SRA15 series albedometer

SRA15 consists of two identical pyranometers model SR15, one facing up, one facing down. To create an SRA15, the two sensors are combined with one AMF03 albedometer mounting kit. AMF03 includes a fixture with rod for mounting purposes and a glare screen. The user assembles these modular components into an SRA15 series albedometer. Mounting hardware, tools and a mounting and fixation instruction are part of AMF03. The modular design of SRA15 facilitates maintenance and calibration.

An albedometer is an instrument composed of two pyranometers, the upfacing one measuring global solar radiation, the downfacing one measuring reflected solar radiation. You can then derive the solar albedo, or solar reflectance and net solar radiation. Albedometers are used for general meteorological observations, building physics, roof reflectance studies, climate studies and solar collector testing. A common application is for outdoor solar radiation balance measurements as part of a meteorological station. Albedometers are increasingly popular in bifacial PV module performance monitoring. This application requires horizontal levelling; a bubble level and a mounting rod are included.

Using SRA15 albedometer is easy. The instrument is composed of two SR15 Spectrally Flat Class B pyranometers; the upfacing one measuring global solar radiation, the downfacing one measuring reflected solar radiation. When using SR15-A1, the irradiance in W/m2 in each direction is calculated by dividing the pyranometer output, a small voltage, by the sensitivity. Other models SR15-D1 and SR15-D2A2 models have digital outputs. The working principle and specifications of the pyranometers can be found in the SR15 series user manual. SRA15 can be connected directly to commonly used datalogging systems.