Solar Energy & its utilization

Solar energy

Solar energy is, and has always been, the Earths primary energy resource Drives our climate Responsible for plant photosynthesis Solar energy has been alternative energy only for a few decades in the industrialized parts of the world Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) are the stored, concentrated, products of photosynthesis Wind, biomass and hydro are the result of solar energy input

Solar Resource

The Earth receives 1,366 Watts per square

meter (W/m2) from the sun continuously This is equivalent to over 43,000 times the entire

planets electric generating capacity

But Solar energy is not concentrated in the same way as fossil fuels It needs to be collected before it can be used

It sometimes must be stored since its not always

available when needed

Solar Resource

Solar energy is really electromagnetic radiation across a broad spectrum of wavelengths

The radiation generated by the sun travels through space to the Earth, and through the atmosphere Not all of the suns radiation gets to the surface of the Earth The amount of energy available at the surface depends on:

Atmospheric conditions including clouds, humidity, atmospheric

density, and dust Time of day (rotation of the Earth)

Season (location of the Earth in its orbit around the sun)

Latitude (distance from the equator) Orientation of the collectors surface

Solar energy
Sun is a spherical mass of hot gases Dia 1.39x109 m & an average distance of 1.5x1011 m from the earth Nuclear fusion reactions H2 + H2 He + 15Mev Estimated temperature (8-40 ) x106 K Solar spectrum divided into three main regions: Ultraviolet region (<400m):9% Visible region(400nm<<700nm):45% Infrared region(>700nm):46% The radiation in the wavelengths above 2500nm are negligible.

Solar Energy Conversion To use solar energy means that we must converting parts of the electromagnetic energy spectrum to two other forms: Heat (thermal energy) Electricity The amount of heat or electricity produced depends on the technology used and its efficiency

Applications of Solar Energy

Water heating, solar drying,desalination,industrial process heating & passive/active heating of buildings. There are two ways of converting solar energy into electricity 1.Solar thermo mechanical systems: the solar radiation is used to heat a working fluid which runs turbines. 2.Solar photovoltaic: Solar photovoltaics(SPV) convert radiant energy directly into an electric current.

Collecting systems
Flat-plate collectors Concentrating collectors

Collecting systems
Flat-plate collectors are used in low efficiency photovoltaic & low medium temperature thermal systems. popular for water heating system. Components 1.A flat metallic plate painted black to absorb radiation. 2.Channels attached to the plate where a working fluid removes the thermal energy 3.Thermal insulation at the back & sides of the collector,& a glass cover to minimize thermal losses. Advantages of flat-plate collectors over concentrators 1.Absorb the diffuse, direct & reflected components of the radiations 2.Comparatively easy to fabricate & cheaper 3.Since these are usually fixed in tilt & orientation, tracking is not required-this makes them maintenance free, except for surface cleaning.

Concentrating collectors
Concentrating Collectors systems are used in high temperature solar thermal systems & some high efficiency photovoltaics.there are various method of classifying solar concentrators. Refracting or Reflecting Imaging or Nonimaging On the basis of the type of reflecting surface as parabolic, spherical or flat

Photovoltaic cell Solar energy creates electron- hole pairs, which create electricity Electricity then drives electrolysis

Disadvantages of solar-thermal electric systems

Low efficiency, raising efficiency to acceptable value brings in prohibitive costs. The efficiency of the collecting system decreases as its temperature increases, but the efficiency of the heat engine increases with temperature. All Solar-Thermal schemes essentially require storage because of the fluctuating nature of the suns energy, although it has been proposed that the schemes be used as pure fuel savers. In general mechanical systems need great maintenance. For a reliable system fossil fuel backup may be needed.