ELECTRICAL POWER

GENERATION

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Solar Energy:

Radiant energy emitted by the sun.

The Sun daily provides about 10,000 times more energy to the
Earth than we consume.

The earth receives 174 petawatts [1015watts] of solar

radiations from the sun.

The total energy absorbed by earths atmosphere, oceans,

land mass is 38,50,000 exajoules [1018joules] per year.

The energy reaching earths atmosphere consists of about 8%

UV radiation, 46% visible light, 46% infrared radiations.

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Solar constant:

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Radiation measurement:

Solar irradianceis thepowerper unit area received from the

Sun in the form ofelectromagnetic radiationin
thewavelengthrange of the measuring instrument.

Irradiance may be measured inspaceor at theEarth's

surfaceafteratmosphericabsorption andscattering. It is
measuredperpendicularto the incoming sunlight

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 Photovoltaic Power Conversion systems

1) The global or diffuse radiation : pyranometer

2) The beam radiation or direct radiation: Pyrheliometers

3) Sunshine recorders: this instrument used to measure hours of

sunshine over a day.

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 Photovoltaic Power Conversion systems

Pyranometer:

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Apyrheliometeris an instrument for measurement of direct

beamsolar irradiance.

Sunlight enters the instrument through a window and is

directed onto athermopilewhich converts heat to an
electrical signal that can be recorded.

The signal voltage is converted via a formula to measure

watts per square metre

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Solar Energy :

Solar Energy Solar energy can be used through two

main routes:

1. SOLAR THERMAL : For direct heating , cooking,

drying and power generation etc.

2. SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC : For direct electricity

generation

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Heatin
g

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Distillation : The Device which converts saline water into pure

water by using solar energy is called solar still.

Diagram of most commonly used solar distillation is:

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Dryer

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Dryer

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 Photovoltaic Power Conversion systems

Solar Energy:

Radiant energy emitted by the sun.

The Sun daily provides about 10,000 times more energy to the
Earth than we consume.

The earth receives 174 petawatts [1015watts] of solar

radiations from the sun.

The total energy absorbed by earths atmosphere, oceans,

land mass is 38,50,000 exajoules [1018joules] per year.

The energy reaching earths atmosphere consists of about 8%

UV radiation, 46% visible light, 46% infrared radiations.

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 Photovoltaic Power Conversion systems

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 Solar Photovoltaic(SPV) systems

Aphotovoltaic system, alsoPV systemorsolar power

system, is apower systemdesigned to supply usablesolar
powerby means ofphotovoltaics.

It consists of an arrangement of several components,

includingsolar panelsto absorb and convert sunlight into
electricity.

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 Solar Photovoltaic(SPV) systems

Solar Cell :

Solar cells are made from semiconductor materials.

Converts sunlight into electricity according to the principle of

photovoltaic effect.

Photovoltaic cells use p-n junction to generates electron-hole

pairs which in turn constitutes electric current.

Light shining on the solar cell produces both a current and a

voltage to generate electric power.

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 Why Silicon?

Non-toxic
Abundant
Relatively cheap
Mature infrastructure
from computer industry
c-Si Cell p-Si Cell a-Si Cell

Max Lab Typical Cell

Solar Cell Technology Si Use Cost
Efficiency Thickness

Mono-crystalline Silicon (c-Si) 27.6% ~200m High $$$

Poly-crystalline Silicon (p-Si) 20.4% ~200m Moderate $$

Amorphous Silicon Thin Film (a-

12.5% <1m Low $
Si)
The photoelectric effect was first noted
by a French physicist, Edmund
Bequerel, in 1839, who found that
certain materials would produce small
amounts of electric current when
exposed to light.

Albert Einstein explained the

underlying mechanism of light
instigated carrier excitation the photo
electric effect-in 1905
 Photovoltaic Effect
Voltage is generated in a solar cell by a process known as the
photovoltaic effect

Sunlight is composed of photons, or particles of solar energy that contain

various amounts of energy corresponding to the different wavelengths of
the solar spectrum.

The electrons present in the valence band absorb energy and, being
excited, jump to the conduction band and become free.
These highly excited electrons are accelerated
into a different material by a built-in
potential.

This generates an electromotive force, and

thus some of the light energy is converted into
electric energy.
Construction of Solar Cell
I-V curve and PV curve of solar cell
 I-V Curve of Solar Panel

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 Efficiency of solar cell
1. The efficiency is the most commonly used parameter to
compare the performance of one solar cell to another.

2. Theoretical efficiency for PV is 86.8 % .

3. The maximum practical efficiency observed for solar power

panel is 24.7 %.

4. But the general solar cell efficiency observed in daily

applications is a measly 13-14 %.

5. The solar panel power conversion efficiency can be given as :

6. Where Imax and vmax are the current and voltage for maximum
power, corresponding to solar intensity I (t) and A c is Area
of solar cell.
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 Efficiency of Solar Panel

Major factors affecting solar power panel efficiency are :-

1) Dusting

2)Temperature rise effect

3)Poor sunlight absorption

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 Effect of Dust On Performance Of Solar PV Panel

1. The heavy layer of dust accumulation on module array might

cause reduction in output power, so that can recovered by
washing process

2. A major problem facing scientist is sand accumulation, hence

numerous researches proved that, more than 50% of solar
module performance reduction caused by unclean
throughout period of one month

3. Performance of the PV module is proportional to dirt

accumulation. Actually as little of 10% shade on PV module
array can result in of 50% lost energy. Even though with an
appropriate tilt angle installation still sand particles
accumulate on module surface.

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 Effect of Dust On Performance Of Solar PV Panel

solar module covered by

heavy layer due to dust
accumulation before
cleaning.

solar module after

cleaning.

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 Effect of Dust On Performance Of Solar PV Panel

To remove dust a wiper/slider mechanism is widely used in

practice.

It will be programmed to wipe out the dust on the panel surface

after a particular period of time.

This duster will remove the dust particles hence preventing the
fall in efficiency of the panel and maintaining its original
efficiency.

In addition to that clean solar panels are beautiful visually than

unclean panels.

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 Effect of Dust On Performance Of Solar PV Panel

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Effect of temperature on solar power panel efficiency

1. Opposite to what we normally believe, solar panel efficiency

is affected negatively by temperature increase.

2. Heat can reduce output efficiency by 10-25%.

3. As temperature of the solar panel increases, output voltage

decreases exponentially

4. A field experiment in the UK revealed a drop of 1.1% of peak

output for every increase in degrees Celsius of a home
photovoltaic solar panel, once the panel reached 42 degree
Celsius.

5. Solar power panels work best when maintained at a

temperature of around 25 degree Celsius.
:

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 Effect of temperature on solar power panel efficiency

Output I-V characteristics of the PV modul

with different temperatures

output P-V characteristics of the

PV module with different temperatures

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 Solar Photovoltaic(SPV) systems

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 PV Modules

Assemblies of cells are used to make solar modules , also known as

solar panels and these panels are combined to form arrays.

For this , many cells are connected in series and/or parallel to obtain
the expected current and voltage levels and this set of cells is
mounted on an appropriate structure to create a photovoltaic module.
 Applications of Solar Panels

Solar Power Plant

Household Applications
Street Lights
Satellites
Solar Water Pumping
Battery Charging
Solar Automobiles