Development of a Low-Cost Solar Pyranometer

Abstract

Effective solar projects require effective solar data collection, however with the high cost of pyranometers in the market, there arose the need to construct a low-cost device for the purpose of solar radiation measurements. A device was thus developed in the University of Port Harcourt, River’s state, Nigeria by utilizing a photodiode, a thermistor, a lcd among other readily available components. Using a reference pyranometer for calibration, the device was able to deliver a mean global solar radiation value of 16.00MJ/m2/day, while the maximum value obtained during the test period was 20.70MJ/m2/day. The performance of the locally developed device compares and competes favourably with what is available in the market.