EE5093 Week 1

Energy Devices for Sustainable

Urban Environment

Asst. Prof. Leong Wei Lin

Office location: S1-B1c-102
Email: wlleong@ntu.edu.sg
Consultation hours: Every Wednesday, 4pm – 5.30pm

College of Engineering
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
 WHAT IS THIS COURSE ABOUT?
This course is an introduction to the sustainability concept, the basic operating
principles and applications of various sustainable energy devices: from harvesting
energy devices to energy storage. Some examples are photovoltaic devices used
for solar energy conversion, thermoelectric devices for thermal energy harvesting,
turbines for wind energy harvesting and electrochemical devices (super capacitors or
batteries) for renewable energy storage. The course will also introduce current trends
in the energy market as well as forecast for the future.

How is the course designed?

• Emphasis on basic concepts, underlying logic/principle – NOT memorisation
• Minimum equations; some calculations

Lecturers/Examiners: Asst. Prof Leong Wei Lin (course coordinator)

Asst. Prof Lee Seok Woo
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 SCHEDULE: WEEK 1-6
Week LT23 (Thurs, 1430-1730) TOPIC

1 13 Jan Introduction to Energy, Sustainability

2 20 Jan Basics of Solar Cells

3 27 Jan Design of Silicon Solar Cells and Fabrication

4 3 Feb Thin Films Solar Cells (2nd generation Solar Cells)

Thin Films Solar Cells (3rd generation Solar Cells)

5 10 Feb
CA1 – Quiz #1

Modules and Arrays of Solar Cells, Specific Applications and

6 17 Feb
Trends in the Solar Cell Industry, Review

7 24 Feb Part II of course (under Prof Lee Seok Woo)

Recess

3
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR WEEK 1-6

• Explain the current energy issues, sustainability

concepts and describe various renewable energy
sources
• Explain the working principle of a solar cell
• Understand the key factors that affect the solar cell
efficiency
• Study the electrical characteristics of a solar cell
(calculate solar cell efficiency)
• Understand the 3 generations of solar cells, their
advantages and disadvantages
• Understand the materials, structures and processing
methods of the solar cells discussed in this course

4
Text Book
Stuart Wenham
“Applied Photovoltaics”

NTU library
TK1087.A652
Electronic book online

5
Reference Book

A. Luque, S. Hegedus (editors)

“Handbook of Photovoltaic
Science and Engineering”
John Wiley & Sons (2003)

NTU Library
XX(347022.1)
electronic book online 6
Reference Book

Jenny Nelson
“The Physics of Solar Cells”
Imperial College Press
(2003)

NTU Library
TK2960.N427
7
Text Book

Electrochemistry
2nd Edition
Hamann Carl H, Hamnett
Andrew and Vielstich Wolf,

NTU library
QD553.H198 2007

8
 Assessment
Type Description Date
Paper based with OMR answer sheets: 10 Feb 2021
Quiz #1 (25%) 20 to 25 MCQs (Week 5)
(Cover topics from week 1 to week 4)
Paper based with OMR answer sheets:
Quiz #2 (25%) 20 to 25 MCQs TBC

Type Description Date

All topics covered through lectures. 4 May 2022, Monday

Final Exam (50%) Time: 5.00 pm – 7.00 pm
Format: 50 MCQs, Closed Book Duration: 2 Hours

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EE8093 Week 1

Chapter 1. Introduction

Asst. Prof. Leong Wei Lin

Office location: S1-B1c-102
Email: wlleong@ntu.edu.sg
www.ntu.edu.sg/home/wlleong
Consultation hours: Every Wednesday, 4pm – 5.30pm

College of Engineering
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
 WELL KNOWN ISSUES
Top 5 challenges for mankind
• Energy “Energy is the single most
• Food and water important challenge facing
• Spread of Infectious Disease humanity today”,
• Increasing Global Population - Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley
• Climate Change

Concerns of:
(1) Energy Access:
- Increasing energy supply for sustained economic
growth (Global power demand is ~15 TW, 85%
from fossil fuels)
- Energizing rural areas
(2) Energy security – energy import vulnerabilities
(3) Ensuring long-term sustainability of energy
use (raw fuel reserves are limited)
(4) Global warming

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 SOME PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

• Replace coal with renewables (wind, solar)

• Sequester CO2
• Switch to biofuels
• Add heating insulation
• Use nuclear energy

• Drive smaller cars

• Build smaller houses
• Increase the efficiency of everything
• Cars: hybrids, plug-in hybrids, fully electric

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 LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR WEEK 1

• Explain the current energy issues, sustainability

concepts
- put logic and order into the energy situation
- learn how to measure and evaluate options
- arm you with the knowledge to make sensible
decisions
• Introduction to Renewable Energy Sources and
Photovoltaic Technology

13
 OUTLINE FOR TODAY LECTURE

• Energy uses
• Energy consumption
• Fuel reserves
• The greenhouse effect
• Energy technologies
• Photovoltaic devices and applications

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 ENERGY SOURCES AND USES

• A useful breakdown of energy usage

- Heating – gas, oil
- Transportation – oil
- Electricity – coal, nuclear, gas, hydro

• Heating – anything will do

• Transportation – need mobile fuel
• Electricity – lighting, cooling, industry

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US ENERGY USEAGE

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WORLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_energy_consumption_by_fuel.svg 17
WORLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018 18

 HOW DOES SINGAPORE GET THE ENERGY
NEEDS?

Source: Singapore
Energy Statistics 2018

• Singapore imports 95% of its energy needs from natural gas (mostly come
from Indonesia and Malaysia through gas pipelines). Other energy sources
come from fuel oil and other sources such as waste and renewable energy. 19
Source: Singapore
Energy Statistics 2018

20
 HOW DOES SINGAPORE GET THE ENERGY
NEEDS?

Source: Singapore
Energy Statistics 2018

• Waste to energy incineration plants - the heat from the combustion generates
superheated steam in boilers, and the steam drives turbogenerators to produce
electricity.
• Solar Photovoltaic (PV) - The total electricity generation capacity in Singapore
grew slightly from 13,611.9 MW in 2017 to 13,614.4 MW in 2018 due to an
21
increase in the generation capacity of Solar PV.
Source: Singapore
Energy Statistics 2018
22
HOW SUSTAINABLE ARE THE NATURAL
RESOURCES?

• Oil and natural gas – 50 years

• Coal – 300 years
• Renewables - ∞ 23
THE MAJOR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES OF INTEREST

• Fossil fuels
• Nuclear fission
• Hydroelectric
• Renewables
- Wind
- Solar thermal
- Solar voltaic
- Biomass
- Geothermal
- How do these work?

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 Types of fossil fuels

• The world economy is powered almost

entirely by these fossil fuels:
– Coal (electricity generation)
– Oil (Petroleum)
• Diesel (lorries)
• Petrol (cars)
• Jet fuel (airplanes)
• Heavy fuel oil (ships)
– Natural gas (electricity generation)
– Bitumen tar sands, shale oil and gas
(unconventional fossil fuels)

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FOSSIL FUELS

• Put the fuel in a tank and light a match

• All fossil fuels use oxygen to burn
• All fossil fuels produce large amounts of
CO2
• All fossil fuels produce some amount of
pollution due to impurities
• Basic chemical reactions:

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 HOW DOES A POWER PLANT WORK
• Industrialization: The discovery of coal and the invention of the steam engine
started the industrial revolution in the late 18th century.
• Electric power generation enabled mass production from distant energy resources
beginning late 19th century. Both agricultural and industrial production increased
rapidly because of productivity increase. Standard of living in industrialized
countries rose rapidly especially after 1945.

superheated
steam to drive
the turbine

• Exhaust steam is waste

heat into the environment
• Heat engine efficiency is
given by furnace inlet
temperature and exhaust
temperature

Source of image: Wikipedia

27
 The problems with Fossil Fuels
• Limited supplies of gas and oil

• Much of the supply is in unstable

parts of the word

• All fossil fuels produce large

amounts of CO2, which is a
greenhouse gas

• Carbon sequestration is not yet a

proven technology

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 with lots of greenhouse
cannot see
gases, heat will be trapped,
but they
forming the thermal blanket
generate heat

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Effect of greenhouse gases
Sunlight
Little IR emitted into space
Very low temperature due to
atmospheric convection
currents

CO2 Thermal blanket

IR

Earth surface

30
Greenhouse Effect
- “Greenhouse” gases
Start of
industrial emission = 7000 - 13000 nm

revolution
micrometre
- Absorb in the 7–13 μm
wavelength range,
increase temperature of
earth

- Variability of climate,
ethane is not
a greenhouse and changes in the
gas
frequency and intensity
of some extreme
climate phenomena 31
Pollution

http://fortune.com/2018/04/17/global-pollution-death/
32
33
Dangerous new hot zones are spreading around the world

34
Climate Change

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Extreme weather problem

This is not a country road.

This is a country road

Severe flooding Queensland, Australia

(Dec 2010 - Jan 2011)

Severe drought Texas, US (2011)

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Extreme weather events
House

Ice along promenade, Lake Geneva, Feb

2012

Car
Gangneung city, Korea (80cm snow) Jan 2011

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 Extreme weather events

Source: Bloomberg

Widespread power failure and flooding in Manhattan,

New York City after hurricane Sandy, October 2012

Guiuan, Central Philippines after a super

typhoon, November 2013. The tsunami-like
coastal damage is due to an exceptional
storm surge of seawater driven by 318km/h Source: INYT
winds. Source: Straits Times

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39
40
41
42
43
Overshadowed by COVID: the deadly extreme weather of 2020 (theconversation.com)

EE8093 Energy Devices 44

45
ENERGY – NEED & POTENTIAL
Need : Renewable Energy Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kUE0BZtTRc 46
 WHAT IS ENERGY?
• This is a technical term from physics. It refers to ‘that which
allows work to be done’
• ‘Work’ in this context is defined precisely as the product of
force and distance moved in the force direction
• Work done = force (N) x distance (m), SI unit: J (Joule)
• In simpler terms, energy is simply what enables a car to
move, a computer to operate and a machine to produce
goods in a factory.

Fuel-air
Piston

mixture

Richard P. Feynman, Feynman’s lectures on physics, vol. 1 (1964)

47
Example:
If a force of 150 Newtons (N) is applied to the piston in
the direction shown by the yellow arrow and the force
moves through 15cm, what is the work done?

A. 10 J
B. 22.5 J
C. 2250 J
D. 250 J

48
 ENERGY CONVERSION
• Energy conversion is the process of changing energy
from one form to another

• Examples:
– Heating of Buildings:
• Gas, oil, biomass → heat
• Solar → heat
– Electricity Generation:
• Coal, gas, nuclear → heat → mechanical → electricity
• Wind → mechanical →electricity
• Solar → Electricity
49
Conservation of energy
❑ The total amount of energy within a closed system must
be constant. In a closed system, no energy can flow
across the system boundary.
❑ In other words, energy cannot be created or destroyed.
However, it can be converted from one form to another
This is also called the first law of thermodynamics.

Thermal Kinetic
Electrical

Light Chemical
Outer box represents a closed system, e.g. a very well insulated house

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 Conservation of energy

resistor

LED

Electrical energy from battery = Light output + Energy losses in (resistor + LED + wiring + battery)

51
Second law of thermodynamics
• Although there are different forms of energy, they are not
equally useful.
• Some forms of energy such as chemical (fossil) fuels are
much more useful than other forms such as heat
• The second (2nd) law tells us that when we convert any of
the more useful forms of energy to another, we always have
to turn some of it into heat. Some energy is always
degraded.
• This energy conversion process is irreversible. So over time,
there will be more and more of the less useful form of
energy even though the total amount of energy does not
change

Y.A. Cengel, ‘Introduction to thermodynamics and heat transfer’, Mc-Graw Hill, 2002
52
 Bottom view of a car
W Q: heat W: kinetic energy E: Energy of fuel

Q Fuel tank
Engine
Radiator

Transmission

Front wheels
E = W + Q, E >> W

53
Worked example:
The fuel tank of a motor car has petrol with energy of 30MJ
(30,000,000J). During driving, the car uses 9MJ for motion,
what is the amount of energy radiated as heat?

A. 39 MJ
B. 15 MJ
C. 21 MJ
D. 20 MJ

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KEY METRIC: ENERGY CONVERSION EFFICIENCY

• Laws of Thermodynamics provide limits

• Each conversion steps reduce efficiency

55
ENERGY SOURCES

56
Kinetic Energy

• Kinetic energy is associated

with the motion of an object
with mass
• Proportional to the mass (m)
• Varies with the square of the
speed (v) of the body
• KE = 0.5mv2
• Hence, kinetic energy
increases rapidly with the
speed of an object including
wind

EE8093 Energy Devices 57

 Potential Energy
• Potential energy (PE) is associated
with the work done in a gravitational
field which pulls the object towards the
earth surface
• The PE is usually measured relatively
to a reference level
• PE is proportional to the mass and to
the height (h) of the mass above the
reference level.
• PE = mgh
• g = 9.81m/s2 is the acceleration due to
gravity.
h

EE8093 Energy Devices 58

What is the velocity of object when it
falls from 10 m height? g = 9.81 m/s2

A. 10 m/s
B. 14.01 m/s
C. 9.81 m/s
D. 18.93 m/s

EE8093 Energy Devices 59

Energy of a photon

• In 1905, Albert Einstein explained the photoelectric effect by

proposing that light is made up of discrete particles or quanta of
energy
ℎ𝑐
𝐸=
𝜆

• Light, of frequency for wavelength λ, comes in photons, of energy E,

h is Planck’s constant (6.626 ×10 –34Js) and c is the velocity of light
(3.00 ×108m/s)

1.24
𝐸= eV
𝜆(𝜇𝑚)

60
Power
• Power is simply energy divided by time.
• It is the rate at energy is being
converted from one form to another.
• Power is measured in watts (W)
• e.g. 1000W = 1kW = 1000J/s

EE8093 Energy Devices 61

WIND POWER

• Wind turns the windmill blades

• Mechanical motion converted to the
shaft of a generator, producing electricity
• Wind energy is basically kinetic energy
of moving air due to pressure difference.
• Wind power P increases with the third
power of wind velocity.
• When u0 is doubled, P increases by a
factor of 8.

1 • Cp : power coefficient
P= 𝐶𝑝 𝐴𝜌𝑢03 • A: cross section are
2
don't need to memorise this
• r : density of air
• u0 : wind speed 62
HYDROELECTRIC

• Put your paddle wheel into flowing water

• Attach the shaft of the wheel to a generator and electricity
is produced main source of energy is potential energy --> height
• Main source of energy is gravity
• Need large reservoirs to store water

𝑃 = 𝜌𝑄𝑔ℎ
• P is power in watts
• ρ is the density of water in kilograms
per cubic metre
• Q is the flow in cubic metres per
second
• g is the acceleration due to gravity
• h is the height difference between inlet
and outlet in metres 63
BIOMASS

• Burn wood, plants, organic waste

• Huge land area required
• Potential for new discoveries

64
NUCLEAR FUEL

• More difficult than fossil fuel

• Natural uranium
• Only 235U produces energy
by fission
• Place fuel rods in a reactor
vessel

Nuclear Fuel process (source: Wikipedia)

65
 Recap
• Work done (J) = force (N) x dist (m)
• Potential Energy = mgh, where g=9.81 m/s2
• Kinetic Energy = 0.5mv2
1.24
• Photon Energy =E = eV
𝜆(𝜇𝑚)
• Power = E/t
1
• Wind Power: P = 𝐶𝑝 𝐴𝜌𝑢03
2
66
ENERGY SOURCES COMPARISON

Potential
Coal Natural gas Hydro- Solar Wind Biomass Nuclear
power
Classification Fossil fuel Fossil fuel Renewable Renewable Renewable Renewable Non-
renewable
How we get it Mining Drilling wells Dams Photovoltaic Windmill Trees Uranium
(moving cells (wood),
water) plants,
organic
waste
Availability Declining Limited Limited Abundant Abundant Limited Limited

Reliability Average Good Good Good Average Average Good

Capital cost Medium Medium High Medium Low Medium High safety
issues
Environmental Water CO2, NO2 None None None Small
impact pollution, amount of
land emission
destruction, from uranium
High CO2 processing
Acid Rain

67
WORLD ENERGY DEMAND

Solar power per hour on earth surface = 1.78 x 1014 kWh

Yearly worldwide energy demand = 1.14x1014 kWh

68
 AS A SOURCE OF ENERGY,
NOTHING MATCHES THE SUN
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Solar the new 'king of electricity' as renewables make up bigger slice of supply: IEA
(channelnewsasia.com) 70
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Cells

• Advantages:
– Sunlight is abundant
– Direct conversion from the sun
into electricity
– No noise
– Clean energy (no pollution)
– Easy to maintain (no moving parts to wear out or
replace)
– Good scalability produce many solar cells in a short period of time
• Disadvantages:
– Location dependent not all countries have alot of sun

– Low Capacity Factor CF = amt of energy that you can generate / maximum power you can generate
over a time
Capacity factor is the measure of how often a power
plant runs for a specific period of time. It's expressed as
a percentage and calculated by dividing the actual unit
electricity output by the maximum possible output. This
ratio is important because it indicates how fully a unit's
capacity is used.
71
What is the Cost of Silicon Solar Cells?

The price of silicon solar cells is 76 $ per watt in 1977 while the price in 2015
decreases to 0.3 $ per watt caused by technology advances and government oriented
policy support through feed-in tariffs
72
What is the Cost of Silicon Solar Cells?

Nano Today. 11 (6): 704–737.

The harnessed energy of silicon solar cells at the cost of a dollar has surpassed its
oil counterpart since 2004.

73
Solar PV in SINGAPORE

Source: Energy market authority

www.ema.gov.sg 74
 Solar PV in SINGAPORE

• The Housing & Development Board (HDB) and the Economic Development Board
(EDB) are jointly spearheading the acceleration of the deployment of solar PV
systems in Singapore through the SolarNova project, which was launched in
2014. As part of this effort, three solar leasing tenders have been called to-date.
Singapore is expected to reach the committed solar PV capacity of 350 MWp via
75
this project by 2020.
 Solar PV in SINGAPORE

• As at end 1Q 2018, the west region of Singapore had the highest concentration
of solar PV, with a total capacity of 46.0 MWac (40.1%) distributed across 456
installations.
76
Singapore sets solar energy target for 2030 77
that would provide enough power for 350,000
homes - CNA (channelnewsasia.com)
Solar PV in SINGAPORE

78
 Solar PV in SINGAPORE

• https://youtu.be/UDK0U4uIcHo

79
Solar PV in SINGAPORE

80
NTU Solar Installations

81
 The three big photovoltaic markets
Residential Rooftop Commercial Rooftop

Utility scale
power plants

82
GLOBAL SOLAR MARKET

Source: SolarPower Europe Global Market Outlook 2018-2022

efficiency range of a solar cell may be in the range of 10 to 15%

Deploying large volumes of utility-scale solar is easier to establish than a distributed

PV rooftop market – requires a substantial period of time and effort to educate
consumers while setting up an effective platform with the right financing mechanisms
and technical standards. 83
Different types of solar cells (Jan 2020)

Multicrystal Si solar cell

Monocrystalline Si solar cell
Record efficiency : 22.8 % CIGS solar cell Record efficiency :
Record efficiency : 26.1 %
23.4 %

CdTe solar cell Record efficiency : Organic solar cell Record DSSC solar cell Record efficiency :
22.1 % efficiency : 17.4 % 12.3%
84
 85
www.konarka.com
 OPVIUS OPV Solartree

Gratzel Solar San Francisco Bus Shelters using

organic solar cells roof Integrated DSSC window panels at Swiss Tech
Backpack
Convention Center
Prototype of solar
car in Armenia

OPV modules integrated in

colour printed, translucent ETFE
films (Merck KGaA)

86
Photovoltaics generations
FIRST Generation
Silicon (Monocrystalline, Polycrystalline)
• 85% of current market
• requires many energy intensive processes at high
• temperature (400 – 1400 °C) and high vacuum

SECOND Generation
Thin film (Amorphous silicon, CdTe, CIGS)
• Potential for flexible modules and lower cost
Alan Heeger (Nobel Prize
laureate in Chemistry)

THIRD Generation
Organic/Hybrid (Bulk heterojunction, Dye-
sensitized, perovskites)
• Low temperature processing, printable
• Potential for flexible modules and lower cost

87
Efficiency vs time for various technologies

https://www.nrel.gov/pv/

88
Thank you for your attention!
89