In the field of solar engineering the practical performance of solar energy conversion devices is generally evaluated strictly on an energy (first law) basis. However, the second law of thermodynamics determines the maximum work potential or exergy content of radiative fluxes independent of any conceptual device. The work in this paper quantifies the effect of directional and spectral distribution of terrestrial solar radiation (SR) on its exergy content. This is particularly important as the thermodynamic character of terrestrial SR is very different from that of blackbody radiation (BR). Exergetic (second law) efficiencies compare the work output of a device to the exergy content of the radiative source flux rather than its energy flux. As a result, exergetic efficiencies reveal that the performance of devices in practice is always better than what is indicated by the corresponding energy efficiency. The results presented in this paper introduce the benefits of using exergy analysis for solar cell design, performance evaluation and optimization.
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February 2004
Technical Briefs
Exergetic Efficiencies and the Exergy Content of Terrestrial Solar Radiation
Sean E. Wright,
e-mail: email: swright@carbon.cudenver.edu
Sean E. Wright
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado at Denver, Campus Box 112, P.O. Box 173364, Denver, Colorado, 80217-3364, USA
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Marc A. Rosen
Marc A. Rosen
School of Manufacturing Engineering, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 7K4, Canada
Search for other works by this author on:
Sean E. Wright
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado at Denver, Campus Box 112, P.O. Box 173364, Denver, Colorado, 80217-3364, USA
e-mail: email: swright@carbon.cudenver.edu
Marc A. Rosen
School of Manufacturing Engineering, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 7K4, Canada
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS for publication in the ASME JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the ASME Solar Energy Division, August 2001; final revision, June 2003. Associate Editor: A. Kribus.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Feb 2004, 126(1): 673-676 (4 pages)
Published Online: February 12, 2004
Article history
Received:
August 1, 2001
Revised:
June 1, 2003
Online:
February 12, 2004
Citation
Wright, S. E., and Rosen, M. A. (February 12, 2004). "Exergetic Efficiencies and the Exergy Content of Terrestrial Solar Radiation." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. February 2004; 126(1): 673–676. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1636796
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