RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

COURSE CODE: 1903ME016

UNIT II

SOLAR ENERGY
 1903ME016- RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURSES - SYLLABUS
Unit-1 INTRODUCTION
World Energy Use – Reserves of Energy Resources – Environmental Aspects of Energy
Utilisation –Renewable Energy Scenario in Tamil nadu, India and around the World –
Potentials -Achievements /Applications – Economics of renewable energy systems..
Unit-2 SOLAR ENERGY
Solar Radiation – Measurements of Solar Radiation - Flat Plate and Concentrating
Collectors –Solar direct Thermal Applications – Solar thermal Power Generation -
Fundamentals of Solar Photo Voltaic Conversion – Solar Cells – Solar PV Power
Generation – Solar PV Applications.
UNIT-3 WIND ENERGY
Wind Data and Energy Estimation – Types of Wind Energy Systems – Performance – Site
Selection –Details of Wind Turbine Generator – Safety and Environmental Aspects

Unit-4 BIO-ENERGY
Biomass direct combustion – Biomass gasifiers – Biogas plants – Digesters – Ethanol production
–Bio diesel – Cogeneration - Biomass Applications

Unit-5 OTHER RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

Tidal energy – Wave Energy – Open and Closed OTEC Cycles – Small Hydro-Geothermal
Energy –Hydrogen and Storage - Fuel Cell Systems – Hybrid Systems.
 HISTORY OF SOLAR ENERGY

• Solar energy is actually nothing new. People have used solar power as far
back in history as the 7th century B.C.

• The earliest uses of solar power included focusing the sun radiation through
a magnifying glass to start fire for cooking by the Greeks and Romans.

• In Greek solar history, the legend scientist Archimedes reflected the sun’s
light energy off of bronze shields, concentrating the rays, setting fire and
attacking the enemy wooden ships before they made landfall.
 Environmental impacts of solar energy
• Every energy generation and transmission method affects the environment.
Conventional energy generation damages air, climate, water, land and
landscape, as well as raise the levels of harmful radiation.

• Renewable technologies are substantially safer and offering a solution to

many environmental and social problems associated with fossil and nuclear
fuels.

• Solar energy technologies (SETs) provide environmental advantages in

comparison with conventional energy sources.

• Their main advantage is reducing CO2 emissions, absence of any air

emissions or waste products during their operation and there is no depletion
of the existing natural resources.
Regarding the environment, the use of SETs has additional positive
effects such as

• Reduction of the emissions of the greenhouse gases (mainly CO2,NO x)

and prevention of toxic Gas emissions (SO2,particulates)

• Reclamation of degraded land

• Reduction of the required transmission lines of the electricity grids

• Improvement of the quality of water resources

 Application of solar energy

• Heating and cooling of residential buildings

• Solar water heating

• Solar drying of agricultural products.

• Solar distillation of a small community scale
• Salt production by evaporation of sea water

• Solar cookers
• Solar power for water pumping
• Solar refrigeration for food preservation

• Bio conversion and wind energy are indirect source of solar energy
• Solar furnaces
 Solar electric power generation

• Solar electric power generation by

i) Solar ponds
ii) Steam generators heated by rotating reflectors

• Solar photovoltaic cells which can be used for conversion of solar energy
directly into electricity and used for water pumping in rural agriculture
purposes.
 Solar Radiation

• Solar energy, received in the form of radiation, can be converted directly or

indirectly in to other forms of energy, such as heat and electricity.

• Energy is radiated by the sun as electromagnetic waves of which 99% have

wave lengths in the range of 0.3 to 3.0 micro meter
• common wavelength bands in the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation
 Solar constant
• The sun is a large sphere of very hot gases, the heat being generated by
various kinds of fusion reactions. Its diameter is 1.39 X 106 km while that
of earth is 1.27 X 104 km. the mean distance between the two is 1.5 X 108
km.
• The total radiation from the sun is 5762 degrees K

• The power of the sun at the earth, per square meter is called the solar
constant (Isc) and is approximately 1370 watts per square meter.

• The solar constant value varies up to 3 % throughout the year, because the
distance between the sun and the earth varies little throughout the year.

• The earth is closest to the sun during the summer and farthest during the
winter.
 Radiation components

• Because of scattering, radiation on Earth's surface consists of two

components.

• Part of the incoming radiation is preserved as beam radiation, while the rest
is scattered in the atmosphere.

• The scattered in the atmosphere, reflected back into space or reaches the
ground as diffuse radiation.

• In contrast to beam radiation, which has a well-defined direction, diffuse

radiation originates from all over the sky dome.
• The proportions of diffuse and beam radiation are strongly dependent on
weather conditions.

• Sunny weather with clear skies, some 10-20% of the radiation is diffuse.

• Cloudy weather with a lack of bright sunshine most of the incident

radiation is diffuse.

• A third radiation component that has to be considered in solar energy

applications.

• The radiation reflected from the ground and from other surrounding objects
onto a sloped surface.

• It depends on the reflectivity of the ground, the so-called albedo radiation.

 Solar Radiation Measurement
• Solar radiation is commonly measured by two main classes of instruments:
pyrheliometers and pyranometers.
• A schematic illustration of a pyranometer (a) and a pyrheliometer (b)
• A pyrheliometer measures solar radiation coming directly from the Sun and
a small portion of the sky around the Sun at normal incidence.

• In this device sunlight typically enters through a window to a thermopile

(a device that converts heat to electricity).

• The electrical signal that is generated can be recorded and converted into
W/m2.

• The window of the pyrheliometer acts as a filter that only lets through
sunlight in the 0.3-3 micro meter range.
• The pyranometer measures total hemispherical (diffuse plus beam) solar
radiation, usually on the horizontal plane.

• This means that the device must give an unbiased response to radiation
from all directions.

• It consists of a thermopile sensor that is horizontally oriented and a glass

dome that limits the wavelength range, as in the pyrheliometer.

• The glass dome preserves the 180 degree view and shields the thermopile
from air convection.
 Two Main Categories:

Solar Thermal Solar Photovoltaic (PV)

Water heating and cooking Electricity production

 Solar Thermal Energy

Cooking Water Heating

Solar Water Heating
How Does it Work?
 SOLAR COLLECTORS

• Solar collectors are the key component of active solar-heating systems.

They are used to collect the solar energy and convert the incident radiations
into thermal energy by absorbing them.

• Solar collectors gather the solar energy, transform its radiation into heat,
then transfer that heat to water, solar fluid, or air.

• This heat is extracted by flowing fluid (air or water or mixture with

antifreeze) in the tube of the collector.

• The solar thermal energy can be used in solar waterheating systems, solar
pool heaters, and solar space-heating systems. There are several types of
solar collectors:
 Classification of solar collectors

Based on the concentration:

• Non concentrating collectors

• Concentrating (focusing) collectors

Based on the temperature:

• Low temperature collector

• Medium temperature collector

• High temperature collector

Solar collectors are further categorized into two main types:

a) Stationary collectors
b) Sun tracking collectors,

Stationary collectors are fixed in their position and do not track the sun. Three
types of Stationary collectors :

• Flat plate collector (FPC)

• Stationary compound parabolic collector (CPC)
• Evacuated tube collector (ETC)

Sun tracking collectors, trace the sun during the day to collect more energy
compared to stationary type. These collectors are classified in to

• Parabolic trough collector

• Linear Fresnel reflector
• Parabolic dish reflector
• Heliostat field collector
Flat plate collector (FPC)
Flat-plate collectors
 Constructional details of flat plate collector

Insulated Box:

• The rectangular box is made of thin G.I sheet

• Insulated from sides and bottom using glass or mineral wool of thickness 5
to 8 cm

• It reduce losses from conduction to back and side wall.

• The box is tilted at due south and a tilt angle depends on the latitude of
location.
 Transparent Cover:

• This allows solar energy to pass through and reduces the convective heat losses from the
absorber plate through air space.

• The transparent tampered glass cover is placed on top of rectangular box to trap the solar
energy and sealed by rubber gaskets to prevent the leakage of hot air.

• It is made of plastic/glass but glass is most favorable because of its transmittance and
low surface degradation.

• However with development of improved quality of plastics, the degradation quality has
been improved.

• The plastics are available at low cost, light in weight and can be used to make tubes,
plates and cover but are suitable for low temperature application 70-120oC with single
cover plate or up to 150oC using double cover plate.

• The thickness of glass cover 3 to 4 mm is commonly used and 1 to 2 covers with spacing
1.5 to 3 cm are generally used between plates.
 Absorber Plate:
• It intercepts and absorbs the solar energy.

• The absorber plate is made of copper, aluminum or steel and is in the thickness
of 1 to 2 mm.

• It is the most important part of collector along with the tubes products passing
the liquid or air to be heated.

• The plate absorbs the maximum solar radiation incident on it through glazing
(cover plate) and transfers the heat to the tubes in contact with minimum heat
losses to atmosphere.

• The plate is black painted and provided with selective material coating to
increase its absorption and reduce the emission.

• The absorber plate has high absorption (80-95%) and low

transmission/reflection.
 Tubes

• The plate is attached to a series of parallel tubes through which water or

other liquid passes

• The tubes are made of copper, aluminum or steel in the diameter 1 to 1.5
cm and are brazed, soldered on top/bottom of the absorber water equally in
all the tubes and collect it back from the other end.

• The header pipe is made of same material as tube and of larger diameter.

• Now-a-days the tubes are made of plastic but they have low thermal
conductivity and higher coefficient of expansion than metals.

• Copper and aluminum are likely to get corroded with saline liquids and
steel tubes with inhibitors are used at such places.
 Removal of Heat

• These systems are best suited to applications that require low temperatures.

• Once the heat is absorbed on the absorber plate it must be removed fast and
delivered to the place of storage for further use.

• As the liquid circulates through the tubes, it absorbs the heat from absorber
plate of the collectors.

• The heated liquid moves slowly will increase temperature of collector and
will lower the efficiency.

• Flat-plate solar collectors are less efficient in cold weather than in warm
weather.
 The main advantages of flat plate collectors are:

• It utilizes the both the beam as well as diffuse radiation for heating.

• Requires less maintenance.

Disadvantages

• Large heat losses by conduction and radiation because of large area.

• No tracking of sun.

• Low water temperature is achieved.

 Applications of flat plate collector:
• Solar water heating systems for residence, hotels, industry.

• Desalination plant for obtaining drinking water from sea water.

• Solar cookers for domestic cooking.

• Drying applications.

• Residence heating.

Maintenance of flat plate collector:

• Daily cleaning

• Seasonal maintenance (cleaning, touch-up paint)

• Yearly overhaul (change of seals, cleaning after dismantling)

Unglazed solar collectors typically used for swimming pool
heating.
Air flat-plate collectors are used for space heating.
 Factors affecting the Performance of Flat Plate Collector.
Incident Solar Radiation:
• The efficiency of collector is directly related with solar radiation falling on
it and increases with rise in temperature.
Number of Cover Plate:
• The increase in number of cover plate reduces the internal convective heat
losses but also prevents the transmission of radiation inside the collector.
• More than two cover plate should not be used to optimize the system
Spacing:
• The more space between the absorber and cover plate the less internal heat
losses. The collector efficiency will be increased.
• However on the other hand, increase in space between them provides the
shading by side wall in the morning and evening and reduces the absorbed
solar flux by 2-3% of system.
• The spacing between absorber and cover plate is kept 2-3 cm to balance the
problem
Factors affecting the Performance of Flat Plate
Collector

• Incident Solar Radiation

• Number of Cover Plate
• Spacing:
• Collector Tilt
• Inlet Temperature
• Dust on cover Plate
• Selective Surface
Collector Tilt:
• The flat plate collectors do not track the sun and should be tilted at angle of
latitude of the location for an average better performance.
• However with changing declination angle with seasons the optimum tilt
angle is kept Φ ± 15o.
• The collector is placed with south facing at northern hemisphere to receive
maximum radiation throughout the day.
Inlet Temperature:
• With increase in inlet temperature of working fluid the losses increase to
ambient.
• The high temperature fluid absorbed the less heat from absorber plate
because of low temperature difference and increases the top loss
coefficient.
• Therefore the efficiency of collector get reduced with rise in inlet
temperature
Dust on cover Plate:
• The efficiency of collector decreases with dust particles on the cover plate
because the transmission radiation decreases by 1%.
• Frequent cleaning is required to get the maximum efficiency of collector.
Selective Surface:

• Some materials like nickel black (α= 0.89, ε= 0.15) and black chrome (α=
0.87, ε= 0.088), copper oxide (α= 0.89, ε= 0.17) etc. are applied chemically
on the surface of absorber in a thin layer of thickness 0.1 μm.

• These chemicals have high degree of absorption (α) to short wave radiation
(< 4 μm) and low emission (ε) of long wave radiations (> 4 μm).

• The higher absorption of solar energy increase the temperature of absorber

plate and working fluid and the efficiency of the collector increases.

• The selective surface should be able to withstand high temperature of 300-

400oC, cost less, should not oxidize and be corrosive resistant.

• The property of material should not change with time.

Concentrating Collectors:
• Concentrating collector is a device to collect solar energy with high
intensity of solar radiation on the energy absorbing surface.

• Such collectors use optical system in the form of reflectors or refractors.

• These collectors are used for medium (100-300oC) and high-temperature

(above 300oC) applications such as steam production for the generation of
electricity.

• The high temperature is achieved at absorber because of reflecting

arrangement provided for concentrating the radiation at required location
using mirrors and lenses.

• These collectors are best suited to places having more number of clear days
in a year.
• The area of the absorber is kept less than the aperture through which the
radiation passes, to concentrate the solar flux.

• These collectors require tracking to follow the sun because of optical

system.

• The tracking rate depends on the degree of concentration ratio and needs
frequent adjustment for system having high concentration ratio.

• The efficiency of these collectors lies between 50-70%.

• The collectors need more maintenance than FPC because of its optical
system.

• The concentrating collectors are classified on the basis of reflector used;

concentration ratio and tracking method adopted.
compound parabolic collector (CPC)
• Compound parabolic collectors have the ability to absorb almost all the
light emitted to the mouth of them.

• These collectors are able to accept a large proportion of diffuse radiation

incident on their apertures and concentrate it without tracking the sun.

• These collector similar to flat-plate collectors should be fixed in a specific

angle called acceptance angle based on its position, although some kinds of
compound parabolic collector can track the sun light.

• For stationary CPC collectors mounted in this mode the minimum

acceptance angle is equal to 47 degrees. This angle covers the declination
of the sun from summer to winter solstices.

• However for designing a compound parabolic collector there are so many

theoretical and numerical calculations and analysis .
Evacuated tube collector
Evacuated tube-collector
• Since the flat-plate collectors don’t have a good performance in cloudy
and cold weather due to the condensation of moisture on surface of the
plate, evacuated heat pipe collectors where invented.

• These solar collectors consist of a heat pipe inside a vacuum-sealed tube,

as shown in Figure.

• The vacuum envelope reduces convection and conduction losses, so the

collectors can operate to higher temperatures than flat-plate collectors.

• The pipe, which is a sealed copper pipe, is then attached to a black copper
fin that fills the tube (absorber plate) extended from the top of each tube
is a metal tip attached to the sealed pipe (condenser).
• The heat pipe contains a small amount of fluid such as methanol that
undergoes an evaporating-condensing cycle.

• In this cycle, solar heat evaporates the liquid, and the vapor travels to the
heat sink region where it condenses and releases its latent heat.

• The condensed fluid return back to the solar collector and the process is
repeated

• When these tubes are mounted, the metal tips up, into a heat exchanger
(manifold) as shown in Figure. Water, or glycol, flows through the
manifold and picks up the heat from the tubes.

• The heated liquid circulates through another heat exchanger and gives off
its heat to a process or to water that is stored in a solar storage tank .
Parabolic trough collector
• Parabolic through can effectively produce heat up to temperatures about 400 C.

• This collector is contained of a parabolic mirror and a metal black tube covered
with a glass tube to reduce heat losses.

• This tube is extended along the focal line of the mirror. Figure is showing this kind
of solar collector.

• When the parabola is pointed towards the sun, parallel rays incident on the
reflector are reflected onto the receiver tube.

• It is sufficient to use a single axis tracking of the sun such as conventional long
collector modules produced.

• The collector can be orientated in an east–west direction, tracking the sun from
north to south, or orientated in a north–south direction and tracking the sun from
east to west.

• The collectors in south-north direction during the year collect more energy but the
collectors in west-east direction are better just in summers.
• The biggest application of this type of system is the Southern California
power plants, known as solar electric generating systems (SEGS) which
have a total installed capacity of 354 MW.

• For tracking the sun there are two major systems.

• The first one is based on motors controlled electronically through sensors,

which detect the magnitude of the solar illumination.

• The second one is based on computer controlled motors with feedback

control provided from sensors measuring the solar flux on the receiver.

• Figure displays a parabolic sun tracking collector which is located in Shiraz

in the south of Iran as the first Iranian solar collector plant.
A photo of Shiraz parabolic plant in Iran
Linear Fresnel collector
• This kind of collectors was designed by Giorgio Francia. He developed this
system at Genoa, Italy in the 60s. Fresnel reflector is illustrated in the
Figure.

• The greatest advantage of this type of system is that it utilizes flat or

elastically curved reflectors which are cheaper compared to parabolic glass
reflectors.

• Additionally, this type is mounted close to the ground, causing minimizing

the structural requirements.

• Linear Fresnel collector is based on many mirrors focusing gleams of light

to the receiver tube which is surrounded by secondary reflector.

• There are different designs of this kind of collector.

• In the basic design there is just one absorber tube, but there are new designs
which hold on two or more tubes.
Parabolic dish reflector
• Parabolic dish reflector, known as distributed-receiver system, tracks the sun in
two axes during the day and focus the sunlight irradiated to the dish to a focal
point.

• Figure is illustrating a dish collector. The dish structure must follow the sun to
reflect the beam to the thermal receiver.

• The receiver absorbs the radiant solar energy, converting it into thermal energy
in a circulating fluid.

• The thermal energy can then either be converted into electricity using an
engine-generator coupled directly to the receiver, or it can be transported
through pipes to a central power-conversion system.

• These collectors can exceed the temperature about 1500 degrees centigrade and
they are the most efficient of all collector systems.

• They typically have a concentration ratio in the range of 600–2000, and thus
are highly efficient at thermal-energy absorption and power-conversion system.
Heliostat power plant
• Heliostats are slightly concave tracking mirrors locating around a tower
which there is a receiver on its head. Figure is showing a schematic view of
heliostat field collector

• In this plant large amounts of solar energy would be concentrated into the
cavity of a receiver to be sent to a steam-generator to produce steam at high
temperature and pressure.

• The heat energy absorbed by the receiver is transferred to a circulating fluid

that can be stored and later used to produce power during the night. The
concentration ratios of this type of collector is between 300 and 1500.

• These kind of plants use the area from 50 to 150 𝑚2 and sometimes they
utilize thermal storage systems.

• In some cases hybrid plants are made which use both solar and fossil
energy in the thermal storage system
• The average solar flux entered in the receiver has values between 200 and
1000 kW/m2. This high flux makes it work at about high temperatures of
more than 1500 C.

• Cycles used for a heliostat plant are usually Rankine and Brayton cycles
which the latter are utilized for higher temperatures.

• Related to location of the plant, the heliostats can locate around the receiver
tower in a circle or just locate in north of the tower (in the northern
hemisphere) or just in south of it (in the southern hemisphere).

• The heat-transfer fluid may either be water or steam, liquid sodium, molten
nitrate salt (sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate), or air in advanced systems.
• The thermal-storage medium fluid should be oil mixed with crushed rock,
molten nitrate salt, liquid sodium, or ceramic bricks in advanced systems.

• The early tower powers known as Solar One plants used steam as the
medium for heat transfer which presented several problems such as storage
and continuous turbine operation.

• To overcome these problems, Solar One was upgraded to Solar Two, which
used molten salt and even air as the medium fluid.

• Figure displays a real tower power collector which is called as Solar Two
in the Mojave Desert.
A photo of a heliostat plant in Mojave Desert, California
Schematic view of a tower power plant using Rankine cycle
 Advantages of concentrating collector over flat collector

• The size of the absorber can be reduced that gives high concentration ratio.
• Thermal losses are less than FPC. However small losses occur in the
concentrating collector because of its optical system as well as by
reflection, absorption by mirrors and lenses.
• The efficiency increases at high temperatures.
• In these collectors the area intercepting the solar radiation is greater than
the absorber area.
• These collectors are used for high-temperature applications.
• Reflectors can cost less per unit area than flat plate collectors.
• Focusing or concentrating systems can be used for electric power
generation when not used for heating or cooling
• Little or no anti freeze is required to protect the absorber in a concentrator
system whereas the entire solar energy collection surface requires anti
freeze protection in a flat plate collector
 Disadvantages

• Out of the beam and diffuse solar radiation components, only beam
component is collected in case of focusing collectors because diffuse
component cannot be reflected and is thus lost.

• Costly orienting systems have to be used to track the sun.

• Additional requirements for maintenance, particularly to retain the quality

of reflecting surface against dirt, weather, oxidation etc.

• Non –uniform flux on the absorber whereas flux in flat-plate collectors in

uniform.

• Additional optical losses such as reflectance loss and the intercept loss.

• High initial cost.

Solar power is a promising, renewable energy
resource that can be turned into electricity, and it is
used in many models and even home heating
 Two Main Categories:

Solar Thermal Solar Photovoltaic (PV)

Water heating and cooking Electricity production

 Solar Electric Systems
• Photovoltaic (PV) systems convert light
energy directly into electricity.

• Commonly known as “solar cells.”

• The simplest systems power the small

calculators we use every day.

• More complicated systems will provide a large

portion of the electricity in the near
future.

• PV represents one of the most promising

means of maintaining our energy intensive
standard of living while not contributing to
global warming and pollution.
 Centralized Wind-Solar Hybrid System

• In hybrid energy
systems more than
a single source of
energy supplies the
electricity.

• Wind and Solar

compliment one
another
 Photovoltaic Electricity
• Photovoltaic comes from the words photo, meaning light, and
volt, a measurement of electricity.

• Photovoltaic Electricity is obtained by

using photovoltaic system.

• A basic photovoltaic system consists of four

components: Solar Panel, Battery, Regulator
and the load.
 Solar cell

• Solar cell is a photovoltaic device that converts the light energy into
electrical energy based on the principles of photovoltaic effect

• Albert Einstein was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics for his
research on the photoelectric effect—a phenomenon central to the
generation of electricity through solar cells.

• In the early stages, the solar cell was developed only with 4 to 6 %
efficiency( because of inadequate materials and problems in focusing the
solar radiations). But, after 1989, the solar cells with more than 50%
efficiency was developed.
• First generation cells consist of large-area, high quality and single junction
devices.

• First Generation technologies involve high energy and labour inputs

which prevent any significant progress in reducing production costs.

• Second generation materials have been developed to address energy

requirements and production costs of solar cells.

• Alternative manufacturing techniques such as vapour deposition and

electroplating are advantageous as they.

• Reduce high temperature processing significantly

 Materials for Solar cell

Solar cells are composed of various semiconducting materials

• Crystalline silicon
• Cadmium telluride
• Copper indium diselenide
• Gallium arsenide
• Indium phosphide
• Zinc sulphide

Note: Semiconductors are materials, which become electrically conductive

when supplied with light or heat, but which operate as insulators at low
temperatures
 Materials for Solar cell

• Over 95% of all the solar cells produced worldwide are composed of the
semiconductor material Silicon (Si).

• As the second most abundant element in earth`s crust, silicon has the
advantage, of being available in sufficient quantities.

• To produce a solar cell, the semiconductor is contaminated or "doped".

• "Doping“ is the intentional introduction of chemical elements into the

semiconductor.

• By doing this, depending upon the type of dopant, one can obtain a
surplus of either positive charge carriers (called p-conducting
semiconductor layer) or negative charge carriers (called n-conducting
semiconductor layer).
 Materials for Solar cell

• If two differently contaminated semiconductor layers are combined, then

a so-called p-n-junction results on the boundary of the layers.

By doping trivalent element, we get p-type semiconductor. (with

excess amount of hole)

By doping pentavalent element, we get n-type semiconductor (

with excess amount of electron)
 Photovoltaic effect

Definition: The generation of voltage across the P-N junction in a

semiconductor due to the absorption of light radiation is called photovoltaic
effect. The devices based on this effect is called photovoltaic devices
 Electron-hole formation

• Photovoltaic energy conversion relies on the number of photons strikes

on the earth. (photon is a flux of light particles)

• On a clear day, about 4.4 x 1017 photons strike a square centimeter of the
Earth's surface every second.

• Only some of these photons - those with energy in excess of the band gap
- can be converted into electricity by the solar cell.

• When such photon enters the semiconductor, it may be absorbed and

promote an electron from the valence band to the conduction band.
• Therefore, a vacant is created in the valence band and it is called hole.

• Now,the electron in the conduction band and hole in valence band

combine together and forms electron-hole pairs
 Principle, construction and working of Solar cell

Principle: The solar cells are based on the principles of photovoltaic

effect. The photovoltaic effect is the photo generation of charge carriers in
a light absorbing materials as a result of absorption of light radiation.

Construction
• Solar cell (crystalline Silicon) consists of a n-type semiconductor (emitter)
layer and p-type semiconductor layer (base). The two layers are
sandwiched and hence there is formation of p-n junction.

• The surface is coated with anti-reflection coating to avoid the loss of

incident light energy due to reflection.

• A proper metal contacts are made on the n-type and p-type side of the
semiconductor for electrical connection
Principle, construction and working of Solar cell
Principle, construction and working of Solar cell
 Principle, construction and working of Solar cell

Working:
• When a solar panel exposed to sunlight, the light energies are
absorbed by a semiconducting materials.

• Due to this absorbed energy, the electrons are liberated and

produce the external DC current.

• The DC current is converted into 240-volt AC current using an

inverter for different applications.

• First, the sunlight is absorbed by a solar cell in a solar panel.

• The absorbed light causes electrons in the material to increase in

energy. At the same time making them free to move around in the
material.
 Principle, construction and working of Solar cell

• However, the electrons remain at this higher energy for only a

short time before returning to their original lower energy position.

• Therefore, to collect the carriers before they lose the energy gained
from the light, a PN junction is typically used.

• A PN junction consists of two different regions of a semiconductor

material (usually silicon), with one side called the p type region
and the other the n-type region.

• During the incident of light energy, in p-type material, electrons can

gain energy and move into the n-type region.

• Then they can no longer go back to their original low energy

position and remain at a higher energy.
 Principle, construction and working of Solar cell

• The process of moving a light- generated carrier from p-type region to

n-type region is called collection.

• These collections of carriers (electrons) can be either extracted from

the device to give a current, or it can remain in the device and gives rise to
a voltage.

• The electrons that leave the solar cell as current give up their energy to
whatever is connected to the solar cell, and then re-enter the solar cell.
Once back in the solar cell, the process begins again:
 Mechanism

The mechanism of electricity production- Different stages

The above diagram shows the formation of p-n junction in a solar

cell. The valence band is a low-density band and conduction band is
high-density band
 Mechanism

In stage 1 When light falls on the semiconductor surface, the electron from
valence band promoted to conduction band.
Therefore, the hole(vacancy position left by the electron in the valence
band) is generates. Hence, there is a formation of electron hole pair on
the sides of p-n junction
 Mechanism

In the stage2,the electron and holes are diffuse across the p-n junction and
there is a formation of electron-hole pair
 Mechanism

In the stage 3, As electron continuous to diffuse, the negative charge build on

emitter side and positive charge build on the base side.
 Mechanism

In stage 4 When the PN junction is connected with external circuit, the

current flows.
 Types of Solar cell

• Single crystal: The most expensive production method, it is reliable, and its
module efficiencies average 10–12%.

• Semi crystalline: Production costs are lower and efficiencies are lower,
module efficiencies are 10–11%; however, cell performance may degrade
over time.

• Polycrystalline thin films: These are less efficient due to boundaries

between crystals.

• Amorphous: Material is vaporized and deposited on glass or stainless steel;

production costs are lower; module efficiencies are 7–8%; it degrades over
time.

• Thin film: Created by deposition or thin ribbon (Ever green Solar, 10 cm wide,
which are then cut into wafers).
 Types of Solar cell

• The Monocrystalline silicon cell is produced from pure silicon

(single crystal). Since the Monocrystalline silicon is pure and defect free,
the efficiency of cell will be higher.

• In polycrystalline solar cell, liquid silicon is used as raw material and

polycrystalline silicon was obtained followed by solidification process.

• The materials contain various crystalline sizes. Hence, the efficiency of

this type of cell is less than Monocrystalline cell.
 Types of Solar cell

• Amorphous silicon was obtained by depositing silicon film on the

substrate like glass plate.

• The layer thickness amounts to less than 1µm the thickness of a human
hair.

• The efficiency of amorphous cells is much lower than that of the other
two cell types.

• As a result, they are used mainly in low power equipment, such as

watches and pocket calculators.
 Solar panel (or) Solar array

Single solar cell

• The single solar cell constitute the n-type layer Sandwiched with p-type
layer.

• The most commonly known solar cell is configured as a large-area p-n

junction made from silicon wafer.

• A single cell can produce only very tiny amounts of electricity.

• It can be used only to light up a small light bulb.

• Single photovoltaic cells are used in many small electronic appliances

such as watches and calculators
Solar panel (or) Solar array
 Solar panel (or) Solar array

Solar panel (or) solar array (or) solar module

• The solar panel (or) solar array is the interconnection of Number of solar
module to get efficient power.

• A solar module consists of number of interconnected solar cells.

• These interconnected cells embedded between two glass plates to protect

from the bad weather.

• Since absorption area of module is high, more energy can be

produced.
Solar panel (or) Solar array
 FACTORS INFLUENCING ARRAY DESIGN

The major factors influencing the electrical design of the solar array are as
follows:
• The Sun Intensity
• Shadow Effect
• The Sun Angle
• Temperature Effects
• Effect Of Climate
• The Operating Temperature
• Sun Tracking
SUN INTENSITY:

• The magnitude of the photocurrent is maximum under a full bright sun

(1.0 sun).

• On a partially sunny day, the photocurrent diminishes in direct proportion

to the sun intensity.

• At a lower sun intensity, the I-V characteristic shifts downward, on a

cloudy day,

• The photo conversion efficiency of the cell is insensitive to the solar

radiation in the practical working range. This means that the conversion
efficiency is the same on a bright sunny day as on a cloudy day.

• We get a lower power output on a cloudy day only because of the lower
solar energy impinging on the cell.
SUN ANGLE
• The cell output current is given by I = Iocosθ, where Io is the current with normal
sun (reference), and θ is the angle of the sun line measured from the normal.

• This cosine law holds well for sun angles ranging from 0 to about 50°. Beyond
50°, the electrical output deviates significantly from the cosine law, and the cell
generates no power beyond 85°.

SHADOW EFFECT:
• The array may consist of many parallel strings of series-connected cells.

• A large array may get partially shadowed due to a structure interfering with the
sun line.

• If a cell in a long series string gets completely shadowed, it loses the photo-
voltage

• Without internally generated voltage, the shadowed cell cannot produce power.

• The remaining cells in the string must work at higher voltage to make up the loss
of the shadowed cell voltage.
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS:
• With increasing temperature, the short-circuit current of the cell increases,
whereas the open-circuit voltage decreases.

EFFECT OF CLIMATE:

• On a partly cloudy day, the PV module can produce up to 80% of its full
sun power.

• It can produce about 30% power even with heavy clouds on an extremely
overcast day.

• Snow does not usually collect on the module, because it is angled to catch
the sun. If snow does collect, it quickly melts. Mechanically, the module is
designed to withstand golf-ball-size hail.
Sun Tracking

• There are one- and two-axis tracking systems.

• Common PV systems have a flat plate and fixed angle (tilt), so one way to
improve the performance of flat-plate collectors is by tracking the sun
(Figure), especially for photovoltaic panels since they are expensive.

• Methods for improving performance by tracking are as follows:

• A manual change of panel tilt from summer to winter is used.

• One-axis tracking: The axis of rotation can be either the north–south or

east–west line.

• Two-axis tracking: One possibility is to have passive east–west tracking

and change the tilt angle by month manually.
• Passive trackers use two canisters where the solar direct radiation
increases the vapor pressure, driving liquid from one side to another
(Figure ) to keep panels oriented toward the sun.

• Passive tracking systems do not require extra energy or motors and gears
(which require more maintenance).

• However, in windy areas, passive trackers may not work well as the wind
force is larger than the passive tracking force.

• Tracking collectors produce 25–45% more power in the summer and

pump up to 50% more water than a fixed flat-plate, PV water-pumping
system.
 Types of PV Power Systems

Photovoltaic power systems can be classified as follows:

• Stand-alone

• Hybrid

• Grid connected
Stand-alone P-V system
• The typical PV stand-alone system consists of a solar array and a
battery connected as shown in Figure.

• The PV array supplies power to the load and charges the battery
when there is sunlight. The battery powers the load otherwise.

• An inverter converts the DC power of the array and the battery into
60 or 50 Hz power.

• Inverters are available in a wide range of power ratings with

efficiencies ranging from 85 to 95%.

• Most stand-alone PV systems are installed in developing countries

to provide basic necessities such as lighting and pumping water
Hybrid P-V system
• Conventional power systems used in remote areas often based on
manually controlled diesel generators operating continuously or for a few
hours.

• Extended operation of diesel generators at low load levels significantly

increases maintenance costs and reduces their useful life.

• Renewable energy sources such as PV can be added to remote area

power systems using diesel and other fossil fuel powered generators to
provide 24-hour power economically and efficiently.

• Such systems are called ‘‘hybrid energy systems.’’ Figure shows a

schematic of a PV–diesel hybrid system
Schematic of the grid-connected PV system
• In the above figure is a typical circuit diagram of the grid-connected PV
power system.

• It interfaces with the local utility lines at the output side of the inverter as
shown. A battery is often added to meet short-term load peaks.

• In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency sponsors grid-

connected PV programs in urban areas where wind towers would be
impractical.

• In recent years, large building-integrated PV installations have made

significant advances by adding grid connections to the system design.

• The performance parameters include direct current (DC) voltage and

current generated by the PV roof and the alternating current (AC) power
at the inverter output side.
• Photovoltaic (PV) power systems have made a successful transition from
small stand- alone sites to large grid-connected systems.

• The utility interconnection brings a new dimension to the renewable power

economy by pooling the temporal excess or the shortfall in the renewable
power with the connecting grid that generates base-load power using
conventional fuels.

• This improves the overall economy and load availability of the renewable
plant site — the two important factors of any power system.

• The grid supplies power to the site loads when needed or absorbs the excess
power from the site when available.

• A kilowatt hour meter is used to measure the power delivered to the grid, and
another is used to measure the power drawn from the grid.

• The two meters are generally priced differently on a daily basis or on a yearly
basis that allows energy swapping and billing the net annual difference.
 Solar photovoltaic Applications

Applications can be divided into the following types:

• Grid connected

Residential, industrial, utility-scale power Village power (maybe PV alone

or hybrid PV with diesel, wind, other sources in parallel)

• Stand-alone

Lights, radio, TV, refrigeration, water pumping, water desalinization,

water
Purification PV for schools, clinics, local government offices, battery-
charging stations
 Advantages

– It is clean and non-polluting

– It is a renewable energy

– Solar cells do not produce noise and they are totally silent.

– They require very little maintenance

– They are long lasting sources of energy which can be used almost
anywhere

– They have long life time

– There are no fuel costs or fuel supply problems

 Disadvantages

– Solar power cannot be obtained in night time

– Solar cells (or) solar panels are very expensive

– Energy has not be stored in batteries

– Air pollution and weather can affect the production of

electricity

– They need large are of land to produce more efficient

power supply
Comparison of Types of solar cell
THANK YOU
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
• The array by itself does not constitute the PV power system.

• Also need a structure to mount it, a sun tracker to point the array to the
sun, various sensors to monitor system performance.

• power electronic components that accept the DC power produced by the

array, charge the battery, and condition the remaining power in a form that
is usable by the load.

• If the load is AC, the system needs an inverter to convert the DC power
into AC at 50 or 60 Hz.

• Figure shows the necessary components of a stand-alone PV power

system.

• The peak- power tracker senses the voltage and current outputs of the
array and continuously adjusts the operating point to extract the maximum
power under varying climatic conditions.
• The output of the array goes to the inverter, which converts the DC into AC.

• The array output in excess of the load requirement is used to charge the
battery. The battery charger is usually a DC–DC buck converter

• If excess power is still available after fully charging the battery, it is shunted
in dump heaters, which may be a room or water heater in a stand- alone
system.

• When the sun is not available, the battery discharges to the inverter to power
the load.

• The battery discharge diode Db is to prevent the battery from being charged
when the charger is opened after a full charge or for other reasons.

• The array diode Da is to isolate the array from the battery, thus keeping the
array from acting as the load on the battery at night.
• The mode controller collects system signals, such as the array and the
battery currents and voltages, and keeps track of the battery state of charge
by bookkeeping the charge/discharge ampere-hours.

• It uses this information to turn on or off the battery charger, discharge

converter, and dump loads as needed. Thus, the mode controller is the
central controller of the entire system.

• In the PV system, the inverter is a critical component, which converts the

array DC power into AC for supplying the loads or interfacing with the
grid.

• A new product line recently introduced into the market is the AC PV

module, which integrates an inverter directly into module design. It is
presently available in a few hundred watts capacity