Photovoltaics

Introduction The electricity we use comes from several different sources such as: Coal, Oil, Gas, Sun, Water, etc. And each energy source has its own energy transfer (above). Some have longer processes while others have shorter ones. Positives and negatives of small scale solar power: Solar power on a small scale, i.e. a house or farm, can be beneficial to some people as they may be exposed to a lot of sunlight. Some positives of small scale solar power: solar energy is free –once installed,…

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 2 SOURCES OF SOLAR ENERGY 2 CONVERSION OF SOLAR ENERGY FOR USE 3 Harnessing the Sun's Energy 3 Converting the Rays 4 BENEFITS OF SOLAR ENERGY 4 Solar Energy Advantages 4 LIMITATIONS OF SOLAR ENERGY 5 It is intermittent. Solar energy is only available when the sun is shining. 5 It is low efficiency. It requires large areas of land. 6 It is expensive 7 IMPLEMENTATION AND USE OF SOLAR ENERGY IN KENYA 7 SOLAR MODULE PRODUCED IN KIBERA KENYA 8 Solar cooking 8 Solar…

With the growing population in the past years comes an increase in urbanization and industrialization, thus increasing the number of buildings in urban areas and consequently this means an overall rise in energy usage by the people. The increase in population and amount of people moving into urban areas is occurring at an alarming rate, but this doesn’t come as a surprise. Ever since 1950 this has been occurring. From 1950 to 1986 there was an increase from 600 million to 2 billion people…

panels (such as placing them on residential homes) does not take up much land, utility scale commercial solar farms do require a large amount of land. Total land area requirement varies depending on the technology and intensity of solar resources, photovoltaic systems range from 3.5-10 acres per megawatt while concentrated solar power facilities require 4-16.5 acres per megawatt. This large land requirement and the inability to place solar facilities on shared land with agriculture, as is…

Introduction New Battery design that could help the world go green even more. Researchers has discovered a new design which runs on low temperatures, giving generation of batteries the jolt they need to make it to market. To start producing this product it’s going to be expensive one way we could lower the cost is create electrodes from liquid meatls.What this will do is separating one another by liquid electrolyte, which will help charge the ions through the battery. “This looks like an…

are in limited supply and until now, it was thought nothing could replace them. Our only hope for future energy relies on a renewable energy source that is both reliable and cheap. For the answer we look to photovoltaic energy (energy from the sun). One of the chief producers of photovoltaic energy is the solar panel. Each new generation of solar panels produces more energy cheaper than the previous making it a viable solution to energy problems in poor rural areas as well. Solar panel’s low…

hydroelectric power. Solar energy is derived from the sun. It is considered to be a valuable resource because, unlike fossil fuels, it is inextinguishable. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, there are four ways to harness it: photovoltaics,…

don’t cause pollution making them environmentally friendly, which is ideal. They get their energy from the sun, through solar panels that store energy in batteries, or battery packs. The process that this happens in, is conversion of energy through photovoltaic cells. These cells are what makeup a solar panel, made up of semiconductors usually silicon. They absorb the sunlight, which frees electrons in the semiconductors, creating a flow of electrons, producing energy. Harnessing solar power…

The concept of Oil Fracking was first tapped into by Col. Edward Roberts, a civil war veteran. During the battle of Fredericksburg VA he drew the concept from exploding artillery into a narrow canal obstructing the battlefield (Manfreda J.). In 1866, Robert patented the “Exploding Torpedo”. A long rod shaped self- propelled underwater missile was packed into an iron case with 15-20 pounds of powder (Manfreda J.). Underground the case was placed right above the oil reserve, the wire on land was…

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In recent days, the increase in continuous power demand and very slow generation of power is making researchers to work more on efficient power generation. On the other side, the regular price hike in fuel, increase in global warming and adversely effecting environment pollution. Global warming is a good lesson for all of us, these challenges for engineers are encouraging them to work more on clean, renewable and eco-friendly sources. By using renewable energy…