What is Solar Photovoltaic Energy?

Solar PV is the rooftop solar you see on homes and businesses - it produces electricity from
solar energy directly.
Solar photovoltaic is an elegant technology which produces electricity from sunlight without
moving parts.

Common Applications of Solar PV

1. PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS
PV modules and arrays are just one part of a PV system. Systems also include mounting
structures that point panels toward the sun, along with the components that take the direct-current
(DC) electricity produced by modules and convert it to the alternating-current (AC) electricity used to
power all of the appliances in your home.
2. PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR CELLS
Commonly known as solar cells, individual PV cells are electricity-producing devices made of
different semiconductor materials. PV cells come in many sizes and shapes, from smaller than a postage
stamp to several inches across. Solar cells are often less than the thickness of four human hairs. In order
to withstand the outdoors for many years, cells are sandwiched between protective materials in a
combination of glass and/or plastics to make a PV module.

Comparisons
In terms of Efficiency
Efficiency is just one factor to consider when determining how effective an energy resource is.
Some of the differences between solar and other generation technologies mean, in some sense,
efficiency is not the most useful measurement when comparing solar’s efficiency with that of other
resources.
If you’re comparing solar energy to a fossil fuel or nuclear plant, it’s important to remember
sunlight is free, while natural gas and coal are not. Once you install your solar panels, you do not have
to pay for sunlight to fuel them. You don’t lose any money when some of the solar energy turns to
waste heat. You just lose energy potential.
You have to pay for fossil fuels, though, whether or not they produce electricity. In effect, you
only get electricity from about half the natural gas you pay for, because the other half becomes waste
heat.
 When you compare solar energy to wind and other renewable resources, though, it does lag
behind in terms of efficiency. The water that powers hydropower plants and the wind that powers
turbines are free as well, so you don’t lose money when you lose energy potential.
Another important thing to consider when discussing the efficiency of energy resources is the capacity
factor, which is how much electricity a resource generates, compared to the maximum possible amount
it could generate in a year.
The sun doesn’t shine all the time or always shine enough to generate the maximum potential
amount of energy, so the capacity factor for solar panels is usually somewhere between 15 and 25
percent. This capacity depends on several factors, including where you’re located and whether the
panels move to follow the sun. In 2016, the capacity factor for utility-scale solar photovoltaic generation
was around 25 percent.
During the same year, wind farms had a capacity factor of around 35 percent, and hydropower
reached 38 percent. Offshore wind farms have a capacity factor that can be as high as 77 percent.
For comparison, nuclear power typically has a capacity factor of close to 90 percent because it needs
to run all the time to remain economical. Coal plants typically have about 50 percent, and natural gas
plants often have a factor of only about 10 percent if they only generate electricity when demand is
especially high.

Comparison between other Renewable Energies

The current trend of increasing attention to renewable energy among policy makers, business
community, and the public, tends to portray it as a unified field that beats traditional energy sources on
all fronts. The recent roadmap, published by a team of researchers from Stanford University, also
envisions a transition to “100% of wind, water, and solar”, as if they were indistinguishable. While it is
true that the ultimate aim of the short- and mid-term policies targeted at renewable energy support is
to diversify energy portfolios, rather than to create a mono-energy source system, there are significant
differences between the main sources of renewable energy.
We have already written about the distinctive features of renewable energy before. First of all,
the correct way is to call it not just renewable, but variable renewable energy, or VRE. The reason is
simple. It is more important to distinguish renewable energy from the point of view of energy supply
system, rather than simply based on the generation source. The most important difference of renewable
energy is that it is inherently unstable, as opposed to traditional, “baseline” energy generation.
Suppose you own a coal power plant. Once you’ve set it up, having spent a considerable amount of
capital to meet the upfront costs of building the facility, you can operate it steadily and without major
interruptions. Having reached the full capacity in terms of output, you will see the breakeven point fastly
approaching, and the average costs gradually falling down to a minimum. In other words, provided there
is a stable demand for electricity, a coal power plant (or, for that matter, a nuclear one) can generate
relatively cheap electricity in a stable long-term way. This allows for a greater stability in electrical supply
and ensures the minimal necessary demand is always balanced. The cost of this, of course, are heavy
pollutions and environmental unsustainability, as can be clearly seen from the picture below (a bit old,
but still relevant).

On the contrary, when it comes to renewables, there is a very limited possibility to predict and
control the output of solar, wind, and water energy generating objects, as opposed to traditional
generation. Since the supply of renewable energy depends on the weather and climatic conditions, it
requires a far more flexible system of demand and supply management. Many policy initiatives in the
field of renewable energy support, and many energy tech applications are designed precisely to enable
such flexible coordination.
However, here the differences between various sources of renewable energy come into play.
Water, wind, and solar energy generation differ in terms of their predictability, their efficiency, and their
costs. Here’s how.
A. Cycles and Scales
The first point to be considered before turning to actual comparisons of different renewables is
the fact that all energy sources have their natural reproduction cycles. Even fossil fuels are not an
exception, although their cycles of reproduction exceed the lifecycle of a human being (not to say the
renewables’ lifecycles) by several orders of magnitude.
 The following table, adopted from a research report by Clean Line Energy, summarizes the
differences in the timescales of the natural cycles of renewable energy sources.

As can be seen from the table, all renewables are different in terms of the temporal scales of
their lifecycles. The first conclusion that can be drawn from it is that it is possible to achieve a sufficiently
diversified energy portfolio, based on the renewable sources alone. Renewable energy sources that are
more prone to temporal fluctuations in the short-term can be supported by more stable generating
objects that still use renewable energy.
The second important issue the table shows relates to the requirements of flexible balancing of
electricity supply and demand. Such variable sources as solar and wind energy require very flexible
patterns of supply and demand management, but can also provide for a greater flexibility if they are
included in the energy portfolio of a community or a country.
Finally, roughly speaking, the table can be read as a snapshot of some broader correlations: the
shorter the scales of temporal variability of an energy source, the more flexible it is, and the less upfront
investments are required to install such a facility. While biomass is an exception to this rule, all other
energy sources can be ranked in such a manner (in fact, it does not fit to the picture also because it is
not clean).
Thus, geothermal and hydropower plants require heavy capital expenditures; wave- and tidal
power facilities occupy the middle, and solar and wind energies are the cheapest ones in terms of the
upfront costs. The problem with waves and tides is that, while being generally in the “golden middle” in
terms of costs/output stability ratio, they are very site-dependent.
B. Tidal Power
Tidal power is the only source of renewable energy that is independent from the Sun, while the
others are indirectly related to it one way or another, including ven fossil fuels and biofuel. On the
contrary, tidal power is embedded into the nature of the Earth-Moon system interactions.
Essentially, tides occur because of the movements of the Sun and the Moon, as well as because of the
Earth rotation effects, and the effects of landscape. The gravitational forces exerted by the celestial
bodies create motions or currents in the oceans of the Earth. The sea level changes as masses of water
move horizontally due to the gravitational effects. As the sea level increases, water from the middle
areas of the oceans moves closer to the shores, thus creating a tide.
The tides are quite predictable and occur in according to the three interacting cycles:
 A half-day cycle caused by the rotation of the earth within the rotational field of the moon results
in tidal movements every 12 hours and 25 minutes.
 A 14-day cycle based on the superposition of the gravitational fields of moon and sun.
 Interaction of the gravitational fields of sun and moon at new and full moon result in maximum
spring tides.
 Minimum neap tides occur at quarter phases of the moon, when the sun’s force of attraction
cancels out that of the moon.
All these cycles are highly predictable, and so is the variability of the tidal energy output. The following
picture illustrates the distribution of tidal phases:
 These periodical movements of tides can be exploited to produce electricity. Currently, there
are two main technologies. The first one is to harness power through dam-like structures that trap rising
waters on one side and release it back to the other turbines that spin to generate electricity. The second
one is tidal stream technology that harnesses fast-flowing currents to spin turbine and generate
electricity. The former is best known, while the latter is only beginning to be tested commercially.
The main advantage of tidal power is that tides will be there as long as there are celestial bodies of the
Sun system. They are thus renewable, and much more predictable than wind and solar power. However,
in the case of tidal electricity, location is everything.
First, depending on the changing positions of the celestial bodies, the magnitude and character
of the tidal motions also varies. The effects of the Earth’s rotation and local geographies of the sea levels
and coastal lines have an impact on the availability and intensity of tidal power.
Second, tidal power plants are very site-dependent, and the number of places where they can be
constructed is very limited geographically, as opposed to the other renewable energy sources. The
following map, created by B.C. Energy, illustrates this point very clearly:

The availability of sites where a tidal power station can be constructed is limited by the
geography of the sea and coastal lines, because the tides of sufficient range and flow velocities are to be
found only in certain places. The other problem with tidal power is its high cost that requires high upfront
investments in the construction of the tidal facility. The same can be said regarding the various forms of
hydropower, although it is much less site-dependent, it requires even more initial investments to create
artificial lakes at which the hydro-electrical plants are based.
 C. Wind and Wave Power
Winds are created by the Sun’s heating of the Earth and the latter’s rotation. Wind power is
exploited by the means of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT), which represent 90% of the world’s
wind turbines in use (there is also an alternative, Vertical Axis design that comprises the remaining 10%
share). There are also smaller wind turbines in use by individuals.
HAWTs have large angled propellers with blades that catches the wind. As the wind passes through the
blades, it causes the entire blade assembly (the rotor) to spin around the central nacelle on the top of
the tower. The nacelle is a complex housing, in which a gearbox is located. The gearbox converts the
incoming rotational force with a low speed into a high-speed outgoing rotational force that is powerful
enough to run an electrical generator that is also located in the nacelle.
 While generally cheap and widely available, wind power is the least predictable of all of the
variable renewable energy sources. Because of the variable nature of the wind, grid operators are
compelled to use day ahead forecasting to optimize the use of available power sources next day. They
also rely heavily on weather forecasting to predict the likely wind energy output. The picture below
presents an example of the day ahead prediction and actual wind power, evidencing a rather strong
correlation between the two:

Wind power also has other limitations. It is highly intermittent and non-dispatchable, since it
depends on many factors that have an important impact on its output. First, location does matter,
although not as much as in the case of tidal power. Second, such things as wind speed, air density, and
the characteristics of the turbine (among others) can cause significant variations in the output of wind
power generators. The speed of the wind is one of the most important factors, since, depending on the
turbine, it must be above 3.5 m/s in order to generate electricity, but below 25 m/s, otherwise it would
damage the turbine.
Wave energy largely depends on wind, and that’s why the two can be considered together. In
general, the power available from waves tends to follow that available from wind, but due to the mass
of the water is less variable than wind power. The fluctuations of wave energy are different, as waves in
deep water lose their energy and by this smooth out only slowly and therefore can travel long distances.
 Wave energy, however, is subject to cyclic fluctuation as well, dominated by wave periods and
wave heights. As a result of these fluctuations, the power level available from waves varies daily and
monthly, as well as seasonally.
D. Geothermal Power
There are two primary sources of geothermal energy: radioactive decay and the primordial heat of
the Earth that was created during its original formation. In the former case, the process of decay of
certain radioactive elements (like uranium-235 or thorium-232) occurs naturally in the ground below the
Earth’s surface. As a result of this process, a lot of heat is generated, that can be used productively. Since
the Earth’s interior has only decreased its temperature by a few hundreds degrees over the entire period
of its existence, geothermal energy is practically inexhaustible, and the process of radioactive decay is
ongoing anyway.
In the latter case, the solid outer layer of the Earth’s surface insulates us from the heat that was
produced in the process of the plant’s formation. The primordial heat continues to flow from the interior
of the Earth to its surface through the slow conduction of solid rocks, and heat transport fluids like water
and magma. It can also be usefully exploited.
To do so, one needs to find a large source of available heat, put it into a reservoir to contain it, and
lock it in there using a barrier. Finally, there must be some kind of carrying agent, for example, a fluid to
transfer the heat.

The reservoirs are usually rock units with high permeability and temperature. Once such a hot unit
of rock is surrounded by impermeable rock layers, the latter can function as barriers and contain the
heat. The extraction of geothermal is carried out by means of drilling into the reservoirs. The
conventional way of extracting geothermal power is implemented in the locations where the rock is
porous, and there is hot water inside. Such locations are usually found in the areas where magma has
poked through the continental crust and created convective circulation of groundwater.
Geothermal power has many advantages, including its very stable and predictable nature, as well as
minimal operating costs. However, the initial capital costs are significant, being sometimes up to $4 M
per 1 MW, depending on the size of the power plant and local geography. Over 50% of the costs are
absorbed by drilling. Moreover, geothermal power is somewhat site-dependent and, most importantly,
can be a very risky investment, because after spending millions on exploration, the resources found can
be unfit for exploitation.
E. Solar Photovoltaics
We have already written about how PV solar stations work and what is the nature of the photo-
effect, so let’s concentrate on its advantages as a source of renewable energy.
Solar PV plants can operate for years without incurring much of operation and maintenance costs, so
that the O&M costs are extremely low as compared to conventional power technologies.
In grid-tied PV systems the electricity produced can reduce or eliminate the use of grid electricity during
peak hours of operation (during the day). This advantage requires a time-of-use meter, which may not
be available to some users. Grid-tied PV systems also reduce the amount of transmission losses that
occur as a result of transmission of electricity over long distances. They can also reduce or eliminate
completely the use of grid electricity during the peak hours.
The other advantages of PV solar energy can be listed as follows:
 The sun is a clean, renewable, energy resource that is proven and increasingly cost competitive, as
the costs of solar panels steadily fall down, and more research and development efforts are put
into the field of solar photovoltaics
 Increased use of solar energy builds energy security, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and moves
us toward a sustainable energy future
 Using solar PV systems help reduce peak loads, postponing or preventing the need for additional
baseload energy generation and distribution infrastructure (hydroelectric dams, coal-fired power
generation stations, and underwater electrical cables)
 Solar requires no fuel or moving parts, makes no noise and produces zero emissions with minimal
maintenance.
 In remote sites, solar PV competes aggressively with the costs of electricity derived from
conventional sources and areas requiring extensive power line construction may find solar PV to be
more cost effective.
 In sum, solar energy is the best investment choice among the sources of renewable energy. It is not
as heavy in terms of the capital costs as tidal and geothermal (and much less risky); it is simple, but,
unlike wind and waves, quite predictable. It is also much less site-dependent, although it requires
considerable amounts of free areas. As the industry develops, the costs of solar panels, as well as capital
costs per unit of energy will continue to fall down, making the investment opportunity even more
interesting. The concluding pictures provide a few snapshots of the lay of the land in the solar
photovoltaics over the recent decades: