A low cost solar radiation measuring instrument for wide area surveys

A simple solar radiation monitoring instrument has been developed which will cost under $50 in quantity. The complete instrument package including the integrating device is small enough to be held in the palm of the hand. The instrument is completely portable and can be operated by untrained personnel. Different versions of the instrument have been designed to give daily total values, weekly totals, or monthly totals. The instrument is sensitive to both the infrared and the visible spectrum and has a sensitivity which is proportional to the cosine of the angle from the zenith. It thus makes the same type of measurement as the commonly used pyranometer.