Solar Panel

Technology
Design Team 7:
Nathan Vargo
Tianhang Sun
Spencer Krug
Liqing Yao
Qifan Wang
What is it?
Solar panel refers to a panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of
energy for generating electricity or heating.

A photovoltaic (PV) module is a packaged, connected assembly of a collection

of solar cells.

Solar Photovoltaic panels constitute the solar array of a photovoltaic system that
generates and supplies solar electricity in commercial and residential
applications.
History
1839 Edmond Becquerel discovers photovoltaic effect

1954 development of silicon photovoltaic technology by Daryl Chapin,

Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson

1958 n-on-p silicon photovoltaic cells

1958 first satellite launched with pv powered systems

1970 cheaper solar cells available to public

1990 first grid-supported photovoltaic system

How Does This Technology
Work?
Photovoltaic effect

Semiconductors

Solar cells

Solar arrays

Energy storage
Photovoltaic Effect
The photovoltaic effect is the creation of voltage or electric current in a
material upon exposure to light

Band gap energy

Valence and conduction bands

Electron hole pair

Return to neutral state

Semiconductors
Silicon

Dopants

boron and phosphorous

p-n junction

charge neutrality

depletion region

Potential barrier

electrons free to flow without

Solar Cells
Antireflection Coating

Front Contact

Electrode

n-type silicon

p-type silicon

Back Contact

Electrode

0.5V to 0.6V
Solar Array Construction
Cell to Module to Array

Module

Connection of cells

Most cells connected in series

Typically 36 cells

Array

Series or Parallel

Tied to grid
Storing PV’s Electricity
Tied to grid

Insufficient solar energy, power taken

from public grid

Sufficient solar energy, power sent to

public grid

Batteries

Expensive

Not very efficient

Advantages
Green Energy

No pollution

Slow/Stop global warming

Unlimited source/Renewable Energy Source

Gas, Coal and other limited power source are running out

Unlimited power source: solar, wind, etc

Saves money

Only cost initial setting fee, then free energy

Advantages
Creates jobs

Solar power creates 2 to 3 times more jobs than coal or natural gas.
Disadvantages
Initial cost fairly high

Night and cloud limit

Not able to create power when there is no sunlight

Power generated reduced during times of cloud cover

Uses a lot of space

High buildings may not get enough energy from solar panel

Energy storage is expensive

Good solution for night and cloud limit but quite expensive
Current Technology
Double sided Silicon material solar cells

efficiencies up to 15%

Single sided Silicon contact cells

efficiencies up to 25%

Concentration using curved cells and lenses

intensify light and use heat generated for conversion

Applications
Solar Heating & Cooling (SHC)
These technologies generate
thermal (heat) energy for water &
pool heating and space heating.
Some people are surprised to learn
that SHC technology can also be
used for cooling. Solar heating
technologies are cost-effective for
customers in a variety of climates.
Solar Roadways
Netherlands already is applying
solar energy to building roads.
There are very small solar cells
integrated with the road structure.
This solves an issue of the large
amounts of space solar panel arrays
require.
Power Storage/Transmission
Solar technologies directly produce
electricity which can be used,
stored, or converted for long-
distance transmission. PV panels
can be manufactured using a variety
of materials and processes and are
widely-used for solar projects
around the world.
Applications

Solar Communication Solar Irrigation

Monitor remote locations without Solar power can also be used to

the need to route power from produce hydraulic pressure for
electrical grids. With solar irrigation systems on farms.
technology, power can be obtained
in almost any remote location.
Eyes to the Future
Gallium Arsenide instead of Silicon

Colloidal Quantum Dots

Extract unfiltered sunlight from space

Solar Windows

High-speed space travel

solar sail, theoretical max speed ~10% speed of light!

Our Project: Early Warning for
Solar Power
Actually not directly related to solar panel itself

Reason for our project:

Significant power drop when clouds cover the solar panel for a long time.

Early Warning of when the cloud will cover the solar array on campus is needed.

MSU can buy the electricity from another company to make up the power drop (expensive),
or turn on backup power which takes several minutes.

Using light sensor to detect the approximate amount of solar power.

Questions