Notes On Renewable Energy Systems

The creation of solar energy requires little maintenance and solar electricity power plants produce zero emissions. Solar power plants use two different types of technologies: Concentrated solar power and Photovoltaic systems. Concentrated solar power plants, also known as “concentrated solar thermal”, uses solar thermal energy to make steam that is converted into electricity by a turbine. A photovoltaic system, also known as solar panels, generates electricity from sunlight. It is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy.

Solar energy is created by converting sunlight into electricity using photovoltaics (PV) or the less common

One extremely popular source of alternate energy is solar. This energy has been around for a large sum of years and is quite well known as solar panels are being installed on buildings and houses every day. Solar power relies on the enormous amount of energy that comes from the sun in the form of heat and light. This energy arrives in packets called photons, which hit the atoms in solar cells placed on houses and open fields. These photons knock out the electrons which then flow through the cell’s circuit, this, in turn, creates electricity (Figure 1). An electrical panel attached to the circuit then transfers this energy into the house to power lights and appliances. The reason this method of creating power is so popular is due to its many evident advantages. One of which includes the environmental benefits solar panels have. These benefits

The greatest energy that can be produced by the sun is electricity. Photovoltaics, or solar cells, capture the sun and convert it into electricity. Solar cells were discovered by the Europeans back in the 1870’s when they used selenium to develop the telegraph. They found that when light hits selenium it would produce and electrical current. Soon enough there were many scientists and engineers working on photovoltaic systems. Silicon and Selenium proved to be the two best elements to conduct electricity when light hits them. Photovoltaic systems (PV cell) work by converting the suns light into electricity. A semi conducting material absorbs the sunlight, that energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms, this allows the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity. The further development of solar cells can be attributed to the satellite industry. Solar cells were expensive and there was no use for them until satellites came. Because it is impractical to tether satellites it became important to develop solar energy at any cost that would power these satellites. This created a sustainable market for solar power, the first of its kind.

There are many different types of renewable sources such as solar panels, wind turbines and hydroelectric power. Solar panels work by using sunlight and enhancing it into electricity which is then distributed. They work when the sunlight hits the anti-reflective coating of a solar panel which creates a charge with the delocalised electrons in specially treated semiconductor material. These were first created in 1954 by Bell Laboratories . Although it was very expensive at the time of discovery, over the years the price of manufacturing and installing the solar panels have decreased while the efficiency of the panels has also decreased meaning more energy can be produced at a faster rate. Another type of renewable energy which is very popular is wind energy produced by turbines. This produce energy by using the

Solar power is the most abundant most renewable resource that we have and it is free. The process starts when the sun shines on Solar PV panels that have been installed on your roof. Photovoltaic refers to the scientific process by which solar energy is converted into electricity. There are a number of silicon cells within each PV panel. These react with photons, or units of light, from the sun to produce direct current or electricity. DC electricity then travels to an inverter, which converts this energy to electricity known as alternating current or AC that can be used in your home or office. AC electricity then travels to the distribution network in your home powering your domestic or office appliances. When your solar panels produce more electricity than your home or office is using, the extra electricity gets fed back into the national grid. Yet, there are many processes the PV cell actually goes through to produce power of electricity. The top and bottom layer of the PV cells are protective glass layers with conducting coding’s. Electricity in the form of electrons flows in and out of these conducting coding’s while electrical production process happens in the middle layer of the PV cell. At the molecular level, a photon strikes a dye molecule absorbed on the surface of the TiO2 causing an excited state, which releases an electron into the TiO2 that exists through the conductive layer. The

Solar energy begins with the sun. Solar panels, also known as photovoltaics, are used to convert light from the sun, which is composed of particles of energy called "photons", into electricity that can be used to power electrical loads. Light from the sun is a renewable energy resource that provides clean energy, produced by solar panels.

Solar energy is rising throughout the United States. This source is mainly used in remote locations, but is becoming popular in urban areas. In 18 days of sunlight the earth receives an equal amount of energy stored in all of the earths reserves of oil, coal, and natural gas. Solar energy is produced by collecting sunlight with large, flat panels, made up of individual solar cells, and converting the sunlight into electricity. Solar energy is an alternative to fossil fuel and it is important to know the advantages, disadvantages, and the overall price.

Solar panel absorbs sunrays as a source of energy to produce electricity. They usually comprise of smaller units known as photovoltaic cells (PV). They are the means of conversion. Electrical energy is converted into mechanical energy by means of a machine called electric motor.

Energy is crucial to almost every major and opportunity the world faces today. From the perception of jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to sustainable energy for all is essential for strengthening economies, protecting ecosystems and achieving equity.

“22.1 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity”. According to Kevin Bullis from Technology Review “First Solar Cell Break Efficiency Record”. As we know solar energy is a renewable energy source but how does it work? (PV) cells turns sunlight into electricity. Then is converted into an altering current electricity. An electrical power then sends power to our lights and applications.

For wind, its kinetic energy turns rotor blades of the windmill and the rotor turns and shaft connected to a generator. DC output can be stored in battery or converted to AC and fed into a grid. Minimum wind speeds are required to produce electricity and the Midwest and offshore areas provide such conditions (Hinrichs 398). Like most forms of energy, efficient storage is key. Wind is not constant and money would be put towards research and development to find the most efficient way to store wind energy. For solar, photovoltaic cells convert the suns energy directly into electricity. (Hinrchs 375). Photovoltaic cells are made of silicon, which is plentiful. When radiation hits a cell, electrons are knocked free and this photoelectric effect creates a direct current, which is converted to an alternating current (“Solar Energy”). For solar concentration systems, mirrors are manipulated to redirect the sun’s rays to heat water. The flashing water creates steam and like other energy producing plants, the steam is used to turn a turbine. The mechanical energy is then turned into electrical energy (“How It Works”).

Solar cells directly convert photons from the sun into electricity (Wikipedia). Solar cells that convert both solar and non-solar light are called photovoltaic cells (Wikipedia 2006). They are made of semi conducting materials, most often silicon (Aldous 2006). The simplest photovoltaic cells power watches and calculators while larger, more complex systems can add

Solar and wind energy have different processes to produce electricity. Solar energy creates electricity by making large amounts of heat, which is conducted through electrical conductors and changed into electrical power. In most solar systems, solar panels mounted on the roof. These panels contain photovoltaic cells made from silicon that convert incoming sunlight into electricity instead of heat. “(“Photovoltaic” means electricity from light — photo = light, voltaic = electricity.)” The photons of the sunlight knock the electrons from the silicon, as a result, the negatively electrons accumulate in one side of the silicon cell to create electrical voltage. This current form photovoltaic array and flows through PV array cables, which are terminated in one fused array combiner box. It is designed to protect the PV cell cables, and to deliver DC (Direct Current)

The term ‘photo’ means light and ‘voltaic mean electricity. A photovoltaic (PV) cell is also known as solar cell. Even though, photovoltaic effect was observed in 1839 by the French scientist Edmund Becquerel, it was not fully comprehensible until the development of quantum theory of light and solid state physics in early to middle 1900s. Since its first commercial use in powering orbital satellites of the US space programs in the 1950s. While most PV cells in use today are silicon-based, cells made of other semiconductor materials are expected to surpass silicon PV cells in performance and cost and become viable competitors in the PV marketplace