PHOTOVOLTAICS

Submitted by:

1.Ayush Anagh 100106098 2.Arvind Vikram Singh Kandari-100106078 3. Ashish Sharma-100106087 4.Abhijeet Anand Giri-100106004 5.Ayan Chakravarty-100106097
Branch : Mechanical Section: ME-A Term-05 3rd Year

Introduction
Photovoltaics (PV) is a method of generating

electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material. Materials presently used for photovoltaics include monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium selenide/sulfide. Due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources, the manufacturing of solar cells and photovoltaic arrays has advanced considerably in

Solar Cells
Photovoltaics are best known as a method for

generating electric power by using solar cells to convert energy from the sun into a flow of electrons. The photovoltaic effect refers to photons of light exciting electrons into a higher state of energy, allowing them to act as charge carriers for an electric current. The photovoltaic effect was first observed by Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel in 1839. The term photovoltaic denotes the unbiased operating mode of a photodiode in which current through the device is entirely due to the transduced light energy. Virtually all photovoltaic

 The operation of a photovoltaic (PV) cell requires 3

basic attributes: 1. The absorption of light, generating either electronhole pairs or excitons. 2. The separation of charge carriers of opposite types. 3. The separate extraction of those carriers to an external circuit. Assemblies of photovoltaic cells are used to make solar modules which generate electrical power from sunlight. Multiple cells in an integrated group, all oriented in one plane, constitute a solar photovoltaic panel or "solar photovoltaic module," as distinguished from a "solar thermal module" or "solar hot water panel." The electrical energy generated from solar modules, referred to as solar power, is an example of solar energy. A group of connected solar modules

 The solar cell works in three steps:

Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by semiconducting materials, such as silicon. 2. Electrons (negatively charged) are knocked loose from their atoms, causing an electric potential difference. Current starts flowing through the material to cancel the potential and this electricity is captured. Due to the special composition of solar cells, the electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction. 3. An array of solar cells converts solar energy into a usable amount of direct current (DC) electricity.
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Applications of photovoltaics
Photovoltaics find their application in following fields: In buildings In transport Standalone devices Rural electrification Solar roadways Plug in solar

1. PV in buildings
Photovoltaic arrays are often

associated with buildings: either integrated into them, mounted on them or mounted nearby on the ground. Arrays are most often retrofitted into existing buildings, usually mounted on top of the existing roof structure or on the existing walls. Alternatively, an array can be located separately from the building but connected by cable to supply power for the building. In 2010, more than four-fifths of the 9,000 MW of solar PV operating in Germany were installed on rooftops

 Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) are

increasingly incorporated into new domestic and industrial buildings as a principal or ancillary source of electrical powerTypically, an array is incorporated into the roof or walls of a building. Roof tiles with integrated PV cells are also common. A 2011 study using thermal imaging has shown that solar panels, provided there is an open gap in which air can circulate between them and the roof, provide a passive cooling effect on buildings during the day and also keep accumulated heat in at night.The power output of photovoltaic systems for installation in buildings is usually described in kilowatt-peak units (kWp)

2. PV in transport
A solar vehicle is an electric vehicle powered

completely or significantly by direct solar energy. Usually, photovoltaic (PV) cells contained in solar panels convert the sun's energy directly into electric energy. The term "solar vehicle" usually implies that solar energy is used to power all or part of a vehicle's propulsion. Solar power may be also used to provide power for communications or controls or other auxiliary functions.

 Solar vehicles are not sold as practical day-to-day

transportation devices at present, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises, often sponsored by government agencies. However, indirectly solar-charged vehicles are widespread and solar boats are available commercially Solar energy is often used to supply power for satellites and spacecraft operating in the inner solar system since it can supply energy for a long time without excess fuel mass. A Communications satellite contains multiple radio transmitters which operate continually during its life. It would be uneconomic to operate such a vehicle (which may be on-orbit for years) from primary batteries or fuel cells, and refuelling in orbit is not practical. Solar power is not generally used to adjust the satellite's position, however, and the useful life of a communications satellite will be limited by the on-board station-keeping fuel supply.

3.Standalone devices
Until a decade or so ago, PV was used frequently

to power calculators and novelty devices. Improvements in integrated circuits and low power liquid crystal displays make it possible to power such devices for several years between battery changes, making PV use less common. In contrast, solar powered remote fixed devices have seen increasing use recently in locations where significant connection cost makes grid power prohibitively expensive. Such applications include water pumps, parking meters,emergency telephones, trash compactors, temporary traffic signs, and remote guard posts and signals.

Solar water pump

4. Rural electrification
Unlike the past decade, which saw solar solutions

purchased mainly by international donors, it is now the locals who are increasingly opening their wallets to make the switch from their traditional energy means. That is because solar products prices in recent years have declined to become cheaper than kerosene and batteries. In Cambodia, for example, villagers can buy a solar lantern at US$25 and use it for years without any extra costs, where their previous spending on kerosene for lighting was about $2.5 per month, or $30 per year. In Kenya a solar kit that provides bright light or powers a radio or cell phone costs under $30 at retail stores. By switching to this kit Kenyans can save $120 per year on kerosene lighting, radio batteries and cell phone recharging fees.

 Developing countries where many villages are

often more than five kilometers away from grid power are increasingly using photovoltaics. In remote locations in India a rural lighting program has been providing solar powered LED lighting to replace kerosene lamps. The solar powered lamps were sold at about the cost of a few months' supply of kerosene. Cuba is working to provide solar power for areas that are off grid. These are areas where the social costs and benefits offer an excellent case for going solar though the lack of profitability could relegate such endeavors to humanitarian goals.

5. Solar Highways
A solar roadway is a road surface that generates

electricity by solar power photovoltaics. One current proposal is for 12 ft x 12 ft (3.658 m x 3.658 m) panels including solar panels and LED signage, that can be driven on. The concept involves replacing highways, roads, parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks with such a systemA solar roadway is a series of structurally engineered solar panels that are driven upon. The idea is to replace current petroleum-based asphalt roads, parking lots, and driveways with solar road panels that collect energy to be used by homes and businesses, and ultimately to be able to store excess energy in or alongside the solar roadways. Thus renewable energy replaces the need for the current fossil fuels used for the generation of electricity, which cuts greenhouse gases.

 Parking lots, driveways, and eventually highways

are all targets for the panels. If the entire United States Interstate Highway system were surfaced with Solar Roadways panels, it would produce more than three times the amount of electricity currently used nationwide.

Advantages
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The 89 PW of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface is plentiful almost 6,000 times more than the 15 TW equivalent of average power consumed by humansAdditionally, solar electric generation has the highest power density (global mean of 170 W/m2) among renewable energies Solar power is pollution-free during use. Production end-wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls. End-ofuse recycling technologies are under development and policies are being produced that encourage recycling from producers PV installations can operate for many years with little maintenance or intervention after their initial set-up, so after the initial capital cost of building any solar power plant, operating costs are extremely low compared to existing power technologies. Grid-connected solar electricity can be used locally thus reducing transmission/distribution losses (transmission losses in the US were approximately 7.2% in 1995).Compared to fossil and nuclear energy sources, very little research money has been invested in the development of solar cells, so there is considerable room for improvement. Nevertheless, experimental high efficiency solar cells already have efficiencies of over 40% in case of concentrating photovoltaic cells and efficiencies are rapidly rising while mass-

Economic Aspects
The output of a photovoltaic array is a product of the

area, the efficiency, and the insolation. The capacity factor, or duty cycle, of photovoltaics is relatively low, typically from 0.10 to 0.30, as insolation ranges, by latitude and prevailing weather, and is location specific from about 2.5 to 7.5 sun hours/day. Panels are rated under standard conditions by their output power. The DC output is a product of the rated output times the number of panels times the insolation times the number of days. The sunlight received by the array is affected by a combination of tilt, tracking and shading. Tracking increases the yield but also the cost, both installation and maintenance. A dual axis tracker can increase the effective insolation by roughly 3540%, while temperature effects can reduce efficiency by 10%. The AC output is roughly 25% lower due to various losses including the efficiency of the inverter.

 Financial incentives for photovoltaics,

such as feed-in tariffs, have often been offered to electricity consumers to install and operate solar-electric generating systems. Government has sometimes also offered incentives in order to encourage the PV industry to achieve the economies of scale needed to compete where the cost of PV-generated electricity is above the cost from the existing grid. Such policies are implemented to promote national or territorial energy independence, high tech job creation and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions which cause global warming. Due to economies of scale solar panels get less costly as people use and buy more as manufacturers increase production to meet demand, the cost and price is expected to drop in the years to come

 Solar cell efficiencies vary from 6% for amorphous

silicon-based solar cells to 43.5% with multiplejunction concentrated photovoltaics.Solar cell energy conversion efficiencies for commercially available photovoltaics are around 14-22%. There has been fierce competition in the supply chain, and further improvements in the levelised cost of energy for solar lie ahead, posing a growing threat to the dominance of fossil fuel generation sources in the next few years.As time progresses, renewable energy technologies generally get cheaper,while fossil fuels generally get more expensive

References
www.wikipedia.com

www.google.com
Non-conventional Energy Resources G.D. Rai

,Khanna publishers

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