The BF5 Sunshine Sensor from Delta-T Devices is an improved multi-purpose solar radiation sensor. With an innovative computer-generated shading pattern, the versatile sensor measures incident solar radiation through the use of an array of photodiodes.
The radiation’s global and diffuse components are calculated by a microprocessor in order to determine the sunshine state.
Direct and diffuse radiation is derived from global and diffuse radiation provided by two analogue voltage outputs.
A digital output represents the sunshine state. It is possible to connect these three outputs to appropriate channels on any data loggers utilized for environmental monitoring.
The BF5 Sunshine Sensor has been designed as a replacement for the BF3 model. It can be utilized as an integral element of the SunScan Canopy Analysis system. The BF5 Sunshine Sensor enables the SunScan Canopy Analysis system to operate under variable light conditions by improving its accuracy.
The BF5 Sunshine Sensor makes indirect measurements of sunshine hours through the use of a simple equation based on the total photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and the fraction of total to direct PAR.
Key Features
The following are the key features of the BF5 Sunshine Sensor:
- Improved design
- Integrated heater as standard keeps the sensor free from snow, ice and dew down to -20°C
- No moving parts, shade rings or motorized tracking
- Superior connectors and cabling
- Outputs can be Lux, Energy (W m-2), or PAR (mmol m-2 s-1)
- No intricate electro-mechanical assemblies
- No burnt paper tracks to interpret.
Applications
The following are the applications of the BF5 Sunshine Sensor:
- Measures sunshine duration and global and diffuse radiation
- PAR reference sensor for SunScan System
- In building energy management systems
- In the study of photosynthesis, solar energy and illumination.