SOLAR PANELS

1. INTRODUCTION

Solar panels are one of the major technical innovations of our lifetime. Solar panel refers to a
panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy for generating electricity or heating. It is a
packaged, connect assembly of typically 610 solar cells. Solar panels constitute the solar array of a
photovoltaic system that generates and supplies solar electricity in commercial and residential
applications. Each module is rated by its DC output power under standard test conditions, and typically
ranges from 100 to 365 watts. The efficiency of a module determines the area of a module given the
same rated output an 8% efficient 230 watt module will have twice the area of a 16% efficient 230
watt module. There are a few commercially available solar panels available that exceed 22% efficiency
and reportedly also exceeding 24%. A single solar module can produce only a limited amount of power;
most installations contain multiple modules. A photovoltaic system typically includes a panel or an
array of solar modules, a solar inverter, and sometimes a battery and/or solar tracker and
interconnection wiring. In our quest for sustainable and renewable energy that leaves us less reliant of
fossil fuels, solar energy and the development of efficient solar panels lies at the forefront of green
technologies today. We see them being used for domestic houses and businesses but also produced on
an industrial scale with solar farms that have transformed our landscape, bringing us ever closer to the
technology that can make a difference to our lives and the planet we live on.

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2. CLASSIFICATION OF SOLAR PANEL

2.1Flat Plate Solar Panel

Fig:1 Flat plate solar panel

A typical flat-plate collector is a metal box with a glass or plastic cover (called glazing) on top and a
dark-colored absorber plate on the bottom. The sides and bottom of the collector are usually insulated
to minimize heat loss Sunlight passes through the glazing and strikes the absorber plate, which heats
up, changing solar energy into heat energy. The heat is transferred to liquid passing through pipes
attached to the absorber plate. Absorber plates are commonly painted with "selective coatings," which
absorb and retain heat better than ordinary black paint. Absorber plates are usually made of metal
typically copper or aluminumbecause the metal is a good heat conductor. Copper is more expensive,
but is a better conductor and less prone to corrosion than aluminum. In locations with average available
solar energy, flat plate collectors are sized approximately one-half- to one-square foot per gallon of
one-day's hot water use.

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2.2 Evacuated tube solar panel

Fig:2 Evacuated tube solar panel

Evacuated tube solar collectors are very efficient and can achieve very high temperatures. They can be
very expensive compared to flat plate collectors or batch solar collectors, though some of the Integrated
Tank Collectors are the cheapest to purchase and operate as they don't need most of the Balance-Of-
System components. Evacuated tube solar collectors are well-suited to commercial (laundromat) and
industrial heating applications and can be an effective alternative to flat-plate collectors for domestic
space heating.
An evacuated-tube collector contains several rows of glass tubes connected to a header pipe. Each tube
has the air removed from it (evacuated) to eliminate heat loss through convection and conduction.
Inside the glass tube, a flat or curved aluminum or copper fin is attached to a metal pipe. The fin is
covered with a selective coating that transfers heat to the fluid that is circulating through the pipe.

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2.3 Concentrating solar panel

Fig:3 Concentrating solar panel

A solar collector that uses reflective surfaces to concentrate sunlight onto a small area, where it is
absorbed and converted to heat or, in the case of solar photovoltaic (PV) devices, into electricity.
Concentrators can increase the power flux of sunlight hundreds of times. The principal types of
concentrating collectors include: compound parabolic, parabolic trough, fixed reflector moving
receiver, fixed receiver moving reflector, Fresnel lens, and central receiver. A PV concentrating module
uses optical elements (Fresnel lens) to increase the amount of sunlight incident onto a PV cell.
Concentrating PV modules/arrays track the sun and use concentrating devices to reflect direct sunlight
onto the solar cell to produce electricity directly. Concentrating solar collectors in Concentrated Solar
Power (CSP) facilities concentrate sunlight onto a receiver where it heats a heat transfer fluid that
subsequently exchanges its absorbed heat to water to produce steam to power a steam turbine-generator
(STG) to produce electricity.

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Some other types of solar panels are:

1. Monocrystalline solar panel

2. Polycrystalline solar panels

3. Thin-film solar panels

4. Hybrid solar panels

Fig:4 Classification of Solar Panel

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2.4 Monocrystalline Solar Panel

Fig:5 Monocrystalline solar panel

They are commonly used and can be applied to both residential and commercial installations, ideal for
both large and smaller scale systems. These types of cells use very pure silicon and involve a
complicated crystal growth process. Long silicon rods are produced and the crystal is then cut into thin
slices individual cells that are wired together to form a panel. Monocrystaline are the most efficient
type of photovoltaic cell (14-19% efficiency level), but also the most expensive due to their high
silicon

2.5 Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Panel

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Fig:6 Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Panel

Polycrystalline silicon is a commonly used type of panel for both residential and commercial
installations. They are produced from silicon using an elaborate casting proves sliced into wafers and
woven together giving them that striking blue shattered glass appearance. The crystals are to the anti-
reflective layer which is applied to the cells, it increases their efficiency. Due to their slightly lower
levels of efficiency (13-17% efficiency level) and lower silicon levels they are less expensive.
Polycrystalline PV cells are most appropriate when larger surface areas are available to lessen the cost
of the installation.With an efficiency of 13%, polycrystalline solar panels are often seen as a better
economic choice, particularly for home owners. They are made from a number of smaller silicon
crystals that are melted together and then recrystallized. The process to create them is simpler and less
wasteful than with monocrystalline panels.

2.6 Thin-Film Solar Panel

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Fig:7 Thin-Film Solar Panel

Depositing one or several thin layers of photovoltaic material onto a substrate is the basic gist of how
thin-film solar cells are manufactured. They are also known as thin-film photovoltaic cells (TFPV). The
different types of thin-film solar cells can be categorized by which photovoltaic material is deposited
onto the substrate:

Amorphous silicon (a-Si)

Cadmium telluride (CdTe)

Copper indium gallium selenide (CIS/CIGS)

2.7 Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) Solar Panels

Fig:8 Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) Solar Panels

Because the output of electrical power is low, solar cells based on amorphous silicon have traditionally
only been used for small-scale applications such as in pocket calculators. However, recent innovations
have made them more attractive for some large-scale applications too. With a manufacturing technique
called stacking, several layers of amorphous silicon solar cells can be combined, which results in
higher efficiency rates (typically around 6-8%).Only 1% of the silicon used in crystalline silicon solar
cells is required in amorphous silicon solar cells. On the other hand, stacking is expensive.

2.8 Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) Solar Panels

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Fig:9 Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) Solar Panels

Cadmium telluride is the only thin-film solar panel technology that has surpassed the cost-efficiency of
crystalline silicon solar panels in a significant portion of the market (multi-kilowatt systems).The
efficiency of solar panels based on cadmium telluride usually operates in the range 9-11%.First Solar
has installed over 5 gigawatts (GW) of cadmium telluride thin-film solar panels worldwide. The same
company holds the world record for CdTe PV module efficiency of 14.4%.

2.9 Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIS/CIGS) Solar Panels

Fig.10 Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIS/CIGS) Solar Panels

Compared to the other thin-film technologies above, CIGS solar cells have showed the most potential
in terms of efficiency. These solar cells contain less amounts of the toxic material cadmium that is
found in CdTe solar cells. Commercial production of flexible CIGS solar panels was started in
Germany in 2011.

The efficiency rates for CIGS solar panels typically operate in the range 10-12 %.

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Many thin-film solar cell types are still early in the research and testing stages. Some of them have
enormous potential, and we will likely see more of them in the future

2.10 Hybrid Solar Panel

Fig:11 Hybrid Solar Panel

The hybrid panel combines the abilities of a solar panel and an airheater. This means that it can heat
water for the household, and produce electrical power at the same time. This combination gives a
higher total effect of output per panel. This combination also provides upwards of 20% more produced
power.

A traditional solar panel converts approx. 15% of the energy from the sun to power. The remaining
energy most often in the form of heat remains unused. This has a negative effect on the performance
of the panel on effect and lifetime. In the combination on the hybrid panel, the energy is used for the
heating of water on the back of the panel

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3. DESIGN CONSIDERATION OF SOLAR PANEL

3.1 Sizing the Solar Panel

Since your solar PV system will incur capital expenditure, it is important that you size it accurately. It
starts by estimating your current electricity consumption. Since the daily electricity consumption will
decide the size (hence, cost) of your solar system, it is prudent to first go for energy efficient appliances
so that your energy requirement is minimized. Therefore, energy efficiency considerations should
precede design and installation of the solar system. The first step towards energy efficiency involves
reducing power consumption by replacing all CFL/tubelights with LED lights and existing fans with
energy efficient fan. It will incur some additional cost but take it as a long term investment that will pay
off itself in next couple of years through savings in the electricity bill. Consider energy efficiency in all
your future purchases of electrical appliances. High wattage appliances such as ACs, desert coolers,
water heaters and water pump etc. should not be operated through your proposed solar system in order
to keep its size and cost low, though solar ACs and coolers are also now available in the market).

3.2 Solar insolation at your location

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The insolation map shown here gives solar insolation across the country. In India, most locations
receive 4-7 kWh / m2 / day. If on a particular day insolation is 6 kWh per sq meter, a 1 kW solar PV
system would produce 6 kWh of energy. Obviously, more sunlight means more electricity from your
solar PV system. But there are other factors that affect the system output.

3.3 Panel efficiency

Efficiency (wattage per unit panel area) of the panels becomes an important issue where rooftop space
is limited. Lower efficiency panels occupy greater area than higher efficiency panels, so you can place
only a limited number of panels on the available area. It will limit the size of your solar PV plant. If
you have limited rooftop space, choose solar panels with maximum wattage per sq foot. Typically, a 1
kW solar PV system requires around 100 sq feet area depending upon the panel efficiency. Efficiency
of a panel is given as panel kilo-watt (kWp) per sq meter area of the panel, expressed as percentage.
Consider 200 Wp and 250 Wp solar panels, both with area 1.61 sq meter. Their efficiencies will be
12.42% and 15.5%. Obviously, using 250 Wp panels would require less rooftop space. If you want to
find the rooftop area needed for a 1 kW solar PV plant, here is laymans approach: Using the 1.61 sq m
area of the above two panels, you will require 1.61 X 5 (or 9 sq m) space if you use 200 Wp panel and
1.61 X 4 (or 6.4 sq m) with 250 Wp panels. Approximating 1 sq m with 3.3 ft x 3.3 ft (about 11 sq feet)
you need 70 100 sq feet rooftop space for your solar PV plant.

3.4 Ambient temperature

It is somewhat counter intuitive but solar panels generate less power as they heat up in hot summer
days. So temperature of the panel affects its output. In fact, it is not surprising to

find the best output in the winter months when panels remain cooler. Therefore, solar panels have
negative temperature coefficient for example, -0.45. It means every 1 degree rise in temperature will
reduce power output by 0.45%. Likewise, a 1 degree decrease in temperature will increase panel output
by 0.45%.Thus, a 250 Wp panel (usually rated at 25 C) will behave like a 256 Wp at 20 C and even
higher in the cold winter and as 228 Wp panel at 45 C in hot summer. In fact, the cold desert
Laddakh in J&K is the best place for solar PV plants because the temperatures are very low and sky
generally clear. Of course, if you are located in say, Chennai or Delhi this information has no meaning

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for you. But it helps to know that ideal locations would have low temperatures and higher insolations.
Although you have no control on ambient temperature at your location, but can plan to position the
solar panels to allow higher air circulation rather than at enclosed locations.

3.5 Shade free area

Even if you have a large roof your solar PV power plant needs shade-free area. Shadows may come
from neighboring structures like other buildings, mobile phone towers, hoardings, trees. It may even
come from the PV plant itself a row of panels may cast shadow on the rows behind it. Note that at
higher latitudes shadows are longer and large roof space is required for the plant. However, in India it is
a minor issue. Shadows not only reduce the panel output, they may also cause panel damage.
Shadowed areas turn from being conductor to insulator and start heating up it can eventually burn up
those areas. Such damages are not covered by warranty.

3.6 Panel Orientation

India lies in the northern hemisphere with its southern tip quite close to equator. In northern hemisphere
you would ideally like to mount the panels on a south facing roof because if you are in the temperate
zone the sun is always towards south and if in the tropical zone the sun is predominantly in the south. If
there is problem with southern side, you may also mount panel facing 45 degree east or west of
south.Tilt or angle with respect to horizontal is another important parameter. For fixed panel system it
is typically taken as the same as the latitude of your location. In case of confusion, the best option is to
consult a solar PV system installer.

3.7 Power Output

Actual power output of your solar PV plant is a complex thing that depends upon so many variables
insolation, panel orientation, tilt angle, temperature and so on. But in India, we have some indicative
data for guidance. A 1 kW PV plant generates about 1600 1700 kWh (units) per year which is about
4-5 kWh (4000 5000 Wh) per day. This is also about the daily power consumption of a small family.
Therefore, a 1 kW solar PV plant can serve most households.Conventionally, PV plants performance is
given as capacity utilization factor (CUF). CUF is the ratio (expressed as percentage) of the actual
output of a plant to the maximum possible output under ideal condition (assuming that the sun shone
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every day of the year).The CUF for many solar friendly Indian states is in the range 18-20 [for
example, Gujarat (18), Andhra Pradesh (20), Uttarakhand (19)] and the average output of 1 kW plant in
these states lies in the range 4.3 4.8 kWh.

Annual units expected from a plant (kWh) = Plant size in kW x CUF x 365 x 24

Thus, a 1kW plant in Andhra (CUF 20) is expected to generate 4.8 kWh (or 4800 Wh) per day.

3.8 Weight of the PV plant

This is an important factor in windy areas because solar panels along with their mountings can be fairly
heavy. It is not a problem for concrete roofs but asbestos and other roofs may be too fragile and pose
safety problems. So the roof should be sturdy enough to withstand the weight and wind load of the
plant. In recent years, cyclones such as Aila and Phailin with wind speeds of 120 200 kph have
knocked down thousands of solar systems. In coastal areas prone to such calamities, this issue should
be particularly discussed with the installer.

3.9 Batteries and inverter

You will need to store the DC current from the panels into batteries and then convert it into AC through
an inverter for end use. Remember that the type of batteries and inverter will also determine the overall
efficiency of your solar PV system.Deep cycle lead acid batteries are best suited for your solar
application. They generally last for 5-10 years and are about 80% efficient. They are designed to
repeatedly discharge 80% of their rated capacity. Note that automotive batteries are shallow cycle and
are not suitable. Tubular positive plate or sealed maintenance free (SMF) batteries are best suited for
solar PV systems. Size the batteries so that they can store enough power for your needs during cloudy
or rainy 2-3 days. A pure sine wave inverter is the ideal choice for all kinds of appliances but is always
costlier. Modified sine wave inverters are relatively cheaper, less efficient (they waste some power as
heat) and create a buzzing sound with appliances. So make a choice between the two types based on
your budget and other requirements.

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4. MANUFACTURING OF SOLAR PANEL

Step-1: Crystal growing

Solar world heats and melts polysilicon rock until it forms a white hot liquid, then re-fuses the molten
silicon into a single giant crystal in which all atoms are perfectly aligned in a desired structure and
orientation.

Charging

The magic starts with about 250 pounds of polysilicon rocks carefully stacked in a quartz crucible. The
only other ingredient is a silicon disk impregnated with a tiny amount of boron. The addition of the iron
dopant ensures that the resulting crystal will bear a positive potential electrical orientation. The crucible
is encased within thick walls of insulating graphite and locked inside a cylindrical furnace.

Melting

As the crystal-growing furnace heats up to temperatures ranging around 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, its
silicon contents melt into shimmering slurry. Once computerized monitors register the right
temperature and atmospheric conditions, the alchemy begins. A silicon seed crystal, hung from a
narrow cable attached to a rotary device atop the furnace, is slowly lowered into the melt.

Growing

The crucible starts to turn, and the seed crystal begins to rotate in the opposite direction. The silicon
melt freezes onto the seed crystal, matching the seeds crystalline structure. The crystal grows, the

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cable and seed slowly ascend, and the crystal elongates at a controlled width. As the growth depletes
the silicon slurry, the crucible also rises.

Cooling

Flash forward about 2.5 days since the crucible was charged with polysilicon: After hours of cooling to
about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, the furnace hood and shaft lift away from the crucible encasement,
slowly swing to one side and reveal a completed cylindrical crystal, ready to move to the second step
and next production room.

Step-2: Wafering

A silicon crystal must change shape several times before it winds up as the precisely calibrated wafers
that form the foundations of photovoltaic cells.

Cutting

First, a saw cuts off the crystals so-called top and tail, so that a crystal of uniform width remains.
Typically, wafering saws draw thin wire bearing a liquid abrasive across the crystals surface. (Below, a
machine mounted with a giant donutlike steel blade does the cutting.) Wire saws also cut the crystal
into ingots measuring 2 feet or less. Steel holders are mounted on the ends of these ingots for the next
step.

Squaring

Mounted ingots are placed standing on end in a rack bearing 16 at a time inside another wireslicing
machine. There, wire running in a lattice configuration descends on the ingots to shear off four rounded
segments, leaving flat sides. The result: The ingots now have a square crosssection, except for still-
rounded corners.

Slicing

The next wire saw is more intricate yet. A wire winding hundreds of times between two cylindrical
drums forms a web of parallel, tightly spaced segments. As the wire unspools through the machine,

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ingots mounted sideways on glass and metal holders are pressed two at a time through the wire web,
slicing them into the thickness of slim business cards. Each millimeter of crystal yields about 21/2
wafers. Detached from their holders, the wafers are loaded into carriers, or boats, for transport to the
next step.

Step-3: Solar cell production

Converting wafers into cells

At this point, a wafer is no more capable of producing electricity than a sliver of river rock. The wafer
is the main building block of a PV cell, but so far its only notable characteristics are its crystal structure
and positive potential orientation. All of that changes in the third, multistep, cell-production phase of
PV manufacturing.

Diffusing

Next, wafers are moved in cartridges into long, cylindrical, ovenlike chambers in which phosphorus is
diffused into a thin layer of the wafer surface. The molecular-level impregnation occurs as the wafer
surface is exposed to phosphorus gas at a high heat, a step that gives the surface a negative potential
electrical orientation. The combination of that layer and the boron-doped layer below creates a positive-
negative, or P/N, junction a critical partition in the functioning of a PV cell.

Coloring and Printing

The burgeoning, still-grey cells move in trays into heavy vacuum chambers where blue-purple silicon
nitride is deposited onto their tops. The coating with silicon nitride yet another member of the silicon
family of materials is designed to reduce reflection even further in the energy-dense blue end of the
light spectrum. It leaves the cells with their final, dark color. Now, the cells can optimally gather
photons and produce electricity. They lack, however, any mechanism to collect and forward the power.
So, in a series of silkscreen- like steps, metals are printed on both sides of the cell, adding pin-stripe
"fingers" and bus-bar circuitry. A functioning cell is born only sunshine needed.

Step-4: Solar panel assembly

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Stringing panels into assembly

Each phase of production depends on processes with flavors all their own. Careful control of heating
and cooling dominates crystal growing. Wafering employs abrasion and cutting. Cell production
concentrates on chemistry. Any factory process would be incomplete without a final assembly step, and
in PV such a step is known as moduling.

Soldering

At Solar World, module manufacturing is a highly automated process, relying on robust steel robotics
to undertake the increasingly heavy lifting of assembling lightweight PV cells into modules weighing
around 45 pounds apiece. Each robotic tool works within a safety fence that, by design, excludes
people. First, cells are soldered together into strings of 10, using an over-under-over-under pattern of
metal connectors to link the cells. Six strings are laid out to form a rectangular matrix of 60 cells. Each
matrix is laminated onto glass.

Framing

To become a module, however, each laminate requires not only a frame to provide protection against
weather and other impacts but also a junction box to enable connections among modules or with an
inverter-bound conduit. Robots affix those, too.

Inspection and Shipping

Careful cleaning and inspection provide final touches before each module can be palletized for delivery
to homes and businesses.

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5. EFFICIENCY OF SOLAR PANEL

Efficiency in photovoltaic solar panels is measured by the ability of a panel to convert sunlight
intousable energy for human consumption. Knowing the efficiency of a panel is important in order to
choose the correct panels for your photovoltaic system. For smaller roofs, more efficient panels
arenecessary, due to space constraints. How do manufacturers determine the maximum efficiency of a
solar photovoltaic panel though?
Let us first start out by saying that the maximum power, also known as Pmax, of a 200W panel is
200Wregardless of the panel efficiency. It is the area the solar panels use up to get those 200W that
determines how efficient the panel is. The panel efficiency determines the power output of a panel per
unit of area. The maximum efficiency of a solar photovoltaic cell is given by the following equation:

Pmax ( maximum power output )

max (maximum efficiency) = ( E(incident radiation flux )Ac( areaof collector ))

The incident radiation flux could better be described as the amount of sunlight that hits the
earths surface in W/m2. The assumed incident radiation flux under standard test conditions (STC) that
manufacturers use is 1000 W/m2. Keep in mind though, that STC includes several assumptions and
depends on your geographic location. Now, well make a sample calculation to determine how
manufacturers calculate the maximum solar panel efficiency under STC.

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Assume you have a 400W system with an area of 30 ft2 and you want to determine the maximum
efficiency of your solar panels under STC. Your first step would be to convert the area of your
panels to units of square meters

6. MERITS AND DEMERITS OF SOLAR PANEL

6.1 Advantages of Solar Panels

1. Renewable Energy Source
Solar energy is a truly renewable energy source. It can be harnessed in all areas of the world and is
available everyday. We cannot run out of solar energy, unlike some of the other sources of energy. Solar
energy will be accessible as long as we have the sun, therefore sunlight will be available to us for at
least 5 billion years, when according to scientists the sun is going to die.
2. Reduces Electricity Bills
Since you will be meeting some of your energy needs with the electricity your solar system has
generated, your energy bills will drop. How much you save on your bill will be dependent on the size
of the solar system and your electricity or heat usage. Moreover, not only will you be saving on the
electricity bill, but if you generate more electricity than you use, the surplus will be exported back to
the grid and you will receive bonus payments for that amount (considering that your solar panel system
is connected to the grid). Savings can further grow if you sell excess electricity at high rates during the
day and then buy electricity from the grid during the evening when the rates are lower.
3. Diverse Applications
Solar energy can be used for diverse purposes. You can generate electricity (photovoltaics) or heat
(solar thermal). Solar energy can be used to produce electricity in areas without access to the energy

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grid, to distill water in regions with limited clean water supplies and to power satellites in space. Solar
energy can also be integrated in the materials used for buildings. Not long ago Sharp introduced
transparent solar energy windows.
4. Low Maintenance Costs
Solar energy systems generally dont require a lot of maintenance. You only need to keep them
relatively clean, so cleaning them a couple of times per year will do the job. Most reliable solar panel
manufacturers give 20-25 years warranty. Also, as there are no moving parts, there is no wear and tear.
The inverter is usually the only part that needs to change after 5-10 years because it is continuously
working to convert solar energy into electricity (solar PV) and heat (solar thermal). So, after covering
the initial cost of the solar system, you can expect very little spending on maintenance and repair work.
5. Technology Development
Technology in the solar power industry is constantly advancing and improvements will intensify in the
future. Innovations in quantum physics and nanotechnology can potentially increase the effectiveness
of solar panels and double, or even triple, the electrical input of the solar power systems.
6.2 Disadvantages of Solar Panels
1. Cost
The initial cost for purchasing a solar system is fairly high. Although the UK government has
introduced some schemes for encouraging the adoption of renewable energy sources, for example the
Feed-in Tariff, you still have to cover the upfront costs. This includes paying for solar panels, inverter,
batteries, wiring and for the installation. Nevertheless, solar technologies are constantly developing, so
it is safe to assume that prices will go down in the future.
2. Weather Dependent
Although solar energy can still be collected during cloudy and rainy days, the efficiency of the solar
system drops. Solar panels are dependent on sunlight to effectively gather solar energy. Therefore, a
few cloudy, rainy days can have a noticeable effect on the energy system. You should also take into
account that solar energy cannot be collected during the night.
3. Solar Energy Storage Is Expensive
Solar energy has to be used right away, or it can be stored in large batteries. These batteries, used in off-
the-grid solar systems, can be charged during the day so that the energy is used at night. This is good
solution for using solar energy all day long but it is also quite expensive. In most cases it is smarter to
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just use solar energy during the day and take energy from the grid during the night (you can only do
this if your system is connected to the grid). Luckily our energy demand is usually higher during the
day so we can meet most of it with solar energy.
4. Uses a Lot of Space
The more electricity you want to produce, the more solar panels you will need, because you want to
collect as much sunlight as possible. Solar panels require a lot of space and some roofs are not big
enough to fit the number of solar panels that you would like to have. An alternative is to install some of
the panels in your yard but they need to have access to sunlight. Anyways, if you dont have the space
for all the panels that you wanted, you can just get a fewer and they will still be satisfying some of your
energy needs.
5. Associated with Pollution
Although pollution related to solar energy systems is far less compared to other sources of energy, solar
energy can be associated with pollution. Transportation and installation of solar systems have been
associated with the emission of greenhouse gases. There are also some toxic materials and hazardous
products used during the manufacturing process of solar photovoltaics, which can indirectly affect the
environment. Nevertheless, solar energy pollutes far less than the other alternative energy sources.

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7. Some Applications of solar Panels

1. Power plants: In conventional power plants non-renewable energy sources are used to boil water
and form stream so that turbines can rotate and water to produce electricity. But with application of
solar energy heat of sun can boil that water to create steam and rotate turbines. To convert sunlight into
electricity solar panels, photoelectric technologies and thermoelectric technologies etc are used.

2. Homes: Use of solar energy is increasing in homes as well. Residential appliances can easily use
electricity generated through solar power. Besides this solar energy is running solar heater to supply hot
water in homes. Through photovoltaic cell installed on the roof of the house energy is captured and
stored on batteries to use throughout the day at homes for different purposes. In this ways expenditure
on energy is cutting down by home users.

3. Commercial use: on roofs of different buildings we can find glass PV modules or any other kind of
solar panel. These panels are used there to supply electricity to different offices or other parts of
building in a reliable manner. These panels collect solar energy from sun, convert it into electricity and
allow offices to use their own electrical power for different purposes.

4. Ventilation system: at many places solar energy is used for ventilation purposes. It helps in running
bath fans, floor fans, and ceiling fans in buildings. Fans run almost every time in a building to control
moisture, and smell and in homes to take heat out of the kitchen. It can add heavy amount on the utility
bills, to cut down these bills solar energy is used for ventilation purposes.

5. Power pump: solar power not just help in improving ventilation system at your homes but with that it
can also help in circulating water in any building. You can connect power pump with solar power
supply unit but you must run it on DC current so that water circulate throughout your home.

6. Swimming pools: swimming pools are great joy for kids and adults in all seasons. But during winters
it is tough to keep water hot in these pools with minimum power usage. Solar energy can help many in

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this matter as well. You can add a solar blanket in the pool that will keep the water hot with energy
generated from sunlight. Besides this you can install a solar hot water heating system with solar hot
water heating panels.

7. Solar Lighting: these lights are also known as day lighting, and work with help of solar power. These
lights store natural energy of sun in day time and then convert this energy into electricity to light up in
night time. Use of this system is reducing load form local power plants.

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SOLAR PANELS

8. SOLAR PANEL COMPARISON CHART

Monocrysta Polycrystal Amorph

CdTe CIS/CIGS
lline line ous
Typical
module 15-20% 13-16% 6-8% 9-11% 10-12%
efficiency
Best
research cell 25.0% 20.4% 13.4% 18.7% 20.4%
efficiency
Area
required for 6-9 m2 8-9 m2 13-20 m2 11-13 m2 9-11 m2
1kwp

10-25 10-25
25 years 25 years 10-25 years
years years

Lowest
0.75 $/W 0.62 $/W 0.69 $/W
Price 0.69 0.69
Temperature Less Relatively
Performance Relatively
resistance temperature Low
drops 10- Tolerates low
resistant
15% at high extreme impact on Impact on
than
temperature heat performan
monocrystall performanc
s ce
ine e
Additional Oldest cell Less silicon Degrade Degrade
technology waste in the Degrade
Details faster faster
and most production faster
widely used process
Use More More Less Less Less

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