KEYWORDS: Lamps, Computer simulations, Solar energy, Solar radiation models, Fluctuations and noise, Sensors, Superposition, Data modeling, Solar radiation, Light sources
The unsteady motion of a solar simulator was simulated using dynamic mesh technology in Fluent software. The dynamic irradiation characteristics of the simulator were studied under various conditions. Mesh updates were achieved using a dynamic layering method, and the periodic lifting motion of the simulator was defined using user-defined functions (UDF). Detailed dynamic irradiance characteristics were obtained for comparison with experimental results. The results showed that the simulator height and the number of light sources used were the main factors that affected the irradiance. The irradiance has a linear relationship with the simulator height, which means that the irradiance nonuniformity decreases with decreasing solar height; in addition, the sum of the irradiances under the various operating conditions matches the superposition of the irradiance. The dynamic irradiation numerical results are consistent with the experimental results at typical points, which verifies the reliability of the moving mesh numerical model. The validated model can be used to study various simulator conditions and provides forecast data for diurnal variation simulation of solar radiation.
To simulate solar radiation at the earth's surface, a new economical multiple-lamp solar simulator was designed. The
solar simulator is comprised of 188 reflector sunlight dysprosium lamps whose light spectrum is very similar to air mass
1.5 (AM1.5) solar spectrum terrestrial standards. Lamps are configured in a hexagonal pattern with 15 columns of 12 or
13 lamps at a lamp-to-lamp spacing and column-to-column spacing of 295mm. Without altering the radiation spectral
distribution, the average irradiance on target irradiated area can be adjusted over a wide range between 150 and
1100W/m2 by means of the variation of lamps number or/and lamp-to-irradiated area distance. At the height of 2.0m the
solar simulator provides 2m×1.5m irradiated area with over 1000 W/m2. Measurement of irradiance indicates that the
multiple-lamp simulator conforms to Class B of ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) Standard (ASTM
E927-2005) in regard to spectrum match, irradiance uniformity and stability. To enlarge the effective irradiated area, two
large mirror-like stainless steel plates was mounted on both of the long sides of the solar simulator. The radiation
characteristics of simulator are improved and the optimized effectively irradiation surface is expanded up to 81.6%.
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