Introduction to Solar Power technologies, both passive and active, as they apply to the problems of global warming

1. An Introduction to Solar Power Prepared for www.philazine.com by Philip Woodard – 2009 – all rights reserved ©

3. Passive or Active Depends on the way sunlight is captured, converted and distributed Active solar techniques use photovoltaic panels, pumps, mirrors, troughs, and fans to convert sunlight into useful outputs Passive solar techniques include selecting materials to store heat directly, designing spaces to naturally circulate air, and positioning buildings for most sunlight

8. Active -- Photovoltaics Earliest applications came from U.S. space program, PVs were used as a back-up power source to the Vanguard satellite in 1958 which allowed for continued transmitting a year after its chemical battery was exhausted A number of solar cells form a solar "Module" or "Panel“ which can then be combined to make solar systems ranging from a few watts of electricity output to multi megawatt power stations Yearly growth in the solar photovoltaics 2003 to 2008 has averaged more than 40%

9. Falling Costs By the 1970s falling prices made PV generation competitive in remote areas without grid access Early terrestrial uses included telecom-munication stations, off-shore oil rigs navigational buoys and railroad crossings Off-grid applications accounted for over half of worldwide installed capacity until 2004 Prices fell from US $100.00 per watt in 1971 to US $7.00 watt in 1985 First Solar, the largest manufacturer of thin panels, claims its products will generate electricity in sunny countries as cheaply as large power stations by 2012 8.1

10. Falling Costs – Part Two Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers surveyed the costs of 37,000 photovoltaic systems in the U.S. Average price of installation fell from $10.50 per watt in 1998 to $7.60 per watt in 2007 9.1

11. Solar vs Nuclear 11.1 55 months 16 months Construction time $1.91 $53.77 Cost – Actual Watt $1.76 / Wp $8.95 / Wp Cost – Watt of Capacity $1.76 billion $0.54 billion Total Cost 0.92 0.17 Capacity Use 8108 GWh / yr 88 GWh / year Net generation 8793 GWh / yr 528 GWh / yr Capacity 2005 2008 Year Pressurized light-water Silicon photo-voltaic (PV) Type Uljin, South Korea Olmedilla de Alarcón, Spain Location

15. Thin Film Photovoltaics One venture capitalist says most thin film photovoltaics (PV) advances fail in the transition from the lab to manufacturing due to yield problems and other manufacturing problems 9.1 Have tended to succeed in the lab, but fail in the manufacturing process. Only one or two thin-film projects have brought product to market in 30 years, and it's a US $100M-$200M dollar up-front investment "just to play the game and see if your product really works."

25. U.S. -- Best Solar Locations

26. Problems Most of the cost and operational problems associated with alternative energy sources arise from the fact that once the energy is converted to heat or electricity, it has to be used right away or stored at enormous cost and trouble

27. Solar and Wind Synergy In areas where demand for electricity is higher in winter than in summer, wind and solar are complementary High pressure areas tend to bring clear skies and low surface winds Low pressure areas tend to be windier and cloudier Solar energy typically peaks in summer, but often wind energy is lower in summer and higher in winter The intermittencies of wind and solar power can somewhat offset each other