What is Solar Energy?

 Originates with the

thermonuclear fusion
reactions occurring in the
sun.
 Represents the entire
electromagnetic radiation
(visible light, infrared,
ultraviolet, x-rays, and
radio waves).
 Radiant energy from the
sun has powered life on
Earth for many millions of
years.
Advantages and Disadvantages
 Advantages
All chemical and radioactive polluting byproducts of the
thermonuclear reactions remain behind on the sun, while only
pure radiant energy reaches the Earth.
 Energy reaching the earth is incredible. By one calculation, 30
days of sunshine striking the Earth have the energy equivalent of
the total of all the planet’s fossil fuels, both used and unused!
 Disadvantages
 Sun does not shine consistently.

 Solar energy is a diffuse source. To harness it, we must

concentrate it into an amount and form that we can use, such as
heat and electricity.
 Addressed by approaching the problem through:

1) collection, 2) conversion, 3) storage.

Radiant Energy
General Characteristics of Solar
Energy
Variations in Solar energy
 Varies during the day with Max @ noon
 depending on local cloudiness,
 humidity,
 distance to the equator,
 seasonal changes in the position of the sun
General Characteristics of Solar Energy
General Characteristics of Solar Energy
Flashlight effect

TROPICS MIDLATITUDES HIGH LATITUDES

High sun angle: Intermediate sun angle Low sun angle:

Larger concentration Smaller concentration of
of insolation per area insolation per area.
Flashlight effect
Headlights effect
As the Earth revolves around the
Sun, tilt creates variation in day
and night lengths over the
duration of a calendar year

Circle of illumination

What day of the year is this?

General Characteristics of Solar Energy
General Characteristics of Solar Energy
Types of solarenergy
 Passive Solar Energy
 Active Solar Energy
 Photovoltaic Solar Power
 Solar Thermal Energy
 Concentrated Solar Power
Passive Solar Thermal Energy
Passive Solar Thermal Energy
 Utilize the buildings structure to capture solar heat
and transmit light.
 heat is collected and stored during the day and
transferred by natural convection of air or water to
condition the inside of the building over a period of
time that extends into the evening.
Passive Solar Thermal Energy
Solar Greenhouse (Indirect Gain)

Can grow plants

In greenhouse.
Passive Solar Thermal Energy
Advantages Disadvantages
 It requires no external  Its efficiency depends on the
equipment, so it’s usually weather.
cheaper than an active
 If you live in a particularly
system.
warm climate, it has the
 It can further reduce costs by
bringing your energy potential to overheat your
expenditures down by around buildings.
14 percent.  It requires a careful, proper
 It’s better than an active choice in windows for
system for your health, since maximum success.
it doesn’t rely on radiators or
furnaces that dry out your
mucous membranes or cause
allergies.
Active Solar Thermal Energy
 They employ collectors that capture solar energy and
rapidly transfer thermal energy to a circulating
working fluid, which can be used immediately in the
dwelling or stored for later use.
 They rely on external energy sources – or backup
systems, such as radiators and heat pumps — to
capture, store and then convert solar energy into
electricity.
Active Solar Thermal Energy
Disadvantages
Advantages
 Since it still utilizes the power  It usually requires expensive
of your external devices, you external equipment.
don’t have to worry about
 Maintenance of equipment
deriving power from sources
other than the sun. can also be costly.
 It releases no carbon dioxide  The fluids that most
into the atmosphere. efficiently store heat have the
 Heating of the PV panels potential to release toxic
helps keep them clean, chemicals into the air.
especially in poor weather
conditions.
 There is usually no wind
noise generated from the
solar panels.
Active Solar Heating

Flat Plate
Collect
or

Evacuated Tube
Collector
Active
Solar
Heating
Typical active solar hot-water system.
LiBr solar-powered absorption refrigeration system for air- conditioning
applications.
Schematic of a flat-plate solar collector for application in
a domestic hot-water heating system.
Solar Energy to Heat Living Spaces

 Proper design of a building is for it to act as a solar collector and storage unit.
This is achieved through three elements: insulation, collection, and storage.
Generating Electrical Power
 Concentrating Solar  Photovoltaics
Power  Small-scale (buildings)
 Trough systems kW production
 Power towers  Large-scale (utilities)
 Heat exchanger plus MW production
steam turbine  Photoelectric effect
SOLAR THERMAL ELECTRIC SYSTEMS
 A solar thermal energy collector is an equipment
in which solar energy is collected by absorbing
radiation in an absorber and transferring to a fluid
Types of collectors
1. Flat plate solar collector:-
-no optical concentrator
-efficiency low
-temperature of the working fluid can be raised only up
to 100 degree
2. concentrating type solar collector
-area receiving the solar radiation is several times greater
than the absorber area
-efficiency high
-mirrors and lenses are used to concentrate the suns rays
on the absorber
-fluid temp is raised to 500 degree
FLAT PLATE COLLECTOR
 Glass on outside
 Absorbent on inside
 Circulating Fluid
Major parts of Flat plate collector
1. A metallic flat absorber plate
 of high thermal conductivity
 made of copper ,steel or al -having black surface
 thickness of metal sheet ranges from 0.5 mm to 1 mm
2. Tubes or channels
 are soldered to the absorber plate
 diameter of the tube is 1.25cm
 header pipe which leads water in and out of the
collector &distributes to absorber plate
Major parts of Flat plate collector
3. A transparent toughened glass sheet
 5mm thickness
 it reduces the losses between the absorber plate and
the glass
 radiation losses are also reduced as the spectral
transmitter of glass
4. Fiber glass insulation
 of thickness 2.5 cm to 8 cm
 provided at the bottom and on the sides to minimize
the heat loss
5. A container-
 encloses the whole assembly in a box made of metallic
sheet or fiber glass
FLAT PLATE COLLECTOR
Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) -
Solar concentrating collectors
 CSP plants produce only electricity by using some type
of thermal energy to power the cycle.
 The incident solar flux is reflected and concentrated
on a suitably designed absorber, where it is captured as
thermal energy; this energy is then used in a thermal
cycle to heat a prime mover fluid, such as pressurized
water or compressed air, which is expanded to drive a
turbogenerator unit for making electricity.
Concentrating Solar Power
Parts of Solar concentrating
collectors
1. Concentrator –is for optical sub system that projects
solar radiation on the absorber
2. Receiver –used to represent the sub system that
includes the absorber, its cover and accessories
TYPES OF CONCENTRATING
COLLECTORS
1. Plane Receiver with
plane collectors
-it is a simple
concentrating
collector-having up to
four adjustable
reflectors all around
with a single collector
-the CR varies from 1 to 4
-temp go up to 140 degree
2. Compound
Parabolic Collector
-reflectors are curved
segments that ate
parts of two
parabolas
-the CR varies from 3
to 10
-
3. cylindrical parabolic
collector
 -reflector is in the form of
trough with a parabolic cross
section in which image is
formed on the focus of the
parabola along the line
 the basic parts are
i )an absorber tube with a
selective coating located at
the focal axis
ii)a parabolic concentrator
iii)a concentric transparent
cover
-CR ranges from 10 to 30
4. collector with a fixed
circular concentrator
and a moving receiver
-consists of array of long
,narrow ,flat mirror strips
fixed over a cylindrical
surface
-mirror strips creates a
narrow line image that
follows a circular path as
the sun over across the sky
-CR varies from 10 to 100
5. Fresnel lens collector
-Fresnel lens refraction type
of collector –made of
acrylic plastic sheet, flat
on one side –with fine
longitudinal grooves on
the other
-angle of grooves are
designed to bring
radiation to a line focus
-CR ranges between 10 and
80
-temp between 150 – 400
degree
6. Paraboloid dish collector

 used to achieve high CR and

temp- required to build a
point focusing collector
 -a paraboloid dish collector is
of point focusing type as the
receiver is placed at the focus
of the paraboloidal reflector
 -a dish of 6m in diameter is
constructed from 200 curved
mirror segments forming a
paraboloidal surface
 absorber has a cavity shape –
made of zirconium –copper
alloy –with coating of black
 -CR ranges from 100 to few
thousand s
 temp-2000 degree
7.central receiver with
heliostat
-to collect large amount of
heat energy at one point
–central receive concept
is followed
-solar radiation is
reflected from a fields of
heliostats(array of
mirrors)- to a centrally
located receiver on a
tower
-heliostats follow sun to
harness max energy
Power Tower
How a Power Tower Works
Parabolic solar trough
Solar dish-engine concentrator
Solar Photovoltaic Systems
Solar Photovoltaic Systems
 Photovoltaic (PV) devices utilize the photoelectric
effect in semiconductor materials to convert solar
energy directly to electricity.
Solar Photovoltaic Systems
solar PV system –converts solar energy directly in to
electrical energy
-conversion device called –solar cell
-solar cell is the most expensive component in the solar
PV system
-major use –space satellites, remote radio
communication booster stations &marine warning
lights etc
Advantages
1)converts solar energy directly in to electrical energy
without any mechanical link-so no moving parts.
2)reliable, modular, durable and maintenance free
3)these systems are quiet, compactable &have a expected
life span of 20 years.
4)can be located at the place of use-hence no or
minimum distribution network is required- is
universally available.
Disadvantages
1)cost of solar cells are high
2)efficiency of solar cells are low. Also large area is
required.
3)As solar energy is intermittent –some kind of electrical
storage energy is required-which makes the whole
system more expensive.
p-n junction
Solid-state physical chemistry
fundamentals
 n-type, or negative, material is one that allows
electrons to move freely within it. Thus, the current
carriers in an n-type material are electrons.
 p-type has a network of “ holes ” within the silicon
crystal that are locally positively charged.
 Placing an n-type material in contact with a p-type
creates a p-n junction
Solid-state physical chemistry
fundamentals
 Without the presence of light, the electrons of the n-
type material tend to migrate across the junction to
form a locally high concentration in the p-type
material near the junction.
 Similarly, this creates an excess of holes, or positive
charges, in the n-type material adjacent to the
junction.
 These processes lead to a small voltage difference
across the junction.
Solid-state physical chemistry
fundamentals
 When sunlight strikes the PV, the photoelectric effect
causes the number of free electrons in the n-type
material to increase and the number of holes in the p-
type to increase as well.
 Connecting the two different materials across a load,
using the electrical contacts, causes electrons to flow
from the n-type material through the load.
circuit schematic
 PV Array Components

oPV Cells
oModules
oArrays
PV System Components
 Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems
Advantages of using Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
Systems
PV systems are simple in construction
They have no moving parts.
They are noise-free and potentially have low
maintenance requirements.
PV systems have built-in modularity and are scalable for
applications ranging from watts to megawatts.
They can be integrated directly into the unit they are
providing power for, whether it is a remote highway sign
or residential dwelling.
 Solar Cell : Factors Affecting Efficiency
1.Loss of energy above the band gap of the material and
the inability to capture IR energy below the band gap.
2. Reflective losses off the top surface of the PV collector.
3. Loss of effective interception area due to the presence
of the metal contacts on the top surface.
4. Ineffectiveness of photon-electron interactions in the
layers of n- and p-type materials
5. Ohmic resistance losses in the circuit
6. Recombination of electrons and holes before reaching
the p-n junction
7. Required band-gap energies limiting the ability of
photons at low energy levels to create free electrons and
holes.
 Solar Cell : Types
1. Silica-based systems (crystalline and amorphous)
a) Monocrystalline silicon cells
b) Polycrystalline silicon cells
c) Amorphous silicon cells

1. The Monocrystalline silicon cell is produced from pure silicon (single crystal). Since
the Mono crystalline silicon is pure and defect free, the efficiency of cell will be higher.
But they have high manufacturing cost.

2. In polycrystalline solar cell, liquid silicon is used as raw material and polycrystalline
silicon was obtained followed by solidification process. The materials contain various
crystalline sizes. Hence, the efficiency of this type of cell is less than Mono crystalline cell.
But has low manufacturing cost.

3. Amorphous silicon is obtained by depositing silicon film on the substrate like glass
plate. The layer thickness amounts to less than 1μm – the thickness of a human hair for
comparison is 50-100 μm. The efficiency of amorphous cells is much lower than that of
the other two cell types. they can be unstable, with decreases in efficiency appearing
after a short period of operation. As a result, they are used mainly in low power
equipment, such as watches and pocket calculators, or as facade elements.
 Solar Cell : Types
1. Silica-based systems (crystalline and amorphous)

Comparison of Types of solar cell Material Efficiency (%)

Monocrystalline silicon 14-17 %

Polycrystalline silicon 13-15 %

Amorphous silicon 5-7 %

 Solar Cell : Types
2.Copper indium diselenide (CIS)
Semiconductor PV devices consisting of 1 – 3 μ m layers of copper indium
diselenide (CuInSe 2 or CIS) along with comparable thin overlayers of silica (SiO 2 ) and
cadmium zinc sulfide (CdZnS) or cadmium sulfide (CdS) have somewhat higher
efficiencies than a -silicon devices and are predicted to have similar manufacturing costs

Drawbacks : toxicity, resource consumption, and waste contamination

3. Cadmium telluride (CdTe)
Another popular thin-fi lm candidate is CdTe. Its band-gap energy of 1.5 eV is
nicely matched to the solar spectrum, with predicted theoretical efficiencies of 27 – 28%
A number of manufacturing options exist for CdTe systems, including electrochemical
deposition, which could lead to significantly lower module costs.

Drawbacks : toxicity, resource consumption, and waste contamination

Advantage, disadvantage and application of Solar cell
Advantage
1.It is clean and non-polluting
2.It is a renewable energy
3.Solar cells do not produce noise and they are
totally silent.
4.They require very little maintenance
5.They are long lasting sources of energy which can
be used almost anywhere
6.They have long life time
7.There are no fuel costs or fuel supply problems
Advantage, disadvantage and application of Solar cell
Disadvantage
1.Solar power cannot be obtained in night time

2.Solar cells (or) solar panels are very expensive

3.Energy has to be stored in batteries

4.Air pollution and weather can affect the production of

electricity

5.They need large area of land to produce more efficient

power supply
ECONOMICS of Solar Power
ECONOMICS of Solar Power
Although the capital cost of solar Power projects is
reducing, Solar Electricity still costs more than conventional
energy. In order for photovoltaic to be implemented on a
significant scale, the cost of solar electricity needs to be
substantially reduced.

Two reasons contribute to this high cost:

 The need to use large amounts of expensive semiconductor
material
 The low conversion efficiency
Methods to Reduce the cost
(a) The cost essentially derives from the raw material
employed in the manufacturing of solar cells, using
thinner silicon wafers and higher conversion
efficiencies is the nearest path for reaching
photovoltaic competitiveness. Innovative
manufacturing concepts on a laboratory scale into the
full industrial scale, in order to demonstrate
technologies that will enable the mass manufacturing
of photovoltaic products with a significant reduction in
manufacturing costs.

(b) As the modules are the most significant cost

component, reducing the need of module surface could
reduce the cost. This may be achieved by adopting the
concentrating photovoltaic approach.
Methods to Reduce the cost
(c) There is a wide gap between the best solar cell efficiencies
that are being obtained in research laboratories and those
offered commercially by manufacturers. High solar cell
efficiencies are beneficial in reducing overall system cost.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer institute for Solar Energy (ISE),
Germany have achieved a record efficiency of 41.5% for
conversion of sunlight to electricity

(d) Accelerate & facilitate the integration of Photovoltaic

systems in building and the electricity network to reduce the cost
of Photovoltaic systems .
Sustainability Attributes
(I) endless supply
(Ii) reliable supply
(Iii) secure supply
(Iv) safe supply
(V) healthy supply
(Vi) free supply
(Vii) promoting energy independence
(Viii) promoting energy democracy
(Ix) promoting healthy economy
(X) promoting enjoyment
(Xi) promoting biodiversity
(Xii) promoting community
(Xiii) enhancing the life.