Full use of super windows in the US could save the equivalent of an Alaskan pipeline, as well as the

billions of dollars in energy expenditures for this yearly fuel. It should be noted that in some climates it is
cheaper to simply shade the window from the sun's intense heat radiation rather than investing in more
costly glazings.

It is important to orient windows correctly in order to gain solar heat during cold times (but not during
hot spells), while daylighting year round. The best approach is to use vertical or near-vertical south-
facing windows, to collect a minimum solar gain in the summer and a maximum solar gain in the winter.

A considerable body of evidence suggests that the more pleasant atmosphere created by daylighting is
preferred by most people, and that it enhances human productivity and lessens absenteeism and
restlessness.

Daylighting is much more efficient than electric lights , resulting in a major synergism between
daylighting and cooling. The efficiency of electrical energy to visible light is low in fluorescent lamps and
is notoriously bad in incandescent bulbs. In either case, all of the energy is eventually deposited as heat
in the building. Per unit of light delivered , daylight results in less heat than artificial light. The unit used
to measure this is called luminous efficacy, indicated in lumens per watt. Diffused daylighting provides
100 to 150 lumens per watt, while incandescent lights provide only 16 to 40 lumens/watt and
fluorescent lights provide 50 to 80 lumens per watt.

It is frequently necessary to diffuse the bright beam of daylight to prevent adverse effects like glare
inside the building. Simple, expensive, and effective light-diffusing elements, such as baffles, sheer
curtains and roof-monitors, shown here, have been used very effectively. Multiple diffusion of the light
leads to a softer and more uniform lighting effect, reduces shadows, and tends to remove portions of
sun's spectrum that are outside the visible range, such as damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays.

After daylighting , use of highly efficient lights like compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) to replace
incandescent bulbs can reap large savings. A CFL uses 75% less electricity to provide the same quality
light as an incandescent bulb, and last 13 times longer (10000 hours vs 750 hours). This results in several
tens of dollars of savings for each CFL used.

Nationwide, there are nearly 3 billion screw-in (Edison) light sockets in buildings , and well over half of
these are candidates for replacement with CFLs. This could result in $10 billion per year in savings for
consumers. If a CFL displaces coal-fired electricity (which currently provides over half the nation's
electricity), then it prevents the combustion of 1000 pounds or more (depending on the wattage size of
the bulb) of the greenhouse gas, carbon-dioxide (CO2).

Natural cooling strategies are not in conflict with passive solar heating. Natural ventilation is usually the
most effective means to remove heat from a building . Often the same windows used for passive heating
and daylighting can be used for ventilation. Vegetation can channel air to the open windows and provide
evaporative pre-cooling of incoming air. Cooling by thermal radiation to the night sky is predominantly
from horizontal surfaces. These function most effectively if they are light in color. Whitewash is an ideal
surface covering because it is an inexpensive war of reflecting away the sun's radiation rather than
absorbing it.

The proper siting and planting of brushes, shrubs , vines , and trees around buildings and in
neighborhoods can help reduce energy bills in a variety of ways. Properly placed, vegetation can shade
buildings from intense solar radiation, create a cooling effect from a tree's evapo-transpiration process
(similar to an air conditioner ), block searing summer winds in hot southwest climates, and block
unwanted cold winter winds.

In designing shading protection, the designer should be aware of the nature and direction of the
summer beam radiation. Sunchart's are very effective for visualizing solar geometry and for evaluating
shading strategies. One quickly finds that louvers outside windows and oriented vertically for east and
west windows. Also, fixed vertical louvers will admit winter solar gains and provide effective summer
shade if they point to the southeast on east windows and southwest on west windows. 66 6 66 6 6 6 6
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Protection on the west is very important because, although the solar gain is approximately the same in
the morning and afternoon, the afternoon gain comes on top of the heat buildup of the day. In hot
climates found throughout the southern U.S., failure to shade only 10 square feet of exposed west glass
requires an additional ton of air conditioning to cool a sun-heated room. Frequently this shading can be
accomplished simply by using a bit of common sense and care in saving trees that are already on the
site.

Evergreens (which retain their leaves or needles year round) may be used effectively on the northwest
side because they won't block the sun in winter. Evergreens on the north, northeast and northwest walls
also tend to block cold winter winds. Where trees do not already exist, plant trees which grow rapidly
and reliably in your local area.

Tree-shading is probably the most effective summer protection of all on the east and west. Not only do
trees shade the windows, but they shade the ground, thus reducing both reflected solar gains and
infrared loads on the windows and walls. Deciduous trees (which lose their leaves in winter) are
preferred on the east and west because they admit about 50 percent of the solar gains in spring, when
heating is still desired, but totally block solar gain in the autumn when no heat is desired. This natural
synergism can largely offset the six-week shift in heating season relative to the solar season.

A common misconception is that deciduous tree shading is effective for south windows. This is a poor
idea because the overall transmittance of a leafless tree is seldom greater than 70% and more typically
60% or less because of the tree's trunk and branches. Not only is this too large a penalty to pay in terms
of winter heating , but even a tree in full leaf will seldom provide adequate shade for a south-facing
window in summer because of high sun angles. A good design leaves unobstructed access to the solar
apertures (openings) within an arc of at least 45 degrees on either side of true south. This is also
important for avoiding any shadings of solar hot water collectors or photovoltaic solar cells that may be
located on the south-facing roof.

Planting trees throughout urban areas can help reduce the so-called "heat island effect", which is caused
by the absorption of heat by buildings, roads, and concrete surfaces. Cities can be five to ten degrees
Fahrenheit hotter than the surrounding countryside because of the heat island effect. The elevated
temperatures cause Americans to spend several billion dollars a year for air conditioning. Trees help
reduce heat gain, not only through shading, but by the tree's evapo-transpiration process , which
creates a cooling effect comparable to several air conditioning units. Currently, only one tree is
replanted on streets, parks, and around buildings for every four that are removed - in one-third of U.S.
Cities only one is replanted for every eight that die or are removed.

Spaces currently exist for planting an estimated 300 million trees in urban areas. Planting these
additional trees could help reduce air conditioning bills by hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 each year
from power plants that would otherwise have to deliver electricity to urban air conditioners.

To understand how solar thermal systems capture the energy in sunlight, it is important to understand
how energy flows from the sun to the earth and how this flow changes on a seasonal and daily basis.

Buildings that take advantage of passive solar heating , cooling, daylighting and ventilation opportunities
must rely on a range of science concepts, architectural design principles and engineering practices that
help control the use of the sun. Capturing the maximum amount of sun in the winter for warmth
requires a very different strategy than preventing unwanted solar radiation during the hot summer.
Different strategies also are required for preventing the infiltration of winter winds but capturing
summer breezes. Daylighting is highly desirable to a certain level, beyond which too bright of light can
cause glare and discomfort.

Knowing the three ways heat moves is critical for designing buildings to take advantages of these flows
for controlling space temperatures. According to the Laws of Thermodynamics, heat from one location
always moves in the direction of a cooler location until there is no longer a temperature difference
between the two.

Conduction is the way heat moves directly through solids and sometimes through liquids and gases. A
metal spoon placed into a hot cup of coffee, for example, conducts heat up into its handle.

Convection is the way heat circulates through liquids and gases. For instance, warm air rises because it is
lighter than cold air, which sinks. This is why heat accumulates on the second floor of a house.

Radiation is heat moving in a manner similar to that of light. A warmed surface emits heat (infrared)
radiation that travels toward a cooler surface.

The passive solar "features" of a building are its walls, roof, windows, floors and foundation. They are
used for controlling convection, conduction and radiation so as to heat, cool, ventilate and light the
building as desired during the course of the day and year. A passive building often looks very much like
its more conventional next door neighbor. But it performs much better, because the same features and
materials have been used in a way that consumes less energy and money and generates less pollution.
Landscaping is considered an extended part of the building, used, for example, to help block unwanted
heat or winds during different parts of the day or season.

To be a good solar neighbor , ensure that your building and the buildings on adjacent sites have full
access to the sun at the peak of heating season. A well-located building does not cast shadows off the
site. The shadows remain within the solar envelope. The solar envelope is an invisible "roof" over your
site that is based on the sun's position at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on winter solstice, December 21, the lowest
sun path during the heating season in the Northern Hemisphere.

A very good conservation package includes proper insulation and attention to sealing the building to: (1)
prevent unwanted cold hair infiltrating in winter; (2) prevent unwanted heat gain in summer; (3) prevent
the loss of desired warm indoor air in winter; and, (4) prevent the loss of desired air-conditioned indoor
air in summer.

Good design includes an abundance of windows (glazing) facing south (in the Northern Hemisphere) to
collect the sun's energy. In the Southern Hemisphere, as in Argentina, South Africa or Australia, the
windows face north because the building's location is geographically south of the sun's daily path.

Good design includes strategically placed material (referred to as "thermal mass") to absorb and store
the collected energy. Walls and floors made of brick, concrete, or tile are examples of thermal mass.
Some thermal mass is present in all houses, in the framing, gypsum wallboard, typical furnishings and
floor coverings. In sun-tempered houses, this modest amount of mass is sufficient for the modest
amount of south-facing glass. But more thermal mass is required in passive solar houses, and the
question is not only how much, but what kind and where it should be located.

The thermal mass in a passive solar system is usually conventional construction material such as brick,
poured concrete, concrete masonry, or tile, and is usually placed in the floor or interiors walls. Other
materials can also be used for thermal mass, such as water or "phase change" materials (such as salts or
waxes which store and release energy by changing phase, such as when a solid turns liquid). Water, for
example, actually have a higher unit of thermal storage capacity than concrete or masonry. Other water
tubes and units called "water walls" are commercially available.

The thermal storage capabilities of a given material depend on the material's conductivity, specific heat
and density. Most of the concrete and masonry materials typically used in passive solar have similar
specific heats. Conductivity tends to increase with increasing density. So the major factor affecting
performance is density. Generally, the higher the density the better. A good strategies is to expose a
narrow strip about 8 feet wide along the south wall next to the windows where the winter sun will fail
directly do it. Covering the mass with any insulation material, such as carpet, greatly reduces its
effectiveness.

Windows, also known as "solar apertures", must be near to thermal mass to provide effective passive
solar heating. A very large ratio of thermal mass surface area (e.g. walls and floors) to volume (thickness
and/or density of these surface areas) is required. This surface area should be directly exposed to the
sun's rays. A 6 to ratio of mass to glass is based on a simple rule of thumb: For each added square foot ot
direct-gain glass (above the 7% sun-tempering limit), six square feet of exposed mass surface should be
added within the direct-gain space. Sunlit thermal mass floors should be relatively dark in color, to
absorb and store energy more effectively. However, mass walland ceilings should be light in color to
help distribute both heat and light more evenly.

The design goal of a good passive solar-heated building is to make sure the winter sun can reach all the
south-facing apertures (openings) provided for the collection of heat. The thermal mass must be located
within about 20 feet of the occupants to effectively re-radiate heat to them. The total volume of the
mass is less significant than the total surface area that is exposed to the sun.

Good design includes coupling buildings to heat sinks, like the sure-rounding earth, a design practice
known as "berming". Ground temperatures do not fluctuate as widely as do air temperatures, so they
offer insulation value for buildings during both the summer and winter seasons.

Good design includes carefully designed roof overhangs that block the sun's intense radiation in summer
but lets in the winter sun, which traverses at a lower angle. At high summer sun angles, nearly all direct-
beam solar radiation on the south windows is reflected from the glass. Thus, most summer solar gain is
caused by diffuse and reflected sunlight. While horizontal overhangs are recommended, they are not as
effective as usually thought. If they extended far enough to provide summer protection, winter gains will
be reduced, defeating the basic strategy. Overhangs are particularly ineffective on east and west
windows. It is far better to cover the window, for example with a roll-down, sliding, or folding exterior
shutter or with a shade screen. Ground- reflected solar gain can be reduced by a dark ground
vegetation.

Additional rules of thumb for passive heating include choosing sunny places for winter spaces. Make
winter places warmer by arranging buildings to form sun traps. Minimize north-facing building skin and
glazing areas to reduce heat loss by coupling buildings to heat sinks which tend to be warmer than
outdoor winter temperatures; this coupling is known as earth berming. Also use vegetation to block
winter winds. Use greater wall mass for less severe indoor temeparture swings. Orient the solar
windows for heating between 20°E and 32°W.

There are additional, strategies, or rules of thumb, that can be used in designing and constructing
individual buildings with passive cooling in mind: Choose cool places for summer spaces - like on the
north side of a building that avoids the swing of the intense summer sun from east to west.

Use trees for shading during the building's overheated months, particularly on the east and west
building facades, and the months when it is hot inside.

Use the wind for cooling. Pre-cool ventilation air by allowing the wind to pass over damp vegetation,
through shaded areas, or over bodies of water. Design for wind - wind tends too keep moving in one
direction and flows from high pressure to low pressure areas; hot air rises while cool air falls. Use heat
sinks for cooling. (A heat sink is any cool mass that is available for the absorption of excess heat,
including bodies of water, the ground, and massive building materials) .
Rules of thumb can also also be used for what archictetcs refer to as "Cluster-Scale" strategies, where
groups of buildings are arranged: arrange the buildings to shade each other and their outdoor spaces,
where cooling is desired (but not where sunlight is desired). Preserve each building's access to cooling
breezes during overheated periods. Use arcaded courtyards for shading and night-sky radiant cooling, a
technique that works well where there is a difference in day and night time temperatures that enables a
building's build-up of daytime excess heat to be released into the cool night air.

Orient buildings towards cooling breezes. During the cooling season, the prevailing winds are typically
from the south (in the Northern Hemisphere). Place the rooms (zones) with higher internal heat gains on
the cooler side of the building. Use spaces that can tolerate greater temperature variations as buffer
areas. Provide alternative cool places for activities during the hottest periods of the day or season.

Use apertures (e.g., doors, windows) for natural ventilation. The more you depend on natural ventilation
for cooling, the larger these window openings should be. The free vent area (unobstructed openings like
windows) should be between 6-7,5% of total floor area, half located on the leeward and half on the
windward side of the building. Casement or awning windows have 90% open area; double hung
windows have only 50%. Casement windows extend outward from the house, tending to channel
breezes through the opening if properly placed. Double-hung windows do not have this advantage.

Keep a clear path through buildings for unobstructed ventilation. Windows, stairwells, transoms and
other elements should be located for maximum cross-ventilation in each room. There are two basic
ways to passively ventilate a building: (1) cross-ventilation (wind-induced) depends on the force of the
wind to expel hot air from the leeward side of the building to be replaced by cooler air forced in the
windward side. (2) Stack ventilation (thermally induced) depends on hot air rising to expel heat from
openings high in the building. This hot air is then replaced by cooler air drawn in through much lower
openings in the building envelope.

Provide openings for ventilation that can be separate from those used for view, sunlight, or daylight. Use
water features, like fountains and pounds in courtyards, for evaporative cooling.

Provide clerestories with protection from direct sun. A clerestory is a wall with windows that is between
two different roof levels. They are sources of daylight as well as effective ventilators, especially if they
open on the leeward side of the building.

Natural ventilation can help houses cool and comfortable at the beginning and end of the cooling
season, and thus shorten the time when air conditioning is required. But natural ventilation can seldom
do the entire cooling job, especially for less than ideal sites with little natural air movement. In cooling
climates, a whole-house fan is a good idea for assisting ventilation by removing heat. At temperatures
higher than 10°C (76°F), whole house fans become less effective, while ceiling fans, which create
breezes, become more effective.

Photovoltaic
Photovoltaic solar cell systems (PVs), which generate electricity from sunlight, are one of the most
exciting technologies ever invented. They are quiet, give off no pollution, don't require much land or
water to operate, and can be used to generate both electricity and fuels. PVs can be used to directly
power appliances and equipment. In the future, they can be used for producing transport fuels like non-
polluting hydrogen, through a process known as electrolysis.

Many energy experts firmly believe that PVs could provide much or most of humanity's energy needs
within the century. Historically, new energy sources and technologies have taken 50 to 100 years to
become significant contributors, as oil did in increasingly replacing wood, whale oil and coal more than
100 years ago.

The PV industry is a product of the 20th century revolution in solid-state physics. PVs have much in
common with transistors and integrated circuit chips, which are revolutionizing the world economy.

Over the past 40 years PV technology has been used in hundreds of different types of aapplications at
tens of thousands of locations around the globe and in outer space. From satellites to remote mountain
tops, from urban homes to utility power stations, PV technology has proven to be a valuable, clean,
reliable source of electricity.

A conventional solar cell consists of a water of silicon that is about 1/100th of an inch thick. Typical cells
that are four inches in diameter produce about one watt of power, and are grouped into modules of
dozens of cells. Modules are further grouped into panels and then arrays, which may produce several
kilowatts of power.

When light shines on a crystal of pure silicon (A-B), particles called "electrons" are ejected from silicon
atoms and move about the crystal somewhat randomly (C). The place the electron came from is called a
"hole". It takes energy from the light to inject the electron from its normal resting placed, and energy is
released when the electron returns to an atom that is missing an electron, and recombines with a hole
(D).

To create a semiconductor, two halves of a pure silicon crystal are contaminated, or "doped", with two
different types of material called "dopants": one that contains excess electrons (phosphorus), and one
that is electron deficient (boron). The junction between the halves is critical to the operation of the cell.
(A semiconductor is class of solids whose electrical conductivity is between that of a conductor and that
of an insulator).

Because of the presence of the dopants, an "electric field" exists across the junction of the two halves of
the crystal that sweeps free electrons across the junction in one direction only. It is this property of the
junction that causes current flow in a solar cell.

An electric "load" is any device or application that uses electricity such as an electric motor or a lamp. A
load is connected to a power supply by two wires called "leads" (external circuit). When a lot is
connected to silicon cell, one leads is connected to one half of the doped crystal, and one lead to the
other half.
 When light shines on the crystal and electron-hole pairs are created, the electrons travel through the
load to recombine with the holes. The electrons moving through the load are what cause the motor to
spin or the lamp to shine. Moving electrons are also known as electric "current".

As long as light is shinning on the crystal, the process is repeated: (1) energy from the light is absorbed
by electrons and they are freed from their resting state, (2) electrons are drawn across the junction in
the crystal which only permits movement in one direction, and (3) the electrons move through an
externally-connected load (as in appliances) to recombine with the holes they left behind, performing an
energy service (e.g. refrigeration, lighting, cooling) in doing so.

Each silicon atom in the crystal has four valence (outer orbit) electrons which it shares with four
neighboring atoms. This tetrahedral (4 point) bonding is very stable. But a photon of light can easily
penetrate the crystal and knock an electron out of position, creating an empty bond or "hole" in the
lattice. The freed electron (a negative charge) bumps around the crystal in search of its hole (a positive
charge). Meantime, the role also "moves" - by exchanging places with first a nearby electron and then
others, one after another. The join motion of the electron and its hole constitutes an electric current.

The electron and its hole are separated only briefly before reuniting and dissipating the light energy into
heat. However, by replacing a few silicon atoms on one side of the crystal with the boron atoms, and a
few on the other side with phosphorus, an energy barrier can be created. This keeps the electron and
holes apart, so they can be harnessed to provide electrical power.

Boron has only 3 valence electrons in its outer orbit - one fewer than needed to provide an electron for
each bond in the tetrahedron. For each boron atom in the crystal lattice, therefore, there is also a hole.
So this side of the crystal contains positive (p) mobile charges (holes). Phosphorous, on the other hand,
has 5 valence electrons - one more than it needs for tetrahedral bonding. This sidebof the crystal now
contains negative (n) mobile charges (electrons).

Radiant energy penetrates solar cells, causing excess electrons to accumulate in n-type area and excess
holes to accumulate in p-type area. The circuit is completed when a load is applied and charges are
drained off. The energy barrier forms where the p-side and n-side meet at the p-n junction - a region
only about 0,0005 inches thick. The fixed charges on the immobile phosphorous and boron ions at the p-
n junction create a powerful electric field which allows electrons to flow from the p-region to the n-
region - but not in the other direction.

Low energy infrared light cannot separate an electron from its hole, and therefore will not generate
electricity. Shorter wavelength light (including ultraviolet) contains more energy than is needed to
release an electron its hole; this excess energy generates unwanted heat. Only the middle is converted
to electricity effectively.

Conventional PV cells today convert between 5 and 15% of the energy in sunlight into usable energy.
Experimental crystalline silicon cells have achieved over 20% efficiency, but only under carefully
controlled production conditions and with expensive materials and high production cost (using multi-
junction layers have achieved over 34% efficiency) . Efficiency is constantly increasing, however, as new
materials and manufacturing processes are developed. The theoretical potential for PV conversion of
sunlight is as high as 70%, which may be approached some day through the use of multiple layers of
cells.

Most cells in operation todaybare single crystal silicon cells. Silicon cells provideba good balance of cost
effectiveness, reliability, and efficiency. Silicon is obtained by purifying naturally-occurring silicon-oxigen
compounds found in many common rocks.

Thin film PV cells are made of silicon, or combinations of non-silicon elements such as cadmium telluride
and copper indium diselinide. Silicon thin film cells use less than 1/100th the material of conventional
crystalline cells, and non-silicon thin films use only 1/300th of the material of regular silicon crystalline
cells. Multijunction photovoltaic cells employ multiple layers of semi-conducting materials to create two
or more junctions. Different layers in the cell absorb different parts of the solar spectrum , so as the
overall efficiency of the cell can be high.

Because photovoltaic cells are expensive, it can be economical to increase the amount of sunlight
reaching each cell rather than increase the number of cells. Tracking devices allow an array to follow the
path of the sun across the sky to maximize collection of the sun's radiation, and concentrators focus
sunlight from a large area onto a small cell specially designed for high concentrations of solar radiation.
As discussed in the solar physics section, surfaces that are oriented perpendicular to the sun's rays
receive the most light. "Tracking arrays" are flat-plate arrays that follow the sun to maximize collection
of the solar radiation.

There are four main types if arrays for gathering sunlight: (1) fixed flat plates, (2) one-axis trackers, (3)
two-axis trackers, and (4) concentrators. Fixed flat plates are usually set up (pointing south in the
northern hemisphere and north in the southern hemisphere) at an angle from the perpendicular
(straight up) equal to the local latitude. This is an average position that is designed to minimize losses
both seasonally and daily.

Concentrators are based on a clever idea for reducing the cost of PV electricity by using large lenses to
focus sunlight on small cells. In this way, cell area is traded for less expensive lens area. At the same
time, more expensive - and thus more efficient - cells are made affordable, as fewer are needed .
Concentrators are high cost, high efficiency devices compared to lower cost, lower efficiency thin-films.

Perhaps the most crucial negative quality of concentrators is that they cannot use diffuse sunlight.
Diffuse sunlight is the blue sky light that we see. On a cloudless day, almost 20% of the sun's energy is
diffuse. On a hazy day, or one with broken clouds, this percentage can be higher (30-40%); on a cloudy
day we may still receive 30-70% of the sunlight of a cloudless day, but all of it will be diffuse.
Concentrators cannot use any of this diffuse light because they cannot focus light that is not
perpendicular to the lenses.

The limiting effect of diffuse sunlight makes the economics of PV concentrators much less favorable
outside of normally cloudless regions like the desert areas in much of the U.S. Southwest, where 70-80%
of the annual sunlight is not diffuse. They work poorly elsewhere. In typical U.S. location outside the
southwest, almost 50% of the sunlight is diffuse. If someday we have superconducting storage and
transmission, or can make hydrogen with PV and transmit it over long distances via pipelines, using
concentrators in the desert to supply distant urban regions might look especially attractive.

Because concentrators sunlight increases cell efficiency (due to rises in both current and voltage), we
may expect 33% single-junction cells and 44% two-junction cells under 1000 suns concentrations . The
theoretical limit, based on upwards of 10 junctions and 1000 suns illumination, would be 60%
eefficiency - and even this is not the final limit of PV cells (since higher concentrations may eventually
become practical ). It is important to realize that despite some very impressive results, we have hardly
scratched the surface of the practical potential of multijunction cells for PV concentrators.

PVC provides an intermittent source of power because it only produces electricity when the sun is
shinning. As a result, most PV systems need to be integrated with batteries to store excess electricity for
use later. The rechargeable batteries now in use for PV are lead-acid batteries and nickel-cadmium
batteries. For the long term, the present set of batteries are ill-equipped to be of real use for PV.

Car lead-acid batteries are used despite many drawbacks. They are not particularly efficient (only 50% of
the stored electricity can be reclaimed), must be replaced often (at least every six years), are relatively
costly ($100 per kWh of capacity for storing electricity) , and present some chemical safety hazards. In
addition, car batteries can only withstand about 400 cycles of being charged and discharged. Finally,
even a small array (1 kilowatt) requires a lot of them: 70 car batteries to back up a system through 3 to 5
days without sun.

Nickel-cadmium batteries cost about five times more than car batteries, but can be cycled about 10 000
times. The net effect is that costs are about the same as for lead-acid batteries. Other battery options of
interest is based on sodium and sulfur. These batteries operate at elevated temperatures (300°C), and
are able to store four times more energy per unit of material than lead-acid batteries. This higher energy
density would reduce the size and materials of batteries.

Sodium and sulfur materials are less problematic than lead, cadmium and nickel in large quantities. The
estimated future cost of these batteries is about half of lead-acid, and they could be recycled ten times
longer (4000 times). If these performance capabilities can be reached, sodium-sulfur batteries could play
an important role in electricity storage. There are numerous other storage, possibilities for PV electricity.
Ongoing advances in flywheel technology, fuel cells, superconductivity, and hydrogen fuels all offer
great pro.is over the next 10 to 30 years.

A very exciting future use of PVs would be to produce hydrogen for use as both a direct fuel (in vehicles,
factories, buildings) and for generating electricity. Direct Current electricity power generated from PV
panels could be used to split the hydrogen from oxygen molecules in water (called electrolysis).
Hydrogen can be piped relatively long distances at very low costs. If produced from a clean solar energy
like PVs, hydrogen offers one of the cleanest forms of energy to use. When combusted it gives off water
vapor and minute amounts of nitrous oxides. When used in fuel cells it gives off no pollutants.
Hydrogen produced from PVs offers the long- term opportunity to move the world to an
environmentally sound, clean, safe, energy system for both electricity and transportation fuels. Much
research and development remains to be done to lower the cost of PV hydrogen systems, but no
technical barriers remain to achieve this exciting goal.