Photovoltaic Summer

When the sun shines and the wind blows, it is seen some areas can easily fulfil their potential energy. Renewable energy around the British Isles and other oceanic regions seems to be having a good year. When we compare the amount of electricity generated by the solar photovoltaic (PV) systems of different Solar Schools, we will often see varied results.

There are many reasons for this with one explanation being the intensity of light being absorbed by the PV cell is directly linked to the amount of electricity generated by the cell. In a solar generation system, this light is sunlight and its intensity changes throughout the day. These fluctuations vary based on the time of day, weather, latitude (or location) and the season. For example, during winter the generating daylight hours are shorter.

Germany is among the most advanced in getting down to building larger structures, on many brownfield sites, however the sun came out for many parts of Europe. While the short-term is immaterial for most purposes, if we can't boast about renewables in the summer, then consumers may think they can't produce the energy required.

Wind energy can now produce nearly 10,000MWh in the UK in a day, compared to the 16,000MWh that PV cells produced on one sunny day last week. That's from 450,000 solar roofs on individual houses, mainly. The German Republic managed 40% of its daily need (daytime hours only) on 7th July, while all of that UK effort managed a mere 6% on the same day.

Alan Simpson has been fact-finding on German credentials for the solar industry. In his opinion, "Germany is now "light years" ahead of the UK and benefitting. Within a decade, many German towns and cities could be substantially 'off-grid' and will be taking the grid system out of the hands of the private energy companies."

For the UK, the sunshine this year is a record July offering, although obviously the figures have yet to be finalized. Perhaps the south-facing PV cells they have will soon become more efficient, so that west or even east facing rays can be used to spread the capture throughout the day, just as Germany is planning west-facing installations. Several methods of tracking the sun have been applied in various locations. Electric builds many solar power plants in Europe, whose chief executive reports that they have parity in generation costs with conventional power stations. The difference is there are no emissions!

The seasons are governed by the tilt of the Earth's axis in space as it journeys around the Sun in a year. The tilt of the Earth also influences the effects of incoming solar energy on atmospheric and surface temperatures. And the tilt of the Earth influences the amount of sunlight that a location receives. At the equator, the amount of sunlight in a day is the same each day during the year.

At locations, further away from the equator, seasonal changes occur and a day's length will increase during the summer season and decrease during the winter season. When the South Pole of the Earth is tilted towards the Sun, this is our Summer. Six months later, when the South Pole is tilted away from the Sun, it's our Winter. In between these we have Autumn and Spring.

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Light Energy Stored in a Battery At Last

The problem with solar power is storing it. Unless you use connection to an electricity grid, the power has to be used immediately in your watch or a road sign. Now the chemists of Ohio State University have produced the first solar battery. A solar panel allows air to enter the device through a mesh so that a titanium dioxide gauze photo electrode can combine with an oxygen electrode to charge a lithium-oxygen battery.

A triiodide/iodide shuttle is coupled with the electrodes to produce triiodide ions on the phot electrode, which oxidize lithium peroxide. This means that in layman terms, the lithium-oxygen batteries problem of over potential is overcome at last by chemical oxidization. Of course, the aim has also been to cut costs, and this has been achieved, so far by 25%. Normally there is also a loss of energy (electrons) in the transition from solar cells to external batteries. By including the battery in the cell, almost 100% of the electrons make it to the battery and recharge it.

This is a breathing battery, according to Professor Wu, the professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the university. It even breathes out when it breaks down lithium peroxide into the metal. The titanium gauze has 200-micrometer holes with rods of titanium dioxide grown across them like grass b lades. Oxygen from the air can easily pass through. The lithium part of the battery is a thin plate, underneath a porous carbon sheet and layers of iodide electrolyte.

By charging the battery and discharging it, the team could assess battery life by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. With a rusty coating of hematite (iron oxide) as a semiconductor on the mesh, the battery achieved a normal rechargeable battery life. With new materials being installed as cheap as that, we can expect even more economical and efficient ways of grabbing the Sun’s light and using it throughout industry as our chief energy source in everything possible.

Mingzhe Yu, Xiaodi Ren, Lu Ma and Yiying Wu wrote the paper in Nature Communications as- Integrating a redox-coupled dye-sensitized photo electrode into a lithium oxygen battery for photo assisted charging

We believe they’ve achieved a truly memorable breakthrough here and hope they will continue to enhance our surge for taking up renewable energies. Ways of extracting the vast potential of the Sun can even stretch either to hydrogen production, using photosynthetic techniques or as in this earlier French production technique - using simple copper oxide.

For More:

https://www.reonenergy.com/our-projects/

https://us.sunpower.com/what-solar-energy-and-how-do-solar-panels-work

https://www.solar.com/learn/solar-panel-efficiency/

Sun Shine Powers new PVs

Solar Energy PV plants require due diligence, a robust technical design and meticulous project planning. Your decision to invest in Solar Energy is the first step towards a lucrative investment; however that’s not enough. Also, since the industry is at a nascent stage, most project management companies thrive on their EPC experience rather than their experience in Solar.

Sometimes, Businesses can be as fragile as Energy – if you don’t find a fresh and renewable source, they may soon wear off. Today, Solar Power not only holds the promise of a fresh, abundant and clean source of energy, it also offers an extremely lucrative and safe investment/business opportunity.

In China, Renesola Ltd, in Jiashan have emerged as the most reliable PV producers. PV Evolution Labs tested dynamic mechanical load, damp heat, potential induced degradation and "humidity-freeze" in 10 different companies' products. However, it is uncertain to say which newer types of PV cell might make a much more efficient solar energy conversion. Perhaps the changes are so fast paced that we can't tell which module performs better in the varied light conditions and attitudes that they are placed in. We'll keep looking though!

Australia is one of the leading solar rooftop continents, despite its size. Retail electricity there now costs more than solar generated energy, in a similar fashion to prices in Brazil, Denmark, Italy and Germany and 10 other nations. For more heavy loads of renewable energy, we have a mass of information on how solar power is developing in so many different ways, as well as in the PV business in - Earth Times on Solar Power.

In Germany, SolarWorld AG have been busier, with a 53% increase in shipments. They sold more products in the UK, US and France, as well as at home (where the market has weakened.) This is consistent with the earth wide number of installations. We are outpacing the wind power industry and equalling the more established hydropower business. That's only 0.5% of the generated electricity coming from all solar power, but the growth of 30% in consumption indicates a rapid assuming that reliability and long-term efficiency measured by Renesola gives people the confidence to install more.

The crucial area of investment gives a clearer picture of future growth. The drop from a universal $142.9 billion to only $113.7 billion last year marked a 20% drop there. The positive side was the natural drop in costs and prices as manufacturers struggled to increase sales again. Costs per watt also dropped to $0.63, as Asia took over from Europe as the biggest market.

For More:

https://www.reonenergy.com/our-projects/

https://us.sunpower.com/what-solar-energy-and-how-do-solar-panels-work

https://www.solar.com/learn/solar-panel-efficiency/

Are your solar roofs efficient?

The University of Gothenburg has launched a revolutionary tool that can determine the highest possible magnitude of solar incidence on a roof, a town or the whole city. The scientists have used the city of Gothenburg for this pilot project. In this regard, the University of Gothenburg has partnered with WSP consultants to develop this GIS system, called ‘SEES’ ( Solar Energy from Existing Structures) that can actually measure the potential of solar roofs to produce solar energy from the panels.

The model works on the principle that certain roof structures may or may not be suitable for use of solar panels. This depends on the incidence of sunlight the structure receives and how much is shadowed by the surrounding buildings and vegetation. In simple words, solar panel efficiency (expressed as a percentage) quantifies a solar panel’s ability to convert sunlight into electricity. Given the same amount of sunlight shining for the same duration of time on two solar panels with different efficiency ratings, the more efficient panel will produce more electricity than the less efficient panel.

Using the tool developed by the University it will be actually possible to know the amount of solar energy that can be produced by a solar roof in a specific setting. Solar panel efficiency is calculated by the production of electricity by solar cells, which are in turn influenced by their composition, electrical configuration, surrounding components, and more.

SEES is based on the GIS system (geographical information system). This system collects, stores and presents data. SEES can be used to show real solar roofs in correct surroundings. The pilot project has used the city of Gothenburg as its primary model but the same can be applied for municipalities where the data is available.

Many consumers and people in the solar industry consider solar panel efficiency to be the most important criterion when assessing a solar panel’s quality. While it is an important criterion, it’s not the only one to consider while you evaluate whether to install a particular solar panel. Solar panel efficiency relates to the ability of the panel to convert energy at a low cost and high supply rate.

For More:

https://news.energysage.com/what-are-the-most-efficient-solar-panels-on-the-market/

https://www.reonenergy.com/commercial-industrial-c-i-segment/

https://news.energysage.com/are-solar-panels-worth-it/

Sunflower Inspired Solar Plant Design Devised

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants, such as the Gemsolar and PS10 plants in Spain, use arrays of mirrors (or heliostats) to focus a large area of the Sun's rays onto a small area, where the concentrated light is converted to heat that is used to generate electricity. However, large areas are required to make CSP plants economically feasible which is not always a logical solution.

While CSP has gained popularity in recent years with numerous plants being built around the world, they require a large area to generate the amounts of electricity needed to make them economically viable. Taking inspiration from the sunflower, researchers have devised a more efficient design that would allow such plants to be constructed on a much smaller area. Researchers at  MIT and RWTH Aachen University in Germany have devised a nature-inspired design that occupies a much smaller area but at the same time captures more sunlight than the current CSP plants.

As the designs of heliostat layouts were reworked at MIT, researchers noted that the layouts functioned efficiently because of the spiral elements which were similar to the ones found in nature. By modifying the heliostat layout using numerical optimization to create a narrower layout, the model calculated that the amount of land required for the mirrors could be reduced by up to 10 percent without affecting their efficiency in reflecting light. After noticing that the resulting pattern had some spiral elements similar to patterns found in nature, the researchers (naturally) looked that way for inspiration.

Along with allowing for a compact layout, the sunflower pattern removed obstacles like blocking and shading by neighbouring heliostats. One such naturally-occurring pattern is the Fermat spiral, which is found in the spiraling pattern of florets in daisies and - fittingly - sunflowers. The Fermat spiral has long fascinated mathematicians who have found that each sunflower floret is turned at a "golden angle" of about 137 degrees with respect to its neighbor. According to the calculations made by the researchers, the florets on the sunflower head occurring in a natural Fermat spiral pattern tilt at an angle of 137°. This pattern helped eradicate the shading and blocking issue commonly faced by heliostats in most CSP fields.

MIT's Alexander Mitsos says laying heliostats out in such a spiral pattern could significantly cut the costs of CSP plants by reducing the amount of land and the number of heliostats required to generate an equivalent amount of energy.

Read More:

https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/gdm/news/12734

https://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-01/sunflower-design-inspires-more-efficient-solar-power-plants/

https://solar-energy-in-pakistan.blogspot.com/2019/10/floating-solar-panels-vision-of-future.html

Waste water treatment sites – a source of solar energy

Treating liquid effluent via evaporation has always been a highly effective, robust and simple method compared to other more conventional treatment systems. Governments are now turning to wastewater treatment plants as a potential site for installing solar systems. A 1.15-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) system installed at a wastewater treatment plant in the city of Dinuba, Calif. This was a joint partnership venture by Chevron and Toiga Energy.

Chevron Energy Solutions did construction and engineering. Tioga Energy financed the project and manage it. The company will sell energy produced from this venture at a fixed price for a twenty-year agreement. Tioga Energy is an expert in selling renewable energy under long-term agreements to commercial, non-government organisations and government. This agreement makes it possible for these institutions to avail renewable energy with no upfront capital.

Although this energy source is generally associated with the use of solar panels for direct conversion of solar radiation into electricity, thermosolar energy is a technology that exploits solar energy with a much greater yield. A thermosolar plant transforms the solar radiation it receives into thermal energy, which can be used directly in industrial processes that require heat, or also indirectly as an energy source of a conventional thermodynamic cycle to generate electricity.

The city of Dinuba is happy to have a landmark of solar energy that makes use of a wastewater treatment site. Tioga and Chevron have also recently worked together on a solar project in Hawaii.

To maximize the absorption of the solar radiation and minimize the losses due to emission or convection, several technologies have been developed. Although the systems that produce a higher yield are constructed with cylinder-parabolic collectors (CCPs), in recent years the use of systems that use flat segmented mirrors according to the Fresnel approach (Linear Fresnel Reflector – LFR) has grown in popularity. These systems, at the cost of a loss of a certain amount of concentration an effectiveness, nevertheless score points for simplicity, which means a reduction in costs.

Tioga has also played a leading role in developing the ‘Morris model’. This was a project done with the Morris County Improvement Authority located in New Jersey. This new model makes it possible for governments to issue low-interest bonds for financing renewable energy projects. Partnering with a third-party investor provides leverage for federal tax incentives.

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Floating Solar Panels Vision of The Future

Solar power companies in Southeast Asian that are competing for land with agriculture, industry and expanding populations have found an innovative alternative: placing floating panels in lakes, dams, reservoirs and the sea. Floating solar panels, an invention of its own kind is ready to add a new page in the history.

The platform has to be “more robust” than systems in reservoirs or lakes to withstand tougher conditions on the open sea, and to overcome barnacles that may grow on it. Despite these challenges, floating solar systems are growing quickly in Asia alongside those on the ground and on roofs.

It is great to know that such a kind of creation is another step to clean energy. The cost-effective prototype of floating and rotating solar panels is installed on the lake of Colignola in Italy where sunrays bouncing on the surface of panels can be collected for the production of electricity.

Rosa- Clot, a professor at Florence, and his team are very excited about their new invention, which is attracting many international buyers because of floating flower-petal-like panels. He proudly expressed his feelings about his new project by saying, “You are standing on a photovoltaic floating plant which tracks the sun. It’s the first platform of its kind in the world!”

While floating panels are more expensive to install, they are up to 16 percent more efficient because the water’s cooling effect helps reduce thermal losses and extend their life. With such an amazing design and international attention, they now look forward to revolutionizing solar power industry.

The standard solar plants have many limitations because they capture lots of valuable agriculture land, cover up the entire buildings as well as much energy is lost in overheating. The floating plants have resolved such issues.

Colignola costs approximately 48,000 euros ($ 63,000) with an estimated price of around 1600 euros per KW including installation. The flat panels are winged by reflectors and sit on raft-like structures which are anchored to the lake bed with a pylon.

Southeast Asia is particularly well suited for floating panels because of the scarcity of land and because they can be easily installed in the region’s many hydropower dams, where they can use existing transmission systems.

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