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Researchers Develop A Method to Improve the Solar Cell Efficiency

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You may hear the word efficiency been thrown around a lot when discussing solar energy. Currently, the low solar panel efficiency is the number one reason why consumers resist adopting solar energy. The solar panels available in the market today possess an efficiency of around 14% to 18%.  Researchers have spent the majority of their efforts in increasing the efficiency of the solar panels. New experiments reveal that researchers are on the cusp of something new.

Before revealing how researchers are tackling the issue of low efficiency, let’s first understand what is solar efficiency and the basic understanding of how solar panels work.

What Is Solar Efficiency?

Solar panel efficiency is the amount of energy a solar cell can convert when it interacts with sunlight into usable electricity. These solar cells are tightly packed in a rectangular box designed to attract sunlight. For additional information about solar panel manufacturing, you can visit the blog How Are Solar Panels Manufactured? The Ultimate Guide.

The measurement of efficiency can be done easily if the efficiency of a solar panel is termed as 20% efficient, it means it can convert 20% of the energy received from the sunlight.

Researchers Develop A Method to Improve the Solar Cell Efficiency

How Does a Solar Panel Work?

In simple terms, the solar panel works by allowing photons to interact with the silicon particles releasing electrons resulting in the flow of electricity. They are usually comprised of a number of photovoltaic cells (Photovoltaic simple means converting the energy of a photon to electricity)

Ground Breaking Research to Increase Solar Efficiency

 #1 Development of New Process to Improve the Efficiency of DSSC (Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell)

Dye-sensitized solar cells are third-generation solar cells which convert any visible light into electrical energy. DSSC is a disruptive technology which can be used to create electricity even in low light conditions, indoors and outdoors, enabling you to convert both natural and artificial light.

The DSSC holds a lot of promise because of their environmental benefits. But the current DSSC technology has a very low light to electricity conversion ratio. The new process addresses this inefficiency.

The first generation silicon-based solar cells have a high efficiency of 26% but they are not economical. Second generation thin-film solar cells comprising semiconductors have comparable efficiencies with a similar price range. The third generation DSSC solar cells have low efficiency, with lower cost and less environmental impact.

Researchers recently introduced holmium oxide, a powerful paramagnetic material into the anode of a DSSC cell and applying an external magnetic field. The experiment showed a spike inefficiency.

However, the application of magnetic field consumes a lot of external energy because the electromagnets themselves require an external power source for functioning.  Researchers then replaced holmium oxide with iron oxide magnetic particles which produce a magnetic field internally. Even this experiment witnessed a spike inefficiency.

The dye molecule absorbs the light energy in DSSC and causes the electron to jump to titania and then the external circuit, which results in the flow of electrons and thus electricity.

Researchers Develop A Method to Improve the Solar Cell Efficiency

#2 A New Way to Strike High Energy Photons to the Silicon Material

Traditional solar energy panels have an absolute low-efficiency mechanism. In principle, a single photon could only extract one silicon electron, irrespective of the energy it possesses.

Researchers have now developed a way to strike high energy photon and knock out two electrons instead of one.

 How Do Photons and Electrons Interact?

The energy from the photons can be absorbed or released by electrons. When an electron absorbs a photon, it gains the energy to release itself and move freely in the vacuum chamber or it can release the energy as another photon. Solar panels absorb energy from electrons to generate electricity.

Researchers Split the Absolute Photon’s Energy

The present silicon solar cells have a theoretical maximum efficiency of 29%. As mentioned earlier, no matter how energetic the photon is, the principle is to extract only one electron. The new process developed by researchers involves extracting two electrons from a single energy photon by using a phenomenon called “excited states”

What is an Exited State?

When an electron temporarily achieved a state higher than its original ground state, the phenomenon is known as the excited state of an electron. An electron can become excited when supplied from an external energy source such as packets of photons or light.

In excitons, when the packets of energy travel like electrons in the circuit, you can use them to change the amount of energy they possess – you can cut them or you can combine them to gain the required output.

Researchers Develop A Method to Improve the Solar Cell Efficiency

The researchers were successful in carrying out a singlet exciton fission, which allows a single photon of sunlight to be split into two individual packets of energy.

First, the material absorbs light energy and enter into an exciton state that rapidly undergoes fission and splits the photon into two energy packets, each one possessing half the energy of the original photon.

The next task researchers had was to combine these packets of energy with silicon electrons, a material that is not excitonic. A layer of hafnium oxynitride acts as an intermediate layer for the excited states to transfer two electrons to the silicon material.

Theoretically, this produces a much greater energy output than the traditional solar panels. Currently, the theoretical efficiency lies around 29%, this process is promising a jump to 35%.

The next hurdle is to optimize the silicon cell to adapt this process and hence the commercial application of this new technology may take a few years.

The efficiency of the solar cells is the biggest hurdle in the widespread acceptance of this clean renewable source. With the advent of new technology, promises around solar efficiency are taking a new and exciting turn. If successful, solar energy could really become the future fuel as predicted by many energy experts.

The two new methods of enhancing the existing efficiency of solar panels look promising. The best thing about these technologies is that it doesn’t require any additional accessories since the research is been done at an atomic level with few chances of getting affected by any external factors.

combine-solar

How To Combine Solar and Geothermal Energy Sources?

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We discuss a lot about solar energy and why not? Currently, it is the only hope for humanity in terms of energy resources. But is unfair to not discuss other renewable energies. Yes, other renewables are currently not as human-friendly as solar energy but they are surely making progress. When it comes to switching to renewables, homeowners always prefer solar energy panels. They are effective when powering appliances like fan, TV, cooler and other household appliances. Heating, on the other hand, requires additional energy which is beyond the capacity of solar energy panels a homeowner has installed.

So instead of making a substantial investment to add additional power generator in your solar panels, you have alternatives. One such alternative is Geothermal energy. When you pair a geothermal system with your solar energy panels, you could enjoy the benefits of both. A combined system has a variety of advantages which cannot be harnessed individually.

Before we begin telling you how you can combine these two systems, lets first understand what is geothermal energy.

What is Geothermal Energy?

In layman’s term, geothermal energy is the heat from the earth. It’s clean and renewable. Resources of geothermal energy range from shallow groundwater to hot water and hard rocks found at the bottom of the earth’s crust.

Hot dry rocks occur at a depth of 5000m to 8000m everywhere beneath the earth’s surface and at lesser depths at certain areas. Access to these resources involves injecting cold water down one well and circulating it around the hot rocks and pumping out hot water from another well. 

What is Geothermal Heat Pump?

Geothermal heat pumps (GHP’s) also known as ground-source heat pumps can be used to circulate both hot and cold water to or from the ground.

Geothermal pumps can be used irrespective of weather condition because of the earth’s constant temperature below the earth’s surface. 

How To Combine Solar and Geothermal Energy Sources?

Why Homeowners Should Combine Solar and Geothermal system?

A geothermal heat pump circulates cold water through the pipes deep below the ground. The liquid absorbs heat from the hot fractured rocks and returns to the pump at the surface level. Allowing you to obtain a clean, renewable and eco-friendly source of energy. But one disadvantage of the geothermal pump is that it runs on electricity and therefore we cannot call it a 100% eco-friendly option.

But if you coupled a geothermal pump with the solar PV system, your solar panels could generate electricity for your geothermal heat pump at a relatively lower cost. When these two systems work coherently, a homeowner can reach new heights of efficiency, reducing both the environmental impact and energy expenses.

In terms of energy savings , this combined system will save almost 80% of energy on hot water, cold water and air-conditioning. Recent advancement in solar and geothermal technologies has given birth to the new smaller heat pumps like mini split systems.

Mini-split systems are a newer and advanced level of geothermal heat pumps which allow a homeowner to heat or cool only selected rooms. This selective approach is less expensive than a centralized system since most homeowners prefer conditioning only specific rooms.

Given the benefits of this combined system, many homeowners are preferring this system. But at the same time, if you are planning to install this hybrid energy system, you need to take a strategic approach. Here is what you need to do when opting for both solar and geothermal combined system. 

How To Combine Solar and Geothermal Energy Sources?

How Can Homeowners Use a Combined System?

If you are planning to own a renewable energy system, you should probably start with the geothermal system. We know solar is the most popular option but solar panel installation will be much effective if you plan to combine the systems. Many homeowners who choose to invest in a combined system start with a geothermal heat pump. In doing so, they can immediately reduce their heating and cooling costs while getting a feel for renewable energy. Once they have a little more history on their actual electrical usage, they purchase solar panels.

If you purchase solar panels before the geothermal installation, you may need to carry out some extra expenses. You will require far less energy with solar panel once you install the geothermal system. If you are planning to combine these systems, we advise you to install a geothermal pump first.

We know that these suggestions may become irrelevant if you already have a solar panel installation in place. The status of your roof is also crucial, we advise you to repair the rooftop before you move forward with the combined system.

Many homeowners are concerned with the one-time cost that comes with installing these two options in a combined system. The government has already accounted for the expenses of solar energy panels, adoption of geothermal will give you more tax benefits, making them more accessible.

In short, we advise you to carefully weigh all the options before you decide to combine these options. If you are careful about how you implement these changes, we are sure that you will end up making some excellent financial benefits and your transformation to these combined systems will be as smooth as possible. We just recommend you to explore in great detail before you dive into action. 

How To Combine Solar and Geothermal Energy Sources?

Step By Step Procedure to Incorporate Geothermal and Solar panel system correctly in your home 

1. Ensure a Tight Thermal Envelope: 

A home with a tight thermal envelope will ensure the highest efficiency for this system. The most important thing is to have the right type of insulation. Which is measured by the R-value. The R-value is the resistance offered by the insulation for thermal changes. Foam and cellulose insulation are the most popular ones maintaining zero air tolerance. There are different sealant options to prevent air leaks around your home. We suggest using spray foam, caulk, or weather stripping (depending on what structure you\’re sealing) for windows, walls, fireplaces, etc. Making the home airtight and investing in the right insulation is the first step in creating the perfect environment for high efficiencies and optimum performance for home heating and cooling.

2. Install your geothermal system: 

If you insulate your home correctly with proper air sealers, the size of your geothermal pump will decrease considerably. Since geothermal pumps use solar energy to heat and cool, they require much less energy to operate, saving you money in the end and ultimately make your home free from electrical utilities. geothermal drops the peak electric demand in summer months by at least 30 per cent, allowing for more of the national base load to be generated by renewable energies. Installing a geothermal system before PV solar will lower the energy demand in your home, which reduces the number of panels needed or creates a bigger budget to help power other parts of your home.

3. Installing Solar energy panels:

Since you have an airtight home, with good insulation, you have dropped the energy demands required by your home and hence the size of your solar PV system will be much smaller. If by chance you end up making more energy then required, contact your local utility company about the net metering offer. When installing a solar panel system, you need to consider many options like the size of the solar system, the area your rooftop avails, where your solar panels will be located, is ground mounting an option (If roof space is limited), Where is the least shaded spot on your roof or ground that will give optimal direct sunlight? Being aware of these questions will help you achieve 100% solar coverage and no utility bills…saving money, rewarding renewable investments, and helping improve comfort in your home (or building).  

The Efficiency of a Combined System 

The best thing about this combined system is its efficiency. The geothermal pump will perform best in the months of October to December, while solar energy panels perform their peak during the March to June. These weird peak values complement each other perfectly to give you a efficient energy system, ensuring that consumers will benefit throughout the year from this combination. 

Benefits of a Combined Energy System 

This combination of two renewables will definitely offer great value to the amount of money spent. Whereas it will deliver superior performance compared to your traditional utilities. Here are some of the benefits of this combined system

  • Can provide full-scale heating even in the winter season
  • Provide air-conditioning during the summer season at a very low cost compared to the HVAC systems
  • Ensure flexibility in terms of how much heat is generated. Since the temperature of rocks remain the same irrespective of the surface weather condition and hence the geothermal’s pump output will not be affected.
  • In the summer, the ground source heat pump would discard the excess of heat produced by the solar collectors and store a part of it for the winter.

Conclusion

As you move forward with these suggestions, you will discover a lot of new things along the way. You can take full advantage of this system if you know what exactly you are doing. Review your options and if you already have a dealer don\’t hesitate to  ask them any questions pertaining to the system.

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A Simple Chart Displaying the Advent of an Energy Revolution

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The world we live in is constantly advancing itself with new technologies and in order to sustain its growth, it needs a constant supply of energy. Unfortunately, the methods and the sources we currently use to produce energy are out-dated. Drastic climate changes and continuously depleting fossil fuels is challenging us to look for alternative energy resources.

Renewable energy is such an alternative form of energy. It includes solar energy, wind energy, Hydropower, Tidal energy, geothermal energy etc. The inexhaustible nature is the major advantage of renewables over the conventional energy sources. Renewable energy produces little or no carbon emission and therefore helps us in combating the climate change. The use of fossil fuels releases harmful gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide which gets trapped in the earth’s atmosphere and cause a greenhouse effect.

As we are becoming aware of the drawbacks of using fossil fuels, a number of people are trying to switch to a renewable source of energy. The major roadblock in adapting renewable energy was its cost of production. But a new report suggests that the cost required to produce power from renewables has decreased considerably.

Advent of Energy Revolution –

A report from “Lazard” shows that the cost of producing solar energy is continuously decreasing; it costs around $50 to produce one mega-watt hour of solar power.

On the other hand, coal costs around $102 to produce one mega-watt of energy.

This report is a sign that the world may soon witness an energy revolution.

This report from Lazard highlights the fact that the cost of producing energy from various renewable resources is gradually reducing. Especially, the utility-scale solar plants – plants that transfer electricity into grids have witnessed an extraordinary price drop of 86% since 2009.

The Chart below depicts the significant change in costs over a period of time –

Average cost of energy in north america

 

Lazard’s analysis is a measurement based on levelized cost of energy analysis. ‘Levelized’ means including the cost of building the plant, maintaining the plant and fueling the plant for its expected lifetime.

The cost of producing solar energy has decreased considerably which is the main advantage for solar energy companies and we must be ready to face the dramatic changes occurring due to these price drops. This shift can make us adapt renewable sources more smoothly.

Switching to renewable source of energy is the only way to curb the on-going climate change and put an end to our dependency on fossil fuels. But the transformation is only viable if the renewable source of energy possesses the efficiency and cost-friendliness of the of the current conventional energy sources.

According to the report of the United Nations Environment programme the growth of renewable source of energy has been apparent in last few decades.

In 2017, renewable energy like solar energy, wind energy, hydropower supplied 12% of the world’s energy demands. Although 12% may not seem enough, but it is a major achievement for the renewable sector.

Even though solar energy is getting cheaper, Lazard points out that the cost does not take account of external expenses like transmission and storage of power, which is a major hurdle in solar energy adoption. It won’t be a full-throttle revolution until both production and storage of solar energy cost less.

Barriers to renewable technologies –

  • Costs – The most widely publicized and criticized aspect of renewable energy is the cost of installation and maintenance. Even though it promises a better ROI and clean fuel, due to its initial high investments, many developing countries resist adopting the renewable alternative.
  • Siting – Installation of Renewable sources like wind, hydro and solar energy requires large section of land. Doing so requires negotiations, contracts, permissions etc. This may hamper the overall cost of the projects.
  • Transmission – With building infrastructure for generating electricity, renewables also need a different mode of transmission since the existing designs were made to transfer fossil fuels and other conventional energy sources.
  • Market Entry – Since the renewable sector needs huge initial investments, start-ups cannot prove their mark in this industry. And they definitely cannot compete with the existing wealthier industries.
  • Reliability factors – The opponents of renewable energy always doubts the reliability of solar and wind power. Even though solar and wind power is a much reliable source for clean energy, many investors fail to see the big picture. This results in low capital investments which hinders the growth of commercially available renewable energy.

Conclusion –

Even though the renewables have some drawbacks, many people are moving towards this clean form of energy. The decrease in the cost of production will boost the efforts of producing renewable energy at large scale. Revolutionary changes can only happen if we succeed in designing effective storage systems. The storage problem makes it difficult for the developing nations to adopt this technology. Until and unless we develop an effective storage system, these nations are more likely to use the combination of renewable and traditional energy sources.