Pyranometer Amplifier

The described amplifier is a high sophisticated part of a solar irradiation measurement and logging project.

(click to picture)

The most important unit of a solar radiation measurement system is a good , trusted and calibrated radiation sensor. Such a sensor is very expensive and  hard to get  just for hobby projects. On the WEB there are some publications which deal with different sensor solutions. I checked some of these,  but finally I decided to buy a commercial  ISO9060 Seconardy Standard Pyranometer ( it hit a big dent in my hobby finances! ). But it was worth it, it works perfect.

However , a  sensor  is just "half of the trip". A Pyranometer delivers about 4 ... 14 uV/W/m² . The output voltage must be converted to a  range which can easily be detected and processed. This requires an amplifier  which is able to cover the given resolution and the given voltage range (0..15mV) in a wide temperature range, with less noise, offset and drift.

  

Maybe this helps others who are looking for similar solutions, even for non solar projects.

 

(Click to to get it! )

• Schematic as

• Layout example ( as a piggyback example for the logger base unit)

• C-Code snippets (ZIP file)

Main PCB of the measurement and logging system	Solar Irradiation Measurement System with display, power supply CF interface and 868MHz transceiver	Kipp&Zonen Pyranometer CM11

• Links :  Kipp&Zonen
  

Back home