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Update zenith and azimuth angle documentation #2485

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38 changes: 28 additions & 10 deletions docs/sphinx/source/user_guide/extras/nomenclature.rst
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -22,16 +22,24 @@ There is a convention on consistent variable names throughout the library:

aoi
Angle of incidence. Angle between the surface normal vector and the
vector pointing towards the suns center
vector pointing towards the sun's center. [°]

aoi_projection
cos(aoi)
cos(aoi). When the sun is behind the surface, the value is negative.
For many uses, negative values must be set to zero.

ape
Average photon energy

apparent_zenith
Refraction-corrected solar zenith angle in degrees
Refraction-corrected solar zenith angle. The solar
zenith angle describes the position of the sun relative to the vertical and is
defined as the angle between a vector pointed straight up and a vector pointed
at the sun, from the observer. [°]

apparent_elevation
Refraction-corrected solar elevation angle. This is the complement of
:term:`apparent_zenith` (90 - apparent_zenith). [°]

bhi
Beam/direct horizontal irradiance
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -87,10 +95,10 @@ There is a convention on consistent variable names throughout the library:
Sandia Array Performance Model IV curve parameters

latitude
Latitude
Latitude in decimal degrees. Positive north of equator, negative to south.

longitude
Longitude
Longitude in decimal degrees. Positive east of prime meridian, negative to west.

pac, ac
AC power
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -141,10 +149,15 @@ There is a convention on consistent variable names throughout the library:
Diode saturation current

solar_azimuth
Azimuth angle of the sun in degrees East of North
Azimuth angle of the sun in degrees East of North. The solar azimuth angle
describes the sun’s position along the horizon relative to the observer.
The pvlib-python convention is defined as degrees East of North, so
North = 0°, East = 90°, South = 180°, West = 270°.

solar_zenith
Zenith angle of the sun in degrees
Zenith angle of the sun in degrees. This is the angle between is between a
vector pointed straight up and a vector pointed at the sun, from the observer.
This is the complement of :term:`solar_elevation` (90 - elevation). [°]

spectra
spectra_components
Expand All @@ -154,11 +167,16 @@ There is a convention on consistent variable names throughout the library:
is composed of direct and diffuse components.

surface_azimuth
Azimuth angle of the surface
Azimuth angle of the surface in degrees East of North. This angle describes the
horizontal projection of the normal vector from the surface. The pvlib-python
convention is defined as degrees East (clockwise) of North, so North = 0°,
East = 90°, South = 180°, West = 270°.

surface_tilt
Panel tilt from horizontal [°]. For example, a surface facing up = 0°,
surface facing horizon = 90°.
Tilt from horizontal [°]. The surface tilt angle
is defined as degrees from the horizontal
such that a surface facing up would have a surface tilt of 0°, and one facing
the horizon would be 90°. [°]

temp_air
Temperature of the air
Expand Down
4 changes: 4 additions & 0 deletions docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.13.1.rst
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ Enhancements

Documentation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Substantiate definitions of solar/surface azimuth/zenith and aoi on the
:ref:`nomenclature` page. (:issue:`2448`, :pull:`2503`)


Testing
Expand All @@ -45,3 +47,5 @@ Maintenance
Contributors
~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Elijah Passmore (:ghuser:`eljpsm`)
* Rajiv Daxini (:ghuser:`RDaxini`)
* Omar Bahamida (:ghuser:`OmarBahamida`)
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