EME 810
Solar Resource Assessment and Economics

6.4 Discussion Activity 1 - Communicating Information to Your Client

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Given the following table of locations (source data from Duffie and Beckman, 2003) and data presented for the Sept/Oct/Nov climate regime, I'd like you to think about the locale in a broader context and suggest SECS that would enable delivery of solar utility at each site. Note that there are two hemispheres represented, so stay alert!

In each of the four sites, we have presented the average day for each month, in terms of:

  1. daily clearness indices K ¯ t ,
  2. Degree Days (DD), and then
  3. average outdoor air temperature ( T ¯ , dry bulb in °C).

Of the four locations presented below, we assume the land/roof space is not area constrained. What would you begin suggesting to a client regarding solar technologies, design, orientation, tracking, etc.? Pick at least two locations for your post. 

And yet, you do not know your client here! Whoops. What other factors would you add to this discussion if you knew who your client was in each location?

Table of Monthly Metrics for Fall/Spring
Place Sept K ¯ t Oct K ¯ t Nov K ¯ t Sept DD Oct DD Nov DD Sept T ¯ Oct T ¯ Nov T ¯
Madison WI
( ϕ= 43 ° )		 0.49 0.48 0.42 103 232 479 15 11 2
Albuquerque NM
( ϕ= 35 ° )		 0.70 0.70 0.66 27 142 346 21 15 7
Melbourne Aust
( ϕ=− 37.5 ° )		 0.48 0.50 0.53 181 133 80 12 14 16
Athens Greece
( ϕ= 38 ° )		 0.57 0.52 0.46 5 37 140 23 19 14
 

This discussion will take place in the Discussion Activity 6.1 Discussion Forum in Canvas.

Grading Criteria

Discussions will be graded on the quality of your post and the thoughtful contributions you make to your classmates' posts. Please see the Discussion Expectations and Rubric under Orientation/Resources.

Deadline

Typically initial posts are due in the middle of the study week (Sunday), and comments and replies are due by the end of the study week (Wednesday). Please see the Canvas calendar for specific due dates.