So

olar P
Photo
ovolta
aics
Solar photo
ovoltaicss (PVs) crreate ele
ectricity directly
d
from
f
sun
nlight. They are the
mo
ost com
mmon fo
orm of on-site clean energy
e
generation. Ma
any peo
ople
generically refer to them ass "solar panels"
p
o
or "solar power".
p
Solar PV iss useful because it make
es electricity with
hout anyy pollutio
on, movving
parts, or no
oise on-ssite. It is also abu
undant.
PV Panel array
ay
photo: Jeremy Faludi

Sola
ar power p
production
n at any givven mome
ent is meassured in watts,
w
but th
he importa
ant variable to
mea
asure is en
nergy gene
eration (kW
Wh) per dayy or month or year. Because
B
of sunlight's intermitte
ency,
PV panels can
n generate very high wattages some
s
partss of the da
ay but low wattages at
a other tim
mes,
and
d will generrate no wattage everry day afterr the sun se
ets.
Every day, the
e sun show
wers the Earth
E
with over 5,000
0 times as much ene
ergy as is used by all of
hum
manity. Ho
owever, PV
V panels ha
ave limited
d efficiencyy, buildingss have limited area ffor arrays, cost
is generally
g
high, and so
ome climattes receive
e significan
ntly less sunlight than
n others. As
A a result, PVs
are not appro
opriate forr all occassions. In many
m
cases, building
gs should strive to rreduce ene
ergy
dem
mand with
h passive solar dessign as much
m
as possible
p
be
efore turn
ning to so
olar electrricity
gen
neration.
Pred
dicting PV Power Pro
oduction
The
e amount o
of energy produced
p
b PVs dep
by
pends on fivve main factors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The site co
onditions: latitude,
l
longitude, and local we
eather
The orientation and exposure of
o the pane
els to the sun
s
The efficie
ency of the panels
The available area fo
or panels
The powerr conversio
on electron
nics

Site
e Condition
ns
The
e first thing
g to determ
mine the feasibility off a solar PV
V installatio
on is the sitte conditio
ons: how much
m
sun
nlight hits tthe site? This
T
is kno
own as "so
olar potential," "incident solar radiation,"
r
or sometimes
2
2
"inssolation." It
I is measu
ured in Wh
h/m day or
o kWh/m year. Varrious mapss exist for solar
s
poten
ntial
around the wo
orld.

Solar energy
e
potential m
map of the world (iimage source: NASSA)

Dettermining how manyy kilowatts of energyy strike the

e site per square
s
me
eter per ye
ear will let you
calcculate how
w big and how
h
efficie
ent your PV
P array wiill have to be to meet the building's ene
ergy
nee
eds.
For some loca
ations there are even
n online calculators, such
s
as the
e US Deparrtment of Energy's
E
IM
MBY,
thatt will take
e into acco
ount everyything you
u need to
o make a decent esstimation---incident solar
s
radiation, latittude, panel efficiencyy, orientatio
on, and ba
alance of syystem.
Sysstem Orienttation

Sun-trracking PV installa
ation
(Photo
o by Jeremy Faludii)

The
e more dire
ectly the su
un shines on
o solar panels, the more
m
energ
gy they gen
nerate.
The
e rule of tthumb forr the angle to mount PV pan
nels for op
ptimal pow
wer genera
ation over the
cou
urse of the
e year is to
o use the same ang
gle as the
e latitude (in degrees). To ma
aximize winter
production, add 15 degrees. To m
maximize su
ummer pro
oduction, subtract
s
15
5 degrees. While this is a
goo
od starting point, the
e analysis tools
t
can help
h
you de
esign yourr system more
m
precisely than th
hese
rule
es of thumb.
In la
atitudes fa
arther from
m the equator, panelss placed att the angle
e of the sun can generate as much
m
as 20%
2
more electricity than panels placed flat.
Som
me PV systtems are mounted
m
on poles an
nd motorized arrays to
t track th
he sun from
m east to west
w
as it moves through the
t
day. These
T
traccking syste
ems can increase productivity
p
y as much
h as
35%
%, but add
d significan
nt cost (sou
urce: US Department
D
t of Energyy derating calculation
ns). Thus they
t
usually only m
make financcial sense for
f use with high-effiiciency pan
nels.
Pan
nel Efficienccy
The
ere are a w
wide varie
ety of PV panels: cryystalline silico, thin film, and concentra
ating are th
hree
ove
erall catego
ories that each com
mprise man
ny differen
nt kinds. The
T
kind of
o panel determines the
efficciency with
h which sunlight is co
onverted in
nto electriccity.

Differeent PV panels: crysstalline silicon, am

morphous silicon, an
nd dye-sensitized

Gen
nerally spe
eaking, crystalline silicon panels are high
her-efficien
ncy than thin-film pa
anels, but this
dep
pends on many factors, such
s
as age, ma
anufacturin
ng processs, and the sunlight
con
nditions. Crystalline
C
silicon
s
systtems tend to lose mo
ore perform
mance in overcast
o
skkies and pa
artial
shade than th
hin-film pan
nels do, an
nd concentrating panels genera
ally require full direct sun.
Typ
pical comm
mercially-avvailable PV panels havve efficiencies from 5 - 20%. Any
A given panel
p
will have
h
a "nominal power"
p
ratiing in wattts. This must
m
be cconverted to an estiimate of a
annual ene
ergy
production, using the cllimate data
a of the local site con
nditions. Then
T
the size of the system can
n be
estimated.

Buildin
ng-integrated pho
otovoltaic windowss greatly expand avvailable area (from
m Wikipedia)

Sysstem Area
The
e available area for so
olar panelss may be a limiting fa
actor for th
he system. The area required for
f a
PV system de
epends on the efficie
ency of the
e panels and the am
mount of su
unlight. Th
his is always a
mattter of costt. Since lesss-expensivve panels are
a lower-e
efficiency, more area is required
d for them.
Roo
ofs are the
e typical locations
l
f PV panels, but locating panels
for
p
over parking lots not only
o
provides add
ditional area, but also
a
shade
es the cars and assphalt, low
wering the
e urban heat
h
island effect.
Pho
otovoltaics do not ha
ave to be se
eparate sta
andalone devices--th
d
hey can be built into other build
ding
products. Roo
of tiles, sta
anding seam roofs, evven windows can be equipped with PV ce
ells so thatt the
available area
a for powe
er production can be
e greatly enlarged.
e
Such syste
ems are ca
alled buildinginte
egrated photovoltaicss.
Buillding-integ
grated pho
otovoltaicss can be beneficial not onlyy because they makke more area
a
available, but also beca
ause they can
c reduce
e the cost of installation. While the hard
dware is often
o
slightly more expensive
e per wattt than ded
dicated PV panels, th
hey lower labor costs. Instead
d of
hiring a roofe
er to lay the roof and
d then sola
ar installerss to mountt PV panells, solar roof tiles can
n be
insttalled by a qualified roofer.
r

Inside a PV inverter (pho

oto from Wikipedia
a)

Pow
wer Converrsion
Fina
ally, to dettermine PV
V power prroduction you
y must e
estimate lo
osses to th
he inverter and wiring of
the system--tthe parts that convert low-volttage DC power from
m the solarr cells into the mediumvolttage AC po
ower of wa
all outlets. These are
e usually co
onsidered part of "de
erating facctors", and can
require you to
o increase the
t size of your syste
em by 5 - 25%.
2
Pow
wer conversion efficciency can
n be maxiimized by choosing
g an efficiient invertter and other
com
mponents, and wiring
g panels to
ogether to avoid circuit imbalan
nces due to some pa
anels receivving
full sun while others are shaded.
Som
me kinds of panels, such as crysstalline siliccon, can be more sen
nsitive to wiring
w
setu
up than oth
hers,
as shade
s
from
m nearby trrees or oth
her objectss can signifficantly dro
op their vo
oltages and
d cause cirrcuit
imb
balances. In
I these cases,
c
the wiring can
n make a bigger difference. Devices su
uch as microinve
erters can iisolate pan
nels from each
e
other to maximize producttion.

Large areas can be low--efficiency (image from

f
Wikimedia Commons;
C
photo byy Ken Fields)

Efficciency vs. Cost

Most people a
assume tha
at higher efficiency
e
iss better, bu
ut when su
unlight is so
o abundan
nt and free,
thatt it not alw
ways true. More
M
efficiient panelss are generrally more expensive,, and are o
only necesssary
whe
en the avaiilable area is limited. Less expe
ensive pane
els covering a larger area can p
produce mo
ore
pow
wer.
The
e limiting variable for many projjects, then, is not ene
ergy efficie
ency but co
ost efficiency. The
amo
ount of mo
oney per watt
w drives how much
h solar pow
wer can be installed.