ARABILLA, JOEL JR. C.

BSME-4D

Research Activity
Alternative Source of Energy

Title: Solar Energy Technologies

Objective: To have knowledge in different technologies in collecting,
gathering and usage of Solar Energy
Introduction:
One of the most common and oldest alternative source of
energy is the Solar Energy. It is any type of energy generated by
the sun. It is created by nuclear fusion that takes place in the sun.
Fusion occurs when protons of hydrogen atoms violently collide in
the sun’s core and fuse to create a helium atom.
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.
History:
The history of solar energy is as old as humankind. In the last two
centuries, we started using Sun's energy directly to make electricity.

In 1839, Alexandre Edmond Becquerel (pictured on the right)

discovered that certain materials produced small amounts of
electric current when exposed to light.

William Grylls Adams, who, with his student, Richard Evans Day,
discovered in 1876 that a solid material - selenium - produced
electricity when exposed to light. Selenium photovoltaic cells were
converting light to electricity at 1 to 2 percent efficiency.

Photovoltaic, or PV for short, is the word that describes converting

sunlight into electricity: photo, meaning pertaining to light,
and voltaic meaning producing voltage. It took, more than 100
years, however, for the concept of electricity from sunlight to
become more than a just an experiment.
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BSME-4D

Birth of the PV Cell

In 1954, D.M. Chapin, C.S. Fuller and G.L. Pearson, of Bell Laboratory,
patented a way of making electricity directly from sunlight using
silicon-based solar cells.

The next year, the Hoffman Electronics-Semiconductor Division

announced the first commercial photovoltaic product that was 2
percent efficient, priced at $25 per cell, at 14 milliwatts each, or
$1,785 per watt (in 1955 dollars).

By the mid-1960s, efficiency levels were nearing 10 percent. As an

outgrowth of the space exploration in the 1960s-70s, PV
development increased dramatically. But worldwide hostilities and
the threat of war turned the world more and more away from oil and
toward renewable energy.

The year is 1956, and the first solar cells are available commercially.
The cost however is far from the reach of everyday people. At $300
for a 1 watt solar cell, the expense was far beyond anyone’s means.
1956 started showing us the first solar cells used in toys and radios.
These novelty items were the first item to have solar cells available to
consumers.

In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s satellites in the USA’s and Soviet’s
space program were powered by solar cells and in the late 1960’s
solar power was basically the standard for powering space bound
satellites.

In the early 1970’s a way to lower to cost of solar cells was

discovered. This brought the price down from $100 per watt to
around $20 per watt. This research was spearheaded by Exxon. Most
off-shore oil rigs used the solar cells to power the waning lights on the
top of the rigs.

The period from the 1970’s to the 1990’s saw quite a change in the
usage of solar cells. They began showing up on railroad crossings, in
remote places to power homes, Australia used solar cells in their
microwave towers to expand their telecommunication capabilities.
Even desert regions saw solar power bring water to the soil where line
fed power was not an option!

Today we see solar cells in a wide variety of places. You may see
solar powered cars. There is even a solar powered aircraft that has
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BSME-4D

flown higher than any other aircraft with the exception of the
Blackbird. With the cost of solar cells well within everyone’s budget,
solar power has never looked so tempting.

Discussion:

There are three primary technologies by which solar energy is

commonly harnessed: photovoltaics (PV), which directly convert
light to electricity; concentrating solar power (CSP), which uses heat
from the sun (thermal energy) to drive utility-scale, electric turbines;
and heating and cooling systems, which collect thermal energy to
provide hot water and air conditioning.
Solar energy can be deployed through distributed generation,
whereby the equipment is located on rooftops or ground-mounted
arrays close to where the energy is used. Some technologies can be
further expanded into utility-scale applications to produce energy as
a central power plant.
Photovoltaic Technology
Photovoltaic (PV) technologies directly convert energy from sunlight
into electricity. When sunlight strikes the PV module, made of a
semiconductor material, electrons are stripped from their atomic
bonds. This flow of electrons produces an electric current. PV
modules contain no moving parts and generally last thirty years or
more with minimal maintenance.
PV electricity output peaks mid-day when the sun is at its highest
point in the sky, and can offset the most expensive electricity when
daily demand is greatest. Homeowners can install a few dozen PV
panels to reduce or eliminate their monthly electricity bills, and
utilities can build large “farms” of PV panels to provide pollution-free
electricity to their customers.
Semiconductors are used in most electronic products, including
computer chips, audio amplifiers, temperature sensors and solar
cells. Traditionally, PV modules are made using various forms of
silicon, but many companies are also manufacturing modules that
employ other semiconductor materials often referred to as thin-film
PV. Each of the various PV technologies have unique cost and
performance characteristics that drive competition within the
industry. Cost and performance can be further affected by the PV
application and specific configuration of a PV system.
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BSME-4D

Concentrating Solar Power

Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants use mirrors to concentrate
the sun’s thermal energy to drive a conventional steam turbine to
make electricity. The thermal energy concentrated in a CSP plant
can be stored and used to produce electricity when it is needed,
day or night. Today, over 1,400 MW of CSP plants operate in the U.S.,
and another 340 MW of CSP projects will be placed in service within
the next year.
The two commercialized CSP technologies are Power Towers and
Parabolic Troughs. Other CSP technologies include Compact Linear
Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) and Dish Engine. CSP specific conditions to
produce power, such as areas where direct sunlight is most intense
(e.g., the U.S. Southwest) and contiguous parcels of dry, flat land.
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BSME-4D

Solar Heating and Cooling

Solar heating and cooling technologies collect thermal energy from
the sun and use this heat to provide hot water and space heating
and cooling for residential, commercial and industrial applications.
There are several types of collectors: flat plate, evacuated tube,
Integral Collector Storage (ICS), thermosiphon and concentrating.
These technologies provide a return on investment in 3-6 years.
Water heating, space heating and space cooling accounted for 69
percent of the energy used in an average U.S. household in 2005 –
representing significant market potential for solar heating and
cooling technologies. For example, solar water heating systems can
be installed on every home in the U.S., and a properly designed and
installed system can provide 40 to 80 percent of a building’s hot
water needs. Similarly, solar space heating and cooling systems
circulate conditioned air or liquid throughout a building using existing
HVAC systems, without using electricity.
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BSME-4D

Recently new technology has given us screen printed solar cells, and
a solar fabric that can be used to side a house, even solar shingles
that install on our roofs. International markets have opened up and
solar panel manufacturers are now playing a key role in the solar
power industry.

Conclusion:

I therefore conclude that using our Solar Energy efficiently plays

a vital in sustainable energy consumption. It can be used to produce
electricity as long as the sun exists. Sunshine occurs naturally. As long
as we are alive, we are always going to see the sun, which means it
is infinite. It does not pollute the air by releasing harmful gases like
carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide or Sulphur oxide. So, the risk of
damage to the environment is reduced. Solar energy also does not
require any fuel to produce electricity and thus avoids the problem
of transportation of fuel or storage of radioactive waste.

References:

http://energyinformative.org/the-history-of-solar-energy-timeline/

http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/about/gosolar/california.php

https://www.conserve-energy-
future.com/advantages_solarenergy.php
ARABILLA, JOEL JR. C.
BSME-4D