SOLAR ENERGY

Solar is the Latin word for sun. Energy produced by the sun is called solar power. Solar energy is the source of all life on Earth. The energy of the sun is used as far back as humans have existed on this planet. Most of the energy available to us radiates from the Sun. It provides us with food energy through plant photosynthesis and provides the heat that we need to survive. Trapped solar energy is released when we burn fossil fuel reserves and the sun drives the earth's weather systems which provide renewable forms of energy like wind, solar and wave power. It is now widely recognised that utilising the sun's natural energy can offer real alternatives to burning finite resources of fossil fuels or endangering future generations by relying on dangerous technologies such as nuclear power. Energy from the sun can be categorized in two ways: (1) In the form of heat (or thermal energy), and (2) In the form of light energy.

ENERGY FROM THE SUN

The sun has produced energy for billions of years. Solar energy is the suns rays (solar radiation) that reach the earth. Solar energy can be converted into other forms of energy, such as heat and electricity. In the 1830s, the British astronomer John Herschel used a solar thermal collector box (a device that absorbs sunlight to collect heat) to cook food during an expedition to Africa. Today, people use the sun's energy for lots of things. Solar energy can be converted to thermal (or heat) energy and used to:

Heat water for use in homes, buildings, or swimming pools. 1

Heat spaces inside greenhouses, homes, and other buildings.

Solar energy can be converted to electricity in two ways:

Photovoltaic (PV devices) or solar cells change sunlight directly

into electricity. PV systems are often used in remote locations that are not connected to the electric grid. They are also used to power watches, calculators, and lighted road signs.

Solar Power Plants - indirectly generate electricity when the heat

from solar thermal collectors is used to heat a fluid which produces steam that is used to power generator. Out of the 15 known solar electric generating units operating in the United States at the end of 2006, 10 of these are in California and 5 in Arizona. No statistics are being collected on solar plants that produce less than 1 megawatt of electricity, so there may be smaller solar plants in a number of other states.

THE SOLAR PANEL TREE

TYPES OF TECHNOLOGIES
There are many technologies for harnessing solar energy. Applications span through the residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural and transportation 1

sectors. Solar energy can be used to produce food, heat, light and electricity. The flexibility of solar energy is manifest in a wide variety of technologies such as cars, calculators, etc. There are three main ways that we use the Sun's energy:-

Solar Cells

(really

called "photovoltaic" or "photoelectric" cells) that convert light directly into electricity. In a sunny climate, you can get enough power to run a 100W light bulb from just one square meter of solar panel.

This was originally developed in order to provide electricity for satellites, but these days many of us own calculators powered by solar cells.

Solar water heating,

where heat from the Sun is used to heat water in glass panels on your roof. 1

This means you don't need to use so much gas or electricity to heat your water at home.

Water

is

pumped

through

pipes

in

the

panel.

The pipes are painted black, so they get hot when the Sun shines on them. This helps out your central heating system, and cuts your fuel bills. However, in the UK you must remember to drain the water out to stop the panels freezing in the winter. Solar heating is worthwhile in places like California and Australia, where you get lots of sunshine.

Solar Furnaces
huge array of

use a to

mirrors

concentrate the Sun's energy into a small space and produce very high temperatures. There's France, one used at Odellio, for in

scientific

experiments. It can achieve temperatures up to 33,000 degrees Celsius.

SOLAR CELLS OR PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY

1

SOLAR CELL

Sunlight can be changed directly to electricity using solar cells. Solar cells are also called photovoltaic cells - or PV cells for short - and can be found on many small appliances, like calculators, and even on spacecraft. The photovoltaic cell was discovered in 1954 by Bell Telephone researchers examining the sensitivity of a properly prepared silicon wafer to sunlight. In 1883 a New York electrician constructed one of the first cells from thin wafers of Selenium which eventually came into widespread use in photographic exposure meters. These early cells were very inefficient and it wasn't until the 1950's that research into light upon semiconductors gave birth to the modern solar cell. The first working solar cells were constructed by Charles Fritts in 1883. These prototype cells were made of selenium and achieved efficiencies around one percent. Following the fundamental work of Russell Ohl in the 1940s, researchers Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin created a solar cell made of silicon in 1954. Beginning in the late 1950s, photovoltaic cells were used to power U.S. space satellites .The success of PV in space generated commercial applications for this technology. The simplest photovoltaic systems power many of the small calculators and wrist watches used everyday. More complicated systems provide electricity to pump water, power communications equipment, and even provide electricity to our homes. They are made of silicon, a special type of melted sand.

These individual solar cells are arranged together in a PV module and the modules are grouped together in an array. Some of the arrays are set on special tracking devices to follow sunlight all day long.

PHENOMENON OF PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS

'Photovoltaic' literally means electricity from light. Light can be considered as a stream of tiny particles of energy called 'photons' and in a photovoltaic cell, it is these photons that produce a flow of 'electrons' more commonly known as current. These photons contain various amounts of energy corresponding to the different wavelengths of the solar spectrum. When photons strike a photovoltaic cell, they may be reflected, pass right through, or be absorbed. Only the absorbed photons provide energy to generate electricity. When enough sunlight (energy) is absorbed by the material (a semiconductor), electrons are dislodged from the material's atoms. Special treatment of the material surface during manufacturing makes the front surface of the cell more receptive to free electrons, so the electrons naturally migrate to the surface.

When the electrons leave their position, holes are formed. When many electrons, each carrying a negative charge, travel toward the front surface of the cell, the 1

resulting imbalance of charge between the cell's front and back surfaces creates a voltage potential like the negative and positive terminals of a battery. When the two surfaces are connected through an external load, electricity flows. The photovoltaic cell is the basic building block of a photovoltaic system. Individual cells can vary in size from about 1 centimeter (1/2 inch) to about 10 centimeter (4 inches) across. However, one cell only produces 1 or 2 watts, which isn't enough power for most applications. To increase power output, cells are electrically connected into a packaged weather-tight module. Modules can be further connected to form an array. The term array refers to the entire generating plant, whether it is made up of one or several thousand modules. The number of modules connected together in an array depends on the amount of power output needed.

TYPES OF PHOTOVOLTIC CELLS

1

Monocrystalline cells are made from polished, wafer thin slices of single crystals of silicon. Originally, all PV cells were made in this way. These tends to be expensive, as the crystals take time to grow, but it does produce the most efficient cells (~16%). These cells have a life span of about 40 years with most manufacturers guaranteeing output for 10 years. Polycrystalline cells are made from slices of ingots cast from raw silicon crystals giving the characteristic flaked appearance. This method gives a better surface coverage than monocrystalline cells and is cheaper than growing large crystals. These cells have the second highest efficiency (~12%) and are fast becoming the most popular form of cell. They also have as long a life span as monocrystalline cells with similar performance guarantees. Amorphous cells are made by spraying the silicon directly onto glass or ceramic in layers. these types of cells are the cheapest to produce but contain impurities, so the overall conversion of light to electricity is low (~5%). They also have a much shorter life span than others and are usually guaranteed for 6 years.

USES OF SOLAR CELLS

PV systems presently supply electricity all over the world. It has proved to be the most cost effective form of electricity generation in many remote locations around the world where there is no mains electricity. Such examples include telecommunications, lighting for remote dwellings, water pumping and refrigeration in developing countries, and a whole host of consumer products powered by the sun. The caravan, trucking and boating industries have also long used small PV systems to charge their batteries sometimes in conjunction with small wind turbines. Lately, more and more cost effective systems have emerged with PVs now powering whole houses in the form of solar roofs which are linked

to the existing electricity grid in case there is insufficient power during low light periods. Solar energy can be stored in batteries to light a roadside billboard at night. Or the energy can be stored in a battery for an emergency roadside cellular telephone when no telephone wires are around. Some experimental cars also use PV cells. They convert sunlight directly into energy to power electric motors on the car. Photovoltaic cells, like batteries, generate direct current (DC) which is generally used for small loads (electronic equipment). When DC from photovoltaic cells is used for commercial applications or sold to electric utilities using the electric grid, it must be converted to alternating current (AC) using inverters, solid state devices that convert DC power to AC. Historically, PV has been used at remote sites to provide electricity. In the future PV arrays may be located at sites that are also connected to the electric grid enhancing the reliability of the distribution system.

SOLAR CELL PANEL

The main ways in which solar cell is using today are:

CITY RESIDENTIAL HOMES

Recent years have seen rapid growth in the number of installations of PV on to buildings that are connected to the electricity grid. This area of demand has been stimulated in part by government subsidy programmes (especially Japan and Germany) and by green pricing policies of utilities or electricity service providers (e.g. in Switzerland and the USA). The central driving force though comes from the desire of individuals or companies to obtain their electricity from a clean, nonpolluting, renewable source for which they are prepared to pay a small premium.

In these grid-connected systems, a PV System supplies electricity to the building and any day-time excess may be exported to the grid. Batteries are not required because the grid supplies any extra demand. However, if you want to be independent of the grid supply you will need battery storage to provide power outside daylight hours.

Solar PV modules can be retrofitted on to a pitched roof above the existing rooftiles, or the tiles replaced by specially designed PV roof-tiles or roof-tiling systems.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
For many years, Solar Energy has been the power supply of choice for Industrial applications, where power is required at remote locations. This means in these applications that solar power is economic, without subsidy. Most systems in individual uses require a few kilowatts of power. The examples are powering repeater stations for microwave, TV and radio, telemetry and radio telephones. Solar energy is also frequently used on transportation signaling e.g. offshore navigation buoys, lighthouses, aircraft warning lights on pylons or structures, and increasingly in road traffic warning signals. Solar is used to power environmental and situation monitoring equipment and corrosion protection systems (based on impressing a current) for pipelines, well-heads, and bridges or other structures. As before, for larger electrical loads it can be cost effective to configure a hybrid power system that links the PV with a small diesel generator. Solar's great benefit here is that it is highly reliable and requires little maintenance so it's ideal in places that are hard to get to.

HOLIDAY PROPERTIES
Photovoltaic Systems are frequently the preferred solution for holiday homes, which have no access to the electricity grid. These solar systems are configured to meet power needs less expensively than extending the grid to reach your 1

location. Remote homes in sunny locations can obtain reliable electricity to meet basic needs for lighting (using energy efficient fluorescent lamps) and radio or television with a simple PV system comprising a PV panel, a rechargeable battery to store the energy captured during daylight hours, a regulator (or charge controller) and the necessary wiring and switches. Such systems are often called "solar home systems" or SHS for short. The size of the PV module and battery is designed to provide enough power and storage to meet peak energy requirements - this is called "sizing" the system. . All systems with battery storage should use solar batteries of the right design and specification for the system, car batteries will not do! Also, high quality compact fluorescent lamps are available with good lifetimes; poor quality lamps will blacken quickly and their light output will drop off. The quality of the regulator is a key factor in the reliability of the overall system. The PV modules are usually mounted on a pole, or on the roof. In this application, 50 to 100W modules would probably be required although smaller panels of 10 to 15W might provide sufficient power for the most basic single lamp system.

WATER

PUMPING,

LIGHTING,

HEATING

IN

THE

DEVELOPED WORLD
Apart from off-grid homes, other remote buildings such as schools, community halls, and clinics can all benefit from electrification with Solar Energy. This can power TV, video, telephony and a range of refrigeration equipment, which is available to meet World Health Organization standards for vaccine refrigeration, for instance . Rather than base Solar power generation on individual dwellings, it is also possible to configure central village power plants that can either power homes via a local wired network, or act as a battery charging station where members of the community can bring batteries to be recharged. 1

PV Systems can be used to pump water in remote areas e.g. as part of a portable water supply system. Specialized solar water pumps are designed for submersible use (in a borehole) or to float on open water. Usually, the ability to store water in a tank means that battery power storage is unnecessary. Large-scale desalination plants can also be PV powered. Larger off-grid systems can be constructed to power larger and more sophisticated electrical loads by using an array of PV modules and having more battery storage capacity. To meet the largest power requirements in an off-grid location, the PV system is sometimes best configured with a small diesel generator. This means that the PV system no longer has to be sized to cope with the worst sunlight conditions available during the year. The diesel generator can then provide the back-up power, but its use is minimised during the rest of the year by the PV system, so fuel and maintenance costs are kept low. Solar energy can also power area lighting to enable more outdoor activities after dark or improve security, and to illuminate signs or advertising boards.

CENTRAL POWER STATIONS

Central Power applications use solar energy in the same configuration that a Utility would utilize a major power station. This is distinctly different from the other applications on this page, which are known as "distributed power" or power distributed in small aggregate amounts of power, usually close to the point of use of the electricity. Central solar power generation plants have been installed in Italy, US and Spain, for example. However, all these plants are "pilot" in nature. Central solar plants may be attractive under certain conditions, but they do not capitalize on the competitive strengths of solar PV in terms of its flexibility of location (i.e. being located close to the customer) and its ability to be installed incrementally. 1

COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
On an office building, atria can be covered with glass/glass PV modules, which can be semi-transparent to provide shaded light. On a factory, large roof areas have been the best location for solar modules. If they are flat, then arrays can be mounted using techniques that do not breach the weatherproof roof membrane. Also, skylights can be covered partially with PV. The vertical walls of office buildings provide several opportunities for PV incorporation. The first is as a "curtain wall system" that constitutes the weather barrier of the building. The second, as a "rainscreen overcladding system" where there is an underlying weather barrier that provides the insulation and sealing of the building. The third option is to create sunshades or balconies incorporating a PV System. Sunshades may have the PV System mounted externally to the building or have PV cells specially mounted between glass sheets comprising the window.

SOLAR VEHICLES
Development of a practical solar powered car has been an engineering goal since the 1980s. Solar cars are generally powered by PV panels positioned on the vehicle. The batteries of electric bicycles may be charged from solar-generated electricity; alternatively a PV panel may be located on the bicycle itself. The first practical solar boat was constructed in 1975 in England.

SOLAR POWERED CAR

SPACE
Solar cells are very useful in powering space vehicles such as satellites and telescopes (e.g. Hubble). They provide a very economical and reliable way of powering objects which would otherwise need expensive and cumbersome fuel sources.

Helios, named for the Greek sun god, was a prototype PV-powered aircraft.

OTHER APPLICATIONS
Solar cells provide the energy to run satellites that orbit the Earth. These give us satellite TV, telephones, navigation, weather forecasting, the internet and all manner of other facilities

SOLAR ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Solar energy is free, and its supplies are unlimited. Using solar energy produces no air or water pollution but does have some indirect impacts on the environment. For example, manufacturing the photovoltaic cells used to convert sunlight into electricity, consumes silicon and produces some waste products.

ADVANTAGES
Some advantages of photovoltaic systems are: Power from the sun is clean, silent, limitless and free.
Photovoltaic releases on CO2, SO2, or NO2 gases which are normally

associated with burning finite fossil fuel reserves and do not contribute to global warming It is now a proven technology which is inherently safe as opposed to other dangerous electricity generating technologies Conversion from sunlight to electricity is direct, so that bulky mechanical generator systems are unnecessary.
PV arrays can be installed quickly and in any size required or allowed.

The environmental impact is minimal, requiring no water for system cooling and generating no by-products.

DISADVANTAGES
1

Very

expensive

to

build

solar

power

stations.

Solar cells cost a great deal compared to the amount of electricity they'll produce in their lifetime. Can be unreliable unless you're in a very sunny climate. In the United Kingdom, solar power isn't much use except for low-power applications, as you need a very large area of solar panels to get a decent amount of power. However, for these applications it's definitely worthwhile.

FUTURE
Over the last 20 years or so the price of PVs have fallen dramatically and developments are constantly making them ever more efficient and reliable. Globally, solar power is a fast growing market expanding at about 20% a year with increasing numbers of countries implementing ambitious solar programmes to try and stimulate the market further. Compared to other electricity generating technologies, however, PVs are still very expensive with a unit price of around 30-40p/kWh, however improvements in technology will hopefully bring this cost down to around 11p/kWh by 2005. Developments in the thin film field are likely to provide the next breakthroughs. Grid linked solar buildings certainly offer the greatest potential in the UK and may well be the power stations of the future reducing the dependence on large centralised generators. With fossil fuels running out electric vehicles will become increasingly important. Lightweight cars with either solar cells mounted the body or charged from special photovoltaic stations are already being experimented with and will undoubtedly become one of our solutions to the pollution caused by transport as well as home energy use.

PROSPECTS OF SOLAR ENERGY IN PAKISTAN

The need of electrification of entire Pakistan has become essential for our economic revival. Pakistan still accounts for only 0.5 per cent of the world's total energy 1

consumption although energy consumption in our country has nearly tripled during the last 20 years or so. Despite this three fold increase in installed electricity generation capacity, less than half of the house-holds are electrified and per capita electricity supply is only 443 kWh per year against 12,500 kWh in the USA and 7,500 kWh in Japan. Pakistan has about 17,000 mw of installed electric capacity. Thermal plants make up about 68 per cent of capacity, with hydroelectricity making up 30 per cent and nuclear power 2 per cent only. Despite abundance of surface water, gas and coal in our country, the potential for harnessing these sources is limited at best and we are opting for costly imported oil for power generation which costs us Rs80 billion annually. Under the scenario, electrical power through renewable sources of energy has been fast projected as an attractive option for Pakistan. In a broadest sense, solar energy supports all life on earth and is basis of almost every form of energy which we use. Amount of solar energy that falls on earth is enormous. all energy stored in earth's reserves of coal, oil and natural gas is just equivalent to energy from only 20 days of sunshine. Yet solar energy accounts for only 1 per cent of global energy sources. Proponents of solar energy are now convinced that the development and adaptation of solar energy technology in Pakistan can bring a revolution in the life style and living standards of low income people living in the remote areas. While propagating this option they fail to understand that infrastructure, required know-how and limited production levels are the bottlenecks (block) in the mass scale adaptation of solar energy. For years we have been providing incentives and funds for practical demonstration of solar energy, convincing the people for their utilities, educating the masses and developing the pilot scale activities for its promotion but could not achieve a breakthrough as yet

due

to

these

limitations.

The role of solar energy has been negligible in the total energy picture of Pakistan. Solar energy technology has so far been used in our country only for demonstration purposes. The experiments in the past in this area were not so successful due to variety of reasons including lack of understanding and handling of this technology. The solar energy technologies have not been exploited on a large scale for a number of reasons such as, high cost, lack of motivation and inadequate demonstration of effective use of the technology. Recently there is a realization among government circles, about the necessity of using solar energy for the purpose of saving the environment and socioeconomic uplift of the peoples living in the remote areas. Traditional energy sources like firewood, animal dung, and biogases (the woody residue left-over from crushed sugar-cane) still make up more than half of all energy consumed in the rural areas. There is no denying the fact that solar-generated electricity will improve rural life, thereby reducing the urban migration that is taxing the ability of cities to cope with their own environmental problems. Thar in Sindh and entire Balochistan province is considered ideal for utilization of solar energy. In Balochistan, 80 per cent of the population lives in the rural areas. The population density is very thin and villages are separated by large distances with absolutely no approach roads. About 85 per cent of the villages are yet to be electrified. Light is the only requirement for these houses located in remote areas of the province and the electric requirement for each house is 100 watt at maximum. Extension of grid lines for such small power requirements would certainly be very uneconomical and local power generation could be the best solution. In case, diesel generators are used, transportation of fuel to such remote areas and maintenance is again costly proposition therefore solar energy seems an attractive option for these areas.

Pakistan is ideally located in the Sun Belt to take advantage of solar energy technologies. This energy source is widely distributed and abundantly available in the country. Balochistan province is particularly rich in solar energy. It has the highest annual mean sunshine duration in the world. Impressed by advantages of solar power like infinite and renewable amount of energy, environment friendliness and fuel-less power generation the government of Pakistan under the umbrella of Ministry of Science and Technology some 20 years ago, accorded top priority to solar power generation and for that matter established some research and development institutes like the National Institute of Silicon Technology (NIST), the Pakistan Council of Appropriate Technology (PCAT) and the Solar Energy Research Centre (SERC) and the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR). In addition to it certain departments in various national engineering universities were involved in solar thermal technologies. Now two decades after spending millions of rupees on the establishment, capital and operational cost on these institutes we have been only able to develop some solar thermal appliances such as solar water heaters, solar cookers, and solar dryers, solar desalination plants only for demonstration purposes and these institutes could not achieve a breakthrough in solar energy. Because of the lack of technical know-how and follow-up, these systems have not given the required benefits. The most unfortunate episode of this solar power generation drive in Pakistan is that the NIST and the PCAT have been wound up and a new organization namely the Pakistan Council for Renewable Energy Technology (PCRET) has been established to further spend capital resources on failed and uncompleted projects of NIST and PACT. Further, the directorate of renewable energy of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources has been closed after the failure of the project for solarization of some selected villages of the country.

CONCLUSION
1

Pakistan has few energy resources and the country is heavily dependent on the import of fossil fuel. More than 20% of foreign exchange earnings is spent on oil imports every year. Pakistan is an energy deficient country, where a large fraction of the population still does not have access to modern day energy services such as electricity. This is due to very limited fossil fuel resources and poor economy, which restrains the import of fossil fuels on a large scale. To overcome energy shortage, Pakistan needs to develop its indigenous energy resources like hydropower, solar and wind. Pakistan lies in an area of one of the highest solar insolation in the world. This vast potential can be exploited to produce electricity, which could be provided to off-grid communities in the northern hilly areas and the southern and western deserts. Applications other than electricity production such as solar water heaters and solar cookers also have vast applications. All this will help in both reducing the import of fossil fuels and dependency of people on fuel wood, which in turn will provide some respite for the dwindling forest reserves of Pakistan. The energy deficit budget of Pakistan demands for an energy transition from limited fossil fuel reserves to abundant renewable energy sources. With a modest research and development programme for solar energy utilization, PCSIR and DGNRER concentrated on both solar thermal and PV systems.