CHAPTER 1

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Energy:- is a crucial input in the process of social, economic and industrial development .
The degree of development and cortication of a country is measured by utilization of energy by
human beings for their needs. According to law of conservation of energy Energy can neither be
created, nor be destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another form.Day by day
energy consumption is increasing very rapidly .the world fossil fuel supply i.e coal , petroleum
and natural gas will be depleted in few hundred years supply is depleting & rate of energy crisis.
Alternative or non conventional or renewalable .

Various forms of energy is available in different forms some of these are:-Mechanical Energy :-
it is available in two forms

Kinetic energy
Potential energy

The kinetic energy of a moving body is measured by the amount work has been done in bringing
the body from rest position to its present position .

K.E=1/2MV2

Kinetic energy of rotation :- if a body is roatating about a fixed point , then it posses kinetic
energy of roation is given by

K.E=1/2 IW2

Potential energy :-the energy in a body duct to its position is as called potential energy

P.E =mgh
Electrical energy :- electrical energy is clean , non polluting and easily transportable of
energy.
Power is defined as the rate of doing work

1
Or rate of change of energy .the voltage b/w twopoints is defined as the work done in moving a
positive change from lower potential to higher potential

Power = VQ/t=VI where V:- voltage , in v (potential)

I:- current I amp
Chemical energy:-

In fuel cells , batters , chemical energy is converted into electrical energy . during combustion of
fuel (like coal, wood) the atom C , H etc.

Nuclear energy:-
Uranium ,pleetanium& thorium isotopes are nuclear fuels . in their nuclear , the
energy is released in the form of heat bynuclear fission chain reaction . nuclear
fusion is combing of nuclear accompanied by relase of heat
92U235 +0n` 56 Ba137 +56Kr97+20n`+r
Hydro energy :-

Hydro energy 1.1

When water drops through a height its hydro energy bis converted to kinetic energy & finally to
electricl energy by altimeter

1.2 Commercial and non commercial energy resources

Commercial source are basically exhaustable in nature and traded in the market these available in
raw form e.gcoal ,petroleum,elatricity etc.

2
Non commercial source are some how renewable and generally avilabefradly or cheap
e.gcowding , agricultural waste firewood .

1.3 Renewable and non renewable energy :-

TheseAre those sersource which can be used again as they are not having limited resurcee.g :-
solar energy, geo thermal energy,tidal energy etc. Non renewable resource cannot be replaced
once are used these resource have limited reserves ( which can be finished in hundred year) e.g
coal , oil ,gas etc.

There are nine major areas of energy resources. They fall into two categories: nonrenewable and
renewable. Nonrenewable energy resources, like coal, nuclear, oil, and natural gas, are available
in limited supplies. This is usually due to the long time it takes for them to be replenished.
Renewable resources are replenished naturally and over relatively short periods of time. The five
major renewable energy resources are solar, wind, water (hydro), biomass, and geothermal.

Since the dawn of humanity people have used renewable sources of energy to survive wood
for cooking and heating, wind and water for milling grain, and solar for lighting fires. A little
more than 150 years ago people created the technology to extract energy from the ancient
fossilized remains of plants and animals. These super-rich but limited sources of energy (coal,
oil, and natural gas) quickly replaced wood, wind, solar, and water as the main sources of fuel.

1.4 Conventional and non conventional energy resource :-

The word conventional energy means standard , regular or genrally done , so the resource , that
have been used as source of energy from ages , are called as conventional energy resources

E.G firewood , coal, petrolium , natural gas , cow deeng etc.

3
1. Coal:
Coal is a major conventional energy sources. It was formed from the remains
of the trees and ferns grew in swamps around 500 millions year ago. The
bacterial and chemical decomposition of such plant debris (which remained
buried under water or clay) produced an intermediate product known as peat
which is mainly cellulose (C6H10O5)n. Due to progressive decomposition by
heat and pressure, the cellulose lost moisture H2 and Oz and got converted in
to coal as per the given equation

The average formula of coal is (C3/H4/)n. Out of the 6000 billion tons coal
stocks under earth crust, 200 tons have been exploited the present society.
The coal reserves are found in the states like Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal,
M.P. and A.P. Some important coal fields are : Talcher, Raniganj, Jharia,
Bokaro, Panch Konkam, Signoulli, Chanda etc. 3. Solar Energy:

1.5 Non conventional energy resources

These are renewable , natural & in e.g hasstiable type of resource . these
are used toaccomplish the higher demands & insufficient availability of
conventional type of resource.

e.g solar energy , wind energy , todal energy, Geothermal energy etc.

4
Sun is the source of all energy on the earth. It is most abundant,
inexhaustible and universal source of energy. AH other sources of
energy draw their strength from the sun. India is blessed with plenty of
solar energy because most parts of the country receive bright sunshine
throughout the year except a brief monsoon period. India has developed
technology to use solar energy for cooking, water heating, water
dissimilation, space heating, crop drying etc.

1.6 TRANSFORMATION

A turbo generator transforms the energy of pressurized steam into electrical energy Energy may
be transformed between different forms at various efficiencies. Items that transform between
these forms are called transducers. Examples of transducers include a battery, from chemical
energy to electric energy; a dam: gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy of moving water
(and the blades of a turbine) and ultimately to electric energy through an electric generator; or
a heat engine, from heat to work.

Examples of energy transformation include generating electric energy from heat energy via a
steam turbine, or lifting an object against gravity using electrical energy driving a crane motor.
Lifting against gravity performs mechanical work on the object and stores gravitational potential
energy in the object. If the object falls to the ground, gravity does mechanical work on the object
which transforms the potential energy in the gravitational field to the kinetic energy released as
heat on impact with the ground. Our Sun transforms nuclear potential energy to other forms of
energy; its total mass does not decrease due to that in itself (since it still contains the same total
energy even if in different forms), but its mass does decrease when the energy escapes out to its
surroundings, largely as radiant energy.

5
There are strict limits to how efficiently heat can be converted into work in a cyclic process, e.g.
in a heat engine, as described by Carnot's theorem and the second law of thermodynamics.
However, some energy transformations can be quite efficient. The direction of transformations in
energy (what kind of energy is transformed to what other kind) is often determined
by entropy (equal energy spread among all available degrees of freedom) considerations. In
practice all energy transformations are permitted on a small scale, but certain larger
transformations are not permitted because it is statistically unlikely that energy or matter will
randomly move into more concentrated forms or smaller spaces.

In general relativity, the stressenergy tensor serves as the source term for the gravitational field,
in rough analogy to the way mass serves as the source term in the non-relativistic Newtonian
approximation.[10]

Energy and mass are manifestations of one and the same underlying physical property of a
system. This property is responsible for the inertia and strength of gravitational interaction of the
system ("mass manifestations"), and is also responsible for the potential ability of the system to
perform work or heating ("energy manifestations"), subject to the limitations of other physical
laws.

In classical physics, energy is a scalar quantity, the canonical conjugate to time. In special
relativity energy is also a scalar (although not a Lorentz scalar but a time component of
the energymomentum 4-vector).[10] In other words, energy is invariant with respect to rotations
of space, but not invariant with respect to rotations of space-time (= boosts).

Examples of energy transformation include generating electric energy from heat energy via a
steam turbine, or lifting an object against gravity using electrical energy driving a crane motor.
Lifting against gravity performs mechanical work on the object and stores gravitational potential
energy in the object. If the object falls to the ground, gravity does mechanical work on the object
which transforms the potential energy in the gravitational field to the kinetic energy released as
heat on impact with the ground. Our Sun transforms nuclear potential energy to other forms of
energy; its total mass does not decrease due to that in itself (since it still contains the same total
energy even if in different forms), but its mass does decrease when the energy escapes out to its
surroundings, largely as radiant energy.

6
There are strict limits to how efficiently heat can be converted into work in a cyclic process, e.g.
in a heat engine, as described by Carnot's theorem and the second law of thermodynamics.
However, some energy transformations can be quite efficient. The direction of transformations in
energy (what kind of energy is transformed to what other kind) is often determined
by entropy (equal energy spread among all available degrees of freedom) considerations. In
practice all energy transformations are permitted on a small scale, but certain larger
transformations are not permitted because it is statistically unlikely that energy or matter will
randomly move into more concentrated forms or smaller spaces.

Creation of these heavy elements before they were incorporated into the solar system and the
Earth. This energy is triggered and released in nuclear fission bombs or in civil nuclear power
generation. Similarly, in the case of a chemical explosion, chemical potential energy is
transformed to kinetic energy and thermal energy in a very short time. Yet another example is
that of a pendulum. At its highest points the kinetic energy is zero and the gravitational potential
energy is at maximum. At its lowest point the kinetic energy is at maximum and is equal to the
decrease of potential energy. If one (unrealistically) assumes that there is no friction or other
losses, the conversion of energy between these processes would be perfect, and
the pendulum would continue swinging forever.

Energy is also transferred from potential energy ( ) to kinetic energy ( ) and then back to
potential energy constantly. This is referred to as conservation of energy. In this closed system,
energy cannot be created or destroyed; therefore, the initial energy and the final energy will be
equal to each other. This can be demonstrated by the following:

The equation can then be simplified further since (mass times acceleration due to gravity

times the height) and (half mass times velocity squared). Then the total amount of energy
can be found by adding.

7
1.7 CONSERVATION OF ENERGY AND MASS IN TRANSFORMATION

Energy gives rise to weight when it is trapped in a system with zero momentum, where it can be
weighed. It is also equivalent to mass, and this mass is always associated with it. Mass is also
equivalent to a certain amount of energy, and likewise always appears associated with it, as
described in mass-energy equivalence. The formula E = mc, derived by Albert Einstein (1905)
quantifies the relationship between rest-mass and rest-energy within the concept of special
relativity. In different theoretical frameworks, similar formulas were derived by J. J.
Thomson (1881), Henri Poincar (1900), Friedrich Hasenhrl (1904) and others (see Mass-
energy equivalence#History for further information).

Part of the rest energy (equivalent to rest mass) of matter may be converted to other forms of
energy (still exhibiting mass), but neither energy nor mass can be destroyed; rather, both

remain constant during any process. However, since is extremely large relative to
ordinary human scales, the conversion of an everyday amount of rest mass (for example,

1 kg) from rest energy to other forms of energy (such as kinetic energy, thermal energy, or the
radiant energy carried by light and other radiation) can liberate tremendous amounts of energy

(~ joules = 21 megatons of TNT), as can be seen in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.
Conversely, the mass equivalent of an everyday amount energy is minuscule, which is why a loss
of energy (loss of mass) from most systems is difficult to measure on a weighing scale, unless
the energy loss is very large. Examples of large transformations between rest energy (of matter)
and other forms of energy (e.g., kinetic energy into particles with rest mass) are found in nuclear
physics and particle physics.

1.8 REVERSIBLE AND NON-REVERSIBLE TRANSFORMATIONS

Thermodynamics divides energy transformation into two kinds: reversible

processes and irreversible processes. An irreversible process is one in which energy is dissipated
(spread) into empty energy states available in a volume, from which it cannot be recovered into
more concentrated forms (fewer quantum states), without degradation of even more energy. A

8
reversible process is one in which this sort of dissipation does not happen. For example,
conversion of energy from one type of potential field to another, is reversible, as in the pendulum
system described above. In processes where heat is generated, quantum states of lower energy,
present as possible excitations in fields between atoms, act as a reservoir for part of the energy,
from which it cannot be recovered, in order to be converted with 100% efficiency into other
forms of energy. In this case, the energy must partly stay as heat, and cannot be completely
recovered as usable energy, except at the price of an increase in some other kind of heat-like
increase in disorder in quantum states, in the universe (such as an expansion of matter, or a
randomisation in a crystal).

As the universe evolves in time, more and more of its energy becomes trapped in irreversible
states (i.e., as heat or other kinds of increases in disorder). This has been referred to as the
inevitable thermodynamic heat death of the universe. In this heat death the energy of the universe
does not change, but the fraction of energy which is available to do work through a heat engine,
or be transformed to other usable forms of energy (through the use of generators attached to heat
engines), grows less and less.

1.9 CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

Conservation of Energy 1.9

The fact that energy can be neither created nor be destroyed is called the law of conservation of
energy. In the form of the first law of thermodynamics, this states that a closed system's energy is
constant unless energy is transferred in or out by work or heat, and that no energy is lost in
transfer. The total inflow of energy into a system must equal the total outflow of energy from the

9
system, plus the change in the energy contained within the system. Whenever one measures (or
calculates) the total energy of a system of particles whose interactions do not depend explicitly
on time, it is found that the total energy of the system always remains constant.[11]

While heat can always be fully converted into work in a reversible isothermal expansion of an
ideal gas, for cyclic processes of practical interest in heat engines the second law of
thermodynamics states that the system doing work always loses some energy as waste heat. This
creates a limit to the amount of heat energy that can do work in a cyclic process, a limit called
the available energy. Mechanical and other forms of energy can be transformed in the other
direction into thermal energy without such limitations.[12] The total energy of a system can be
calculated by adding up all forms of energy in the system.

Richard Feynman said during a 1961 lecture:[

There is a fact, or if you wish, a law, governing all natural phenomena that are known to date.
There is no known exception to this lawit is exact so far as we know. The law is called
the conservation of energy. It states that there is a certain quantity, which we call energy, that
does not change in manifold changes which nature undergoes. That is a most abstract idea,
because it is a mathematical principle; it says that there is a numerical quantity which does not
change when something happens. It is not a description of a mechanism, or anything concrete; it
is just a strange fact that we can calculate some number and when we finish watching nature go
through her tricks and calculate the number again, it is the same.

The Feynman Lectures on Physics

Most kinds of energy (with gravitational energy being a notable exception) [14] are subject to strict
local conservation laws as well. In this case, energy can only be exchanged between adjacent
regions of space, and all observers agree as to the volumetric density of energy in any given
space. There is also a global law of conservation of energy, stating that the total energy of the
universe cannot change; this is a corollary of the local law, but not vice versa.[12][13]

This law is a fundamental principle of physics. As shown rigorously by Noether's theorem, the
conservation of energy is a mathematical consequence of translational symmetry of time,[15] a
property of most phenomena below the cosmic scale that makes them independent of their

10
locations on the time coordinate. Put differently, yesterday, today, and tomorrow are physically
indistinguishable. This is because energy is the quantity which is canonical conjugate to time.
This mathematical entanglement of energy and time also results in the uncertainty principle - it is
impossible to define the exact amount of energy during any definite time interval. The
uncertainty principle should not be confused with energy conservation - rather it provides
mathematical limits to which energy can in principle be defined and measured.

Each of the basic forces of nature is associated with a different type of potential energy, and all
types of potential energy (like all other types of energy) appears as system mass, whenever
present. For example, a compressed spring will be slightly more massive than before it was
compressed. Likewise, whenever energy is transferred between systems by any mechanism, an
associated mass is transferred with it.

In quantum mechanics energy is expressed using the Hamiltonian operator. On any time scales,
the uncertainty in the energy is bywhich is similar in form to the Heisenberg Uncertainty
Principle (but not really mathematically equivalent thereto, since H and t are not dynamically
conjugate variables, neither in classical nor in quantum mechanics).

In particle physics, this inequality permits a qualitative understanding of virtual particles which
carry momentum, exchange by which and with real particles, is responsible for the creation of all
known fundamental forces (more accurately known as fundamental interactions). Virtual
photons (which are simply lowest quantum mechanical energy state of photons) are also
responsible for electrostatic interaction between electric charges (which results in Coulomb law),
for spontaneous radiative decay of exited atomic and nuclear states, for the Casimir force,
for van der Waals bond forces and some other observable phenomena.

Thermodynamics

Internal energy

Internal energy is the sum of all microscopic forms of energy of a system. It is the energy needed
to create the system. It is related to the potential energy, e.g., molecular structure, crystal
structure, and other geometric aspects, as well as the motion of the particles, in form of kinetic

11
energy. Thermodynamics is chiefly concerned with changes in internal energy and not its
absolute value, which is impossible to determine with thermodynamics alone.[16]

First law of thermodynamics

The first law of thermodynamics asserts that energy (but not necessarily thermodynamic free
energy) is always conserved[17] and that heat flow is a form of energy transfer. For homogeneous
systems, with a well-defined temperature and pressure, a commonly used corollary of the first
law is that, for a system subject only to pressure forces and heat transfer (e.g., a cylinder-full of
gas) without chemical changes, the differential change in the internal energy of the system (with
a gain in energy signified by a positive quantity) is given as

where the first term on the right is the heat transferred into the system, expressed in terms
of temperature T and entropy S (in which entropy increases and the change dS is positive when
the system is heated), and the last term on the right hand side is identified as work done on the
system, where pressure is P and volume V (the negative sign results since compression of the
system requires work to be done on it and so the volume change, dV, is negative when work is
done on the system).

This equation is highly specific, ignoring all chemical, electrical, nuclear, and gravitational
forces, effects such as advection of any form of energy other than heat and pV-work. The general
formulation of the first law (i.e., conservation of energy) is valid even in situations in which the
system is not homogeneous. For these cases the change in internal energy of a closed system is
expressed in a general form by

Equipartition of energy

The energy of a mechanical harmonic oscillator (a mass on a spring) is

alternatively kinetic and potential. At two points in the oscillation cycle it is entirely kinetic, and
alternatively at two other points it is entirely potential. Over the whole cycle, or over many
cycles, net energy is thus equally split between kinetic and potential. This is called equipartition
principle; total energy of a system with many degrees of freedom is equally split among all
available degrees of freedom.

12
This principle is vitally important to understanding the behaviour of a quantity closely related to
energy, called entropy. Entropy is a measure of evenness of a distribution of energy between
parts of a system. When an isolated system is given more degrees of freedom (i.e., given new
available energy states that are the same as existing states), then total energy spreads over all
available degrees equally without distinction between "new" and "old" degrees. This
mathematical result is called the second law of thermodynamics.

13
 CHAPTER -2

2.1 Solar energy:

Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of ever-
evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar
architecture, molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis.

It is an important source of renewable energy and its technologies are broadly characterized as
either passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or
convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic
systems, concentrated solar power and solar water heating to harness the energy. Passive solar
techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal
mass or light-dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

The large magnitude of solar energy available makes it a highly appealing source of electricity.
The United Nations Development Programme in its 2000 World Energy Assessment found that
the annual potential of solar energy was 1,57549,837 exajoules (EJ). This is several times larger
than the total world energy consumption, which was 559.8 EJ in 2012.[3][4]

In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the development of affordable, inexhaustible
and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase
countries energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-
independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of
mitigating global warming, and keep fossil fuel prices lower than otherwise. These advantages
are global. Hence the additional costs of the incentives for early deployment should be
considered learning investments; they must be wisely spent and need to be widely shared".[1]

14
 solar energy reaches the Earth's surface. 2.1

Average isolation.

The Earth receives 174,000 terawatts (TW) of incoming solar radiation (insolation) at the
upper atmosphere.[5] Approximately 30% is reflected back to space while the rest is absorbed by
clouds, oceans and land masses. The spectrum of solar light at the Earth's surface is mostly
spread across the visible and near-infrared ranges with a small part in the near-ultraviolet.[6] Most
of the world's population live in areas with insolation levels of 150-300 watts/m, or 3.5-
7.0 kWh/m per day.

Solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth's land surface, oceans which cover about 71% of the
globe and atmosphere. Warm air containing evaporated water from the oceans rises,
causing atmospheric circulation or convection. When the air reaches a high altitude, where the
temperature is low, water vapor condenses into clouds, which rain onto the Earth's surface,
completing the water cycle. The latent heat of water condensation amplifies convection,
producing atmospheric phenomena such as wind, cyclones and anti-cyclones.[7] Sunlight
absorbed by the oceans and land masses keeps the surface at an average temperature of
14 C.[8] By photosynthesis, green plants convert solar energy into chemically stored energy,
which produces food, wood and the biomass from which fossil fuels are derived.[9]

The total solar energy absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately
3,850,000 exajoules (EJ) per year.[10] In 2002, this was more energy in one hour than the world
used in one year.[11][12] Photosynthesis captures approximately 3,000 EJ per year in
biomass.[13] The amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one

15
year it is about twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth's non-renewable
resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined,[14]

Yearly solar fluxes & human consumption

[10]
Solar 3,850,000

[15]
Wind 2,250

[16]
Biomass potential ~200

Primary energy use2 539 [17]

Electricity2 ~67 [18]

1
Energy given in Exajoule (EJ) = 1018 J = 278 TWh
2
Consumption as of year 2010

The potential solar energy that could be used by humans differs from the amount of solar energy
present near the surface of the planet because factors such as geography, time variation, cloud
cover, and the land available to humans limit the amount of solar energy that we can acquire.

Geography affects solar energy potential because areas that are closer to the equator have a
greater amount of solar radiation. However, the use of photovoltaics that can follow the position
of the sun can significantly increase the solar energy potential in areas that are farther from the
equator.[4] Time variation effects the potential of solar energy because during the nighttime there
is little solar radiation on the surface of the Earth for solar panels to absorb. This limits the
amount of energy that solar panels can absorb in one day. Cloud cover can affect the potential of

16
solar panels because clouds block incoming light from the sun and reduce the light available for
solar cells.

In addition, land availability has a large effect on the available solar energy because solar panels
can only be set up on land that is otherwise unused and suitable for solar panels. Roofs have been
found to be a suitable place for solar cells, as many people have discovered that they can collect
energy directly from their homes this way. Other areas that are suitable for solar cells are lands
that are not being used for businesses where solar plants can be established.[4]

Solar technologies are characterized as either passive or active depending on the way they
capture, convert and distribute sunlight and enable solar energy to be harnessed at different
levels around the world, mostly depending on distance from the equator. Although solar energy
refers primarily to the use of solar radiation for practical ends, all renewable energies, other
than Geothermal power and Tidal power, derive their energy either directly or indirectly from the
Sun.

Active solar techniques use photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, solar thermal collectors,
pumps, and fans to convert sunlight into useful outputs. Passive solar techniques include
selecting materials with favorable thermal properties, designing spaces that naturally circulate
air, and referencing the position of a building to the Sun. Active solar technologies increase the
supply of energy and are considered supply side technologies, while passive solar technologies
reduce the need for alternate resources and are generally considered demand side
technologies.[19]

In 2000, the United Nations Development Programme, UN Department of Economic and Social
Affairs, and World Energy Council published an estimate of the potential solar energy that could
be used by humans each year that took into account factors such as insolation, cloud cover, and
the land that is usable by humans. The estimate found that solar energy has a global potential of
1,57549,837 EJ per year (see table below).[4]

17
Annual solar energy potential by region (Exajoules) [4]

Middle
Latin Central
Former East Sub- Centrally
North America Western and Pacific South Pacific
Region Soviet and Saharan planned
America and Europe Eastern Asia Asia OECD
Union North Africa Asia
Caribbean Europe
Africa

Minimum 181.1 112.6 25.1 4.5 199.3 412.4 371.9 41.0 38.8 115.5 72.6

Maximum 7,410 3,385 914 154 8,655 11,060 9,528 994 1,339 4,135 2,263

Note:

Total global annual solar energy potential amounts to 1,575 EJ (minimum) to 49,837 EJ
(maximum)
Data reflects assumptions of annual clear sky irradiance, annual average sky clearance, and
available land area. All figures given in Exajoules.

Quantitative relation of global solar potential vs. the world's primary energy consumption:

Ratio of potential vs. current consumption (402 EJ) as of year: 3.9 (minimum) to 124 (maximum)
Ratio of potential vs. projected consumption by 2050 (5901,050 EJ): 1.52.7 (minimum) to 4784
(maximum)
Ratio of potential vs. projected consumption by 2100 (8801,900 EJ): 0.81.8 (minimum) to 2657
(maximum)

Source: United Nations Development Programme World Energy Assessment (2000)[4]

18
 1. Converting it into thermal energy
2. Converting it into electricity
3. Photo synthesis

2.2 Thermal energy :

Form sun can be obtained by a solar collector applied of solar thermal energy which becomes
commercial are solar cookers, solar water heating , crop drying , refrigeration , water pumping
timber seasoning and water desalination soalr thermal system are toaday thermal energy
requirement at various temperature from 60.c-380.c for difernt domestic & industrial applications
including power generation and process heating.

Thermal energy

Solar thermal technologies can be used for water heating, space heating, space cooling and
process heat generation.[20]

Early commercial adaptation

Patent drawing of Shuman's solar collector 2.2

In 1897, Frank Shuman, a U.S. inventor, engineer and solar energy pioneer built a small
demonstration solar engine that worked by reflecting solar energy onto square boxes filled with
ether, which has a lower boiling point than water, and were fitted internally with black pipes
which in turn powered a steam engine. In 1908 Shuman formed the Sun Power Company with
19
the intent of building larger solar power plants. He, along with his technical advisor A.S.E.
Ackermann and British physicist Sir Charles Vernon Boys, developed an improved system using
mirrors to reflect solar energy upon collector boxes, increasing heating capacity to the extent that
water could now be used instead of ether. Shuman then constructed a full-scale steam engine
powered by low-pressure water, enabling him to patent the entire solar engine system by 1912.

Shuman built the worlds first solar thermal power station in Maadi, Egypt, between 1912 and
1913. His plant used parabolic troughs to power a 4552 kilowatts (6070 hp) engine that
pumped more than 22,000 litres (4,800 imp gal; 5,800 US gal) of water per minute from the Nile
River to adjacent cotton fields. Although the outbreak of World War I and the discovery of cheap
oil in the 1930s discouraged the advancement of solar energy, Shumans vision and basic design
were resurrected in the 1970s with a new wave of interest in solar thermal energy.[21] In 1916
Shuman was quoted in the media advocating solar energy's utilization, saying:

We have proved the commercial profit of sun power in the tropics and have more particularly
proved that after our stores of oil and coal are exhausted the human race can receive unlimited
power from the rays of the sun.

Frank Shuman, New York Times, 2 July 1916[22]

Water heating

Solar water heaters facing the Sun to maximize gain 2.2

Solar hot water systems use sunlight to heat water. In low geographical latitudes (below
40 degrees) from 60 to 70% of the domestic hot water use with temperatures up to 60 C can be
provided by solar heating systems.[23] The most common types of solar water heaters are

20
evacuated tube collectors (44%) and glazed flat plate collectors (34%) generally used for
domestic hot water; and unglazed plastic collectors (21%) used mainly to heat swimming
pools.[24]

As of 2007, the total installed capacity of solar hot water systems was approximately
154 thermal gigawatt (GWth).[25] China is the world leader in their deployment with
70 GWth installed as of 2006 and a long-term goal of 210 GWth by 2020.[26] Israel and Cyprus are
the per capita leaders in the use of solar hot water systems with over 90% of homes using
them.[27] In the United States, Canada, and Australia, heating swimming pools is the dominant
application of solar hot water with an installed capacity of 18 GWth as of 2005.[19]

Heating, cooling and ventilation

In the United States, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems account for 30%
(4.65 EJ/yr) of the energy used in commercial buildings and nearly 50% (10.1 EJ/yr) of the
energy used in residential buildings.[28][29] Solar heating, cooling and ventilation technologies can
be used to offset a portion of this energy.

MIT's Solar House #1, built in 1939 in the U.S., used seasonal thermal energy storage for year-
round heating.

Thermal mass is any material that can be used to store heatheat from the Sun in the case of
solar energy. Common thermal mass materials include stone, cement and water. Historically they
have been used in arid climates or warm temperate regions to keep buildings cool by absorbing
solar energy during the day and radiating stored heat to the cooler atmosphere at night. However,
they can be used in cold temperate areas to maintain warmth as well. The size and placement of
thermal mass depend on several factors such as climate, daylighting and shading conditions.
When properly incorporated, thermal mass maintains space temperatures in a comfortable range
and reduces the need for auxiliary heating and cooling equipment.[30]

A solar chimney (or thermal chimney, in this context) is a passive solar ventilation system
composed of a vertical shaft connecting the interior and exterior of a building. As the chimney

21
warms, the air inside is heated causing an updraft that pulls air through the building.
Performance can be improved by using glazing and thermal mass materials[31] in a way that
mimics greenhouses.

Deciduous trees and plants have been promoted as a means of controlling solar heating and
cooling. When planted on the southern side of a building in the northern hemisphere or the
northern side in the southern hemisphere, their leaves provide shade during the summer, while
the bare limbs allow light to pass during the winter.[32] Since bare, leafless trees shade 1/3 to 1/2
of incident solar radiation, there is a balance between the benefits of summer shading and the
corresponding loss of winter heating.[33] In climates with significant heating loads, deciduous
trees should not be planted on the Equator-facing side of a building because they will interfere
with winter solar availability. They can, however, be used on the east and west sides to provide a
degree of summer shading without appreciably affecting winter solar gain.[34]

Cooking

Solar cookers use sunlight for cooking, drying and pasteurization. They can be grouped into
three broad categories: box cookers, panel cookers and reflector cookers.[35] The simplest solar
cooker is the box cooker first built by Horace de Saussure in 1767.[36] A basic box cooker
consists of an insulated container with a transparent lid. It can be used effectively with partially
overcast skies and will typically reach temperatures of 90150 C (194302 F).[37] Panel
cookers use a reflective panel to direct sunlight onto an insulated container and reach
temperatures comparable to box cookers. Reflector cookers use various concentrating geometries
(dish, trough, Fresnel mirrors) to focus light on a cooking container. These cookers reach
temperatures of 315 C (599 F) and above but require direct light to function properly and must
be repositioned to track the Sun.[38]

Process heat

Solar concentrating technologies such as parabolic dish, trough and Scheffler reflectors can
provide process heat for commercial and industrial applications. The first commercial system
was the Solar Total Energy Project (STEP) in Shenandoah, Georgia, USA where a field of 114
parabolic dishes provided 50% of the process heating, air conditioning and electrical

22
requirements for a clothing factory. This grid-connected cogeneration system provided 400 kW
of electricity plus thermal energy in the form of 401 kW steam and 468 kW chilled water, and
had a one-hour peak load thermal storage.[39] Evaporation ponds are shallow pools that
concentrate dissolved solids through evaporation. The use of evaporation ponds to obtain salt
from seawater is one of the oldest applications of solar energy. Modern uses include
concentrating brine solutions used in leach mining and removing dissolved solids from waste
streams.[40] Clothes lines, clotheshorses, and clothes racks dry clothes through evaporation by
wind and sunlight without consuming electricity or gas. In some states of the United States
legislation protects the "right to dry" clothes.[41] Unglazed transpired collectors (UTC) are
perforated sun-facing walls used for preheating ventilation air. UTCs can raise the incoming air
temperature up to 22 C (40 F) and deliver outlet temperatures of 4560 C (113
140 F).[42] The short payback period of transpired collectors (3 to 12 years) makes them a more
cost-effective alternative than glazed collection systems.[42] As of 2003, over 80 systems with a
combined collector area of 35,000 square metres (380,000 sq ft) had been installed worldwide,
including an 860 m2 (9,300 sq ft) collector in Costa Rica used for drying coffee beans and a
1,300 m2 (14,000 sq ft) collector in Coimbatore, India, used for drying marigolds.[43]

Water treatment

Solar water disinfection in Indonesia

Solar distillation can be used to make saline or brackish water potable. The first recorded
instance of this was by 16th-century Arab alchemists.[44] A large-scale solar distillation project
was first constructed in 1872 in the Chilean mining town of Las Salinas.[45] The plant, which had
solar collection area of 4,700 m2 (51,000 sq ft), could produce up to 22,700 L (5,000 imp gal;
6,000 US gal) per day and operate for 40 years.[45] Individual still designs include single-slope,
double-slope (or greenhouse type), vertical, conical, inverted absorber, multi-wick, and multiple
effect. These stills can operate in passive, active, or hybrid modes. Double-slope stills are the
most economical for decentralized domestic purposes, while active multiple effect units are more
suitable for large-scale applications.[44]

Solar water disinfection (SODIS) involves exposing water-filled plastic polyethylene

terephthalate (PET) bottles to sunlight for several hours.[46] Exposure times vary depending on

23
weather and climate from a minimum of six hours to two days during fully overcast
conditions.[47] It is recommended by the World Health Organization as a viable method for
household water treatment and safe storage.[48] Over two million people in developing countries
use this method for their daily drinking water.[47]

Solar energy may be used in a water stabilization pond to treat waste water without chemicals or
electricity. A further environmental advantage is that algae grow in such ponds and
consume carbon dioxide in photosynthesis, although algae may produce toxic chemicals that
make the water unusable.[49][50]

Molten salt technology

Molten salt can be employed as a thermal energy storage method to retain thermal energy
collected by a solar tower or solar trough of a concentrated solar power plant, so that it can be
used to generate electricity in bad weather or at night. It was demonstrated in the Solar
Two project from 19951999. The system is predicted to have an annual efficiency of 99%, a
reference to the energy retained by storing heat before turning it into electricity, versus
converting heat directly into electricity.[51][52][53] The molten salt mixtures vary. The most
extended mixture contains sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate and calcium nitrate. It is non-
flammable and nontoxic, and has already been used in the chemical and metals industries as a
heat-transport fluid, so experience with such systems exists in non-solar applications.

The salt melts at 131 C (268 F). It is kept liquid at 288 C (550 F) in an insulated "cold"
storage tank. The liquid salt is pumped through panels in a solar collector where the focused sun
heats it to 566 C (1,051 F). It is then sent to a hot storage tank. This is so well insulated that the
thermal energy can be usefully stored for up to a week.[54]

When electricity is needed, the hot salt is pumped to a conventional steam-generator to

produce superheated steam for a turbine/generator as used in any conventional coal, oil, or
nuclear power plant. A 100-megawatt turbine would need a tank about 9.1 metres (30 ft) tall and
24 meters (79 ft) in diameter to drive it for four hours by this design.

24
Several parabolic trough power plants in Spain and solar power tower developer Solar
Reserve use this thermal energy storage concept. The Solana Generating Station in the U.S. has
six hours of storage by molten salt.

Electricity production

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaic (PV),
or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). CSP systems use lenses or mirrors and
tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. PV converts light into
electric current using the photoelectric effect.

Solar power is anticipated to become the world's largest source of electricity by 2050, with solar
photovoltaic and concentrated solar power contributing 16 and 11 percent to the global overall
consumption, respectively.

Commercial CSP plants were first developed in the 1980s. Since 1985 the eventually 354
MW SEGS CSP installations, in the Mojave Desert of California, is the largest solar power plant
in the world. Other large CSP plants include the 150 MW Solnova Solar Power Station and the
100 MW Andasol solar power station, both in Spain. The 250 MW Agua Caliente Solar Project,
in the United States, and the 221 MW Charanka Solar Park in India, are the worlds
largestphotovoltaic plants. Solar projects exceeding 1 GW are being developed, but most of the
deployed photovoltaics are in small rooftop arrays of less than 5 kW, which are connected to the
grid using net metering and/or a feed-in tariff.[57] In 2013 solar generated less than 1% of the
world's total grid electricity.[58]

2.3 Solar photovoltaic:

In solar photovoltaic system electricity generating directly from solar energy. It works on the
principle of photoelectric effect. When light falls on certain metals like silicon, yhe electrons get
exited and escape from the metal .these are then coleected by another metal & passed through the
wires in a steady stream,the electron flowthese set up continuously the electric current .

25
In the last two decades, photovoltaics (PV), also known as solar PV, has evolved from a pure
niche market of small scale applications towards becoming a mainstream electricity source.
A solar cell is a device that converts light directly into electricity using the photoelectric effect.
The first solar cell was constructed by Charles Fritts in the 1880s.[59] In 1931 a German engineer,
Dr Bruno Lange, developed a photo cell using silver selenide in place of copper
oxide.[60] Although the prototype selenium cells converted less than 1% of incident light into
electricity, both Ernst Werner von Siemens and James Clerk Maxwell recognized the importance
of this discovery.[61] Following the work of Russell Ohl in the 1940s, researchers Gerald
Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin created the crystalline silicon solar cell in
1954.[62] These early solar cells cost 286 USD/watt and reached efficiencies of 4.56%. By 2012
available efficiencies exceeded 20%, and the maximum efficiency of research photovoltaics was
in excess of 40%.

Solar photovoltaic 2.3

Concentrated solar power

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a
large area of sunlight into a small beam. The concentrated heat is then used as a heat source for a
conventional power plant. A wide range of concentrating technologies exists; the most developed
are the parabolic trough, the concentrating linear fresnel reflector, the Stirling dish and the solar
power tower. Various techniques are used to track the Sun and focus light. In all of these systems

26
a working fluid is heated by the concentrated sunlight, and is then used for power generation or
energy storage.[65]

Architecture and urban planning

Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany, won the 2007 Solar Decathlon in Washington,
D.C. with this passive house designed for humid and hot subtropical climate.[66]

Sunlight has influenced building design since the beginning of architectural history.[67] Advanced
solar architecture and urban planning methods were first employed by the Greeks and Chinese,
who oriented their buildings toward the south to provide light and warmth.[68]

The common features of passive solar architecture are orientation relative to the Sun, compact
proportion (a low surface area to volume ratio), selective shading (overhangs) and thermal
mass. When these features are tailored to the local climate and environment they can produce
well-lit spaces that stay in a comfortable temperature range. Socrates' Megaron House is a classic
example of passive solar design.[67] The most recent approaches to solar design use computer
modeling tying together solar lighting, heating and ventilation systems in an integrated solar
design package.[69] Active solar equipment such as pumps, fans and switchable windows can
complement passive design and improve system performance.

Urban heat islands (UHI) are metropolitan areas with higher temperatures than that of the
surrounding environment. The higher temperatures result from increased absorption of solar
energy by urban materials such as asphalt and concrete, which have lower albedos and
higher heat capacities than those in the natural environment. A straightforward method of
counteracting the UHI effect is to paint buildings and roads white, and to plant trees in the area.
Using these methods, a hypothetical "cool communities" program in Los Angeles has projected
that urban temperatures could be reduced by approximately 3 C at an estimated cost of
US$1 billion, giving estimated total annual benefits of US$530 million from reduced air-
conditioning costs and healthcare savings.

Agriculture and horticulture

27
Greenhouses like these in the Westland municipality of the Netherlands grow vegetables, fruits
and flowers.

Agriculture and horticulture seek to optimize the capture of solar energy in order to optimize the
productivity of plants. Techniques such as timed planting cycles, tailored row orientation,
staggered heights between rows and the mixing of plant varieties can improve crop
yields.[71][72] While sunlight is generally considered a plentiful resource, the exceptions highlight
the importance of solar energy to agriculture. During the short growing seasons of the Little Ice
Age, French and English farmers employed fruit walls to maximize the collection of solar
energy. These walls acted as thermal masses and accelerated ripening by keeping plants warm.
Early fruit walls were built perpendicular to the ground and facing south, but over time, sloping
walls were developed to make better use of sunlight. In 1699, Nicolas Fatio de Duillier even
suggested using a tracking mechanism which could pivot to follow the Sun.[73] Applications of
solar energy in agriculture aside from growing crops include pumping water, drying crops,
brooding chicks and drying chicken manure.[43][74] More recently the technology has been
embraced by vintners, who use the energy generated by solar panels to power grape presses.[75]

Greenhouses convert solar light to heat, enabling year-round production and the growth (in
enclosed environments) of specialty crops and other plants not naturally suited to the local
climate. Primitive greenhouses were first used during Roman times to produce cucumbers year-
round for the Roman emperor Tiberius.[76] The first modern greenhouses were built in Europe in
the 16th century to keep exotic plants brought back from explorations abroad.[77] Greenhouses
remain an important part of horticulture today, and plastic transparent materials have also been
used to similar effect in polytunnels and row covers.

Transport

Winner of the 2013 World Solar Challenge in Australia

Solar electric aircraft circumnavigating the globe in 2015

28
Development of a solar-powered car has been an engineering goal since the 1980s. The World
Solar Challenge is a biannual solar-powered car race, where teams from universities and
enterprises compete over 3,021 kilometres (1,877 mi) across central Australia
from Darwin to Adelaide. In 1987, when it was founded, the winner's average speed was 67
kilometres per hour (42 mph) and by 2007 the winner's average speed had improved to 90.87
kilometres per hour (56.46 mph).[78] The North American Solar Challenge and the planned South
African Solar Challenge are comparable competitions that reflect an international interest in the
engineering and development of solar powered vehicles.[79][80]

Some vehicles use solar panels for auxiliary power, such as for air conditioning, to keep the
interior cool, thus reducing fuel consumption.[81][82]

In 1975, the first practical solar boat was constructed in England.[83] By 1995, passenger boats
incorporating PV panels began appearing and are now used extensively.[84] In 1996, Kenichi
Horie made the first solar-powered crossing of the Pacific Ocean, and the Sun21 catamaran made
the first solar-powered crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in the winter of 20062007.[85] There were
plans to circumnavigate the globe in 2010.[86]

In 1974, the unmanned AstroFlight Sunrise airplane made the first solar flight. On 29 April 1979,
the Solar Riser made the first flight in a solar-powered, fully controlled, man-carrying flying
machine, reaching an altitude of 40 feet (12 m). In 1980, the Gossamer Penguin made the first
piloted flights powered solely by photovoltaics. This was quickly followed by the Solar
Challenger which crossed the English Channel in July 1981. In 1990 Eric Scott Raymond in 21
hops flew from California to North Carolina using solar power.[87] Developments then turned
back to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with the Pathfinder (1997) and subsequent designs,
culminating in the Helios which set the altitude record for a non-rocket-propelled aircraft at
29,524 metres (96,864 ft) in 2001.[88] The Zephyr, developed by BAE Systems, is the latest in a
line of record-breaking solar aircraft, making a 54-hour flight in 2007, and month-long flights
were envisioned by 2010.[89] As of 2016, Solar Impulse, an electric aircraft, is currently
circumnavigating the globe. It is a single-seat plane powered by solar cells and capable of taking
off under its own power. The design allows the aircraft to remain airborne for several days.[90]

29
A solar balloon is a black balloon that is filled with ordinary air. As sunlight shines on the
balloon, the air inside is heated and expands causing an upward buoyancy force, much like an
artificially heated hot air balloon. Some solar balloons are large enough for human flight, but
usage is generally limited to the toy market as the surface-area to payload-weight ratio is
relatively high.[91]

Fuel production

Concentrated solar panels are getting a power boost. Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory (PNNL) will be testing a new concentrated solar power system -- one that can help
natural gas power plants reduce their fuel usage by up to 20 percent.

Solar chemical processes use solar energy to drive chemical reactions. These processes offset
energy that would otherwise come from a fossil fuel source and can also convert solar energy
into storable and transportable fuels. Solar induced chemical reactions can be divided into
thermochemical or photochemical.[92] A variety of fuels can be produced by artificial
photosynthesis.[93] The multielectron catalytic chemistry involved in making carbon-based fuels
(such as methanol) from reduction of carbon dioxide is challenging; a feasible alternative
is hydrogen production from protons, though use of water as the source of electrons (as plants
do) requires mastering the multielectron oxidation of two water molecules to molecular
oxygen.[94] Some have envisaged working solar fuel plants in coastal metropolitan areas by
2050 the splitting of sea water providing hydrogen to be run through adjacent fuel-cell electric
power plants and the pure water by-product going directly into the municipal water
system.[95] Another vision involves all human structures covering the earth's surface (i.e., roads,
vehicles and buildings) doing photosynthesis more efficiently than plants.[96]

Hydrogen production technologies have been a significant area of solar chemical research since
the 1970s. Aside from electrolysis driven by photovoltaic or photochemical cells, several thermo
chemical processes have also been explored. One such route uses concentrators to split water
into oxygen and hydrogen at high temperatures (2,3002,600 C or 4,2004,700 F).[97] Another
approach uses the heat from solar concentrators to drive the steam reformation of natural gas
thereby increasing the overall hydrogen yield compared to conventional reforming

30
methods.[98] Thermochemical cycles characterized by the decomposition and regeneration of
reactants present another avenue for hydrogen production. The Solzinc process under
development at the Weizmann Institute of Science uses a 1 MW solar furnace to decompose zinc
oxide (ZnO) at temperatures above 1,200 C (2,200 F). This initial reaction produces pure zinc,
which can subsequently be reacted with water to produce hydrogen.[99]

2.4 Energy storage methods

Thermal energy storage. The Andasol CSP plant uses tanks of molten salt to store solar energy.

Thermal mass systems can store solar energy in the form of heat at domestically useful
temperatures for daily or interseasonal durations. Thermal storage systems generally use readily
available materials with high specific heat capacities such as water, earth and stone. Well-
designed systems can lower peak demand, shift time-of-use to off-peak hours and reduce overall
heating and cooling requirements.[100][101]

Supply The World's Total Energy Needs 2.4

Phase change materials such as paraffin wax and Glauber's salt are another thermal storage
medium. These materials are inexpensive, readily available, and can deliver domestically useful
temperatures (approximately 64 C or 147 F). The "Dover House" (in Dover, Massachusetts)
was the first to use a Glauber's salt heating system, in 1948.[102] Solar energy can also be stored
at high temperatures using molten salts. Salts are an effective storage medium because they are
low-cost, have a high specific heat capacity and can deliver heat at temperatures compatible with
conventional power systems. The Solar Two project used this method of energy storage,
allowing it to store 1.44 terajoules (400,000 kWh) in its 68 m storage tank with an annual
storage efficiency of about 99%.[103]

31
Off-grid PV systems have traditionally used rechargeable batteries to store excess electricity.
With grid-tied systems, excess electricity can be sent to the transmission grid, while standard
grid electricity can be used to meet shortfalls. Net metering programs give household systems a
credit for any electricity they deliver to the grid. This is handled by 'rolling back' the meter
whenever the home produces more electricity than it consumes. If the net electricity use is below
zero, the utility then rolls over the kilowatt hour credit to the next month. [104] Other approaches
involve the use of two meters, to measure electricity consumed vs. electricity produced. This is
less common due to the increased installation cost of the second meter. Most standard meters
accurately measure in both directions, making a second meter unnecessary.

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity stores energy in the form of water pumped when energy is
available from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation one. The energy is recovered
when demand is high by releasing the water, with the pump becoming a hydroelectric power
generator.[105]

Development, deployment and economics

Participants in a workshop on sustainable development inspect solar panels at Monterrey

Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico City on top of a building on campus.

Beginning with the surge in coal use which accompanied the Industrial Revolution, energy
consumption has steadily transitioned from wood and biomass to fossil fuels. The early
development of solar technologies starting in the 1860s was driven by an expectation that coal
would soon become scarce. However, development of solar technologies stagnated in the early
20th century in the face of the increasing availability, economy, and utility of coal
and petroleum.[106]

The 1973 oil embargo and 1979 energy crisis caused a reorganization of energy policies around
the world and brought renewed attention to developing solar technologies.[107][108] Deployment
strategies focused on incentive programs such as the Federal Photovoltaic Utilization Program in
the U.S. and the Sunshine Program in Japan. Other efforts included the formation of research
facilities in the U.S. (SERI, now NREL), Japan (NEDO), and Germany (Fraunhofer Institute for
Solar Energy Systems ISE).[109]

32
Commercial solar water heaters began appearing in the United States in the 1890s.[110] These
systems saw increasing use until the 1920s but were gradually replaced by cheaper and more
reliable heating fuels.[111] As with photovoltaics, solar water heating attracted renewed attention
as a result of the oil crises in the 1970s but interest subsided in the 1980s due to falling
petroleum prices. Development in the solar water heating sector progressed steadily throughout
the 1990s and annual growth rates have averaged 20% since 1999.[25] Although generally
underestimated, solar water heating and cooling is by far the most widely deployed solar
technology with an estimated capacity of 154 GW as of 2007.[25]

The International Energy Agency has said that solar energy can make considerable contributions
to solving some of the most urgent problems the world now faces:[1]

The development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge
longer-term benefits. It will increase countries energy security through reliance on an
indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability,
reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel prices lower
than otherwise. These advantages are global. Hence the additional costs of the incentives for
early deployment should be considered learning investments; they must be wisely spent and need
to be widely shared.

In 2011, a report by the International Energy Agency found that solar energy technologies such
as photovoltaics, solar hot water and concentrated solar power could provide a third of the
worlds energy by 2060 if politicians commit to limiting climate change. The energy from the
sun could play a key role in de-carbonizing the global economy alongside improvements
in energy efficiency and imposing costs on greenhouse gas emitters. "The strength of solar is the
incredible variety and flexibility of applications, from small scale to big scale".[112]

We have proved ... that after our stores of oil and coal are exhausted the human race can receive
unlimited power from the rays of the sun.

Frank Shuman, New York Times, 2 July 1916[22]

ISO standards

33
The International Organization for Standardization has established several standards relating to
solar energy equipment. For example, ISO 9050 relates to glass in building while ISO 10217
relates to the materials used in solar water heaters.

Solar Thermal Conversion

Energy is not a .good unto itself; it is valued rather as a means of satisfying important needs of a
society. In classical thermodynamics, energy is defined as the capacity to do work; but from a
more practical point of view, energy is the main stay of any industrial society. In the United
States, energy is currently provided by seven primary sources: petroleum, natural gas, coal,
hydro-power, nuclear fission, geothermal, and wood and waste. The first three of these sources
are fossil fuels. They are stored forms of solar energy that received their solar input eons ago,
have changed their characteristics over time, and now are in a highly concentrated and
convenient form. It is apparent, however, that these stored forms of solar energy are being used
so rapidly that they soon will be depleted. To maintain our present social structure, it is desirable,
therefore, that we supply an increasing portion of our energy needs from renewable sources. The
radiative solar energy reaching the earth during each month is approximately equivalent to the
entire world supply of fossil fuels. Thus, from a purely thermodynamic point of view, the global
potential of solar energy is many times larger than the current energy use. However, many
technical and economic problems must be solved before large-scale use of solar energy can
occur. The future of solar power deployment depends on how we deal with these constraints,
which include scientific and technological problems, marketing and financial limitations, and
political and legislative actions including equitable taxation of renewable energy sources.
Approximately 30 percent of the solar energy impinging on the earth is reflected back into space.
The remaining 70 percent, approximately 120,000 terawatts [l terawatt is equal to 1012 watts], is
absorbed by the earth and its atmosphere. Solar radiation reaching the earth consists of the beam
radiation that casts a shadow and can be concentrated and the diffuse radiation that has been
scattered along its path in space from sun to earth. The solar radiation reaching the earth
degrades in several ways. Some of the radiation is directly absorbed as heat by the atmosphere,
the ocean, and the ground. Another component produces atmospheric and oceanic circulation. A
third component evaporates, circulates, and precipitates water in the hydrologic cycle. Finally, a
very small fraction is captured by green plants and drives the photosynthetic process.

34
2.4 Photo synthesis:

photosynethesis a phenomenon of chemical conversion of carbon dioxide & water into

carbonydrates in precence of sunlight &crlorphyis by the plants , is onr of the natures most
efficient method of conversation of solar energy ioto storable form.

Lagrangian; for example, dissipative systems with continuous symmetries need not have a
corresponding conservation law.

Photovoltaics are best known as a method for generating electric power by using solar cells to
convert energy from the sun into a flow of electrons by the photovoltaic effect.[14][15]

Solar cells produce direct current electricity from sunlight which can be used to power
equipment or to recharge a battery. The first practical application of photovoltaics was to power
orbiting satellites and other spacecraft, but today the majority of photovoltaic modules are used
for grid connected power generation. In this case an inverter is required to convert the DC to AC.
There is a smaller market for off-grid power for remote dwellings, boats, recreational vehicles,
electric cars, roadside emergency telephones, remote sensing, and cathodic
protection of pipelines.

Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar

cells containing a photovoltaic material. [16] Copper solar cables connect modules (module
cable), arrays (array cable), and sub-fields. Because of the growing demand for renewable
energy sources, the manufacturing of solar cells and photovoltaic arrays has advanced
considerably in recent years.[17][18][19]

Solar photovoltaic power generation has long been seen as a clean energy technology which
draws upon the planets most plentiful and widely distributed renewable energy source the sun.
Cells require protection from the environment and are usually packaged tightly in solar panels.

35
Photovoltaic power capacity is measured as maximum power output under standardized test
conditions (STC) in "Wp" (watts peak).[20] The actual power output at a particular point in time
may be less than or greater than this standardized, or "rated," value, depending on geographical
location, time of day, weather conditions, and other factors.[21] Solar photovoltaic array capacity
factors are typically under 25%, which is lower than many other industrial sources of
electricity.[22]

Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy
into chemical energy that can later be released to fuel the organisms' activities (energy
transformation). This chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars, which
are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water hence the name photosynthesis, from
the Greek , phs, "light", and , synthesis, "putting together".[1][2][3] In most
cases, oxygen is also released as a waste product. Most plants, most algae,
and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such organisms are called photoautotrophs.
Photosynthesis is largely responsible for producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the
Earth's atmosphere, and supplies all of the organic compounds and most of the energy necessary
for life on Earth.[4]

Although photosynthesis is performed differently by different species, the process always begins
when energy from light is absorbed by proteins called reaction centres that contain
green chlorophyll pigments. In plants, these proteins are held
inside organelles called chloroplasts, which are most abundant in leaf cells, while in bacteria they
are embedded in the plasma membrane. In these light-dependent reactions, some energy is used
to strip electrons from suitable substances, such as water, producing oxygen gas. The hydrogen
freed by the splitting of water is used in the creation of two further compounds that act as an
immediate energy storage means: reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
phosphate (NADPH) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the "energy currency" of cells.

In plants, algae and cyanobacteria, long-term energy storage in the form of sugars is produced by
a subsequent sequence of light-independent reactions called the Calvin cycle; some bacteria use
different mechanisms, such as the reverse Krebs cycle, to achieve the same end. In the Calvin
cycle, atmospheric carbon dioxide is incorporated into already existing organic carbon
compounds, such as ribulosebisphosphate (RuBP).[5] Using the ATP and NADPH produced by

36
the light-dependent reactions, the resulting compounds are then reduced and removed to form
further carbohydrates, such as glucose.

The first photosynthetic organisms probably evolved early in the evolutionary history of life and
most likely used reducing agents such as hydrogen or hydrogen sulfide, rather than water, as
sources of electrons.[6] Cyan bacteria appeared later; the excess oxygen they produced
contributed directly to the oxygenation of the Earth,[7] which rendered the evolution of complex
life possible. Today, the average rate of energy capture by photosynthesis globally is
approximately 130 terawatts,[8][9][10] which is about three times the current power consumption of
human civilization.[11] Photosynthetic organisms also convert around 100115 thousand million
metric tonnes of carbon into biomass per year.

37
 CHAPTER-3

3.1 Experimental Setup

Conversion of light energy in electrical energy is based on a phenomenon

called photovoltaic effect. When semiconductor materials are exposed to light, the some of the
photons of light ray are absorbed by the semiconductor crystal which causes significant number
of free electrons in the crystal. This is the basic reason of producing electricity due to
photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic cell is the basic unit of the system where photovoltaic effect is
utilized to produce electricity from light energy. Silicon is the most widely used semiconductor
material for constructing photovoltaic cell. The silicon atom has four valence electrons. In a solid
crystal, each silicon atom shares each of its four valence electrons with another nearest silicon
atom hence creating covalent bond between them. In this way silicon crystal gets a tetrahedral
lattice structure. While light ray strikes on any materials some portion of light is reflected, some
portion is transmitted through the materials and rest is absorbed by the materials.

Same thing happens when light falls on silicon crystal. If the intensity of incident light is high
enough, sufficient numbers of photons are absorbed by the crystal and these photons in turn
excite some of the electrons of covalent bonds. These excited electrons then get sufficient energy
to migrate from valence band to conduction band. As the energy level of these electrons is in
conduction band they leave from the covalent bond leaving a hole in the bond behind each
removed electron. These are called free electrons move randomly inside the crystal structure of
the silicon. These free electrons and holes have vital role in creating electricity in photovoltaic
cell. These electrons and holes are hence called light-generated electrons and holes respectively.
These light generated electrons and holes cannot produce electricity in the silicon crystal alone.
There should be some additional mechanism to do that.When a pentavalent impurity such as
phosphorus is added to silicon the four valence electrons of each pentavalent phosphorous atom
are shared through covalent bond with four neighbour silicon atoms and fifth valence electron
does not get any chance to create covalent bond. This fifth electron then relatively loosely
bounded with its parent atom. Even in room temperature the thermal energy available in the
crystal is large enough to disassociate these relatively loose fifth electrons from their parent
phosphorus atom. While this fifth relatively loose electron is disassociated from parent

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phosphorus atom, the phosphorous atom immobile positive ions. The said disassociated electron
becomes free but does not have any incomplete covalent bond or hole in the crystal to be re-
associated. These free electrons come from pentavalent impurity are always ready to conduct
current in semiconductor. Although there are numbers of free electrons but still the substance is
electrically neutral as the number of positive phosphorous ions locked inside the crystal structure
is exactly equal to the number of the free electrons come out from them. The process of inserting
impurities in the semiconductor is known as doping and the impurities are doped are known as
dopants. The pentavalent dopants which donate their fifth free electron to the semiconductor
crystal are known as donor. The semiconductors doped by donor impurities are known as n-type
or negative type semiconductor as there are plenty of free electrons which are negatively charged
by nature.

3.2 Construction Of Solar Cell

Although this is basically a junction diode, but constructionally it is littlebit different form
conventyional p - n junction diode. A very thin layer of p - type semiconductor is grown on a
relatively thicker n - type semiconductor. We provide few finer electrodes on the top of the p -
type semiconductor layer. These electrodes do not obstruct light to reach the thin p - type layer.
Just below the p - type layer there is a p - n junction. We also provide a current collecting
electrode at the bottom of the n - type layer. We encapsulate the entire assembly by thin glass to
protect the solar cell from any mechanical shock.

Working Principle of Solar Cell 3.2

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When light reaches the p-n junction, the light photons can easily enter in the junction, through
very thin p-type layer. The light energy, in the form of photons, supplies sufficient energy to the
junction to create a number of electron-hole pairs. The incident light, breaks the thermal
equilibrium condition of the junction. The free electrons in the depletion region can quickly
come to the n-type side of the junction. Similarly, the holes in the depletion can quickly come to
the p-type side of the junction. Once, the newly created free electrons come to the n-type side,
cannot further cross the junction because of barrier potential of the junction. Similarly, the newly
created holes once come to the p-type side cannot further cross the junction became of same
barrier potential of the junction. As the concentration of electrons becomes higher in one side i.e.
n-type side of the junction and concentration of holes becomes more in another side i.e. the p-
type side of the junction, the p-n junction will behave like a small battery cell. A voltage is set up
which is known as photo voltage. If we connect a small load across the junction, there will be a
tiny current flowing throgh it.

3.3 Characteristics Of A Photovoltaic Cell

Characteristics Of A Photovoltaic Cell 3.3

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 Materials Used in Solar Cell
The materials which are used for this purpose must have band gap close to 1.5ev. Commonly
used materials are-
1. Silicon.
2. GaAs.
3. CdTe.
4. CuInSe2

Criteria for Materials to be Used in Solar Cell

1. Must have band gap from 1ev to 1.8ev.
2. It must have high optical absorption.
3. It must have high electrical conductivity.
4. The raw material must be available in abundance and the cost of the material must be low.

Advantages of Solar Cell

1. No pollution associated with it.
2. It must last for a long time.
3. No maintenance cost.

Disadvantages of Solar Cell

1. It has high cost of installation.
2. It has low efficiency.
3. During cloudy day, the energy cannot be produced and also at night we will not get solar
energy.

Uses of Solar Generation Systems

1. It may be used to charge batteries.
2. Used in light meters.
3. It is used to power calculators and wrist watches.
4. It can be used in spacecraft to provide electrical energy.
Conclusion: Though solar cell has some disadvantage associated it, but the disadvantages are
expected to overcome as the technology advances, since the technology is advancing, the cost of
solar plates, as well as the installation cost, will decrease down so that everybody can effort to
install the system. Furthermore, the government is laying much emphasis on the solar energy so

41
after some years we may expect that every household and also every electrical system is powered
by solar or the renewable energy source.

3.4 Tracking Process

DC motor movement will follow the condition of the LDR. In dual axis solar tracking system,
there are 2 DC motors. One motor is used to control elevation axis and another motor is used to
control azimuth axis

Case 1: LDR1 light intensity > LDR2, LDR3 and LDR4

Figure 10 shows that LDR sensor 1 has the highest intensity of light hit on it thus producing a
higher voltage output than the other sensors. In this simulation, the highest intensity of light is
fixed to 15.1 lux and the lowest is at 0.1 lux. This condition is applied to case 2, 3 and 4 except
for case 5 where the simulation is about to test the motor rotation if the intensity of light on each
sensor is fixed to 15.1 lux. For case 1, DC motor A rotates in clockwise direction and DC motor
B rotates counter-clockwise direction. When applied to the real situation, DC motor A will
control the movement of elevation axis of the solar tracker and DC motor B will control the
azimuth axis of solar tracker.

Case 2: LDR2 light intensity > LDR1, LDR3 and LDR4

Figure 11 shows the condition when LDR sensor 2 gains the highest intensity of light. The
position of light in this case is at position 2. Therefore, in order to make all the sensor gain the
same intensity of light the elevation axis has to move counter- clockwise and the azimuth axis
move clockwise as shown by the DC motor A and B in Figure 11.

Case 3: LDR3 light intensity > LDR1, LDR2 and LDR4

Figure 12 is the condition when light is placed on position 3, thus LDR sensor 3 gains the highest
intensity of light compared to other sensors. In order for the entire LDR sensor to achieve the
same light intensity the elevation axis which is DC motor B rotates clockwise. On the other hand,
azimuth axis which is controlled by DC motor A will rotate counter-clockwise.

Case 4: LDR4 light intensity > LDR1, LDR2 and LDR3

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Figure 13 shows the condition when LDR sensor 4 received the highest intensity of light and the
position of light is at position 4. At this case, the solar tracker needs to rotate its elevation axis
clockwise and the azimuth axis must rotate counter-clockwise. In this simulation, DC motor A
moves counter-clockwise and DC motor B will rotate clockwise.

Case 5: LDR1 light intensity = LDR2 = LDR3 = LDR4

Figure 14 is the final case of programming part. This compares the entire sensor on one fixed
values of 15.1 lux which means all the sensors are receiving the same light intensity. The
position of light is placed at position 5 where light distributed are equally. Therefore, the DC
motor A and B stay at the same position instead of rotating. In real applications, this is where
solar panel is perpendicular to the sunlight and the production of power can be improves.

Table 2 shows the real time voltage output measurements of the 4 LDR sensors when the light
intensity varies its position with respects to the sensor positions. It shows the output voltage of
the LDR sensor is not that stable. There are some uncertainty occur in each of the sensor values.
This is because the connection of LDR sensor towards the microcontroller is by using a voltage
divider apart from the LDR sensors directly. There a 5v supply going into LDR and this LDR
connected to a 10k ohm resistor so that the voltage output can be calculated by using the
following formula:

The first reading is taken at position 1. LDR3 will receive the highest amount of light for reading
number 1 and 2 therefore its output voltage is higher than the other sensor. Reading number 3 is
taken at position 4 which make LDR1 and LDR2 values are slightly higher than the other 2
sensors. Reading number 4 and 5 is taken at position 3 which eventually make the voltage output
of LDR2 and LDR3 higher. Reading number 6 to 15 is taken at position number 5 which the
light is on top of the entire 4 sensor. Here, the entire sensor has a constant voltage output except
for LDR3 reading, which a bit higher than other sensor and this may be caused by the light
position which is more towards LDR3. Reading number 16 is where the entire four sensors
achieved the same output voltage with some uncertainty for about 0.05V which is the difference
from LDR2 and LDR4. By looking at readings 16 to 20, all output values achieved the same

43
peak which is about 4v. This is the ideal position of the solar tracker where the panel will be
perpendicular to the light source. Light source for reading number 17 to 20 is still in the same
position of reading number 16. The readings are taken for many times in order to get accurate
voltage output values for the sensor.

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 CHAPTER -4

RESULT AND DESCRIPTION

Both single-axis and dual-axis are highly efficient in terms of the electrical energy output when
compared to the fixed mount system. Compare to single axis solar tracker, the Dual axis tracker
is having more efficiency. The main contributions of this work are the development of a two axis
solar tracker prototype that uses four sensors to predict the sun apparent position. By using the
AutoCAD and Proteus software, it helps to design the draft for the hardware dual axis solar
tracker. Sketch Up is also software being used for confirmation of this purpose. With this
software, 3D design about the model prototype can be done. It helps to make the sketch better
and more accurate. The Arduino helps to make the circuit not so difficult, which save a lot of
time and energy. In this system the further research can be done to make the system more precise
and complete.

In this paper, all the objectives have been achieved which is, firstly, to design a model of dual
axis solar tracker by using software (Proteus). The design has been showed and analyzed.
Secondly, to program the micro-controller on Arduino (ATmega328p) so that rotation of DC
motor can be controlled by microcontroller and H-bridge. The programming part consists of 5
cases which has been stated and analyzed. Thirdly, to investigate the voltage differences from
the sensor (Light depending resistor LDR) based on intensity of light received by the sensor. The
output has been plotted into a graph and has been analyzed.

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