A Graphical User Interface to Calculate Solar Radiation on Spreadsheets

Abstract

Spreadsheets are ubiquitous and easily understandable. They are used for calculations in scientific quantitative analysis and graphing. Scientists have used spreadsheets for calculations, simulations, and graphical user interface (GUI) applications. In the current work, we develop a spreadsheet that can be used to calculate three types of solar radiation: direct beam solar radiation, (BSR), diffused solar radiation (DSR), and global solar radiation (GSR) for any region in the world. The necessary input data for the calculations are latitude, longitude, and prime meridian. The GUI calculates BSR, DSR, and GSR for a particular day of the month; i.e. the daily solar radiation, and for a specific time of the year; i.e. the year solar radiation. The GUI also compares three types of radiation in three cities. The spreadsheet can teach students about solar radiation and its dependence on geographical location. The student can use this GUI easily. This graphing utility differs from other online tools because it takes fewer inputs and provides accurate results.