Solar radiation detector
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Posts: 46,084
Hi All,
Does anyone have a link or leads about making a solar radiation detector? UV
detectors?
Thanks,
Jonathan
www.madlabs.info
Does anyone have a link or leads about making a solar radiation detector? UV
detectors?
Thanks,
Jonathan
www.madlabs.info
Comments
Parallax has an experiment with photodiodes. In it you detect the amount of
light in a
room. A LED in reverse bias generates a current whose amount depends on the
amount of light falling on the LED. By using an LED, you are making a sensor
that is
sensitive to a particular color. Current generated by the LED charges a
capacitor.
You use the RCTIME command to measure the charge up time.
The only falling here is the that the UVED is centered on the violet-UV region
of the
spectrum. To make this completely work, you may need a UVED that operates
deeper in the UV spectrum.
Paul
> Hi All,
>
> Does anyone have a link or leads about making a solar radiation detector? UV
> detectors?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jonathan
>
> www.madlabs.info
>
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and Body
of the message will be ignored.
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
I use a small solar panel (14 x 14 cm, 700 mW at 6 V) as an indication of
the 'power' in the sunlight. It is running on a datalogger with a ballast
resistor of 100 Ohm, 1 Watt (= dummy load).
Or is that not what you are looking for? I have no Idea of the sensitivity
vs wavelength of this setup, I geuss it will be much in the IR.
Regards,
Klaus
PS in my country there is not much solar energy to measure these days, only
about 20% of the nominal power at some scarce sunny moments :-))))).
Oorspronkelijk bericht
Van: Jonathan Peakall [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=JrK5qKr7WRdS0LjE2btiaAWaOlG-70IBpARx_9HHmWzC5y0jFNjVN7ncaJVP5WNv37lrkod3qRmc8qGYZQ]jpeakall@p...[/url
Verzonden: woensdag 12 november 2003 16:44
Aan: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
Onderwerp: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Solar radiation detector
Hi All,
Does anyone have a link or leads about making a solar radiation detector? UV
detectors?
Thanks,
Jonathan
www.madlabs.info
To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>Does anyone have a link or leads about making a solar radiation detector? UV
>detectors?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jonathan
>
>www.madlabs.info
The Earth Measurements kit uses a blue enhanced photodiode with RCTIME.
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28153 (on sale as it
is migrating to a new version sometime soon, to be called "Applied
Sensors")
http://www.emesystems.com/EarthM/em4.pdf
Chapter 4 is centered around light.
There are many kinds of solar radiation monitors, that "focus" on
different parts of the spectrum. You can get educated at:
http://solardat.uoregon.edu/
http://www.eppleylab.com/
http://www.kippzonen.com/product/index.html
http://env.licor.com/Products/Sensors/rad.htm
http://www.apogee-inst.com/
http://www.oceanoptics.com/products/spectrometers.asp
-- Tracy
Thanks for the links! Quite a lot of information there.
I guess I am looking to make a radiation sensor, the "pro" ones seem to
spendy for me. I would like to track solar radiation and perhaps detect
solar flares. Are there any DIY sensors for this?
Jonathan
www.madlabs.info
Original Message
From: "Tracy Allen" <tracy@e...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 12:28 PM
Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Solar radiation detector
> >Hi All,
> >
> >Does anyone have a link or leads about making a solar radiation detector?
UV
> >detectors?
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Jonathan
> >
> >www.madlabs.info
>
> The Earth Measurements kit uses a blue enhanced photodiode with RCTIME.
>
> http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28153 (on sale as it
> is migrating to a new version sometime soon, to be called "Applied
> Sensors")
> http://www.emesystems.com/EarthM/em4.pdf
> Chapter 4 is centered around light.
>
>
> There are many kinds of solar radiation monitors, that "focus" on
> different parts of the spectrum. You can get educated at:
>
> http://solardat.uoregon.edu/
> http://www.eppleylab.com/
> http://www.kippzonen.com/product/index.html
> http://env.licor.com/Products/Sensors/rad.htm
> http://www.apogee-inst.com/
> http://www.oceanoptics.com/products/spectrometers.asp
>
> -- Tracy
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
I was thinking more of detecting solar flares, increased UV from the ozone
hole, that kind of thing.
Paul, I'll look into UV leds.
Thanks!
Jonathan
www.madlabs.info
Original Message
From: "K de Jong" <Klaus.Jong@n...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 7:59 AM
Subject: RE: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Solar radiation detector
> Hi Jonathan,
>
> I use a small solar panel (14 x 14 cm, 700 mW at 6 V) as an indication of
> the 'power' in the sunlight. It is running on a datalogger with a ballast
> resistor of 100 Ohm, 1 Watt (= dummy load).
>
> Or is that not what you are looking for? I have no Idea of the sensitivity
> vs wavelength of this setup, I geuss it will be much in the IR.
>
> Regards,
>
> Klaus
>
> PS in my country there is not much solar energy to measure these days,
only
> about 20% of the nominal power at some scarce sunny moments :-))))).
>
>
Oorspronkelijk bericht
> Van: Jonathan Peakall [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=vJeIOX4McCFjV6H0D31gP0CehWC_INEiHWzstTQR1U3Zwly1OBadLKZE2ehAIE-CvbZAQ4HalfdqY44_]jpeakall@p...[/url
> Verzonden: woensdag 12 november 2003 16:44
> Aan: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> Onderwerp: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Solar radiation detector
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> Does anyone have a link or leads about making a solar radiation detector?
UV
> detectors?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jonathan
>
> www.madlabs.info
>
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
> Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
Yes, the sensors are expensive, even those based on photodiodes. At
the core they are very and easy to DIY. For example, Klaus suggested
a small solar panel. Just remember that it is really the current
into a short circuit or almost a short circuit that you need to
measure, because it is photocurrent, not open circuit voltage, that
is directly proportional to the amount of radiation. . The applied
sensors text (Erik just uploaded it to the group archive), uses a
blue enhanced photodiode from Photonic Detectors (Digikey) with
RCtime to monitor solar (as a Pyranometer) or indoor (as a
photometer) radiation. Another way to measure, is with a
transimpedance amplifier, that converts a tiny input short circuit
current into a large output voltage that can be input into an ADC.
You mentioned UV. The UV band is conventionally broken into 3 sub
bands, UVA from 320nm to 395nm, UVB from 290 to 320, and UVC from 290
down. These have different biological effects. In particular, UVB
is present at about 1 watt per square meter in sunlight at the
earth's surface and is the band primarily responsible for damage due
to sunburn, and it is the wavelength most of concern in relation to
the ozone hole over the south pole. UVC (germacidal) is almost
totally blocked by the atmosphere. There are photodiode detectors
selective for UV wavelengths, for example, Digikey has a UVB detector
diode from photonic detectors. Be aware that their photocurrents are
tiny, so they would require a good transimpedance amplifier.
What makes commercial instruments expensive is not so much the
photodiode, rather, the careful design of the waterproof enclosure
with a diffuser and means to tailor the response to be cosine of the
angle of incidence. Also, some of these detectors require expensive
interference filters to select wavelengths of interest. For example,
a photometer is expected to conform to the standard CIE photoptic
curve. As a scientist, you are paying for calibration traceable to a
standard and for an instrument with credentials that can be listed in
a materials and methods section for comparison with results from
other scientists using the same instrument. Due to the complexity of
the solar spectrum, it is difficult enough to compare results from
two locations, even when they are taken by the same instrument.
Unless perhaps the instrument is a full spectrophotometer, and those
are really expensive. Those give you a graph of energy vs
wavelength. OceanOptics has managed to miniaturize the
spectrophotometer. You might even have fun with DIY in that arena, by
attaching a prism or grating to a servo or stepper, Stamp driven of
course, to play light at different wavelengths onto a photodiode in a
light-tight box with a slit on one end.. Maybe there has been a
Scientific American project along those lines.
-- Tracy
http://www.emesystems.com
>Tracy,
>
>Thanks for the links! Quite a lot of information there.
>
>I guess I am looking to make a radiation sensor, the "pro" ones seem to
>spendy for me. I would like to track solar radiation and perhaps detect
>solar flares. Are there any DIY sensors for this?
>
>Jonathan
>
>www.madlabs.info
>
>
Original Message
>From: "Tracy Allen" <tracy@e...>
>To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 12:28 PM
>Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Solar radiation detector
>
>
>> >Hi All,
>> >
>> >Does anyone have a link or leads about making a solar radiation detector?
>UV
>> >detectors?
>> >
>> >Thanks,
>> >
>> >Jonathan
>> >
>> >www.madlabs.info
>>
>> The Earth Measurements kit uses a blue enhanced photodiode with RCTIME.
>>
>> http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28153 (on sale as it
>> is migrating to a new version sometime soon, to be called "Applied
>> Sensors")
>> http://www.emesystems.com/EarthM/em4.pdf
>> Chapter 4 is centered around light.
>>
>>
>> There are many kinds of solar radiation monitors, that "focus" on
> > different parts of the spectrum. You can get educated at:
> >
> > http://solardat.uoregon.edu/
> > http://www.eppleylab.com/
> > http://www.kippzonen.com/product/index.html
> > http://env.licor.com/Products/Sensors/rad.htm
>> http://www.apogee-inst.com/
>> http://www.oceanoptics.com/products/spectrometers.asp
>>
>> -- Tracy
>>
>>
>> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
>> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>> from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
>Body of the message will be ignored.
>>
>>
>> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the
>Subject and Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/