equivalent area
.(as the pore or a planar projection of the particle
According to this invention, an efficient solar collector is a solid carbon body having a majority of
external pores in the range of 0.2-2 micrometers. For purpose of this invention, external pores are
those pores on the surface of the carbon body which is exposed to incident solar radiation. Such a
carbon body functions as both a solar selective absorber and a thermal conductor; thus an efficient
solar collector can be fabricated from such a body equipped with appropriate conduit means for a heat
transfer fluid. Smaller carbon bodies, such as carbon or graphite microspheres, having external pores
in the 0.2-2 micrometers range are adhered with a suitable binder to a thermally conductive substrate
.to provide a solar selective surface
Those skilled in the art of carbon and graphite technology are capable of fabricating a variety of
carbon articles having controlled pore size distribution. This is routinely accomplished by varying
certain parameters in the manufacturing process. For example, the pore characteristics of a carbon
body are ordinarily a function of the pores of the precursor material and the coking temperature.
Carbon microspheres having a pore size distribution suitable for providing the solar selective surface
of this invention are commercially available or may be prepared by coking commercially available
cation exchange resins. Suitable carbon microspheres may be readily prepared by slowly coking
polymer beads to about 900° C in flowing nitrogen or inert atmosphere for 48 hours. Suitable polymer
beads are crosslinked polystyrene prepared from a polymerization mix containing about 16 mole
percent divinylbenzene. There are a variety of methods for making suitable carbon precursor beads in
.the art
Typical of such methods is the method for making crosslinked polystyrene beads by the pearl
polymerization technique more fully described in Ion Exchange, Friedrich Helfferich, McGraw Hill
Book Company, New York (1962) pp. 35-37. The pore size is regulated by controlling the degree of
crosslinking, which is determined by the divinylbenzene concentration in the polymerization mix. If
desired, particle size can be controlled by mechanical agitation, dispersants, and other means such as
described in the article "Particle Size in Suspension Polymerization", F. H. Winslow and W.
.Matreyek; Ind. Eng. Chem. 43 (1951) pp. 1108--1112
An example of carbon microspheres showing the approximate pore size distribution useful for this
invention and a method for making them is described in the article "Carbon Microspheriods As
Extinguishing Agents for Metal Fires" by C. R. Schmitt in "The Journal of Fire and Flammability",
Vol. 5 (July, 1974) pp. 223-233 which is incorporated herein by reference. Though the pore size
shown therein are prehaps slightly larger than desirous for solar selective coatings, controlled heating
of the coked particles above about 2000° C will shrink the pore size to the desired range, or the degree
of crosslinking in the polystyrene may be increased by increasing the divinylbenzene content in the
.polymerization mix from about 12 mole percent to about 16 mole percent
Other solar selective configurations of carbon include carbon fibers or whiskers, such as fibrous
graphite, oriented in such a manner as to provide a majority of pores within the range of about 0.2-2
micrometers. For example, fibrous graphite may be prepared by carbonizing and graphitizing rayon
fibers and orienting them to a thermally conductive substrate by conventional electrostatic flaccing
techniques to provide a brush type configuration. By controlling the spaces between the fibers to a
range of about 0.2-2 microns, a solar selective surface is provided by the ends of the fibers. This
surface provides "black holes" for visible light while acting as a reflector for infrared radiation. The
length of the fibers should be at least 5 to 10 times the interfiber space to provide sufficient visible
.light trapping
A particularly useful application of this invention is the art of providing solar selective coatings for
thermally conductive surfaces such as in conventional type solar collectors. An inexpensive, easily
applied selective coating is a solar selective array of carbon particles in a suitable binder. A solar
selective array is a coating of carbon particles of suitable size to provide the proper interparticle
spaces about 0.2-2 micrometers to act as reflectors for infrared radiation above about 2 micrometers
wavelength and is easily provided by a coating of carbon particles in a suitable binder, a majority of
the carbon particles having diameters between about 0.2 micrometers and 10 micrometers. Of course,
the greater the majority of particles within the required range, the more efficient will be the array for
admitting visible light and reflecting infrared. Enhanced efficiency is achieved when the particles have
.been fired above about 1900° C
Accordingly, an effective inexpensive solar collector comprises a collector surface in thermal
communication with a heat transfer medium, said surface being provided with a solar selective array
of carbon particles for absorbing solar energy from incident solar radiation. An improved coating
method for providing a thermally conductive substrate with a selective solar energy absorbing surface,
comprises adhering a coating comprising carbon particles to said surface, a majority of said carbon
.particles having diameters between about 0.2 micrometers and 10 micrometers
A suitable binder is any ceramic or adhesive material such as the acrylic thermoplastic resins which is
capable of adhering the carbon particles together and to the heat conductive surface. Preferred binder
materials are those which are transparent to visible light and which are effective in small amounts.
The binder should be highly resistant to weathering and to thermal degradation at the operating
temperature. The binder should preferably be substantially infrared transparent in the thickness used.
Suitable binder materials are readily available and include sodium silicate of high SiO 2 to Na 2 O ratio,
such as sodium silicate after leaching with hydrofluosilicic acid, hydrolyzed ethyl silicate, acrylic
resin, phenolic resins, polyester resins, styrene and copolymers, epoxides, and high temperature
.polymers as adhesives
The solar selectivity attainable with carbon particles of diameter in the range of 0.2-10 micrometers is
believed to be caused by moderately high absorbtion for visible light through the interparticle spaces
coupled with a high reflectance for the near infrared radiation (hence low thermal emissivity). It is
believed that the array of carbon particles functions as a reflector for infrared in the thermal range,
.above about 2 micrometers wavelength
Closely packed particles much below 0.2 micrometers in diameter have interparticle spaces too small
for high visible absorbtion, and particles much larger than 10 micrometers are poor infrared reflectors,
hence have high infrared emissivity, thereby substantially lessening the solar selectivity of the array of
.particles
The carbon particles used in the solar selective array of this invention are readily distinguishable from
carbon and lampblack particles used for the production of pigments, such as the channel process and
furnace process carbon blacks used in inks and flat black paints. Such high color carbon black
particles have particle diameters ranging from 0.02-0.04 microns with low color carbon blacks having
particles of 0.06 microns. While coatings such as flat black paints have been used to coat solar panels
in the prior art, such coatings are non-solar selective, the particles being too small and too dispersed to
act as an infrared reflector. While the overall absorbtivity of such dilute dispersions of particles is
high, so is their thermal emissivity, thus they function much as a theoretical black body--high
.absorbance and high emittance for all wavelengths
The 0.2-10 micrometer particles used in this invention are sometimes found in graphite paints. They
are grey in color and are typically used for their corrosion resistance or high temperature capabilities
rather than for their pigment properties or absorbtion properties. The particles useful for providing the
solar selective coatings of this invention include low- and medium-thermal thermatomic carbons as
well as particles having varying degrees of graphitization, including rough surfaced carbon and
graphite microspheres having diameters of about 10 to 50 micrometers. While the diameters of such
microspheres generally lie outside the 0.2-10 micrometer range, the microspheres demonstrate solar
.selectivity due to their surface pore sizes within the 0.2-2 micrometer range
While efficient solar selective coatings can be made with substantially amorphous thermatomic carbon
experiencing temperature no higher than the 100° C of a normal manufacturing process, we have
found that a significant improvement in efficiency is achieved when the particles have been fired to
above about 1900° C. Above this temperature, third degree ordering (graphitization) takes place in the
carbon particles. It is believed that heat treatment of the carbon particles above 1900° C increases their
solar efficiency by increasing the degree of crystallinity of the particles. The enhanced efficiency is
probably explainable by the more crystalline particles providing a rough surface which refracts and
back-reflects the incident solar radiation within the particle array to more efficiently absorb its energy.
.The increased ordering also enhances the thermal and electrical conductivities
It appears that any degree of third dimensional ordering or graphitization enhances the efficiency of
the carbon particles of this invention for selectively absorbing solar radiation. The coating method of
this invention may employ any form of carbon or graphite particles within the proper particle size
range, and the scope of this invention is not limited to the examples shown, but only by the claims.
Based upon this disclosure, those skilled in the art of graphite and carbon technology can produce a
variety of solar selective powders of carbon and graphite of various degrees of graphitization which
.will demonstrate high efficiency for collecting solar energy
All that is necessary for providing a selective solar energy absorbing surface on a thermally
conductive substrate (such as the collector surface in a solar collector) is that the carbon particles of
suitable size be dispersed in a suitable binder and adhered to the surface by brushing, spraying, or any
other suitable means, much like applying ordinary paint. The substrate need only be sufficiently clean
and dry to provide for satisfactory adherence. An efficient solar collector is provided according to this
invention by the combination of an array of carbon particles of suitable size in a suitable binder in
thermal communication with a means of conducting absorbed energy as heat to a heat transfer
.medium
There are several significant advantages to the coating system of this invention. The high temperature
capability of a carbon or graphite coating with a high temperature binder such as silica would make
the method of this invention useful for coating a central solar energy receiver such as is proposed for
those solar energy systems comprising a plurality of rotatable mirrors focusing on a central receiver
tower. Furthermore, the coating method of this invention requires practically no preliminary surface
treatment. The thickness of the carbon particle array is not critical. The carbon particle coating may be
readily applied in any conventional manner like paint, by untrained personnel. Also, the coating is
easily repairable simply by brushing or spraying carbon particles in a suitable binder over the
damaged area. Since coating thickness is no longer a critical consideration, a solar collector need not
.be disassembled to make repairs to the coating
The amount of binder used in the coating method of this invention should be kept to the minimum
necessary for satisfactory adherence, in order that the carbon particles have maximum particle to
particle contact for maximum interparticle electrical and thermal conductivities and to provide for the
proper interparticle spaces. A preferred method of adhering the carbon particle array to the surface is
to brush or spray a mixture of the carbon particles about 70 to 80 wt. % in a suitable volatile vehicle
such as methylene chloride containing an acrylic resin binder of about 2 to 5 wt. %. After the vehicle
evaporates, the carbon particles remain firmly bound to the surface to provide a solar selective array
with only a small amount of binder. This minimum amount of binder will vary with different materials
.and may be routinely determined for any combination
The relatively solar selectivity of two coatings may be manifested by their ability to raise the
temperature of their respective substrates when exposed to an equal flux of solar radiation. As a
demonstration of the efficiency of the solar selective carbon surfaces of this invention an experimental
comparison between carbon coatings of this invention with various non-carbon prior art coatings is
.made
EXPERIMENTAL
A number of copper test plates, 4 × 4 × 1/16 inch thick, to which various surface coatings were
applied were mounted in a foamed plastic test panel and the panel was exposed to sunlight by
maintaining it stationary at a constant tilt angle, facing south such that each plate received an equal
solar flux density as the sun traversed from east to west. The copper plates were degreased with
methylene chloride and cleaned of oxide film by abrading with silicon carbide paper and rinsing with
deionized water. After applying te experimental coating to be evaluated, the plates were mounted on
the foam-panel test stand by taping a thermistor to its back surface and taping down the exposed edges
to its top surface to eliminate heat losses by outside air movement. The thermistors were connected to
an electronic data logger capable of measuring the temperature of the plates within 0.01° F. Prior to
the coating evaluations, the thermistors were calibrated by placing them collectively into a single
black body air cavity and recording the temperature over an eight hour period. The temperature
.variations between the thermistors was found to be + 0.2° F
Various carbon and non-carbon coatings were applied. The coatings and method of application are
.described below. The results are presented in table I
Non-carbon Coatings
Hawshaw Standard Black Chrome .1
This coating was prepared by first plating with approximately 0.0005-inch of dull nickel at 40 amps/ft
2
for 15 minutes and then overplating with black chrome obtained from Hawshaw Chemical Company,
(CHROMONYX, at 24 volts and 200 amps/ft 2 . (Ref.: NASA TM-X-71731, May, 1975
Electrodeposited Chromium .2
This black coating was deposited electrochemically at a temperature of 90°-115° F and a current
density of 40-90 amperes/sq. ft. from a solution of the following composition: chromic acid, 33-40
.oz/gal; acetic acid, 28.2 oz/gal; and barium acetate 1 oz/gal
Commercial Black Velvet Paint .3
This coating was obtained from the Decorative Products Division of the 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn.
.It is part of the "Nextel" Brand Velvet Coating Series 101
Carbon Coatings
Carbon Microspheroids .4
This coating consisted of carbon microspheroids of approximately minus 50 mesh particle diameter
mixed with acrylic resin, in a 95.5 wt. % microsphere to resin ratio. The coating was applied with a
vehicle of mixed solvents (methylene chloride, methylethyl ketone, xylene, and methyl isobutyl
(ketone
(Heat-treated Thermax Powder -- (fired to 2850° C in inert atmosphere for 30 minutes .5
This coating was applied as 18.7 wt. % heat-treated Thermax, (medium, thermatonic carbon having a
mean particle diameter of 0.47 micrometers) 0.3 wt. % acrylic resin and 81 wt. % of a mixed solvent
containing equal amounts of methyl ehtyl ketone, methylene chloride, methyl isobutyl ketone and
xylene. The coating was applied by pressure spraying and was approximately 1/3 mil. thick (0.008
.(.mm
Dylon Graphite Paste .6
This coating is a proprietary finely divided graphite suspension used as a commercial high-
.temperature furnace coating
Non-heat treated Thermax Powder .7
This coating was applied as 18.7 wt. % unfired Thermax, (medium thermatomic carbon having a mean
particle diameter of 0.47 micrometers) 0.3 wt. % acrylic resin and 81 wt. % of a mixed solvent
containing equal amounts of methyl ethyl ketone, methylene chloride, methyl isobutyl ketone and
xylene. The coating was applied by pressure spraying and was approximately 1/3 mil. thick (0.008
.(.mm
Table I

__________________ ________________________________________________________

Comparative Evaluation of Coatings on Four Inch Test Plates Air Temp. Black Body Temp.
 __________________ ________________________________________________________

Hawshaw Standard

2.5 133.4 102.4 84.8

Black Chrome

Electrodeposited

1.4 140.0 128.5 99.5

Chrome

Commercial Black

1.8 90.5 84.3 76.1

Velvet Paint

Carbon Microspheroids

2.3 94.6 84.3 76.1

Heat Treated Thermax

2.1 93.3 84.3 76.1

Powder

Dylon Graphite Paste

1.9 150.4 127.2 101.7

Thermax-non-heat

1.7 143.7 127.2 101.7

Treated

__________________ ________________________________________________________

STR1####
As indicated in Table I, the carbon based coatings of this invention are comparable in efficiency with
commercial selective coatings. The ratio column indicates a measure of the degree of performance
compared with a theoretical black body, hence the degree of selectivity of the coatings, since the black
body temperature represents the temperature attained with a non-selective coating of 100%
.absorbtivity
The following experiment demonstrates the efficiency of non-heat treated Thermax powder, mean
.particle diameter 0.47 micrometers with respect to commercial standard Black Velvet Paint
Experimental
Two solar panels of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 were coated with solar selective coatings--
one with a surface coating of Black Velvet Paint about 0.125 mm. thick and one spray coated with a
fluid mixture comprised of 18.7 wt. % medium thermal carbon particles, 0.47 micrometer average
diameter; 0.3 wt. % acrylic resin (Lucite Bead Polymer, E. I. DuPont No. 4FNC99) and 81 wt. %
mixed solvents (equal volumes of methylene chloride, methyl ethyl ketone, xylene, and methyl
isobutyl ketone). The solvents were allowed to evaporate from the collector surface leaving a carbon
.powder-acrylic resin film between 0.025 and 0.10 mm. thick
Each panel had a collector surface area of 10 sq. ft (2 ft. × 5 ft.) and was comprised of a steel plate
having steel tubes attached with a copper braze. A total of 8 steel tubes were mounted in a
longitudinal direction across the plate. The exposed surface (steel plate, steel tubes, copper braze) was
coated with a thin film of copper. Each of the coated panels was mounted in a wooden frame and
covered with two 1 mm. thick front face films of polyvinyl fluoride to minimize black reflection from
the coating. This film is not necessary for use with carbon based coatings of this invention but was
used for comparability. The two films which were separated by an aluminum frame that provided a 1
.inch air space between them, were fitted by thermal shrinkage
The two framed panels were placed side by side in a horizontal position on wooden supports with
each coating directed toward the sun. The tubes of the panels were connected to a common water inlet
manifold equipped with a thermometer. Two thermistors were installed on each outlet from the panels
to provide separate and statistically significant temperature measurements. The thermistors were
connected to an electronic data logger. The water flow rate through each collector panel was
controlled by valves and rotameters which were periodically calibrated to assure substantially
.identical flow rates for each panel. The results of these runs are summarized in Tables II and III
Table II

__________________ ________________________________________________________

Solar Radiation Collection Data for Panels Coated With Carbon Particles and
Black Velvet Paint

__________________ ________________________________________________________

Ambient

Inlet Outlet Water Temp. ° F

(Water Flow Rate (gal/hr

Heat Collected

(Btu/hr/ft)

Temperature
 Water Carbon

*Black Velvet

Carbon

Black Velvet

Carbon

Black Velvet

Time Fahrenheit

Temp. ° F

Particles

Paint Particles

Paint Particles

Paint

__________________ ________________________________________________________

5.5 5.5 2.35 2.35 82.0 82.0 79.2 61.8 10:20

91.0 91.0 79.2 63.0 10:40

90.0 90.0 77.5 64.3 10:50

90.0 90.0 77.7 64.0 11:00

42.0 48.2 2.16 2.38 109.0 110.0 85.7 68.3 11:20

98.8 100.1 2.35 2.35 143.0 143.7 92.6 76.2 12:20

146.0 146.0 93.4 77.1 12:40

148.0 148.1 94.0 79.4 13:00

107.6 109.6 2.28 2.31 150.2 150.5 93.6 81.3 13:20

108.2 114.5 2.30 2.40 150.2 151.0 93.8 83.8 13:30

108.0 112.1 2.35 2.35 151.0 153.1 95.9 90.2 14:20

 (2) 14:25

150.8 153.2 96.2 89.5

(2) 14:40

142.5 144.9 95.1 89.6

(2) 14:50

89.5 97.5 2.25 2.31 143.0 145.9 95.3 85.3

139.2 140.7 95.5 95.4 15:20

133.3 134.3 94.2 93.4 15:50

__________________ ________________________________________________________

Average of two measurements on the outlet water (2) Passing cloud *

Table III

__________________ ________________________________________________________

Solar Radiation Collection Data for Panels Coated with Carbon Paarticles and
Black Velvet Paint

__________________ ________________________________________________________

Ambient

Inlet Outlet Water Temp. ° F

(Water Flow Rate (gal/hr

Heat Collected

(Btu/hr/ft)

Temperature

Water Carbon

*Black Velvet

Carbon
 Black Velvet

Carbon

Black Velvet

Time Fahrenheit

Temp. ° F

Particles

Paint Particles

Paint Particles

Paint

__________________ ________________________________________________________

9:40

5.6 13.4 3.2 3.2 85.4 88.3 83.3 68.8

10:00

22.2 40.8 3.2 3.2 89.0 96.0 80.7 73.7

10:20

38.4 51.8 3.2 3.2 97.5 102.5 83.1 78.3

10:40

105.1 109.9 85.5 78.8

10:45

108.4 112.6 86.4 80.4

11:00

113.8 117.0 87.4 84.2

11:20

120.8 123.7 89.6 83.4

 11:40

127.0 129.1 90.0 86.6

12:00

131.9 133.4 91.8 83.8

13:20

114.9 124.9 2.8 3.1 140.9 140.0 91.7 83.9

13:40

120.2 123.1 3.1 3.1 138.1 139.2 91.6 84.6

14:00

111.7 118.4 3.1 3.1 136.6 139.6 93.4 87.2

14:20

136.7 137.4 93.2 93.3

14:40

132.6 136.7 94.4 83.4

15:00

123.5 129.5 94.7 87.8

15:30

83.3 95.8 3.0 3.2 128.1 130.7 94.8 95.5

__________________ ________________________________________________________

Average of two temperature measurements *

As seen from the above data, the carbon particles applied according to this invention performed
consistently better than did the commercial standard Black Velvet Paint. Furthermore, as indicated in
Table III, the carbon-based coating was substantially more effective at lower temperatures than the
.Black Velvet Paint
As indicated by the data in Table I, (samples 5 and 7) heat treating carbon particles increases their
efficiency for absorbing solar radiation. It is well known in the art that carbon particles, regardless of
source, begin to graphitize (show three dimensional ordering) at about 1900° C and continue to
graphitize as the temperature is raised above 3000° C. By beginning with carbon decomposition
products of various aromatic compounds, a multiplicity of partially graphitized carbons can be
produced. According to this invention, substantially superior efficiency is obtained when carbon
.particles in the 0.2-10 micrometers diameter range are fired above 1900° C
FIG. 1 is an example of a solar collector in combination with the coating of this invention. This solar
collector comprises means for absorbing solar energy from incident radiation, represented by the
selective coating of this invention 1 and means for conducting said energy to a heat transfer medium,
represented by the panel surface 2 and the tubes 3. Heat transfer fluid passes through the tubes 3 and is
heated by the absorbed solar radiation and is transported to the site of ultimate energy utilization. A
plastic cover 4 to prevent damage and reduce back reflection may or may not be used. In FIG. 2, an
end view of a section of the collector is shown. The coating thickness is much magnified for
visualization. Actually the carbon particle coating need be no thicker than necessary to completely
.cover the heat conductive surface as judged by the naked eye
The solar selective carbon particle array of this invention may be provided without a binder and
without manual application by a variety of vapor deposition processes and by treating the surface with
.an organic precursor such as partially polymerized furfuryl alcohol
In another embodiment, an efficient solar collector requiring no coating 1 is provided by a panel
surface 2 in combination with tube 3. The surface and tubes are fabricated from carbon having a
.majority of external pores within the range of 0.2-2 micrometers
Based upon the teachings of this disclosure, those skilled in the art can undoubtedly fabricate solar
selective coatings and articles from non-carbon materials having high absorbance and high
conductivity. Such materials are contemplated as equivalents to the forms of carbon used for the
.method and apparatus of this invention

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!How solar heating works
:Explore here how Solar heating Works, what you can do with it and all the technical stuff
How Solar Heating Works.1
?Can I fit a solar water heating system to my existing hot water tank.2
?Which is best, flat panel or evacuated tube.3
?What happens when I don’t need any more hot water and the sun is shining.4
Solar for Swimming Pools.5
Advantages of the Radiant Solar system.6
Technical Information on the Radiant Solar collector.7
How Solar Heating Works
Solar Thermal heating works by absorbing the warmth from the sun into a panel or collector. We have
all felt that warmth when the sun is shining. And by putting that collector behind glass, much like in a
.green house or the inside of our cars, the warmth from the sun will be captured
The Radiant Solar system uses a tube of glass rather than a flat plate or panel. Inside this tube is
another glass tube and both are formed together to create a vacuum seal. This is known as an
evacuated tube. The inner surface of this vacuum tube has a special dark coating to absorb greater
.amounts of solar warmth
A temperature sensor is fitted to the collector to measure that temperature at all times. Another
temperature sensor is fitted in the hot water tank to measure this temperature at all times. If the
collector temperature is higher than the tank temperature the solar controller turns on the solar pump.
.If the collector temperature is not greater than the tank temperature then the pump will stop
The controller makes sure that heat is never pumped out of the tank but only into the tank. The
.controller enables you to set the maximum tank temperature require for optimum efficiency
A typical Solar water heating system uses a roof mounted collector (panel), angled towards the south
to capture heat from the sun. About 1m2 of collector area is needed for each person in the household,
with a minimum size of around 2.5m2. The collector contains a special solar fluid (usually a mixture
of water and non-environmentally damaging anti-freeze) which is warmed by the sun's rays, and then
 pumped through a heat exchange coil in the hot water tank. As this coil warms up it transfers the heat
to the water in the tank. The cooled solar fluid is then pumped back up to the collector to be reheated
once again. An expansion vessel built into the system allows for any expansion or contraction of the
.solar fluid as it warms and cools
Any solar-based system will still need a conventional water heater - powered by gas, oil or electricity -
to provide back up. Remember, the sun doesn’t always shine! However, in hot weather solar energy
should be sufficient to provide all the hot water needed, and even on a cool day it will help to raise the
.temperature of the water a little, meaning the conventional system doesn't have to work as hard

In some cases the conventional water heater is used to heat a main water tank, with the solar heating
system warming water in a second tank which feeds into the main supply via a diverter valve. It is
simpler and more efficient, however, to have two heating coils in a single tank. One is heated by solar
energy, and the other by the conventional heating source. The conventional heater takes over when a
.thermostat in the tank warns that the water temperature has fallen
^ back to top ^
?Can I fit a solar water heating system to my existing hot water tank
There is a special device we supply called a solar syphon that enables a new solar system to connect to
an existing tank. This can be used to connect to either an open vented tank or an unvented tank and
saves on the extra expense of a new tank. This device can be supplied with your Radiant Solar system
.when required
^ back to top ^
?Which is best, flat panel or evacuated tube
As far as performance is concerned the evacuated tube offers the best overall performance. The
Radiant Solar system uses a special type of evacuated tube known as the ‘U’ tube. This means that
.there is a ‘U’ shaped tube inside the glass evacuated tube
 The heating fluid flows down the ‘U’ tube inside each of the evacuated tubes collecting energy
absorbed through the tube. There is a heat absorption aluminium heat transfer sheet to further assist
the energy absorption. Behind the tubes is a special parabolic mirror to reflect and concentrate the
suns energy all around the circumference of the tube. This ensures a fantastic rate of energy
production compared to the simple flat panel design. The rate of heat absorption is greater than any
.other type of evacuated tube or flat panel system
However, for those of you who prefer the style and appearance of a flat panel, these can be substituted
.upon request
^ back to top ^
?What happens when I don’t need any more hot water and the sun is shining
When there is no further demand the heating fluid stops and stagnates in the collector. Because of the
design of the system components the collector can tolerate temperatures up to 295 degrees C. The
solar controller in our Radiant Solar system will periodically pump a small amount of this very hot
fluid out of the collector to help protect the entire solar system and to continually monitor the
.situation
^ back to top ^
Solar for Swimming Pools
There are two ways of heating a swimming pool with solar warmth. The first is a direct type whereby
the pool water is pumped through special solar collectors. These collectors are mostly just coils of
plastic pipe mounted on a nearby roof. They perform particularly well in hot climates but are not best
.suited to the UK climate. Radiant do not supply this type of solar equipment
The second and superior way is to use a standard solar collector and through a heat exchanger
.indirectly heat the pool water
 The Radiant Solar collector can be used to solely heat the pool or as part of some system integration
.schemes

When used as an addition to heating the hot water cylinder a special pool heat exchanger is used. This
fits in to the pool filtration circuit in the same way as any pool heat exchanger does. Using the Radiant
advanced solar controller surplus solar warmth is diverted into the special heat exchanger. The system
design has to be such that large collector areas do not overpower the hot water cylinder or any other
part of the system. It is advisable to use the Radiant system design service when considering heating
.your pool with solar warmth
^ back to top ^
Advantages of the Radiant Solar system
Less panels (collectors) required than for standard flat panel systems.1
Better year round performance, ideal for indoor pools and spa’s.2
Can be integrated into the main heating system.3
Can supplement the existing pool heating.4
Good all year round performance thanks to the CPC technology.5
An alternative to solar is a dedicated swimming pool air source heat pump. For information on these
.see our air source Pool heat pump ASHP page
^ back to top ^
Technical Information on the Radiant Solar collector
The Radiant Solar collectors are manufactured by Ritter Solar, a leading name in the world of solar
.heating
The different widths of the collector modules offer considerable flexibility in the design of tailor-made
collector arrays. Short assembly times are guaranteed thanks to off-the-shelf collector units and simple
technology for connecting several collectors in series. The use of high quality materials guarantees
considerable operational security and a long service life. Thanks to the CPC reflector, it is ensured that
.each individual tube is always optimally oriented to the sun
The CPC evacuated solar collectors provide high energy yield and long life expectancy. Produced
from quality materials and components, the solar collectors are corrosion resistant and easy to install
 and maintain. Hailstone impact tests, in accordance to EN12975-2 and thermal shock tests by ITW
.ranks this collector amongst the finest solar system in the market place
The CPC evacuated solar collectors are the most advanced technology solar collector available today.
Designed specifically to perform efficiently in climates similar to the UK, the vacuum insulation and
the CPC reflector produces a remarkable “all weather, all year round” performance. Manufactured
from borosilicate glass 3.3 the solar tube is a product with improved geometry and performance. The
evacuated tunnel consists of two concentric glass tubes which are sealed in a semicircular shape on
one side and are joined to one another on the other side. The space between the tubes is evacuated and
then hermetically sealed. The internal glass tube is coated with an environmentally friendly, highly
‘sensitive’ layer on the outside, thus turning it into an absorber. The coating is protected against
adverse weathering influences within the evacuated space. The aluminium spatter coating used is
.characterised by extremely low emission and excellent absorption
To increase the performance efficiency of evacuated tube collectors, a highly reflective, weather-proof
CPC reflector (Compound Parabolic Concentrator) is fitted behind the evacuated tubes. The special,
improved geometry of the reflector ensures that direct and diffused solar radiation falls on the
absorber even when the angle of incidence is not ideal. This considerably improves the energy yield of
the solar collector. A series of evacuated solar tubes fit into an insulated manifold chamber. The
manifold heat exchanger and the heat transfer tubing inside the solar tubes are copper for maximum
durability and performance. The flow and return pipes to the collector are fitted on the left or right of
the manifold. Sensor pockets are provided on the manifold for simple and effective controller
operation. The reflector is produced from a metal sheet with protective coating using accurate roll
forming technology. Degradation over the life of the solar collector is minimal. Replacement of the
reflector is easy because the special fastening technique allows the reflector to be replaced without
.using tools
All Glass evacuated tubes (see figure 1 below) are the key component of the Radiant Solar Collectors
.and Solar Water Heaters
Each evacuated tube consists of two glass tubes. The outer tube is made of extremely strong
transparent borosilicate glass that is able to resist impact from hail up to 25mm in diameter. The inner
tube is also made of borosilicate glass, but coated with a special selective coating, which features
.excellent solar heat absorption and minimal heat reflection properties
The air is evacuated from the space between the two glass tubes to form a vacuum, which eliminates
conductive and convective heat loss. This is why the tubes are able to absorb the energy from infrared
rays which can pass through clouds. Wind and low temperatures also have less of effect on the
function of evacuated tubes when compared to flat plate solar collectors due to the insulating
.properties of the vacuum
ALL Glass evacuated tubes are aligned in parallel, the angle of mounting depends upon the latitude of
your location. In a North South orientation the tubes can passively track heat from the sun all day. In
an East West orientation they can track the sun all year round. The shape of the tubes provides
superior absorption when compared to flat plate collectors for a number of reasons: 1) As the tube is
.round, the sun's rays are always striking the tubes surface at right angles, thus minimizing reflection
If the collector surface is flat, the amount of solar radiation striking the collector surface is only at its
maximum at midday when the sun is directly above the collector. In the morning or afternoon the
sun's rays strike the collector's surface at an angle, and thus the amount of solar radiation that the
collector is exposed to is reduced. Evacuated tubes, however, are round, and thus the amount of solar
radiation striking the collector is relatively constant from mid morning to mid afternoon. This feature
maximizes the total amount of solar radiation the collector is exposed to each day. Furthermore, the
sun is always striking the tubes at an angle which is perpendicular to their surface thus reducing
reflection. Any sunlight that is reflected off the glass surface or that passes between the tubes is
reflected back to the underside of the tube by the reflective backing panel. The tubes exposure to, and
.subsequent absorption of solar radiation is therefore maximized. See figure 2 below
 STRUCTURE OF ALL-GLASS EVACUATED SOLAR COLLECTOR TUBE

DEFINATION OF SPECIAL TERMS FOR ALL GLASS EVACUATED TUBES

(Solar Selective Absorption Coating (SURFACE
A special coating that is of high absorbance and low emittance of solar radiation on surface of the
(absorber (Inner Tube
(Absorber of an All-Glass Evacuated Solar Collector Tube (here after as ABSORBER
The inner glass tube with SOLAR SELECTIVE ABSORBING COATING on the surface. It
.transforms solar radiation into heat
Vacuum gap in All-Glass Evacuated Tube
The vacuum space between inner and outer glass tube prevents heat losing from the tube by
conduction and convection
Flash Getter
.A kind of getter absorbs air when it is evaporated and concreted on the surface of inner tube
 Stagnation Temperature of an All-Glass Evacuated Tube
The immobile air in the all glass evacuated tube will reach its Max temperature when it is radiated
.under the designated solar radiation
Stagnation Parameter of an All-Glass Evacuated Tube
Stagnation parameter = (Stagnation temperature - Environmental temperature)/Solar radiant intensity
Average Heat Loss Coefficient of All-Glass Evacuated Tube
There is heat loss and temperature decline of absorber if there is no solar radiance. AVERAGE HEAT
LOSS COEFFICIENT is the power loss per area of absorber under the condition there is 1°C
.difference between the average water temperature inside the tube and the environmental temperature
Evacuated tube collector CPC06/12/18 for domestic water heating and backup space heating, series
.connection Heat exchanger material: copper
Series CPC 6 CPC 12 CPC 18
Number of evacuated tubes 6 12 18
,(η0 (Aperture area
% 64.2 64.2 64.2
DIN 4757-4 or EN 12975
c1 with wind, in relation to aperture (W/(m2k 0.89 0.89 0.89
c2 with wind, in relation to aperture (W/(m2k2 0.001 0.001 0.001
Kθ,trans (50°), in relation to
1 1 1
aperture
Kθ,long (50°), in relation to
0.9 0.9 0.9
aperture
Grid dimensions (length, height, x 1.64 x 0.70 x 1.64 x 1.39 x 1.64 x 2.08
m
(depth 0.1 0.1 0.1
Gross surface area m2 1.15 2.28 3.41
Aperture area m2 1.0 2.0 3.0
Collector contents l 0.8 1.6 2.4
Weight kg 19 37 54
Max. working overpressure bar 10 10 10
Max. stagnation temperature C° 295 295 295
Connection diameter, clamping ring mm 15 15 15
Sensor sleeve mm 6 6 6
Al / Cu / glass / silicone / PBT / EPDM /
Collector material
TE
Glass tube material borosilicate glass 3.3
Selective absorber coating material aluminium nitrite
/.Glass tube (Ø ext./Ø int
mm 47/37/1.6/1500
(.wall thickness/tube len
 Colour (aluminium frame profile,
aluminium grey
(anodised
(Colour (plastic parts black
ITW test
Thermal shock test 02COL282
.no
Hailstone test according to DIN EN TÜV test
435/142448
12975-2 .no
EN 12975, RAL UZ 73, Solar Keymark
Other tests and approvals
ISO 9001
DIN CERTCO - Register number 011-7S113R
(Certification (The Solar Keymark
What is a 'Keymark'? The Keymark is a third-party certification mark, demonstrating to users and
consumers the compliance of products with the requirements of the relevant CEN/CENELEC
.(Standard(s
Some of the basic European Mark Scheme rules
.Type testing is performed by a third-party testing laboratory
Type testing is performed by a Manufacturers shall apply a quality system of at least the level of the
.(EN-ISO 9002 standard (maybe with a transitional period, of a maximum of three years
.There will be periodic surveillance of the products
Bodies engaged in certification, testing and inspection need to fulfil the requirements of the relevant
.EN 45000/17000 series standard, and are accredited for the scope of their activity
(Download copy of solar keymark certificate (70KB
^ back to top ^
IMPACTS OF THE SOLAR KEYMARK
The intention of the Solar Keymark is that it will open up the European market for solar thermal
products. The goal is for the Keymark to replace all the existing different national or regional
certifications. A solar thermal product will need only one test, according to the European standard,
.and this test will be valid throughout Europe
The consequences will be as follows: As the products are tested to the same criteria all over EU, it will
be easier to compare different products and give fairer competition
^ back to top ^

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A mixture of propylene glycol, water and corrosion inhibitors that is able to withstand
extremes of temperatures. This fluid should be inspected periodically and replaced when
.necessary