A novel pyrheliometer, based on a solar irradiance concentration method, has been designed, constructed and calibrated. An analytical model of the instrument was developed and incorporated for the design and investigation of the instrument performance. The apparatus contains a small receiver that intercepts and absorbs the solar beam irradiation near the focus of a convex lens, by which the flux is concentrated. The irradiated receiver area is isothermal owing to its small dimensions and high thermal conductivity. Therefore, a single thermo-couple is sufficient to measure the temperature difference between the receiver irradiated area and its surroundings. The solar irradiative flux is evaluated by substituting the recorded temperature difference into, either, a linear experimental calibration chart or into a linear characteristic formula that was derived analytically. The instrument calibration was performed at the Israeli Institute of Standards, using an EPLAB normal incidence pyrheliometer as a reference. The new instrument is inexpensive, simple and portable. Its accuracy is suitable for routine field measurements of direct solar beam irradiation. The analytical model is typical to many solar radiation collection problems and could be considered as useful analytical tool, beyond the specific purpose for which it was developed.
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August 2004
Technical Papers
On the Design and Analysis of a Pyrheliometer Comprising a Convex Lens
A. Olbinsky,
A. Olbinsky
Department of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
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G. Mittelman
G. Mittelman
Department of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
Search for other works by this author on:
A. Olbinsky
Department of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
G. Mittelman
Department of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
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 Division September 2003; final revision March 2004. Associate Editor: A. Steinfeld.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Aug 2004, 126(3): 915-920 (6 pages)
Published Online: July 19, 2004
Article history
Received:
September 1, 2003
Revised:
March 1, 2004
Online:
July 19, 2004
Citation
Dayan , A., Olbinsky , A., and Mittelman, G. (July 19, 2004). "On the Design and Analysis of a Pyrheliometer Comprising a Convex Lens ." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. August 2004; 126(3): 915–920. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1758724
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