SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY ENV S 301 ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT PROFESSOR RICHARD CAPUTO

Christian Rempel Karina Sertich

THE ROLE OF SOLAR ENERGY

San Diego, April of 2012

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION3 2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND DISADVANTAGES..3 2.1. PVs..3 2.2. Solar Thermal..4 3. POSITIVE FEATURES AND ADVANTAGES5 3.1. PVs.5 3.2. Solar Thermal.5 4. GRID PARITY.6 5. SMART GRID.7 6. TECHNICAL VISIT9 7. CONCLUSIONS.11 SOURCES.11

1. INTRODUCTION Every day, the earth receives 1,500 times as much energy from the sun as mankind consumes. (PEREZ, 2009) Solar energy is a renewable, clean source, available everywhere. Energy demand will rise in the next few years and solar energy is a safe and certain source that has little environment impact. The present work will cover photovoltaic panels (PVs) and active solar thermal energy, their advantages and disadvantages, environmental impacts, grid parity, smart grids and a technical visit to the Greenest Home of San Diego. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND DISADVANTAGES Solar energy has a low environmental impact overall, and the most important ones occur at the phases of production, construction and disposal 2.1. PVs. During the construction of PVs, hazardous materials, such as silicon tetrachloride, which can cause skin burning and respiratory problems, are used. Also during the construction phase, a significant amount of energy is used, and the source for this energy could be emitting Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). Finally, at the disposal phase, the hazardous materials that were used during the production and construction phases need a controlled and safe disposal. Even so, these impacts can be mitigated and/or compensated. Among the disadvantages of PVs, there is the dependence on weather, the area needed for large scale, the need of huge batteries for storage, the initial cost of the PV panels and others. Another problem is the efficiency of these panels, and although there are various types of PVs, they have a low efficiency overall. Still, there are researches
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going on in order to produce more efficient panels, such as the research from the National Renewables Energy Laboratory (NREL), in which panels with efficiencies up to 43.5% were produced, albeit they are not for commercial use yet.

Figure1- Research on PVs by NREL.

2.2. Solar Thermal Solar thermal collectors can be low, medium or high-temperature collectors. Lowtemperature collectors are usually for heating swimming pools. Medium-temperature collectors are normally flat plates used for heating water and/or air for residential and commercial use. High-temperature collectors are generally used for electric power production. High-temperature collectors can be capital intensive, so they require large amounts of money and other financial resources to produce the energy needed. They may impact the environment too, by scraping the land. Also, these types of collectors demand some
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space and flat land, which is a disadvantage. Another disadvantage is that, since they are for large-scale production, they need access to transmission of the energy. 3. POSITIVE FEATURES AND ADVANTAGES 3.1. PVs Even though the PVs require a significant amount of energy during the production phase, they give back the energy that was used in their construction in about 3 years. Also, PVs do not release carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, or mercury into the atmosphere as many traditional forms of electrical generation do, so they dont contribute to problems such as acid rain or global warming. They operate silently, have no moving parts, and don't release offensive smells. Another main advantage is that they also provide power for our use while not continuously using resources. This reduces the cost and effects of obtaining fuel and transporting fuel, and once in place the panels do not generate polluting material while functioning. 3.2. Solar Thermal One of the most remarkable advantages of using solar thermal energy is that it has the ability to provide heat storage for many hours at no extra energy cost. Other advantages are that it uses a free energy source, the sun, doesnt pollute, can last for about 25 years and reduces the need of fossil fuel to supply our energy demand, which in turn saves money too. Also, solar thermal panels are not connected to the grid, so they do not interfere with it. In 2004, the total delivered energy related to commercial and residential water heating in the United States was approximately 2.4 quadrillion BTU (quads).

Considering primary energy, water heating consumed about 3.5 quads or about 3.5% of total U.S. energy demand in 2004. (NREL, 2007) Although the insolation in not so high in winter months, it is still considerable in most of the US, as can be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2 US Insolation map by NREL.

Therefore, solar thermal energy can play a significant role in the energy supply of the US, and since it comes at a reasonable cost, it is expected that the use of this energy source will grow in the US within the next few years. 4. GRID PARITY Grid parity, the point at which photovoltaic electricity is equal to or cheaper than grid power, can be reached using low cost solar cells. It is achieved first in areas with abundant sun and high costs for electricity such as in California.

Considering a not-unrealistic assumption that the discount rate will be similar to the inflation rate of grid power, then the cost can be calculated simply by dividing the original capital cost by the total amount of electricity produced over the system's lifetime. (Modules are generally warranted for 25 years and suffer only minor degradation during that time.) If the calculated price is equal or less than the grid power the grid parity is achieved. The predictions about grid parity are very optimistic. Speaking at a conference in 2007, General Electric's Chief Engineer predicted grid parity in sunny parts of the United States by around 2015, and at the current rate of photovoltaic growth of 35% per year, a double occurs every 2.5 years. Thus, the costs are 50% lower every 7.5 years. (CAPUTO, 2009) 5. SMART GRID The technical definition of smart grid is: A way of transmitting electricity that allows for 2-way communication between consumers and utility companies, which allows the use of renewable energies and many efficiency strategies making the process cheaper, safer and greener., or in other words, If you generate electricity over and above what you need, you can sell it back to your electric service provider, and put it on the grid to sell it to someone else. The Department of Homeland Security considers the nation's electric grid a critical infrastructure. Scientists in the federal government are working with the private sector to create the Smart Grid, and in 2010 the Department of Energy announced an investment of more than $19 million for five projects aimed at optimizing the nation's electric grid.

Developing smart grid technologies will give consumers choice and promote energy savings, increase energy efficiency, and foster the growth of renewable energy resources. Although the current network infrastructure is not built to allow many distributed feed-in points, the investments in the electrical electric grid will allow feed-in points in a near future. Nowadays the main reason that the electrical grid does not support the 2way communication in large scale is the rapid fluctuations in generation, due to cloudy or gusty weather, which can make the power unstable.

Figure 3 Bi-directional energy flow.

Figure 4 Smart meter: measures energy that is coming in or out.

6. TECHNICAL VISIT The visit was on February 26th at 3422 Sterne St., San Diego (Point Loma) CA. This is the address of the considered Greenest Home of San Diego. This building, owned and designed by the Mechanical Engineer Hal Brody, uses less energy and resources, create less pollution and residues, and use less water. Some of its green features related to energy include 3 solar thermal panels and 18 PVs. This house uses LED lamps, which reduce the electricity consumption

considerably and, of course, there is no energy consumption to heat water, but even so, it produces twice as much electricity as it needs by PV in winter and much more in other seasons. Nowadays, the excess of energy goes back to the grid but the owner does not receive financial compensations for that. Despite this, in a near future it is expected that the owner will be able to use the smart grid features, selling the power back to the grid and earning money. According to the owner, the payback of all the solar panels for him will be of about 8 to 10 years, since he cannot sell energy back yet. The importance of this visit was that this home proves the feasibility of the use of both kinds of solar energy in residences, especially in sunny areas such as California. Although the prices may still be relatively high, it is expected that these sources will grow in market share and have lower prices in the future.

Figure 5 View of the inside of the building.

Figure 6 Solar panels outside of the building.

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7. CONCLUSIONS Solar energy is feasible, especially using solar thermal energy to heat water for residences, since it does not requires vast areas, other than some space on the roof outside of the house, and except for long periods of cloudy/rainy days, solar thermal panels can cover the demand of heated water in residences and it does not interfere with the grid since it is not connected. Also, solar thermal energy can reduce the electricity consumption in the US, so it has a significant role. PVs are feasible and can be commercially attractive, but they still need more development to overcome problems such as interference with the grid, storage, efficiency. Still, the use of PVs in residences is something to be considered. Finally, solar energy has more attractive features than unattractive ones, so we should take advantage of this energy source. SOURCES HINRICHS, R.; KLEINBACH, M. Energy: Its Use and the Environment. 2005. CAPUTO, R. Hitting the Wall: A Vision of a Secure Energy Future. 2009. PEREZ, R. Daylight & Architecture Magazine. Autumn 2009, Issue 12. Class lectures by Dr. Richard Caputo. Interview and technical visit Eng. Hal Brody. U.S Department of Energy. Can be found at: < http://energy.gov/> National Renewable Energy Laboratory - NREL. The Technical Potential of Solar Water Heating to Reduce Fossil Fuel Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the United States. 2007. Can be found at: <

http://www.nrel.gov/>
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