The air mass also known as the air mass ratio is equal to the cosine of the zenith angle, or the angle between a line passing through the sun and the point straight overhead. It provides a measure of how far solar radiation must travel through the atmosphere. When the air mass is 1, the sun is overhead and the radiation only passes through one atmosphere (thickness).
What Does Air Mass Do?
A solar cell’s efficiency, fill factor, open circuit voltage, and electrical current can all be affected by air mass, which can also lower the amount of sunlight that reaches the solar cell. The findings show that this atmospheric factor affects the electrical current generated by DPB and CuPc solar cells in a variety of ways.
The direct optical path length through the Earth’s atmosphere is determined by the air mass coefficient, which is expressed as a ratio to the path length vertically upwards, or at the zenith. After the solar radiation has passed through the atmosphere, the air mass coefficient can be utilized to assist characterize the solar spectrum.
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How is Air Mass Represented?
The syntax AM followed by a number is frequently used to refer to the air mass coefficient, which is frequently used to describe the performance of solar cells under standardized settings. AM1.5 is the standard spectrum at the Earth’s surface.
