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A SEMINAR REPORTON TRANSPARENT SOLAR PANELS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for award of the degree of BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY BY ADITYA LUTHRA (09ELDEC009)
LAXMI DEVI INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY ALWAR-TIJARA-DELHI HIGHWAY, CHIKANI, ALWAR (RAJ)-301028 (2012-2013)
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CERTIFICATE
This to certify that the dissertation report entitled TRANSPARENT SOLAR PANELS being submitted by: ADITYA LUTHRA (09ELDEC009) In the partial fulfillment for the award of degree of Bachelor of technology in ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION at the department of electronics & communication, LAXMI DEVI INSITITUE OF ENGG.& TECH. ALWAR are Record students, their work is carried by them under our supervision and guidance.
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Contents
1. Introduction 2. Energy Scenario 3. Environmental Impact Of Solar Power 4. Principle Of Operation Of Solar Photovoltaic 5. Solar Panels 6. Advantages Of Solar Energy 7. Disadvantages Of Conventional Solar Panels 8. Transparent Solar Panels 9. Advantages Of Transparent Solar Panels 10. Conclusion
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INTRODUCTION
Sun is the primary source of Energy. The earth receives 16 x 1018 units of energy from the sun annually, which is 20,000 times the requirement of mankind on the Earth. Some of the Solar Energy causes evaporation of water, leading to rains and creation of rivers etc. Some of it is utilized in photosynthesis which is essential for sustenance of life on earth. Man has tried from time immemorial to harness this infinite source of energy. But has been able to tap only a negligibly fraction of this energy till today. The broad categories of possible large scale applications of solar power are the heating and cooling of residential and commercial buildings. A. The chemical and Biological conversion of organic material to liquid solid and gaseous fuels. B. Conversion of solar energy to Electricity. In this project we use the solar energy for the generation of electrical energy, by using solar cells. The solar cell receives the solar energy. The solar cells operate on the principle of photovoltaic effect, by using solar cells. Basically the cells are placed in an open and fixed manner.
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1) heating and cooling of residential buildings 2) Solar water heating 3) Solar drying of agriculture and animal products 4) Solar distillation on a small community scale 5) Salt production by evaporation of seawater or inland brines 6) Solar cookers 7) Solar engines for water pumping 8) Food refrigeration 9) Bio conversion and wind energy, which are indirect source of solar energy 10) Solar furnaces 11) Solar electric power generation
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performance.When photons from the sun are absorbed in a semiconductor they create for electrons with higher energies than the electrons which provide the boarding in the base crystal. Once these electrons are created, there must be an electric field to induce these higher energy electrons to flow out of the semiconductor to do useful work. The electric field in most solar cells is provided by a junction of materials which have different electrical properties. To understand more about the functioning and properties of semiconductors, let us briefly discuss.Semi conductors are classified into
1)Extrinsic semiconductor 2) Intrinsic semiconductor. Semiconductors in its purest form are called intrinsic and when impurities are added it is called extrinsic. Further extrinsic semiconductors are divided into p type and N type semiconductor.
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Solar Panels
A solar panel (also solar module, photovoltaic module or photovoltaic panel) is a packaged, connected assembly of photovoltaic cells. The solar panel can be used as a component of a larger photovoltaic system to generate and supply electricity in commercial and residential applications. Each panel is rated by its DC output power under standard test conditions, and typically ranges from 100 to 320 watts. The efficiency of a panel determines the area of a panel given the same rated output - an 8% efficient 230 watt panel will have twice the area of a 16% efficient 230 watt panel. Because a single solar panel can produce only a limited amount of power, most installations contain multiple panels. A photovoltaic system typically includes an array of solar panels, an inverter, and sometimes a battery and or solar tracker and interconnection wiring.
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Efficiencies
Depending on construction, photovoltaic panels can produce electricity from a range of frequencies of light, but usually cannot cover the entire solar range (specifically, ultraviolet, infrared and low or diffused light). Hence much of the incident sunlight energy is wasted by solar panels, and they can give far higher efficiencies if illuminated with monochromatic light. Therefore, another design concept is to split the light into different wavelength ranges and direct the beams onto different cells tuned to those ranges. This has been projected to be capable of raising efficiency by 50%. Currently the best achieved sunlight conversion rate (solar panel efficiency) is around 17.4% in new commercial products typically lower than the efficiencies of their cells in isolation. The most efficient mass-produced solar panels[disputed discuss] have energy density values of up to 16.22 W/ft2 (175 W/m2).
Seminar Report
So-called inverted metamorphic (IMM) multijunction solar cells made on compoundsemiconductor technology are just becoming commercialized in July 2008. The University of Michigan's solar car that won the North American Solar Challenge in July 2008 used IMM thinfilm flexible solar cells. The requirements for residential and commercial are different in that the residential needs are simple and can be packaged so that as solar cell technology progresses, the other base line equipment such as the battery, inverter and voltage sensing transfer switch still need to be compacted and unitized for residential use. Commercial use, depending on the size of the service will be limited in the photovoltaic cell arena, and more complex parabolic reflectors and solar concentrators are becoming the dominant technology.The global flexible and thin-film photovoltaic (PV) market, despite caution in the overall PV industry, is expected to experience a CAGR of over 35% to 2019, surpassing 32 GW according to a major new study by IntertechPira.
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Production:
In 2010, 15.9 GW of solar PV system installations were completed, with solar PV pricing survey and market research companyPVinsights reporting growth of 117.8% in solar PV installation on a year-on-year basis. With over 100% year-on-year growth in PV system installation, PV module makers dramatically increased their shipments of solar panels in 2010. They actively expanded their capacity and turned themselves into gigawattGW players. According to PVinsights, five of the top ten PV module companies in 2010 are GW players. Suntech, First Solar, Sharp, Yingli and Trina Solar are GW producers now, and most of them doubled their shipments in 2010.
Recycling:
Most parts of a solar module can be recycled including up to 95% of certain semiconductor materials or the glass as well as large amounts of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Some private companies and non-profit organizations are currently engaged in take-back and recycling operations for end-of-life modules. Recycling possibilities depend on the kind of technology used in the modules:
Silicon based modules: aluminium frames and junction boxes are dismantled manually at the beginning of the process. The module is then crushed in a mill and the different fractions are separated - glass, plastics and metals. It is possible to recover more than 80% of the incoming weight. This process can be performed by flat glass recyclers since morphology and composition of a PV module is similar to those flat glasses used in the building and automotive industry. The recovered glass for example is readily accepted by the glass foam and glass insulation industry. Non-silicon based modules: they require specific recycling technologies such as the use of chemical baths in order to separate the different semiconductor materials. For cadmium telluride panels, the recycling process begins by crushing the module and subsequently separating the different fractions. This recycling process is designed to recover up to 90% of the glass and 95% of the semiconductor materials contained. Some commercial-scale recycling facilities have been created in recent years by private companies.
Since 2010, there is an annual European conference bringing together manufacturers, recyclers and researchers to look at the future of PV module recycling.
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Top 10 Producers:
The top ten solar panel producers (by MW shipments) in 2011 were: 1. Suntech 2. First Solar 3. Sharp Solar 4. Yingli 5. Trina Solar 6. Canadian Solar 7. Hanwha Solarone 8. Sunpower 9. Renewable Energy Corporation 10. Solarworld
Solar energy is becoming increasingly popular as the world begins to take notice of the burgeoning carbon emission problems that come with burning fossil fuels. But why all the fuss? Nay-sayers have become less and less vocal as solar energys popularity has grown increasingly unhindered. Below I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy.
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Advantages and disadvantages of solar energy: The major benefit of solar is avoiding green house gases that fossil fuels produce.The first and foremost advantage of solar energy is that it does not emit any green house gases. Solar energy is produced by conducting the suns radiation a process void of any smoke, gas, or other chemical by-product.This is the main driving force behind all green energy technology, as nations attempt to meet climate change obligations in curbing emissions. Italys Montalto di Castro solar park is a good example of solars contribution to curbing emissions. It avoids 20,000 tonnes per year of carbon emissions compared to fossil fuel energy production.
Decentralization of power
Solar energy offers decentralization in most (sunny) locations, meaning self-reliant societies.Oil, coal, and gas used to produce conventional electricity is often transported cross-country or internationally. This transportation has a myriad of additional costs, including monetary costs, pollution costs of transport, and roading wear and tear costs, all of which is avoided with solar. Of course, decentralization has its limits as some locations get more sunlight than others.
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Solar Barn
Going off grid is a huge advantage of solar power for people in isolated locations.Solar energy can be produced on or off the grid. On grid means a house remains connected to the state electricity grid. Off grid has no connection to the electricity grid, so the house, business or whatever being powered is relying solely on the solar or solar-hybrid.The ability to produce electricity off the grid is a major advantage of solar energy for people who live in isolated and rural areas. Power prices and the cost of installing power lines are often exorbitantly high in these places and many have frequent power-cuts. Many city-dwellers are also choosing to go off the grid with their alternate energy as part of a self-reliant lifestyle.
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Solar jobs
A particularly relevant and advantageous feature of solar energy production is that it creates jobs.The EIAA states that Europes solar industry has created 100,000 jobs so far. Solar jobs come in many forms, from manufacturing, installing, monitoring and maintaining solar panels, to research and design, development, cultural integration, and policy jobs.The book Natural Capitalism has a very appropriate view of the employment benefits of green design and a prudent approach to using resources.The book proposes that while green technology and increased employment cost alot of money, much greater money can be saved through simple but drastically improved resource efficiency. With solar energy currently contributing only an estimated 4% of the worlds electricity, and an economic-model where raw materials dont have to be indefinitely purchased and transported, its reasonable so assume solar jobs are sustainable if the solar industry can survive the recession.
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The Niger Delta is an example where excessive and irresponsible oil extraction practices have poisoned fishing deltas previously used by villagers as the main source of food and employment, creating extremely desperate poverty and essentially decimating villages .A more widely known, but arguably lower human-cost incident is the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It killed 11 people and spilled 780 thousand cubic meters of crude oil into the sea.
Solar Inefficiency
A very common criticism is that solar energy production is relatively inefficient.Currently, widespread solar panel efficiency how much of the suns energy a solar panel can convert into electrical energy is at around 22%. This means that a fairly vast amount of surface area is required to produce a lot of electricity.However, efficiency has developed dramatically over the last five years, and solar panel efficiency should continue to rise steadily over the next five years.For the moment though, low efficiency is a relevant disadvantage of solar. Solar inefficiency is an interesting argument, as efficiency is relative. One could ask inefficient compared to what? And What determines efficiency? Solar panels currently only have a radiation efficiency of up to 22%, however they dont create the carbon by-product that coal produces and doesnt require constant extraction, refinement, and transportation all of which surely carry weight on efficiency scales.
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Storing Solar
Solar electricity storage technology has not reached its potential yet.While there are many solar drip feed batteries available, these are currently costly and bulky, and more appropriate to small scale home solar panels than large solar farms.
Imagine having to pay upfront today for your next 30 years worth of power.Thats an incredibly disadvantageous feature of solar energy production, particularly during a time of recession. Currently a mega watt hour of solar energy costs well over double a mega watt hour of conventional electricity (exact costs vary dramatically depending on location).All is not lost though nuclear is a good example (economically) of energy production that was initially incredibly expensive, but became more feasible when appropriate energy subsidies were put in place.
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ExtremelyThin
The polymer molecules which are in the plastic solar cell, makes that the sunlight is converted into electricity. They form an extremely thin layer, as thick as one out of ten thousand parts of a millimetre. This layer of polymer can only convert a small part of the color spectrum, for instance blue light, into energy. That's why Hadipour has tried to make solar cells wich are made of two layers; a layer which can absorb blue light, and on top of it a layer which can absorb another color of the spectrum, for example red light. This makes the profit of the solar cell
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higher. The piling up of the plastic solar cells is an esay thing to say, because you have to find a way to keep the layers separately. Still Hadipour succeeded eventually, by using a special separation layer. He has been one of the first researchers in the world who succeeded in making such a'polymer tandem solar cell'.
SolarCellAsAWindow:
Hadipour has also been working on a transparent solar cell. A normal solar cell contains a thin layer which reflects the light and increase the light absorption, but you can't look through it. Hadipour looked for a transparent material that still absorbs enough light. Eventually he found a fluorescing material which is capable of capturing the light, so you can use the solar cell as a window. Large offices with a lot of windows could generate a lot of energy thanks to this kind of solarcells.
Rapid
According to Hadipour, the possibilities of plastic solar cells are endlessly. Plastic solar cells are light and flexible. We can make them in all kinds of sizes and forms and in different colors. You can attach them to you coat for instance, so that you can recharge you mp3 player with solar energy. We could also combine solar cells with a LED (Light Emitting-Diode). Then you can generate energy during the day and shine during the night.' Hadipour estimates that the first plastic solar cells will appear on the market within two years. The developement has now com into a rapid.
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Make use of the worlds smallest functional organic solar cells, which measure less than the size of a grain of rice, and have been shown to successfully produce electricity in a published peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy of the American Institute of Physics; Are sprayed on to see-through glass using a novel, patent-pending process presented in AZoNanos (peer-reviewed, Journal of Nanotechnology Online; Dec. 20, 2009), Nanotechnology Thought Leaders series; Do not require expensive high-temperature or high-vacuum production methods, but rather, can be sprayed on to glass at room temperature; Generate electricity from both natural and artificial light sources, outperforming todays commercial solar and thin-film technologies by as much as 10-fold; and Measure less than 1/10th the thickness of thin films (only 1/1000th the thickness of human hair).
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Our SolarWindow technology capable of generating electricity on see-through glass windows is under development for potential application in the estimated 5 million commercial buildings in America (Energy Information Administration) and more than 80 million single detached homes.
The same desirable electrical properties as silicon, yet boasts a considerably better capacity to optically absorb photons from light to generate electricity, and achieves transparency through the innovative use of conducting polymers; Superior optical absorption properties inherent to New Energys ultra-small solar cells, enabling development of an ultra-thin film, only 1/1000th the thickness of a human hair, or 1/10th of a micrometer; and A key advantage over conventional thin films which are exponentially thicker, measuring several micrometers thick, thus inhibiting transparency.
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Conclusion
The need for energy is growing. Therefore solar energy is a hot item the last few years. Solar panels made of silicons are however still quite expensive. In Groningen researchers are working on the developement of of a cheaper solar cell which can be made of plastic. AfshinHadipour found a way to make semi-transparent solar cells made of plastic which can function as a window at the samen time. Moreover he developed a way to increase the effectiveness of the plastic solar cells. This technology can be a breakthrough in terms of generating electricity from renewable sources of energy and can be a future of electricity generation.
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