IJECT Vol.

3, Issue 3, July - Sept 2012

ISSN : 2230-7109 (Online) | ISSN : 2230-9543 (Print)

Sustainable Energy Efficiency in ICT: Role of PV Cells

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CMJ University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India College of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China 3 Dept. of ECE, IET Bhaddal Technical Campus, Punjab, India 4 Dept. of ECE, RBIEBT, Mohali, India 5 4Dept. of CSE, Bhai Maha Singh College of Engineering, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Punjab, India
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Amit Kumar, 3Tanvir Singh, 4Satnam Singh, 5Dr. Sawtantar Singh

Abstract Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a rapidly evolving economic sector with many directions of development and the technology analysts estimate that the manufacture, use and disposal of ICT equipment contribute around 2% of global emissions of carbon dioxide. The growth rate of ICT energy consumption caused by increasing network penetration and explosion of data traffic is significant (about 7% per year), resulting in the situation that in spite of increasing energy efficiency of the network, the ICT-related share of worldwide energy consumption may increase dramatically in the longer term if no measures are taken. Renewable energy sources, such as wind power, solar energy, photovoltaic (PVs), geothermal heat, biomass, marine and hydro power; can help reduce our dependence on energy from fossil fuels. In this paper, we have reviewed the PV cells and their vital role to achieve the sustainable energy efficiency in ICT. Keywords Sustainability, Energy Efficiency, ICT, Photovoltaic Cell I. Introduction Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a rapidly evolving economic sector (see fig. 1), affecting most of the key areas of economic activity, including sectors such as manufacturing, transport and energy, but also public administration. With a contribution of 16% of GDP growth worldwide from 2002 to 2007, the ICT sector has increased its share of GDP from 5.8 to 7.3% which is predicted to jump further to 8.7% from 2007 to 2020 [1]. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector currently accounts for 2% of global emissions, which is likely to grow three times what it was in 2002 due to growth in demand for its products and services, mainly from emerging economies and the rapid adoption in the developed world [2-3]. Energy consumption has always a noticeable impact on the environment [4]. Thus, energy saving approaches is urgently required. This paper gives a comprehensive overview of ICT energy consumption and role of PVs in achieving the sustainable energy efficiency in ICT.

II. ICTs Carbon Footprints According to technology analysts, the manufacture, use and disposal of ICT equipment contribute around 2% of global emissions of carbon dioxide, which are likely to increase with the ICT growth and will be responsible for 3% of global emissions by 2020 [5]. In fact with the current business scenario, ICT sectors own emissions are expected to increase [7]. Presently, the atmospheric GHG levels stand at 430 parts per million (ppm) and are rising at approximately 2.5ppm every year, leading us beyond levels of 450-500 ppm. In 2002, the PC and monitors combined carbon footprint was 200 MtCO2e [3]. It is estimated that a medium-sized server has roughly the same annual carbon footprint as an SUV vehicle doing 15 miles per gallon, covering 15,000 km [8]. Driven by the Growth in mobile networks and PCs, it is estimated that by 2020, when the ownership level of the ICT devices in the developing countries with catch up with that in the developed counties, they will account for more than 60% of ICTs carbon emissions (compared to less than half today) [3].

Fig. 2: The Global ICT Footprint [3] With the technological advancements like 4G and beyond wireless communication networks, the energy consumption by ICT industry is expected to get more demanding in the future. III. Sustainability Issue Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable Development refers to the development in domains like Economy, Social Equity and Environment (see fig. 4). But the focus is always on economic factor which lead to the depletion of Environment and Social Equity but it should be noticed that the other two factors are also very important which should always be kept in mind. So, there should be some approaches to achieve environmental sustainability and energy optimization [9-10].

Fig. 1: Global ICT Developments, 2001-2011(ITU Statistics)

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IJECT Vol. 3, Issue 3, July - Sept 2012

Fig. 3: The Three Es of Sustainability: Environment, Society and Economy IV. Challenges Ahead Ignoring rising carbon emissions will result in dangerous climate change now and will damage the economic growth in the future. If no action is taken, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) each year and with a wider range of risks and impacts, the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of global GDP or more. If proper steps are taken now then, the costs of action reducing GHG emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change can be limited to around 1% of global GDP each year [3]. V. Possible Solutions The challenge of climate change presents an opportunity for ICT to first standardize, how energy consumption and emissions information can be traced across different processes beyond the ICT sectors own products and services. It can monitor energy consumption and emissions across the economy in real time, providing the data needed to optimize for energy efficiency. The electricity consumption which dominates the direct carbon footprint of the ICT sector can be reduced by using renewable energy sources. Hence, RESs are the obvious way to reduce carbon footprints. ICT companies can achieve this by purchasing renewable electricity, by installing renewable generation on their sites or by making the renewable energy sources as an integral part of their products [3]. Various key renewable energy sources are present such as Wind, Solar, Fuel Cell, Pico Hydro. Among various RESs, Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource on earth [12]. In fact, the solar energy that hits the earths surface in one hour is about the same as the amount consumed by all human activities in a year [11]. Photovoltaic (PV) cells are one of the true success stories of materials science that converts this abundant energy directly in to electricity. The electricity generated by the photovoltaic cells can be used directly or can be used to recharge batteries which in turn can power the functional system. Photovoltaic (or PV) are an empowering technology that can generate electricity for the human race for a wide range of applications. PV does not produce any negative environmental effects by way of pollution to the air, land or water. It makes no noise, and does not consume any non-renewable resources. Its fuel is an inexhaustible source: the sun. PV is clearly a wise energy investment for impressive environmental benefits [13-16].
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VI. Role of PV Cells Photovoltaic cells (PV) convert sunlight directly into electricity and they manufactured from one of the most abundant elements on Earth i.e. silicon [6]. Photovoltaic power offers a proven and reliable source of electrical power for remote, small-scale ICT facilities. PV systems turn sunlight directly into electricity for use by communications devices, computers and other kinds of equipment. Since there are typically no moving parts in PV systems, they require minimal maintenance. While often more expensive than other renewable technologies, the modularity of PV systems and the broad availability of the solar resource, sunlight, often make PV the most technically and economically feasible power generation option for small installations in remote areas. According to Greenpeace, the solar radiation reaching the earths surface in one year provides more than 10,000 times the worlds yearly energy needs. Furthermore, harnessing just one-quarter of the solar energy that falls on the worlds paved areas could meet all current global energy needs comfortably [18]. Currently, the total energy required to power the Internet, including data centres, network nodes and user terminals, amounts to about 3% of todays energy generation capacity this is more than is used for global air traffic! With Internet traffic growing at nearly 50% each year, this demand for energy will grow relentlessly, amounting to a doubling of the required total capacity for global electricity generation in less than 10 years! Advanced photonic technologies offer significant opportunities for reducing these demands [19].

Fig. 4: PV Market Size: Segmentation by Applications (GW) [17] According to Solarbuzz, Solar electric energy demand has grown by an average 30% per annum over the past 20 years against a backdrop of rapidly declining costs and prices which have been driven by economies of manufacturing scale, manufacturing technology improvements, and the increasing efficiency of solar cells. PV installations grew to 7.3 GW in 2009, up 20% from the prior year and the various forecast scenarios predict demand rising to 15.437 GW in 2014, more than five times the size of the 2009 market which simply translates in to a growth from $46.3 billion to $96.8 billion in 2014 in the world PV market [17]. In varying amounts, all regions around the world receive sunlight and panels can be installed on roofs and walls and yards that already exist, on rural homes or urban skyscrapers, covering them fully or partially, as long as sunlight reaches them. This makes photovoltaics a universally appealing and appropriate renewable energy technology.
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VII. PV Market in India An important element of Indias energy planning process is renewable energy and as we know India possesses a very large solar energy resource showing highest potential for the future Together, different companies supply around 200 MW per year of 30 different types of PV systems in three categories rural, remote area and industrial. However, despite this strong industrial base, PV constitutes a small part of Indias installed power generation capacity, with 2.7 MW grid- connected systems and 1.9 MW standalone systems in 2008. The first, recently announced, the very ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission with a target of 20,000 MW grid solar powers, 2000 MW of off-grid capacity including 20 million solar lighting systems and 20 million sq. m. Solar thermal collector area by 2022 is under implementation [20]. VIII. Conclusion The manufacture, use and disposal of ICT equipment contribute around 2% of global emissions of carbon dioxide. As the use of ICT grows, its emissions are likely to increase despite improvements in efficiency. It is estimated that ICT will be responsible for 3% of global emissions by 2020. Thus, Sustainable Development (SD) is a necessity to reduce energy consumption, so ICT should contribute to achieve energy efficiency. ICT companies can achieve this by purchasing renewable electricity, by installing renewable generation on their sites or by making the renewable energy sources as an integral part of their products. As discussed in this paper, PV is clearly a wise energy investment which has the potential to achieve the sustainable energy efficiency in ICT. References [1] Global Insight,Renewable Energy: IHS Emerging Energy Research, [Online] Available: www.globalinsight.com [2] Ernst, Young,The role of green ICT in enabling smart growth in Estonia, Tallinn, 2012. [3] The Climate Group,"SMART 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age, Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), 2008. [4] Karanpreet Kaur, Tanvir Singh, Amit Kumar,Use of Renewable Resources in Wireless Communication Networks, IJREAS, Vol. 2, Issue 2 (February 2012) [5] Dr. Martin Griffiths,ICT AND CO2 EMISSIONS, Postnote, No.319, Parliamentary Office of Science and technology, December 2008, [Online] Available: http://www.parliament. uk/documents/post/postpn319.pdf [6] Sajed Kamal,The Renewable Revolution, Earthscan, London, UK, 2010. [7] McKinsey,Fourth Assessment Report and International Energy Agency (IEA), World Energy Outlook, 2007 [8] Carbon Neural (2012),The Carbon Neutral Protocol: The global standard for carbon neutral programmes, [Online] Available: http://www.carbonneutral.com/interface/files/ aboutus/qualityassurance/TheCarbonNeutralProtocol.pdf [9] Amit Kumar, Dr. Yunfei Liu, Dr. Manu Sood, Tanvir Singh, Sunder Gopal Singh,Sustainability in Wireless Mobile Communication Networks through Alternative Energy Resources, IJCST, Vol. 1.Issue 2, 2010 [10] Amit Kumar, Dr. Yunfei Liu, Tanvir Singh, Dr.Sawtantar Singh Khurmi,Sustainable Energy Optimization Techniques in Wireless Mobile Communication Networks, Special Issue of the International Journal of the Computer, the Internet and Management, Vol. 19 No. SP1, June, 2011.

[11] International Congress on Renewable Energy [ICORE], Renewable Energy for Inclusive Growth & Trade Show, Chandigarh, India, December, 2010. [12] Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Government of India,Renewable Energy in India: Progress, Vision and strategy, [Online] Available: http://www.mnre.gov.in/pdf/ mnre-paper-direc2010-25102010.pdf [13] Energy efficiency and renewable energy, PV FAQs, December 2004. [14] Tanvir Singh, Amit Kumar, Dr. Yunfei Liu, Photovoltaics (PV) A Sustainable Energy Alternative, Power Management, Bhaddal Tech Publications, Ropar, Punjab, India. [15] Nolberto Munier,"Introduction to Sustainability: Road to a Better Future", 2005 Springer, AA Dordrecht, Netherlands. [16] Antonio Luque, Steven Hegedus, Handbook of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, 2011 John Wiley & Sons. [17] Solarbuzz (2010),Solar Energy Markets and Growth, [Online] Available: http://www.solarbuzz.com/facts-andfigures/markets-growth/market-growth [18] More to do to help people go solar, Canberra Times, Nov 2007. [19] Berit Wessler, Ursula Tober,Green Photonics the role of photonics in sustainable product design, 2010. [20] International Energy Agency (IEA),"Technology Roadmap, Solar Photovoltaic Energy", [Online] Available: http://www. iea.org/papers/2010/pv_roadmap.pdfable: Amit Kumar received his bachelors degree in Mathematics from the Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India, in 2002 and Masters degree in Computer Application from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India, in 2006. He completed his M.Phil. in Computer Science from Annamalai University, Annamalai nagar, Tamilnadu, India, in 2010. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Computer Science. He is working as a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science, College of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China. He has many publications in National /International Conference proceedings and International Journals. He is a reviewer for many international Journals. His current interest includes Techno-Economic Analysis of Broadband Wireless Networks viz. WiMAX-m, HSPA+ and LTE-Advanced. His future focus is to explore the Green Wireless Technologies and their Sustainable development.

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proceedings.

Tanvir Singh is pursuing his bachelors degree in Electronics and Communication from I.E.T., Bhaddal Technical Campus, Ropar (Punjab Technical University), Punjab, INDIA. He is working as a researcher in field of research on topics Green Computing and Sustainability with a dream to create a Technical Advanced and eco- friendly world. He has published many papers in International Journals and conference

Satnam Singh is pursuing his bachelors degree in Department of ECE, Rayat and Bahra Institute of Engineering and Bio-Technology, Mohali, Punjab, India. He has published many papers in International Journals/ Conferences. His Research domain is Wireless Communication Systems and their Sustainable Development.

Dr. Sawtantar Singh Khurmi received his MCA from IGNOU, New Delhi, India, and M.Phil. in Computer Science from Alagappa University, Kraikudi, India. He received his P.hD. from Guru Jambeshwar University, Hisar, India. He has more than 25 years of experience in teaching and research. He has published many books, book chapters. He has published, reviewed and presented many research papers in national and international conferences and journals. Presently he is working as Professor & Head, Department of Computer Science & Engineering., Bhai Maha Singh College of Engineering, Muktsar, Punjab, India.

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