A NEW PERSPECTIVE
OF SHINE
Authors:
Sabeeha
Mansoor
Chaudhry &
Sumaiyya
Raees
‘‘Let’s go Solar” was not just a project assigned to us, it was a way to understand how we can
minimize the use of fossil fuels and make an approach towards sustainable development which
is necessary in today’s time.
Sustainable development is an organizing principle that meets the needs of the present while
ensuring the availability of natural resources for the future generations.
Renewable energy has been around for many years. However, it has received more attention in
recent times due to the impending threat of climate change to the existence of the whole
planet. Now more countries and utilities are trying to get behind it. Solar energy is the most
sought-after option among all the other choices of renewable energy due to the abundance of
sunlight.
However, the solar option is less efficient compared to conventional means of producing energy.
In this article, we will discuss what solar efficiency entails, the factors that affect this
efficiency, and what is being done to increase the productivity of solar cells and panels.
As soon as you use the word solar, we know the sun must be involved somewhere and since it’s
not going anywhere anytime soon, it’s clearly a good idea to utilize it where we can. Harvesting
solar energy has been around since literally time began, so it’s only natural that we would still
be using it as an energy source today. Solar thermal panels and solar PV panels expertly
transform the sun's rays into usable electricity and heat. If you’re like most people, you
probably don’t realize that these are two completely different types of renewable energy.
Although they both rely upon the sun to collect energy, the similarities end there.
Direct solar power is generated from solar rays shining down on the surface of the earth. These
rays can currently be collected by two methods – via solar PV panels that we see on many
rooftops or solar farms, and by solar thermal systems.
The two types of solar panels are solar thermal panels and solar PV (solar photovoltaic) panels.
Although they may look similar, they have very different functions.
In a nutshell, solar thermal technology produces heat, whilst solar PV produces electricity.
SOLAR PV PANELS
Photovoltaic solar (PV) was first created in 1839 by French physicist Edmond Becquerel, who
was studying the chemical reaction between sunlight and metal.
These days, solar panels are much more refined and are increasingly common thanks to the
need to transition to clean renewable energy sources.
Domestic solar panels are installed on roofs, since that makes the ideal space to capture and
absorb as much sun as possible. This way, they can be linked into the home directly too.
Solar PV panels can be different sized rectangular sheets, and look a bit like black glass.
How do Solar Panels Work?
Made from two layers of a semi-conducting material and silicon, solar PV panels are able to
produce an electric field when exposed to sunlight.
When the sun connects to the surface of the Solar PV, a small voltage of electricity is created.
This electricity direct current (DC) travels to an inverter, which transforms it to AC (alternating
current). You might recognize AC as the ‘language’ of many of your home appliances.
Electricity is diverted to your fuse box and on to these appliances for use around the house, or if
not needed, re-routed to the electric grid.
In fact, there are two types of residential solar PV which are either
● Standalone off grid panels
● Connected to the national grid via an inverter
The advantage to being ‘grid-connected’ is that you can not only sell your surplus energy back
to said grid, you can rely on the grid for energy should you need to.
For those who choose to be completely off-grid, they need batteries on site to ensure they have
enough power for their homes.
3 Types of Solar Panel
For solar PV there are three main types. These are:
Monocrystalline
Polycrystalline
Thin Film Solar Cells
The difference between these types of solar panel, other than price, is their level of efficiency
and flexibility.
ADVANTAGES OF SOLAR PANELS
Solar PV panels in the home carry huge advantages, not least of all the ability to provide your
home with up to 60% of clean renewable energy. Obviously, this counts as a significant
reduction of your carbon footprint.
The energy that solar PV generates goes well beyond light switches too. You can expect to
power all your high consumption appliances like your fridge or microwave.
Many homeowners find that their solar PV panels produce more electricity than they can use.
That means they’re able to sell excess electricity back to the grid, giving them an ongoing
income. This makes solar PV panels a sound investment for the long term.
Another option for excess electricity is to use battery storage for solar panels, which is a savvy
way to make sure your entire supply is generated through clean energy, whatever the season or
time of day.
And because they’re a relatively simple piece of kit, solar PV panels are low maintenance and
can even last for up to 50 years.
Solar panels obviously work best during the summer months, but are quite capable of producing
energy throughout the year. The materials they’re made of mean they can never freeze over in
winter either.
SOLAR THERMAL PANELS
The whole purpose of domestic solar thermal is to provide hot water.
Solar thermal energy has been around since 1896 when essentially black painted boxes were
filled with water. The water heated up in the sun and hey presto, the earliest example of a
solar thermal collector was created.
Since then solar thermal panels have evolved but still serve that same purpose of generating hot
water for homes and buildings.
How do Solar Thermal Panels Work
These solar heating panels are comprised of tubes filled with a combination of glycol and
antifreeze. These liquids filled tubes are aligned next to one another that are placed on the
roof to absorb heat from the sun.
Once hot, the liquid is transported to a copper coil which in turn warms the hot water tank or
cylinder, ready for use. Solar thermal energy storage is kept as efficient as possible, via the use
of a pump which moves the liquid through the system in order to prevent the liquid from cooling
down the water in the tank on cold days.
ADVANTAGES OF SOLAR THERMAL PANELS
Solar thermal hot water heating just makes sense.
A key advantage to thermal solar panels is their simplistic design. That means low maintenance
costs and easy to fix.
Again, like all renewable energy, you’ll be saving on your energy bills. Solar thermal panels cost
roughly the same as solar PV panels, but we’ll detail more on that below.
Unlike solar PV panels, Solar thermal heating panels don’t need much space. In fact they only
need 3x4 m² as opposed to 10 m² that solar PV need. That’s generally because they are more
efficient, able to turn 90% of the suns radiation to heat.
A solar thermal hot water system is super-efficient – as it turns out up to 70% more efficient at
collecting sunray heat than PV.
It is also possible to store generated energy because any domestic thermal system will always
have a water tank to store the heat.
What is Solar Cell Efficiency?
In simple terms, efficiency of solar cells is based on energy from sunlight that is converted into
electricity through the process of photovoltaics. An efficient solar panel can generate more
electricity by occupying less space. The technology is still in the process of evolution and
science tells us that there is no way to make a system with 100% efficiency. However, solar cell
efficiency can improve on its current ratings.
Recent Developments in Increasing the Efficiency of Solar Panels
Around the world, the average solar panel efficiency lingers between 10% to 15%. Scientists and
researchers are trying to boost these numbers. In March this year, researchers in Japan set new
records to achieve the efficiency of 26.6% of mass-produced solar panels. The previous record of
22.04% was set in 2015 by Tesla.
Japanese researchers used the approach of thin-film heterojunction optimization to achieve this
feat. They accomplished this increased level of efficiency by placing low-resistance electrodes
towards the end of the cell, away from the exposed site. This placement helped in maximizing
the number of photons accumulated from the front of the cell.
Further progress was witnessed when engineers at the University of New South Wales extended
the efficiency of solar cells to nearly its theoretical levels. They reached the efficiency of 34.5%
with their photovoltaic cells. The engineers achieved it by embedding a mini-module or cell in a
prism for extracting the optimal level of energy from sun rays. The prism carried out this task by
dividing the incoming sun rays into four bands.
China has recently launched its ‘Solar power space project’. Chinese people have decided to set
up solar panels 36,000 kilometers above the Earth’s atmosphere. “If everything goes according
to plan, the Chinese solar power project will be put into orbit about 36,000 kilometers above
the Earth and will start generating power before 2040” a scientist said.
To understand how Solar panels, work, it is important to understand how the Sun has been
emitting light over the last four billion years. It is because of nuclear fusions; explosions of
hydrogen bombs on the surface of the Sun.
The Sun in fact is a huge ball of gases mostly consistent with Hydrogen, a little bit helium and
some other elements in a very little quantity.
The high intensity of gravitational force in the center of the Sun brings protons, the charged
atoms of Hydrogen together, so close that they bond with each other and the protons of
hydrogen combine together to form a new atom, Helium. But this atom of Helium is much
lighter than the atoms of Hydrogen it is made up of. The rest of the mass converts into energy
and the created particle of energy is called photon. Inside the center of the Sun, the photon
continues to move around and strike against anything it comes across. Photons can take tens of
thousands of years to reach the surface of the Sun but once it reaches the surface it takes a
photon just 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach the Earth.
This photon is extremely valuable because it holds a secret. And the secret is to provide the
cheapest and endless source of energy to our Earth known as Solar energy which we generate
through our Solar panels.
Speaking of Solar Energy, do you know about 78 years ago in 1941, American biochemist Dr.
Isaac Asimov had given the idea of producing solar energy by putting a sheet before the
Sunlight. According to him, electricity using Sunlight can only be produced during daytime and
electricity cannot be produced amid the clouds and rain and at night time after Sunset. Plus,
installing more solar panels does mean that more electricity is produced but it also means that
the solar panels take up more space of the land.
So, what was the solution to this problem?
China’s Solar power space station was the solution to this problem! Through the project the
sunlight in the space will be captured before it reaches the Earth because fortunately the space
has no clouds, it does not rain over there nor can any dust-storms occur and installation of
panels in the space will also overcome the shortage of space on the Earth. Moreover, the Sun is
always shining in space and it never sets down and the rising and setting of the Sun is on the
account of rotation of the Earth on axis and doesn’t have anything to do with the movement of
the Sun as the concept of sunset and sunrise end kilometers above the Earth. So, the idea is to
arrange huge solar panels like a sheet in space. It would convert the Sunlight into energy and
then through laser beams it is sent to a power station on Earth and then through cables the
electricity would be transmitted to places where it is required.
Factors Affecting Efficiency of Solar
Panels
Temperature
The temperature influences the efficiency of the photovoltaic cell due to the intrinsic
characteristic of the semiconductor material. The efficiency of the solar panels increases when
the temperature drops and decreases in high temperatures, as the voltage between the cells
drops.
Energy Conversion Efficiency
The solar module has a different spectral response depending on the kind of the module.
Therefore, the change of the spectral irradiance influences the solar power generation. The
energy conversion efficiency is increased by reducing the reflection of the incident light.
Solar Shadings
Solar PV panels are very sensitive to solar shadings. Total or partial shading conditions have a
significant impact rate on the capability of delivering energy and may result in lower output and
power losses. Cells in a solar panel are usually connected in series to get a higher voltage and
therefore an appropriate production of electricity.
But when shading occurs, this structure presents some limitations. In fact, when a single solar
cell is shaded, the current of all the units in the string is determined by the unit that produces
the least current. When a cell is shaded, the whole series is virtually shaded too. To prevent the
loss of energy, the installation usually includes bypass diodes.
Bypass diodes are wired in parallel to the solar cells. When a solar cell is shaded, the bypass
diode provides a current path that allows the string of connected solar cells to generate energy
at a reduced voltage.
The Orientation, Inclination, Latitude
of the place and Climatic conditions
The installation of the photovoltaic modules must consider some factors to take full advantage
of solar radiation: the orientation, the inclination, the latitude of the place, the climatic
conditions. The correct consideration of these variants will help ensure that they produce
maximum energy by being exposed to the greatest intensity of solar radiation for the longest
period of time.
Operation and Monitoring
O&M services help with the management of the implementation of certain processes to avoid or
mitigate potential hazards and to guarantee the optimal return on investment. Operations
mainly consist of the remote monitoring and control of the PV power plant conditions and
performance. Monitoring software provides access to all data collected, which can be used for
different purposes: defect detection, performance analysis, improvement, predictive
maintenance, and security. A good monitoring system will provide information on the
production, alarms, and analytical data, in a timely, efficient, and precise manner to detect any
anomaly of the PV plant.
Maintenance
Solar panels are very durable, main warranties last for 15-25 years. However, cleaning solar
panels is important to maximize the amount of light available to turn into electrical power.
Making frequent physical inspections can help solar panels absorbing light effectively.
The 6 Best Ways To Improve Solar
Panel Efficiency
1 Buy one of the more efficient solar panel models
2 Buy panels with High Concentrated Photovoltaic
(CPV) Cells
3 Avoid installing solar panels in shaded areas
4 Get an expert to install your solar panels
5 Clean your solar panels
6 Monitor your solar panel output using energy
management software
THE BEST DIRECTION FOR SOLAR
PANELS
