Solar Resource Assessment and Meteorology Flashcards
7 cards from real SE ENGR. practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Solar Resource Assessment and Meteorology flashcards as text
What does a Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) dataset represent?
Answer: A synthetic year of hourly data representing average long-term conditions
A TMY is a composite dataset of 12 selected months from different years, chosen to statistically represent the long-term average solar and meteorological conditions at a location.
Which irradiance component should be prioritized when designing a concentrating solar power (CSP) system?
Answer: Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI)
CSP systems use optical concentrators that can only focus direct beam radiation, so DNI is the critical resource parameter for CSP site selection and energy modeling.
At what solar zenith angle does the Optical Air Mass (AM) equal approximately 2?
Answer: 60°
Air Mass is approximated as 1/cos(zenith angle); at a zenith angle of 60°, cos(60°) = 0.5, so AM = 1/0.5 = 2.
The Linke Turbidity Factor (TL) quantifies which atmospheric characteristic?
Answer: Atmospheric haziness due to aerosols, dust, and water vapor
The Linke Turbidity Factor describes the optical thickness of the atmosphere relative to a clean, dry atmosphere, accounting for aerosols, dust, and water vapor that attenuate solar radiation.
Which of the following is a widely used commercial satellite-derived solar resource dataset for global projects?
Answer: Solargis
Solargis is a leading provider of satellite-derived solar radiation data and is widely used for bankable solar resource assessments globally.
What is the primary cause of attenuation of solar radiation as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere?
Answer: Absorption and scattering by gases, aerosols, and clouds
Solar radiation is attenuated primarily by absorption from gases (O₂, O₃, H₂O, CO₂) and scattering by aerosol particles and cloud droplets as it travels through the atmosphere.
The solar altitude angle is defined as the angle between:
Answer: The sun's rays and the horizontal plane at the observer's location
The solar altitude angle (also called solar elevation angle) is the angle between the sun's rays and the horizontal plane, complementary to the solar zenith angle.