Photovoltaic means ‘light-electricity. It is a technology that has been spreading since the 1950s. More commonly, photovoltaic is considered as one of the most appropriate materials to make buildings more sustainable. The main objective of the Sunglass project is to increase the efficiency of the current solar panels, which is around 15 percent.

Most research engaged in improving the efficiency of solar panels has been focusing on semiconductor materials to enhance the solar spectrum. However, a new method is being envisaged in the Sunglass Project. The project focus on improving ‘conversion of frequencies’ (absorbing photons and then changing the frequencies while emitting the energy)

Research conducted on photoactive substances.

A dozen of photoactive substances has been scrutinized for the project. The aim was to find materials having the potential to absorb high-frequency radiation and thereafter emit the range better in solar cells. In the future these materials could even be used for solar panels or glass coating.

The substances were effectively used to develop a unique glass having photovoltaic purposes. The new glass had much higher energy efficiency.

Conversion of frequencies presents in new glass enabled solar cells to benefit from an improved efficiency of 2 to 3 percent. This ostensibly low improvement does have a radical impact on the building industry.

The introduction of these new improved glass solar cells will help to reduce carbon emissions even more. The photoactive substances can also be used for other widespread applications. It will therefore, help to further support the progress of solar energy.

Source: E-science News & Elhuyar Fundazioa

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Capturing Solar Energy

The most effective way to harness solar energy through solar panels, solar collectors or glass is to installed collectors being 20 degrees perpendicular to the sun on either side. On the other hand, for cooling system shade is important. The lowest heat is gained, the less perpendicular the sunlight is to the building. For instance, only 35 degrees away from a perpendicular angle to the sun does significantly reduce the amount of heat harnessed. At an elevated acute angle, the sunlight is rather reflected.

The best solar energy systems do consider the 47-degree change in the solar elevation angle that prevails in the horizon during summer and winter. It makes a great difference in the volume of heat that can be collected.

Earth’s Movements

The rotation of our planet produces approximately 23.5 degrees differences across the north and south pool. However, the sun does equally orbit the sun in our immense solar system. The 47 degree peak of the sunrays is caused as the earth orbits the sun. This is represented with seasonal changes that occur from winter to summer.

Harnessing Energy in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter

In the northern hemisphere, in the winter period the sun rises in the far southeast and comes up at a low angle just above the southern horizon. The sun does thereafter set in the southwest. In other words, the sun remains on the south part of your house (equator) throughout the day. In such conditions, a vertical south-facing panel would be convenient to harness a maximum of thermal energy.

However, in the southern hemisphere during the winter months (June, July and August) the sun will rise in the northeast, and will practically be perpendicular depending on the latitude of your position.

Moreover, there are some months where the sun provides more intense heat based on its position. So solar designers have to understand the necessary solar path angles at the location where the solar collectors are to be installed. The same applies for smart buildings, which have integrated cooling systems.

America’s solar path analysis during different seasons of the year is available at the NOAA. However, one thing that is general for the whole world is that the sun rises in the east and does always set in the west.

Facts about Sunshine

The sun will be perpendicular, a straight line with no shadows, above the equator at noon (solar time) during the 21st of March as well as the 23rd of September. Now proceeding to 23.5 degrees north of the equator we have the Tropic of Cancer, and equally a straight line can be drawn at noon during the 21st of June where no shadows will be seen. Now going to 23.5 degrees south of the equator we have the Tropic of Capricorn, which on the 21st of December show no shadows, if a stick is raised straight to the sky at noon (solar time).

Source: Wikipedia.org

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The report scrutinizes the outlook of the global solar thermal market for 2020. The key trends and growth opportunity have been highlighted. There is also crucial information on the new emerging sectors of solar thermal energy as well as policies that govern the industry.

Facts in the Report

One of the prime factors supporting the urgent growth of renewable energy is greenhouse emissions. World’s economies are seeking for sustainability in terms of energy and development. This is slowly leading to the demise of polluting fossil fuel and birth of alternative sources of energy like biomass, wind, geothermal and solar.

The down fall of the world’s economies have given governments the opportunity to change the current energy mix. In several countries, stimulus packages to encourage the growth of green energy have been seen. Developed countries have roughly allocated a total of $512 billion to stimulate the growth of green energy. This does equally apply to Asian countries where growth in renewable has taken new heights like in nations such as South Korea and China.

The global solar thermal market has had an incredible expansion in installed capacity during 2010. Before Spain joined the global solar thermal market in 2007, US was the main country opting for that type of technology. However, after 2007 the solar thermal market has surged to widespread geographical borders, including Morocco and Australia. The concentrated capacity of the technology is increasingly tempting nearby countries to engage in similar projects.

In America, there is an interest to install CSP plants. The benefit of having a growing entrance of energy companies and projects are fundamentally important. It helps to cope for the increasing demand of energy. More importantly, Solar Thermal technology is more efficient than Solar PV systems and has the potential to store energy.

The report is sold at: Report on US Solar Thermal Power Market Analysis and Forecasts

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Global energy consumption is currently approximately 12 TW (terawatts) per annum. In other words, this is tantamount to 12,000,000,000,000 watts. This almost limitless demand of energy is consumed as follows:

1. Built Environment 52% ( 12 percent materials and 40 percent operation)
2. Industry 24 %
3. Transport 15 %
4. Passenger cars 9 %

Energy Sources:

Renewable energy is the silver-bullet solution to supersede fossil fuel. The most prevalent clean energy sources are wind, solar, biomass, hydropower and geothermal energy. Currently, one could consider that an ostensible 30 percent of energy needs come from renewable energy. This is regrettably not the case. The actual energy sources are as follows:

1. Oil 35 percent
2. Coal 27 percent
3. Natural gas 20 percent
4. Hydropower 6 percent
5. Biomass 6 percent
6. Nuclear Energy 5 percent
7. Geothermal energy 1 percent
8. Wind and Solar roughly 1 percent

The most dominant source of global energy is fossil fuel (oil, coal and natural gas).

Energy of the future

Energy demands keep on increasing at an accumulating rate. Taking into account the current rate of the increase, it is expected that world energy demand will reach 30 TW within three decades. This would thus represent an increase of 150 percent; an increase from 12 TW to 30 TW. The response to handle the expansive growth in energy needs have to be sustainable, meaning no or less-green house gases. The forerunners for clean energy are ostensibly solar, bio-fuel and nuclear energy.

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear power is a clean source of energy it does not produce CO2. Heat is generated from a regulated nuclear reactor that boils water into steam and thereby propels a turbine. In America, “three nuclear power stations” are expected to be built soon. On a worldwide agenda, there are also roughly eight nuclear power stations requesting licenses.

Let’s say that per year 45 new licenses are issued, and this trend steadily continues at 45 per year over three decades. It should also be assumed that these nuclear stations are constructed within ten years. This would provide an additional one terawatt within 30 years from nuclear power, which is still less than the required 18 terawatts.

Bio-Fuel energy

This innovative way of generating fuel from harvesting crops raises controversy to food supply, poverty and efficiency. There are some experts who argue that the cost of generating bio-fuel is more than what it gives back; considering fuel required to harvest, plant and so on. However, these arguments can be put aside if bio-fuel could be harnessed at 100 percent efficiency. Let’s put all this to perspective, even if all the land on the earth would be used to grow crops (e.g. corn ethanol) it would only be enough to generate an equivalent of 3 terawatts of bio-fuel energy.

Solar Cells

In the last years “photovoltaic technology” has evolved tremendously. There has been a twofold benefit: costs have fallen, and efficiency has enhanced. The law of increasing return is progressively promulgating as more power plants are harnessing energy from solar energy. A typical solar power plant can produce one gigawatt of energy per annum. This would mean that one thousand solar plants of the same size would be required to produce one terawatt. We could practically take 20,000 square miles of land and set up highly effective solar cells on earth’s sunniest areas. This would generate around 2 TW.

Read more on the DESERTEC Project: Part 1 and Part 2

Summing Up

Eventually, based on forecasted potential, we will only be able to reach a maximum upgrading capacity of 6 TW and not 30 TW. Additionally, wind, wave, solar thermal and henceforth, will only add a few terawatt more. It is being concluded that renewable energy alone might not be enough to match future energy requirements.

Saving Strategy: Conservation

The most promising solution to tackle climate change and global energy demand is conservation. Assuming that renewable energy will only be able to provide around 6 to 9 terawatts, roughly 21 terawatts will have to be met by another means. As abovementioned, building environment accounts for 52 percent of global carbon emissions. The only way to address built environment is to focus on the materials, including cements, metal processing, building operation (cooling and heating) and henceforth.

There are companies such as Serious materials and CalStar, which are re-engineering building processes to assure that energy consumption is reduced by up to a 75 percent or even more.

One can easily rectify the operation efficiency at home by assuring that thermostats are installed and that households are properly insulated. One way is to make sure that high R value windows are used. This could help to reduce heat loss by up to 50 percent. The field of smart building technology is constantly emerging, heating, and cooling system are amidst the main areas of rapid development.

Read more on passive solar energy: Link 1, Link 2 and Link 3

Final Outcome

Enhancing built environment can reduce energy consumption by roughly 75 percent. This would save a total of 12 terawatt of energy in 30 years. This means that the remaining six Terawatt could practically be accommodated with renewable energy. In other words, challenges such as energy expansion and CO2 emission would be tackled simultaneously as an extension in coal power plants would not be necessary to meet future energy demands.

Jimmy Eriksson is a content writer for Online PhD Programs, which has the latest information on obtaining an online PhD, research and higher studies. In his free time he enjoys researching on renewable energy, healthy living, management and leisure’s such as fishing and swimming.

Source: Go Green

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The initial photovoltaic panel production capacity of the Sicilian factory will be funded by a combination of self-financing as well as from the CIPE the (Italian Joint Ministerial Committee for Economic planning). The 49 million euros that has been set aside by the latter is being provided by leading banks. As it was announced beforehand, every partner has guaranteed one third of the equity along with a commitment of 70 million euros in cash or in terms of tangible and intangible assets. Moreover, each partner will hold one third of the shares in this recent joint venture.

Every partner brings specific skills and knowledge to 3Sun. While Enel Green Power has specialised know how in the development of renewable energy on an international level in addition to project management, Sharp, on the other hand brings its contribution through its limited triple-junction thin-film technology that is being produced since this spring at the Sakai factory found in Japan. Furthermore, STMicroelectronics has expertise in manufacturing along with extremely trained specialists in state-of-the-art technology sectors like microelectronics.

The factory’s production on a yearly basis is anticipated to reach 480 MW over the next years. As such it will become Italy’s largest manufacturer of photovoltaic panel from the very first day of operation. The production of the panels at the Catania plant has been set to start in the second half of year 2011.

A separate joint venture has also been created by Sharp and Enel Green Power, namely, Enel Green Power & Sharp Solar Energy – ESSE. The latter has been created to cater for the construction and joint management of the solar farms for the generation in addition to the sale of electricity in the Mediterranean area. This is done by using the panels that are produced by the Catania plant. By 2016, the complete installed capacity is expected to be more than 500 MW.

Furthermore, the factory output will supply the most potential solar markets in the Middle East and Africa, Europe, with a special attention on the Mediterranean region as Sharp and Enel Green Power already have widespread sales networks in that region. Enel.si which is a subsidiary of Enel Green Power that specialises in installing photovoltaic systems for the retail market, will additionally participate in the marketing and selling the panels by means of their own franchise network that consists of more than 500 approved installers which is located across Italy.

Source: Enel

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Solar Energy

1. The sunlight that strikes the earth surface during an hour, if it could be harnessed, would be enough to power the world’s energy requirement for a year.

2. The Famous Albert Einstein did in 1921 win the Nobel Prize in Physics for one of his remarkable experiments with photovoltaics and solar power.

3. In the 1990 a world record was establish as a solar powered aircraft did for the first time fly with no fuel, across USA in 21 stages.

4. The radius of the earth is only 6,376 km compared to the sun with a radius of 696,000 km making the sun as much as 109 times larger than the earth.

5. The average temperature of the sun is 5,700 degree Celsius, whereas on earth the average temperature is 20 degrees celsius.

6. The atmosphere absorbs around 19 percent of solar radiation, while clouds reflect another 35 percent of the total solar energy. The effect is that the energy striking sea level is much lower, the peak power at sea level is accounted to be 1,020 w/m²

7. Conventional solar cell operates only on an efficiency of 15 percent while converting solar energy to electricity. This means that only an average of 0.45 to 1.35 KWh per square meter can be reaped per day. However, solar energy is steadily becoming more efficient and effective.

8. For Australia the average solar energy potential is more than 15,000 times more than the actual total energy requirements. With only a 15 percent efficiency conversion rate, the potential of solar energy is still around 2000 times above the actual Australian energy requirements.

9. In the African Sahara Desert, approximately 450 tarawatt (TW) of solar energy could be collected per annum, with solar cells of 15 percent efficiency. This exceeds global production of energy, which is now around 13 TW (renewable and non-renewable energy).

10. To replace fossil fuels it would only require 1 percent of earth’s deserts to convert the same amount of energy.

Wind Energy
Some History of Wind Energy:
1. Wind turbine was used in ancient times (5000 BC), some 7000 years ago, to propel boats in the Nile river.

2. The first known windmill is believed to have been used by the Persians (Iran), and it used large old stylish paddle wheels.

3. In approximately the year 200 BC, windmills were used to pump water as well to grind grain in the Middle East and in China.

Modern Facts Related To Wind Turbines
4. World’s largest wind turbine is currently in Hawaii, it is as tall as a skyscraper with twenty levels and spinning blades of the length of a football pitch.

5. A wind speed of only 14 mph is enough to convert wind energy to electricity.

6. A large wind turbine can generate sufficient electricity to supply 300 households.

7. The windiest country in Europe is the United Kingdom; they can supply enough energy through wind to power its country several times.

8. Wind is currently the fastest and most energetic growing source of renewable energy in the world.

9. Wind turbines do not operate below 8-10 Mph and are cut off during winds of 56 mph and above – safety reasons.

10. In Denmark, 20 percent of its energy requirement is produced from wind energy.

11. Since 2005 and onwards, wind energy has been providing for 1 percent of world’s energy requirements. United States was as per 2005 the third largest wind energy producers while Germany was leading the alternative energy challenge.

12. Specialists are suggesting that US could offset its use of coal-based energy by simply deploying wind energy in 10 of the windiest state.

13. Wind power could help to decrease carbon emission in the US by one third per year, if properly developed. This would help to meet the global carbon reduction target of 4 percent per year.

Wind Energy: interesting Facts for Households
14. Wind energy is affordable for all income groups. Small utility-scale turbines can provide financial gains of around $2,000 every year.

15. Wind turbines do also offer employment to thousands of families, who are working in the development and maintenance of these apparatuses.

16. A simple wind energy generator can be built at home using simple materials. This means that wind energy can be harnessed at a very low cost in comparison to other alternatives.

Potential of Wind Energy
17. Offshore energy farms could be built to supply enough energy for large nations such as the United States. The offshore potential capacity is higher than viable onshore potential energy, and offshore wind farms are more effective as winds are denser.

18. A footprint of 13 percent of our world’s land would have to be filled with wind turbines to supersede all other sources of energy. Basing ourselves on the fact that six huge wind turbine are set up per square kilometer, at 80 meter above sea level, as this is the optimum height for wind potentials.

19. The cost of wind turbines is currently falling. New developments such as vertical axis wind turbine are being tested to replace typical horizontal axis turbines.

20. Nowadays, wind turbines are becoming common even on skyscrapers and other buildings.

Read: Interesting Facts about Renewable Energy (Water, Geothermal and Bio-Energy): Part 1

Source: St Louis Renewable Energy

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Plans to reduce solar photovoltaic installation were reported by the Spanish government. The announced plans are expected to slash support current installations.

The Industry Ministry proposed a step-by-step slash in feed-in tariffs. A 45 percent cut for ground-based solar PV panels, 25 percent for large roof-based system and 5 percent for small roof-based systems.

The current suggestions are akin to parallel reduction proclaimed in Italy and Germany. These reports are actually being reviewed by the Spain’s energy regulation.

The scale of the cuts has been discussed. Moreover, energy firms and the government did finally find a conclusion last week.

The main argument put forward by the government was that the industry would no longer need financial support as the cost of solar panels has been falling drastically. The ministers did even suggest that retroactive cuts could be introduced. The Spanish government is cutting financial support for solar PV installation as an attempt to limit the country’s energy bill.

The current cuts will only apply to new installations. According to industry insiders, this contracting strategy might halt Spain’s flourishing solar industry.

Recently, similar but smaller cuts were anticipated for solar thermal and wind energy projects.

Mutual agreement between solar thermal power plant trade association Protermosolar and the Ministry of Industry, Spanish Wind Energy Association as well as Tourism and Trade did soften the subsidy cuts. They agreed to implement a gradual phasing out of the subsidy reduction over a period of three years.

Source: Guardian

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The method that has been described in the articles demonstrates advancement toward a new OPV cell design which has considerable benefits, especially in the area regarding physical flexibility.

A decisive feature of any OPV photo-electronic device consists of a transparent conductive electrode which allows light to couple with active materials in order to create electricity. The novel work suggests that grapheme, which is a highly transparent and highly conductive type of carbon made up of atoms-thick sheets of carbon atoms, has great ability to fulfil this role.

Despite the fact that the existence of grapheme has been a known fact for several decades, it is only since the year 2004 that it has been studied so extensively. This is mainly because of its difficulty to be manufactured in large quantity or high quality.

Three years back, the Zhou lab gave an account of the large scale production of graphene films through vapor deposition. The USC engineering team produces ultra thin graphene sheets in this process. This is done by initially depositing carbon atoms like graphene films on a nickel plate from methane gas. The team subsequently lays down a protective layer of thermo plastic over the graphene layer. They then dissolve the nickel beneath an acid bath. The final step consists of attaching the plastic-protected graphene to an extremely flexible polymer sheet that can be later incorporated into an OPV cell.

The USC team has created polymer/ graphene sheets that range in sizes up to 150 square centimetres. These can in turn be used to produce dense arrangement of flexible OPV cells.

While these OPV devices are able to transform solar radiation into electricity, they do not do so as efficiently as silicon cells. On a sunny day, the energy that is supplied by sunlight is approximately 1000 watts per meter square. Lewis Gomez De Arco who is a doctoral student as well as a member of the team responsible for building the graphene OPVs, explains that for each 1000 watts of sunlight that strikes a one square meter area of the regular silicon solar cell, 14 watts of electricity will be produced. He adds that organic solar cells are less efficient as their conversion rate for that same 1000 watts of sunlight, but in the graphene-based solar cell would be a mere 1.3 watts.

However, what graphene OPVs are deficient in efficiency, they have the potential to make for it in terms of lower price and greater physical flexibility. In accordance to Gomez De Arco it may ultimately be possible to run printing presses laying extensive areas that are covered with low cost solar cells, similar to newspapers presses printing newspapers. He moreover said that they could even be hung like curtains in homes or made into fabric as well and be worn as clothing that generates power. He is even able to project people powering their mobile phones or video/music device while they are jogging in the sun.

According to the USC researchers graphene OPVs would be a significant progress in at least one key area over a competitor OPV design, one that is based on Indium–Tin–Oxide (ITO). During the tests carried out by the USC team, it was observed that ITO cells failed at an incredibly small angle of bending. On the other hand, the graphene-based cells stayed operational even after repetitive bending at much larger stress angles. This result would certainly provide the graphene solar cells with a decided benefit in some uses, taking into account the printed-on-fabric applications suggested by the USC team.

The USC team comprised of Zhou, Yi Zhang, Koungmin Ryu, Gomez de Arco, Mark E. Thompson, Cody W. Schlenker. They are all very excited with the potential that this technology has.

The paper that the USC team wrote concludes that their methodology represents an important progress in relation to the production of transparent conductive electrodes in solar cells. The CVD graphene is able to meet the most essential criteria of low cost, electrode/organic film compatibility, flexibility, abundance, conductivity in addition to stability that are vital to replace ITO in organic photovoltaics, that may entail significant implications for future organic optoelectronic devices.

Source: E-science News and University of Southern California

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It is the right time to invest in renewable energy, but why?

Are you one of the million inhabitants who are considering to invest in renewable energy? Stay ascertained it is the right time to invest. Increasingly, renewable energy programmes and strategies are becoming an integrated part of governmental and national objectives. The renewable sector has circumvented the economic crisis. On the contrary, countries like “china” have experienced growth. There are five lucrative renewable energy fields that one can invest in:

1. Hydropower
2. Solar
3. Biomass
4. Geothermal
5. Wind

There have been several government funding provided to the development of clean technology. In America, 2009, the federal government granted two million dollars to several projects. The strong contribution by the government is radically enforced by universities, business and industries, which are rapidly engaging in renewable energy research and development. In the years to come, electricity might be fully supplied through alternative sources of energy.

Today Hydropower represents more than 70 percent of our total renewable energy. It is a relatively simple process to generate electricity. Pipes are used to direct water flows into something known as a penstock. Just after the penstock, the water will flow to spin a generator, and this particular generator will produce the electricity. Hydropower produces hydroelectricity energy. The world’s biggest hydroelectric system was established in 1936, the Hoover Dam.

Solar energy comes in two forms light and heat. The energy that is derived through heat is known as solar thermal energy. Another, systems that make use of mirrors to direct sunlight to a particular spot is called concentrated solar power (CPS). Photovoltaic cells collect solar energy on cells that do afterward convert the light into usable electricity.

Wind power is another growing source of energy. It uses the motion of the wind to change mechanical energy into electricity through the use of wind turbines. In Texas and California the speed of expansion of wind energy is phenomenal.

Another commonly spoken source of energy is geothermal power. It is extracted by tapping into the heat beneath the earth. The heat energy emerging from the core of the earth is harnessed by drilling deep beneath the surface. The heat is used to produce steam to stimulate a steam turbine which generates electricity.

Biomass energy is produced from animals and/or plants. However, biomass has multiple of energy uses. It can be used to create bio-fuel such as ethanol or to burn and produce electricity similarly to the steam turbine.

There are several sources of renewable energy. The constraint is not on alternatives but rather commitment and time. The atmosphere is said to be experiencing worsening climate calamities due to fossil fuel pollution. Something has to be done to stop this trend sooner or later.

Source: Efficient Energy Saving

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Although, solar power has an Olympian capacity it is merely supplying a percent of world’s electricity consumption. This is so because the technology is currently relatively inefficient, expensive and requires a lot of subsidies.

It is important that solar technology expands so that research and development can enhance current systems. In other words, solar power plants will be able to generate more KWh at a lower cost.

Eicke Weber who is the current director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, says that solar power will be generated at a cost of 5 to 10 cents per KWh by 2030. This will make it as effective as fossil fuels and therefore, financial support will no longer be required.

This vision is perceptible but how to get there is still not clear.

Solar Photovoltaics

According to Weber, gradual enhancement to silicon-based-solar photovoltaic (PV) technology will become the most common use of solar technology. Now, 85 to 90 percent of the world’s solar market is represented by PV technology.

He also said “The big driver will remain crystalline silicon getting ever more efficient, with thinner wafers and cheaper silicon materials. It is a kind of Moore’s Law for solar PV,”

One potential way to enhance actual systems is to integrate laser methods in the production of solar PV. This will help to refine the efficiency, as thinner wafers can be produced, meaning less material and lower costs.

Fraunhofer institute did in 2009 create a new world record in the efficiency of converting sunlight into electricity. Concentrated photovoltaic reached an efficiency rate of 41.1 percent. Most commercial solar PV cells have only an efficiency ranging from 10 to 20 percent.

The prime weakness of conventional PV cells is that they are only able to absorb a limited bandwidth of sunlight. However, the concentrated PV increases the bandwidth potential as it uses “triple junction” solar cells. These cells are made from three particular materials being gallium indium arsenide, gallium indium phosphide and germanium. These materials are able to absorb the various colours of sunlight. Additionally, lenses are used to further amplify and intensify the energy, making the beam concentrated up to 500 times its original state.

Weber claims that various solar markets are behaving differently to the development of new technologies. In American the focus is on inventing the next generation photovoltaics while the European manufacturers are emphasising on mass production of silicon cells (high-volume and low cost).

Revolutionary technology is in the corner. In the first quarter of 2010, some members of the California Institute of Technology laboratory scrutinized the potential gain of enhancing silicon wire design. The team reported that an improvement of 85 percent efficiency was experienced on plain sunlight. There was also an increase in 95 percent on the efficiency of some wavelengths in collecting solar energy.

At “University of Texas scientists Xiaoyang Zhu” is moving from micro to nano-scale technology. It was in June 2010 proved that the use of ‘quantum dots’ or so called semiconductor nanocrystals could capture much more energy than typical solar cells. This technology could theoretically increase the efficiency by 60 percent.

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)

It cannot be refuted the efficiency of concentrated solar power (CSP) is still far above photovoltaics. Another advantage with CSP systems is that they do usually have a natural gas turbine as back-up power whenever the weather is inappropriate for CSP.

The shortcoming related to this type of technology is the large demand for land and water footprint to install these mirrors. Moreover, these Concentrated Solar Power plants need to be erected in regions where there is intense sunshine. These areas are most commonly very far from large population centers, making transmission another issue..

The CSP and photovoltaic industry are both in an interesting technology race. We are unsure which one will be more prosperous in the future.

Currently, the best design is the parabolic mirrors that direct its concentrated sunlight to steam a synthetic fluid, heating water to stimulate turbines. Unfortunately, these transfer fluids are expensive and have a limited heat capacity of 380 degrees Celsius. Therefore, its energy and efficiency potential is restrained.

The International Energy Agency’s Concentrated Solar Power Roadmap says that the major challenge ahead is to be able to develop plants where the temperature can reach 500 degrees Celsius. The Agency recommends the replacement of the transfer fluids by water, thus inducing direct steam generation, which might both be cheaper and more effective.

There is also another way to reach superheated steam temperatures. This would be by using solar power towers surrounded by thousands of mirrors having sunlight concentrated at the tip of the tower. This would allow the heat to steam liquids in a central tank to an unanticipated superheat.

In Ivanpah CSP plant in California, researchers are already trying to bypass 530 degrees Celsius. This would meet new energy efficiency levels.

There is an undeniable benefit of CSP over typical solar PV cells. CSP plants can store solar energy even at night. An example is “Andasol solar power plant in Spain” where heat is stored in molten salt. The salts cool down during the evening, and this emits a heat enabling the generation of steam for another 7.5 hours. This is done despite that there is no sunlight.

Solar Technology Needs New Storage systems

According to Weber, if a similar storage system used for thermal would be available for solar PV then the market would expand rapidly.

A storage system is currently being examined for PV solar power during the day, where surpluses are used to drive a pump to compress air beneath the ground. The air would then be released during the night to spin a turbine.

Daniel Nocera a research at MIT has discovered a complex technique that could be used for small solar PV installations. This system uses solar-powered electrolyzers to split atoms of water into oxygen and hydrogen, and thereafter re-combining the gases in a fuel cell, in order to produce current. This is an expensive process but could within a few years become effective.

According to IEA, using electrolyzers at an industrial scale as well as for CSP could probably help to introduce hydrogen fuel to the world transport system. This would thus significantly help to decrease carbon emission.

It is necessary that solar power contributes significantly to our energy mix. Otherwise, our future generation will have to behold various climatic disasters. Evidently, the energy provided by the sun is limitless so it is simply to capture and use it. There is no reason for not exploiting the solar power for world energy requirements.

Source: Allianze

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