1 Introduction to PV systems

Photovoltaic Systems (MIET 2130)

by Assoc. Prof. Yasuhiro Tachibana 25/7/2019

2 Tachibana Group
Semiconductor quantum dots
PbS CdSe CdS
J. Mater. Chem. C, 5, 2182 - 2187 (2017).
J. Phys. Chem. C, 119(35) 20357 (2015).
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 17(4), 2850 (2014).
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 135(31) 11562 (2013).
J. Mater. Chem., 22, 11466 (2012).

Sensitized/Perovskite solar cells and photocatalysis

ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 1(8) 3722 (2018).
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 8(22) 13957 (2016).
Chem. Commun., 52, 673 - 676 (2016).
Angew. Chem.-Int. Edit., 54(12) 3758 (2015).
Nature Photonics, 6(8) 511-518 (2012).

One dimensional conjugated polymer design & device applications

J. Phys. Chem. C, 121(46) 25672 (2017).
Chem. Asian J., 12(15) 1900-1904 (2017).
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 136(42) 14714 (2014).
J. Mater. Chem., 22, 22181 (2012).
Chem. Commun., (29), 4360 (2009).
3 Relations among Courses
Commercial/ Fundamental
Applied

Energy
Generation
MIET2130 PV
systems
MIET2406 Sustainable
thermal systems
MIET2373 Wind MIET2372 Biomass MIET2371 Sustainable
and hydro power and Solar Fuels energy fundamentals

MIET2131 Sustainable
hydrogen systems

Energy
Storage
4 MIET2130 Course Overview
Fundamental
(light, material, PV fundamentals
physics) Introduction (W1): PV in renewable energy, history, trend
Light source (W2&3): Solar geometry, energy input

Solar Cells
Applied Solar Cells I (W4): physics, working principle, material etc.
Solar Cells II (W5): PV type, scalling, etc.

PV system (W6): Panel manufacturing & System assembly

Design software: PVSyst (W7)
Case study, hybrid system (W8)
System PV policy, economy and market (W9)
design Course project (W11&12)

Hands on techniques
Lab class (W5)
Energy Design Project
 Actions from student surveys in Sem 2 2018
5

What did the students say about the course last time it ran?
95 % of students were satisfied with the overall quality of this course, and 87 % with the quality of
teaching.

Aspects most in need of improvement were:

1) Some students felt that the assignments were too difficult to solve with engineering
backgrounds they have, while some felt too easy.
2) A site visit is required.
3) Better organization of an industry representative to discuss about the utility scales of solar
projects and their economic feasibility is required.

As a result, this teaching cycle we are:

In this semester, I have arranged with the followings.
1) I will stress more on the points relating to assignments during the lecture, so that students can
focus more on understanding the points.
2) One site visit will be arranged this semester. It is in a process of confirming a site with the
company.
3) An external lecturer from industry will deliver a lecture to discuss about PV design and market.
6 eBooks from RMIT Library
1) Photovoltaics : Fundamentals, Technology and Practice (2013): Mertens, Konrad
2) Photovoltaic Solar Energy : From Fundamentals to Applications (2017): Angèle
Reinders, Pierre Verlinden, Wilfried van Sark, and Alexandre Freundlich
3) Photovoltaics System Design and Practice (2012): Häberlin, Heinrich
4) Solar Photovoltaics Business Briefing (2012): Thorpe, David
5) Science Technology of Photovoltaics (2010): Reddy, P. Jayarama
6) Solar Photovoltaic Energy (2010): Labouret, Anne; Villoz, Michel
7) Grid-connected Solar Electric Systems : The Earthscan Expert Handbook for Planning,
Design and Installation (2012): Stapleton, Geoff; Neill, Susan
8) Solar Photovoltaic Technology Production (2016): Sundaram, Benson, Mallick.
9) Power Electronics for Photovoltaic Power Systems (2015): Vilathgamuwa, Nayanasiri,
Gamini
10)Solar Cell Device Physics (2014): Fonash, Stephen
11)Solar Energy Engineering: Processes and Systems (2015): Kalogirou.
12)Nanophysics of Solar and Renewable Energy (2012): Wolf, Edward L.
13)Flexible Solar Cells (2008): Pagliaro; Palmisano; Ciriminna
14)Recent Advances in Photovoltaics (2017): Meera Ramrakhiani
15)Applied Photovoltaics (2007): Wenham, S. R.
16)Practical Handbook of Photovoltaics (2003): Markvart, T ; Castaäner, Luis
17)Solar Cells and Their Applications (2010): Fraas, Lewis M ;Partain, Larry D
7 Jobs
Job title Company Requirements
PV Physicist/Device Nanoco Technologies Physics, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science or Physical
Engineer Limited Chemistry
SOLAR PV Business •Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Engineering or related
Invenergy LLC
Development technical program
Senior PV Designer Jackson Civil Engineering •Pvsyst, •PV-sol, •RetScreen, •PV Design Pro
Senior development of solar modules and ramp up of solar module
Activ Solar
Technician/Engineer manufacturing lines; experience in production is an advantage
Technical Support Expert SolarEdge Engineering
HEAD TECHNICAL
electrical engineering
DEPARTMENT
Sr Photovoltaic Packaging engineering/science, materials engineering: Product package
Corning Inc.
Engineer design development
Senior Electrical Engineer Sharp electrical & electronics engineering
PV Marketing Engineer Excico Materials Science or Solar Cells or Semiconductor devices
Silicon Specialist Engineer Vesuvius Material Sciences, Chemistry or Metallurgy
materials science, joining techniques, mechanical engineering
Market Field Engineer Sika Services AG
or similar
Semiconductor Device
Circadian Solar Ltd Physics or Electrical/Electronic Engineering
Engineer (CPV)
experienced vacuum VON ARDENNE North
vacuum processes; sputtering, E-beam, thermal evaporation
equipment engineer America
Senior Engineer Photon Energy electrical engineering or building services
Energy Solutions
Johnson Controls business, engineering or a related field
Development Engineer
Sr. Thin Film Process
Solexant Corp. Engineering, Material Science, Chemistry, or Physics
Engineer
8
Australian electricity generation fuel mix

Source: Department of the Environment and Energy (2018) Australian Energy Statistics, Table O
 Australian electricity generation from
9 renewable energy sources

Source: Department of the Environment and Energy (2018) Australian Energy Statistics, Table O
10
Renewable energy generators
Operating plants with capacity of more than 30 kilowatts

Source: Geoscience Australia.

 Advantages and Disadvantages of PV Systems
11

Advantages
Environmentally benign (clean energy generation, no noise,
no additional physical or chemical change)
Easy maintenance (can be stand alone)
Easy to scale up

Disadvantages
Space requirement
Unpredictable energy supply (depending on season,
time, climate)
Relatively expensive compared to other energy sources???
12 What is a Photovoltaic Cell?
“Photo” means light (a photon is a discrete bundle of
electromagnetic energy) and
“voltaic” refers to electricity or voltage, originated
from the name of the Italian physicist Volta.

A device to convert light energy directly into

electricity.
A solar cell also convert into electricity, but specify
the light source as sun light.
Photovoltaics use semiconductor materials to
convert light to electricity.
13

PV early time
14 PV Early Time
1839 Becquerel discovers the photogalvanic effect.
1876 Adams and Day observe photovoltaic effect in selenium.
1900 Planck postulates the quantum nature of light.
1930 Quantum theory of solids proposed by Wilson.
1940 Mott and Schottky develop the theory of solid-state rectifier (diode).
1949 Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley invent the transistor.
1954 Chapin, Fuller and Pearson announce 6% efficient silicon solar cell.
1954 Reynolds et al. report solar cell based on cadmium sulphide.
1958 First use of solar cells on an orbiting satellite Vangurd 1.

Source: Solar Electricity edited by Tomas Markvart 2000.

15 In 1954
Bell Labs announces the invention
of the first modern silicon solar cell.
On April 25, 1954, amidst the hoopla and chatter
of a bustling press event on the front lawn of its
sprawling headquarters in Murray Hill, Bell Labs
unveiled the Bell Solar Battery - the world's first
device to successfully convert useful amounts
of sunlight directly into electricity. This principle
- converting photons into electricity - serves as
the very foundation for modern photo detector
technology that's used in everything from
optical networks and digital cameras to other
laser-based technologies, including DVDs and
CDs, said Bishop.

Source: Bell Labs

 Sharp First Solar Cell Mass Production
16

Sharp pioneered solar

power research in 1959
and successfully mass-
produced the first solar
cells in 1963.
Source: Sharp Corp.
17

PV trend
 World PV Cell/Module Production until 2018
18 (estimate)

Source: PV status report 2018 (November 2018), Joint Research Centre

19 Annual PV Installations until 2018

Source: PV status report 2018 (November 2018), Joint Research Centre

20 Cumulative Photovoltaic Installation

Source: PV status report 2018 (November 2018), Joint Research Centre

21
Cumulative PV Installations in Australia

Source: Australian PV Institute, Dr Muriel Watt

22 PV penetration level in Australia

Source: Australian PV Institute

23 Annual PV Production by Technology

Source: Photovoltaics report, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, ISE
24
PV Production by Technology

Source: Photovoltaics report, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, ISE
 Best Research-Cell Efficiencies (4/7/2019)
25

Source: NREL
 Champion Module Efficiencies (30/5/2019)
26

Source: NREL
27
28 PV Cell & Submodule World Record Table

Source: Green et al Prog Photovolt Res Appl 27 (2019) 565-575

29 PV Module World Record Table

Source: Green et al Prog Photovolt Res Appl 27 (2019) 565-575

30
PV Module/Cell World Record Table

Source: Green et al Prog Photovolt Res Appl 27 (2019) 565-575

31

Cost and Economy of PV Systems

32 Price Experience Curve

Source: PV status report 2018 (November 2018), Joint Research Centre

 Relationship Between Solar and Silicon in Charts
33

Source: http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Solar-and-Silicons-Shifting-Relationship-in-Charts
 Swanson’s law (Richard Swanson, the
34 founder of SunPower)
The cost of the photovoltaic cells needed to
generate solar power falls by 20% with each
doubling of global manufacturing capacity.

As of May 2017, a residential 5 kW-system in Australia cost on average about

AU$1.25 per watt. Source: https://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/solar-power-system-prices
35 Levelized Energy Cost (LEC)
Price at which electricity must be generated from a specific source
to break even over the lifetime of the project.

𝑛 𝐼𝑡 + 𝑀𝑡 + 𝐹𝑡
𝑡=1 1+𝑟 𝑡
𝐿𝐸𝐶 =
𝑛 𝐸𝑡
𝑡=1 1 + 𝑟 𝑡
where
LEC: Average lifetime levelized electricity generation cost
It: Investment expenditures in the year t
Mt: Operations and maintenance expenditures in the year t
Ft: Fuel expenditures in the year t
Et: Electricity generated in the year t
r: Discount rate
n: Life of the system Source: http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/tech_lcoe_documentation.html
36 System LEC

Profile costs: overproduction costs, backup capacity costs and

costs due to full-load hour reduction of conventional plants
O&M: Operation and Maintenance
Balance of Systems: system except for modules
Source: PV status report 2014, Joint Research Centre
37 Regional PV System Price Breakdown

In 2013 In 2016

Source: PV status report 2013 and 2016, Joint Research Centre

 Electricity Costs and Feed-In Tariffs (FIT) in
38 Germany

Source: Photovoltaics report, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, ISE
 Renewable Energy Certificates (in Australia)
39

Two schemes
(1) the Large-scale
Renewable Energy Target
(2) the Small-scale
Renewable Energy Scheme

Source:
http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/RET/Pages/default.aspx

Source: https://www.rec-registry.gov.au/rec-registry/app/home
40

Some Useful Information

41 Energy Payback Time
The value of EPBT is dependent on the following
factors:
(i) the conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic
system;
(ii) the amount of illumination (insolation) that the
system receives (about 1700 kWh/m2/yr average
for southern Europe and about 1800 kWh/m2/yr
average for the United States); and

Source: US DOE
 Historic Trend in Energy Payback Time of
42 Crystalline Silicon PV Modules

Source: EPIA Sustainability Working Group

Fact Sheet 2011; since 2010: M.J. de Wild-
Scholten 2013. Graph: PSE AG 2014
 Energy Pay-Back Time of Rooftop PV Systems
43 Different Technologies located in Germany
 Energy Pay-Back Time of Multicrystalline Silicon PV
44 Rooftop Systems - Geographical Comparison
Source: M.J. de Wild-Scholten 2013. Image: JRC European Commision. Graph: PSE AG 2014
(Modified scale with updated data from PSE AG and FraunhoferISE)
45 CO2 emission reduction
10 kW c-Si system can save
3.8 ton CO2 emission per year
2,750 litre oil consumption per year
Eg. If the 3 kW system is installed at home, it can
generate 3 MWh electricity per year. Each home can
save
1 ton CO2 emission per year
750 litre oil consumption per year
Source: Solar electricity 2nd ed.
46 How many PV panels do we need?
World Electricity Demand: 26,500 TWh in 2018
Source: https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy/electricity.html

Assumption: We have 500 GW PV by 2018.

1 kW system produces about 1 MWh per year.
1.9 % of total demand has been supplied by PV.
Solar energy at 1 sun: 1,000 W/m2.
If c-Si panel efficiency is 20%, we need 10 m2 to have 2 kW production.
If we want 2,000 MW power, we need 10 km2 array.
If world electricity demand is supplied by PV, we need 132,500 km2.

Production time: 10 years = 315,360,000 s.

132.5 km2: 315,360 s
420 m2 per second
47 How long will it take?
Q. If the world electricity demand remains the same, and
needs to be supplied by only PV with the current module
installation speed, how long do you think it will take?

A. (1) 30, (2) 100, (3) 125, (4) 250, (5) 500 years

Electricity Demand: 26,500 TWh in 2018

Current PV installation speed: 100 GW per year
265 years with our current speed.
(Electricity demand in 2000 was about 15,000 TWh.)
The same calculation 4 years ago indicated 400 years.
However, the electricity demand increases by about 1,000 TWh per year.
48 Solar Centre Desert Knowledge Australia

http://www.dkasolarcentre.com.au/
 Solar Centre Desert Knowledge Australia
49
50

Additional Information
 Solar PV Capacity and Additions, Top 10
51 Countries, 2015

Source: Renewables Global Status Report 2016, the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, http://www.ren21.net/
 PV Contribution to the Electricity Demand in
52 2015

Source: IEA-PVPS Trends 2016

53 PV Manufacturers
Outside Australia
A lot in China, some in US, Germany, Japan and Taiwan

International
e-Solar. (http://www.esolar.com.au/)
The SolarKing. (http://www.solarking.net.au/)

Inside Australia
Australian Solar Manufacturing Pty Ltd. (www.australiansolarmanufacturing.com.au)
Tindo Solar Pty Ltd. (www.tindosolar.com)
Dyesol Limited (http://www.dyesol.com)
54 Top Solar Cell Production Companies
1) Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd (China) from 2007
http://www.yinglisolar.com/au/
Si cells: capacity of ingot, wafers, cells and modules equivalent to 2.45 GW by 2013.
2) Trina Solar Ltd (China) from 1997, http://www.trinasolar.com/us/index.html
Si cells: In 2014 shipments of 3.0 GW were planned.
3) JA Solar Holding Co. Ltd (China) from 2005, with Australian company
http://www.jasolar.com/
Si cells: in 2014 production capacity of 2.8 GW was planned.
4) First Solar LLC (USA/Germany/Malaysia) from 1999, http://www.firstsolar.com/
CdTe cells: In 2013, the company produced 2.1 GW.
5) Hanwha (China/Germany/Malaysia/South Korea) from 2005
http://www.hanwha.com/content/hanwha/en.html
Si cells: acquired Q CELLS (Germany/Malaysia) in 2012. For 2012, 2.4 GW were reported.

6) Solar Frontier (Japan) from 1986, http://www.solar-frontier.com/eng/

CIS cells: reported production of 0.93 GW for 2013.

Source: PV status report 2014 (November 2014), Joint Research Centre

55 PV Energy Payoff

Source: NREL
56 Australian PV Institute

http://pv-map.apvi.org.au/