MSE 156/256 - Solar Cells, Fuel Cells and Batteries: Materials for the Energy Solution

Bruce Clemens Department of Materials Science and Engineering Stanford University

Unit I: Solar Resource

! ! ! ! ! ! Solar spectrum - how the sun delivers energy Solar spectrum compared to black body radiation How much energy does the sun deliver Atmospheric effects Distribution of Solar Resource Photon Flux: How many photons at each energy come from the sun

Electromagnetic Radiation

Electromagnetic radiation characterized by: ! Wavelength ! Frequency ! Photon energy Speed of light 3 x 108 m/s Planck Constant

Solar irradiance

Solar Spectra
Amount of power delivered per area per unit wavelength range wavelength AM0 = Air Mass 0 (no atmosphere)
2000 1500 1000 500 0 0 AM0 5960 K Spectra
Unit area Sunlight beam Earth

1200 1000 800 600 400 200

Solar Constant

0 4

The total energy flux (energy per time per area) incident on a unit area perpendicular to a beam outside the Earth s atmosphere Integrate solar irradiance over wavelength

Solar Spectra: Wavelength

AM0 = Air Mass 0 (no atmosphere)
2000 1500 1000 500 0 0 AM0 5960 K Spectra 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 1 2 3 0 4

Compare Solar Radiation to Blackbody Radiation

Occupation probability
earth sun

Density of photon modes Geometry, conversion

Solid angle subtended by sun from earth Planck s Constant Boltzmann s Constant

Solar Constant

Solar Energy Hitting the Earth

The total energy flux incident on a unit area perpendicular to a beam outside the Earth s atmosphere

The earth intercepts an area Radius of earth Total power intercepted by earth This is distributed over the total surface area of earth Average energy flux incident on a unit surface area: This corresponds to an annual average of:

Recall that each person in US uses ~ 11.3 kW = 100,000 kW hr/year

Atmosphere Effects

Atmosphere

Scattering

Absorption Albedo

Diffuse component

! In this area, about 30% of light is diffuse (averaged over the year) ! Flat photovoltaic panels can use this diffuse light ! Concentrating systems, which rely on focusing directional light, cannot

Air Mass = 1 Air Mass =

Air Mass Factor

Air Absorption

2000

= angle of sun from horizon

1500

AM0 5960 Kelvin Blackbody AM1.5 (Including diffuse)

1000

H 2O

500
Earth

CO2

Atmosphere

0 0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

AM0 AM1.5

no air

About Seattle WA at 12:00 noon at the equinox

AM1.5 Spectra Includes: ! Direct radiation ! Diffuse radiation scattered from air ! Diffuse radiation scattered from ground ! http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/spectra/am1.5/

Solar Resource with Air

2000

1400 1200

1500

1000 800 AM0 5960 Kelvin Blackbody 600 AM1.5 (Including diffuse) 400 200

1000

500

0 0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

0 3.0

Again integrate over wavelength to find total power density

Recall for AM0 we get 1367 W/m2 For AM1.5 we get 1000 W/m2 Reduction due to atmosphere for AM1.5

World Power Sources, Solar Power Potential

Nuclear Hydro

Coal

Solar Power Potential Hitting 3% of the Earths Land Harvested with 15% Efficiency

Natural Gas

Oil

Worldwide Solar Resource

128,000 TW Striking earth surface

Estimate of Available Solar Power Use 10% of unused land 1/2 of which is covered by 10% efficiency cells 80 TW available 15 TW Solar array 780 km on a side

USA Solar Power Resource

To make our 11,300 Watts, each person needs a PV array about 60 feet on a side

The stuff had better be cheap! - and abundant

Solar spectra as a function of photon energy

Solar Spectra: Photon Energy

Can relate to our old buddy irradiance

Power per area in corresponding photon energy increment Power per area in wavelength increment Also sometimes useful to consider photon flux density

Divide power density by energy per photon

21

3
x10

AM1.5 5960 K Spectra

2 1 0 0

Solar Spectra: Photon Flux

Number of photons per area per time per energy increment We can integrate this to find the photon flux in a given energy range (for example the photons that have a energy greater than the bandgap in a photovoltaic device)
4 3
21

AM1.5 5960 K Spectra

2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0

x10

x10

2 1 0 0

21

This will be important when we discuss PV efficiency.

MSE 156/256 - Solar Cells, Fuel Cells and Batteries: Materials for the Energy Solution Stanford University Autumn 2012 Unit I: Solar Resource
! Solar spectrum - how the sun delivers energy ! Solar spectrum compared to black body radiation ! How much energy does the sun deliver ! Atmospheric effects ! Distribution of Solar Resource ! Photon Flux: How many photons at each energy come from the sun

Coming Up: Unit 2: Semiconductors a critical component of a solar cell