Applications
Urban uses
In urban and suburban areas, photovoltaic arrays are commonly used on rooftops to supplement power use; often the building will have a connection to the power grid, in which case the energy produced by the PV array can be sold back to the utility in some sort of net metering agreement. Solar trees are arrays that, as the name implies, mimic the look of trees, provide shade, and at night can function as street lights.
A new option is the combination use of a solar array as a wall or roof feature, replacing or complementing a standard wall as an integrated feature of the building, rather than a retrofit.
Rural uses
In more rural areas, ground-mounted PV systems are more common. The systems may also be equipped with a battery backup system to compensate for a potentially unreliable power grid. In agricultural settings, the array may be used to directly power DC pumps, without the need for an inverter. In remote settings such as mountainous areas, islands, or other places where a power grid is unavailable, solar arrays can be used as the sole source of electricity, usually by charging a storage battery.
Together with a storage battery, photovoltaics have become commonplace for certain low-power applications, such as signal buoys or devices in remote areas or simply where connection to the electricity mains would be impractical. In experimental form they have even been used to power automobiles in races such as the World solar challenge across Australia. Many yachts and land vehicles use them to charge on-board batteries.
Space uses
Solar panels on the Stardust spacecraft.
Main article: Solar panels on spacecraft
Satellites use solar arrays for their power. In particular the International Space Station uses multiple solar arrays to power all the equipment on board. Solar photovoltaic panels are frequently applied in satellite power.
Solar panels can be used on spacecraft, particularly when they are in the inner part of the solar system. They have been designed to pivot on spacecraft, so that they will always be in the direct path of solar rays. In order to optimize the amount of energy generated, solar panels on spacecraft can be equipped with a Fresnel lens, which concentrates sunlight. Because of these efforts to maximize electric production, and the fact that the Sun is mostly the only source of energy, the construction of solar cells on spacecraft could be one of the highest costs. When journeying to outer parts of the solar system (or beyond), nuclear reactors or radioisotope thermal generators are preferred, as the Sun's rays are too weak at such extreme distances to power a spacecraft. The ESA is researching the possibility of solar power satellites that would generate electricity in space and then beam it to Earth via laser or microwaves.
In addition, solar power is being used as a propulsion power source for Ion propulsion in lieu of chemical propulsion.
Performance
A solar panel on top of a parking meter. Note that this particular installation is shaded, and may not perform as desired.
At high noon on a cloudless day at the equator, the power of the sun is about 1 kW/m, on the Earth's surface, to a plane that is perpendicular to the sun's rays.[citation needed] As such, PV arrays can track the sun through each day to greatly enhance energy collection. However, tracking devices add cost, and require maintenance, so it is more common for PV arrays to have fixed mounts that tilt the array and face due South in the Northern Hemisphere (in the Southern Hemisphere, they should point due North). The tilt angle, from horizontal, can be varied for season, but if fixed, should be set to give optimal array output during the peak electrical demand portion of a typical year.
Trackers and sensors to optimise the performance are often seen as optional, but tracking systems can increase viable output by up to 100%. PV arrays that approach or exceed one megawatt often use solar trackers. Accounting for clouds, and the fact that most of the world is not on the equator, and that the sun sets in the evening, the correct measure of solar power is insolation the average number of kilowatt-hours per square meter per day. For the weather and latitudes of the United States and Europe, typical insolation ranges from 4kWh/m/day in northern climes to 6.5 kWh/m/day in the sunniest regions. Typical solar panels have an average efficiency of 12%, with the best commercially available panels at 20%[citation needed]. Thus, a photovoltaic installation in the southern latitudes of Europe or the United States may expect to produce 1 kWh/m/day. A typical "150 watt" solar panel is about a square meter in size. Such a panel may be expected to produce 1 kWh every day, on average, after taking into account the weather and the latitude.
In the Sahara desert, with less cloud cover and a better solar angle, one can obtain closer to 8.3 kWh/m/day. The unpopulated area of the Sahara desert is over 9 million km, which if covered with solar panels would provide 630 terawatts total power[citation needed]. The Earth's current energy consumption rate is around 13.5 TW at any given moment (including oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric)[citation needed].
Other factors affect PV performance. Many Photovoltaic cells' electrical output is extremely sensitive to shading. There are some non-traditional solar cell manufacturers, thin-film a:Si, that have installed bypass diodes between each cell that minimize the effects of shading and only lose the power of the shaded portion of the array. When even a small portion of a cell, module, or array is shaded, while the remainder is in sunlight, the output falls dramatically due to internal 'short-circuiting' (the electrons reversing course through the shaded portion of the p-n junction). Therefore it is extremely important that a PV installation is not shaded at all by trees, architectural features, flag poles, or other obstructions like continuously parked cars. Sunlight can be absorbed by dust, fallout, or other impurities at the surface of the module. This can cut down the amount of light that actually strikes the cells by as much as half. Maintaining a clean module surface will increase output performance over the life of the module. Module output and life are also degraded by increased temperature. Allowing ambient air to flow over, and if possible behind, PV modules reduces this problem.
Effective module lives are typically 25 years or more.
See also
Photovoltaics
Battery
Solar fan
Hybrid vehicle
Solar cell
Solar tracker
Solar vehicles
Tribrid vehicle
References
^ a b c d "Small Photovoltaic Arrays". Research Institute for Sustainable Energy (RISE), Murdoch University. http://www.rise.org.au/info/Applic/Array/index.html. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
^ "Solar Power (Photovoltaic, PV)". Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. http://www4.agr.gc.ca/AAFC-AAC/display-afficher.do?id=1187620075153&lang=eng. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
Categories: Photovoltaics Spacecraft componentsHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from January 2010 All articles needing additional references Vague or ambiguous time All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April 2008 Articles with unsourced statements from May 2008 Articles with unsourced statements from October 2009 I am a professional writer from China Manufacturers, which contains a great deal of information about gasoline power generator , gasoline portable generator, welcome to visit!
Related Articles -
gasoline power generator, gasoline portable generator,
|
