Idea Solar power – Sustainable green energy to protect our economy and environment:
1. Introduction - Originally developed for energy requirement for orbiting earth satellite – Solar Power – have expanded in recent years for our domestic and industrial wants. Solar power is produced by collecting sunlight and converting it into electricity. This is completed by using solar panels, which are significant flat panels made up of several individual solar cells. It is most typically employed in remote locations, despite the fact that it is becoming a lot more well-known in urban areas as well.
There is, indeed, enormous amount of advantages lies with use of solar power specially, in the context of environmental impact and self-reliance. Even so, a few disadvantages such as its initial cost and the effects of weather conditions, make us hesitant to proceed with full vigor. We discuss below the benefits and disadvantages of Solar Power:
2. Salient Features
(a) The key advantage of solar power is that no pollution is created in the process of generating electricity. Environmentally it the most Clean and Green energy. Solar Energy is clean, renewable (unlike gas, oil and coal) and sustainable, helping to protect our environment.
(b) Solar energy does not need any fuel.
(c) It does not pollute our air by releasing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide or mercury into the atmosphere like numerous standard forms of electrical generation does.
(d) As a result Solar Energy does not contribute to global warming, acid rain or smog. It actively contributes to the decrease of harmful green home gas emissions.
(e) There is no on-going cost for the power it generates – as solar radiation is free of charge everywhere. Once installed, there are no recurring costs.
(f) It can be flexibly applied to a variety of stationary or portable applications. Unlike most forms of electrical generation, the panels can be made tiny sufficient to fit pocket-size electronic devices, or sufficiently large to charge an automobile battery or supply electricity to entire buildings.
(g) It provides much far more self-reliance than depending upon a power utility for all electricity.
(h) It is really economical in long run. After the initial investment has been recovered, the energy from the sun is practically free of charge. Solar Energy systems are virtually maintenance free of charge and will last for decades.
(i) It’s not affected by the supply and demand of fuel and is consequently not subjected to the ever-increasing price of fossil fuel.
(j) By not employing any fuel, Solar Energy does not contribute to the price and difficulties of the recovery and transportation of fuel or the storage of radioactive waste.
(k) It’s generated where it is necessary. Therefore, large scale transmission price is minimized.
(l) Solar Energy can be utilized to offset utility-supplied energy consumption. It does not only reduce your electricity bill, but will also continue to supply your property/ enterprise with electricity in the event of a power outage.
(m) A Solar Energy system can operate entirely independently, not requiring a connection to a power or gas grid at all. Systems can as a result be installed in remote locations, making it much more practical and cost-efficient than the supply of utility electricity to a new site.
(n) The use of solar energy indirectly reduces health costs.
(o) They operate silently, have no moving parts, do not release offensive smells and do not need you to add any fuel.
(p) Far more solar panels can quickly be added in the future when your family’s wants grow.
(q) Solar Energy supports local job and wealth creation, fuelling local economies.
three. Solar Cell - Solar cell is a semiconductor device that converts the energy of sunlight into electric energy. These are also known as ‘photovoltaic cell’. Solar cells do not use chemical reactions to produce electric power, and they have no moving parts.
Photovoltaic solar cells are thin silicon disks that convert sunlight into electricity. These disks act as energy sources for a wide selection of uses, including: calculators and other small devices telecommunications rooftop panels on individual houses and for lighting, pumping, and medical refrigeration for villages in developing countries. In huge arrays, which may contain numerous thousands of individual cells, they can function as central electric power stations analogous to nuclear, coal-, or oil-fired power plants. Arrays of solar cells are also utilized to power satellites due to the fact they have no moving parts that could require service or fuels that would require replenishment, solar cells are ideal for supplying power in space.
Most photovoltaic cells consist of a semiconductor pn junction, in which electron-hole pairs produced by absorbed radiation are separated by the internal electric field in the junction to generate a present, a voltage, or both, at the device terminals. Under open-circuit conditions (current I = ) the terminal voltage increases with increasing light intensity, and under short-circuit conditions (voltage V = ) the magnitude of the current increases with growing light intensity. When the present is negative and the voltage is positive, the photovoltaic cell delivers power to the external circuit.
* Characteristics of a Solar Cell: The usable voltage from solar cells depend on the semiconductor material. In silicon it amounts to approximately .5 V. Terminal voltages is only weakly dependent on light radiation, while the current intensity increases with higher luminosity. A 100 cm² silicon cell, for example, reaches a maximum present intensity of approximately 2 A when radiated by 1000 W/m². The output (item of electricity and voltage) of a solar cell is temperature dependent. Higher cell temperatures lead to lower output, and hence to lower efficiency. The level of efficiency indicates how significantly of the radiated quantity of light is converted into useable electrical energy.
* Cell Kinds: 1 can distinguish 3 cell types according to the kind of crystal: monocrystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous. To produce a monocrystalline silicon cell, absolutely pure semiconducting material is necessary. Monocrystalline rods are extracted from melted silicon and then sawed into thin plates. This production method guarantees a relatively high level of efficiency.
The production of polycrystalline cells is more cost-efficient. In this procedure, liquid silicon is poured into blocks that are subsequently sawed into plates. In the course of solidification of the material, crystal structures of varying sizes are formed, at whose borders defects emerge. As a result of this crystal defect, the solar cell is much less efficient.
If a silicon film is deposited on glass or yet another substrate material, this is a so-known as amorphous or thin layer cell. The layer thickness amounts to less than 1µm (thickness of a human hair: 50-100 µm), so the production costs are lower due to the low material costs. However, the efficiency of amorphous cells is a lot lower than that of the other two cell kinds. Because of this, they are primarily used in low power equipment (watches, pocket calculators) or as facade elements.
* Advantages of solar cells: Solar cells are lengthy lasting sources of energy which can be utilized virtually anywhere. They are especially helpful where there is no national grid and also where there are no individuals such as remote web site water pumping or in space. Solar cells provide cost effective solutions to energy troubles in locations where there is no mains electricity. Solar cells are also totally silent and non-polluting. As they have no moving parts they need small maintenance and have a long lifetime. Compared to other renewable sources they also possess a lot of benefits wind and water power rely on turbines which are noisy, pricey and liable to breaking down.
Rooftop power is a great way of supplying energy to a growing community. Far more cells can be added to homes and companies as the community grows so that energy generation is in line with demand. Many huge scale systems presently end up over generating to make certain that everybody has sufficient. Solar cells can also be installed in a distributed fashion, i.e. they do not want huge scale installations. Solar cells can quickly be installed on roofs, which mean no new space is required and each user can quietly generate their own energy.