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By 1918 over 4000 systems were installed in USA.
Section 3.1 - History Of Solar Energy
In 1891, Baltimore entrepreneur Clarence Kemp became the first man to patent a solar thermal system.
Clarence Kemp successfully marketed his invention to homes up and down the east coast of America. By 1897, a third of the homes in Pasadena, California had water heated by the sun.
Section 3.3 - Solar Radiation Fuel
Section 3.2 - Solar Related Terminology
Absorber Plate: The blackened surface in a collector that absorbs the solar radiation and converts it to heat energy.
Absorbance: It is the ratio between the radiation absorbed by a surface (absorber) and the total amount of solar radiation striking the surface. (Solar Yield)
Array: An assembly of solar panels assembled for a specific application.
Azimuth: The angular distance between true south and the point on the horizon directly below the sun. (Orientation)
Diffuse Radiation: Indirect sunlight that is scattered from air molecules, dust and water vapour.
Direct Radiation: Solar radiation that comes straight from the sun, casting shadows on a clear day.
Solar Constant: The average intensity of solar radiation reaching the earth outside the atmosphere: (equal to 442.4 BTU/hr/ft² or 1395 watts/m²).
Solar Fraction: % of demand supplied by solar thermal system.
Essentially the sun is a huge nuclear fusion reactor which converts hydrogen into helium. It radiates energy because of its extreemly high surface temperature, approx. 6000 Degrees Celcius. Approx. 33% of the radiation that hits earth is reflected back, and the remainder is obsorbed and eventually transmitted back out to space over time. Essentially the earth radiates as much energy as it recieves which is a stable energy balance. This recycling stable balance of energy is there to be harnessed by all across the Ireland & indeed the world (Renewable Energy).
The "tilt angle" refers to the angle to which the solar panels are set at. For instance in the winter time when the sun is not as high in the sky a tilt angle of approx. 90 degrees is most effective. Similary in the summer when the sun is at its highest position, the most efficient recovery angle is approx. 48 degrees, with the 2 other seasons Autumn and Spring set somewhere in between, around 68-70 Degrees to optimism its efficiency.
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