Angular Space –Time Relations in Solar Radiation

Abstract

The engineer relies greatly on Meteorological data for solar energy applications. In most case the available equipments indicate only the hourly or daily total irradiance on a flat horizontal surface. However, a more basic or fundamental information may also be necessary especially when application call for a knowledge of the apparent motion of the sun relative to an observer on earth. In such cases, the controlling equations are often stated without proof. The present submission synthesizes this aspect of spherical geometry in heavenly kinematics in form concise enough for engineering and meteorological applications. The final expressions will be familiar to workers in meteorology and to engineers involved in solar energy instrumentation and utilization on ground. The analyses are educational adaptations of engineering mechanics to this growing field of heliotechnoloy.