View Factor for Inclined Plane with Gaussian Source

The view factor (angle factor) for a di¤erential inclined plane in the case of a radiating source of radially Gaussian intensity is considered. This information is useful for modelling of solar radiation in certain applica-tions. The view factor is expressed in terms of two integrals, one of which is obtained in closed form in terms of special functions, and the other is approximated. A compact estimate for the view factor is presented which is suitable for machine computation. While the relative error associated with the \u85nal estimate is typically less than 0.01%, and in all cases, less than 0.2%, the method is easily extended to yield even greater accuracy