Solar Energy
Solar PV Power generating projects and Photovoltaic production and Installation has been doubling every 2 years, increasing by an average of 48 percent each year since 2002, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy technology. At the end of 2008, the cumulative global PV installations reached 15,200 megawatts. Roughly 90% of this generating capacity consists of grid-tied electrical systems. Such installations may be ground-mounted or built into the roof or walls of a building, known as Building Integrated Photovoltaics or BIPV for short. Solar PV power stations today have capacities ranging from 10-160 MW.
Driven by advances in technology and increases in manufacturing scale and sophistication, the cost of photovoltaics has declined and efficiency has increased steadily since the first solar cells were manufactured some 30 years ago. Financial incentives, such as preferential feed-in tariffs for solar-generated electricity, have supported solar PV installations in many countries.
The components of a Solar Photovoltaic Power Generating System
Solar PV power generating systems are comprised of three main components:
- Solar photovoltaic panels
- Mounts for the PV panels
- Inverter(s) of the DC power to AC power that may be connected to the grid
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panel is made of an arrays of Photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaics are best known as a method for generating electric power by using Solar photovoltaic material in solar cells to convert energy from the sun (solar radiation) into direct current (DC) electricity . The photovoltaic effect refers to photons of light knocking electrons into a higher state of energy to create electricity. The term photovoltaic denotes the unbiased operating mode of a photodiode in which current through the device is entirely due to the transduced light energy. Virtually all photovoltaic devices are some type of photodiode.
Solar cells are used to power equipment, recharge a battery or be connected to the grid. The first practical application of photovoltaics was to power orbiting satellites and other spacecraft, but today the majority of photovoltaic modules are used for grid connected power generation. In this case an inverter is required to convert the DC to AC. There is a smaller market for off-grid power for remote dwellings, boats, recreational vehicles, electric cars, roadside emergency telephones, remote sensing, etc.
Efficiency and Data Tracking
All our installations include inverter technology that enables our users to log in to our website and view their site specific data.
That data includes:
- Panel efficiency
- Panel power generation
- Power generation stats
- Power generation calculations per month
- Maintenance progress and system up-time
- Solar energy facts
The 89 petawatts of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface is plentiful - almost 6,000 times more than the 15 terawatts of average electrical power consumed by humans. Additionally, solar electric generation has the highest power density (global mean of 170 W/m2[citation needed]) among renewable energies.
Solar power is pollution-free during use. Production end-wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls. End-of-use recycling technologies are under development.[79] PV installations can operate for many years with little maintenance or intervention after their initial set-up, so after the initial capital cost of building any solar power plant, operating costs are extremely low compared to existing power technologies.
Solar electric generation is economically superior where grid connection or fuel transport is difficult, costly or impossible. Long-standing examples include satellites, island communities, remote locations and ocean vessels.
When grid-connected, solar electric generation replaces some or all of the highest-cost electricity used during times of peak demand (in most climatic regions). This can reduce grid loading, and can eliminate the need for local battery power to provide for use in times of darkness. These features are enabled by net metering. Time-of-use net metering can be highly favourable, but requires newer electronic metering, which may still be impractical for some users.
Grid-connected solar electricity can be used locally thus reducing transmission/distribution losses.
Compared to fossil and nuclear energy sources, very little research money has been invested in the development of solar cells, so there is considerable room for improvement. Nevertheless, experimental high efficiency solar cells already have efficiencies of over 40% in case of concentrating photovoltaic cells and efficiencies are rapidly rising while mass-production costs are rapidly falling.
