Introduction

Solar energy is a very large, inexhaustible source of energy.

The power from the sun intercepted by the earth is

approximately 1.8 X 1011 MW which is many thousands of
times larger than the present consumption rate.
Thus, in principle, solar energy could supply all present and

future energy needs of the world on a continuing basis.

However, there are many problems associated with its use.

The main problem is that it is dilute source of energy.

The second problem is that its availability varies widely with

time. The variation in availability occurs daily because of the

day-night cycle and also seasonally because of the earths
orbit around the sun. (requirement of storage)

Radiation
Energy radiated by the sun as electromagnetic waves of which 99

percent have wave lengths in the range of 0.2 to 4.0 micrometers.

Solar energy reaching the top of earths atmosphere consists of

about 8 percent ultraviolet radiation (short wavelength, less than

0.39 micrometer), 46 percent of visible light (0.39 to 0.78
micrometer), and 46 percent of infrared radiation (long wave
length more than 0.78 micrometer).
The rate at which solar energy arrives at the top of the atmosphere

is called the solar constant. This is the amount of energy

received in unit time on a unit area perpendicular to the suns
direction.
The NASA standard value for the solar constant is:

1.353 kilowatts per meter square of 1353 watts per meter

square.

Wavelength()

0-0.38

0.38-0.78

0.78-4.0

Approx.
energy(W/sq.m
)

95

640

618

47.3

45.7

Approx.% of
total energy.

 Radiation received at the earth surface is entirely different due to

the various reasons.

Solar radiation that has not been absorbed or scattered and reaches

the ground directly from the sun is called direct radiation or beam
radiation.
Diffuse radiation is that solar radiation received from the sun after

its direction has been changed by reflection and scattering by the

atmosphere. Because this scattering takes place in all directions,
diffuse radiation comes from all parts of the sky.
Ultra violet radiation is absorbed by oxygen and ozone, some

energy in the infrared region is absorbed by carbon dioxide and

water vapour.
Insolation:- the total solar radiation received at any point on the

earths surface is the sum of direct radiation and diffuse radiation.

Solar Energy Collectors

Utilization of solar energy requires solar collectors.
Solar collector is a device which collects solar radiation and

transfer the energy to a working fluid passing in contact

with it.
These are of two types:

1. Non concentrating or flat plat type solar collectors.

2. concentrating(focusing) type solar collectors.

Solar collector
The energy of the solar radiation is in this case
converted to heat with the use of solar panel. Using
the sun energy to heat water is not a new idea. More
than one hundred years ago black painted water
tanks were used as simple solar water heaters in a
number of countries.
Solar water heating systems can be either active or
passive, but the most common are active systems.
Active systems rely on pumps to move the liquid
between the collector and the storage tank, while
passive systems rely on gravity and the tendency for
water to naturally circulate as it is heated.

typical active solar energy collection systems

classification of solar
1 - Flat-plate collectors The absorbing surface is
collectors
approximately as large as the overall collector
area that intercepts the sun rays .
2 - Concentrating collectors Large areas of mirrors
or lenses focus the sun light onto a smaller
absorber .

cross section of typical liquid flat plate collector

concentrating solar collector

Solar concentrators
solar concentrator is a device that allows the
collection of sunlight from large area and focusing
it on a smaller receiver.
The cost per unit area of a solar concentrator is
therefore much cheaper than the cost per unit
area of a PV material. By introducing this
concentrator, not only the same amount of energy
could be collected from the sun, the total cost of
the effect of concentrator on the PV cellsolar cell
could also be reduced .
effect of concentrator on the PV cell

Benefits and drawbacks

of using the solar
Benefits:
concentrators
- Reduce the dependency on silicon cell and
increase the intensity of solar.
- Irradiance, hence increase the cell efficiency.
- Reduce the total cost of the whole system.

Drawbacks:
- Degrade the PV cell lifespan.
- Need to cool down the PV to ensure the
performance of the PV is optimum.
- Mechanical tracking system may required.

Design of solar
concentrator

parabolic concentrator

Fresnel Concentrator

hyperboloid concentrator

general design of DTIRC

Compound Parabolic concentrator :(a) geometry of a cpc,

and (b) trajectories of edge rays inside the cpc

flat high concentrator devices

Quantum Dot Concentration (QDC)

Parabolic trough collector

Dish type collector

Low temperature cycle

Power tower

Distributed collector system

Heliostat

Solar heating
Water Heating with solar energy
A surface faces the suns rays and absorbs them,
converting the radiation into warmth. The
temperature of this surface, the so-called
absorber,
therefore rises. Every object placed
in the sun exhibits this effect to
a greater or lesser degree.
A black surface shows the greatest
rise in temperature, it absorbs about 90% of the
suns incident radiation and reflects very little.

Storage
The second important component in a solar energy
water warming installation is the storage. The
purpose of this is to bridge the intervals between
the collectors supply and the users demand for
warm water. If the warmed water is held in an
insulated tank, then in principle it is made
available in the evening and the following
morning. In the following applications we shall
encounter heat-storage in various forms.

APPLICATIONS
1 - Water distillation :
The solar distiller purifies water by first evaporating and then
condensing it. Distilled water contains no salts, minerals or
organic impurities. It is not, however, aseptic, as is sterilized
water; of which more lately.
Distilled water can be used for:
drinking water, applications in hospitals,
battery water, and so on. Such an installation
is suited to areas where water is ample but
polluted, salty or brackish; naturally, there
must be abundant sun. Finally, glass or
schematic of solar still
UV-resistant transport foil the most
important materials in the constructions
must be available and affordable. A reasonably functional
solar distiller is able to produce an average of four liters of
distilled water per day per square meter of working surface.

2 - Solar boiler :
A solar boiler with a collector surface of 3 to 4
m2and a storage capacity of 200 liters can
provide 300 to 400 liters per day of water
between 400c and 600c in temperature. The yield
is naturally dependent on the amount of sun and
on a judicious of the installation.

solar boiler

3 - The Parabolic Solar Cooker :

The parabolic or concentrating solar cooker reflects
the suns rays in such a way that these are
converged onto a small area, in this area a dark
metal cooking pot is fixed. Because of the small
size of the area of convergence there is room for
only one pot. It can be warmed up between 150
and 3500c, enough to fry.

Solar Cooker

 The majority of the flat plate collectors have five main

components and are as fallows:

A transparent cover which may be one or more sheets of glass

or radiation transmitting plastic film or sheet.

Tubes, fins, passages or channels are integral with the collector

absorber plate or connected to it, which carry the water, air or

other fluid.
The absorber plate, normally metallic or with a black surface

materials can be used.

Insulation, which should be provided at the back and side to

minimize the heat losses.

The casting or container which enclose the other components

and protects them from weather.

Concentrating or focusing collectors

Focusing collectors is a device to collect solar energy with high

intensity of solar radiation.

Focusing collectors generally use optical system in the form of

reflectors.
As a result of the energy concentration, working fluids can be

heated to temperature of 500 deg C or more.

Types of concentrating collectors:
Parabolic trough collector.
Dish type collector.
Power tower.

Power tower

Application of solar energy

Solar water heating
Space heating
Solar distillation
Solar pumping
Industrial process
Solar furnace
Solar cooking
Solar LED lights
Solar energy: Thermal Electric Conversion
Solar energy: Photovoltaic Electric Conversion.

Solar energy: Thermal collectors

In a solar thermal power production system the energy is first

collected by using a solar pond, a flat plate collector or a

focusing collector.

This energy is used to increase the temperature of the working

fluid.

Then, turbine generator set is operated by these working fluid.

Thermal electric conversion is of four types

Low temperature cycle using flat plate collectors or solar
pond.
Concentrating collectors for medium and high temperatures
Power tower
Distributed collector system

Solar energy: Photovoltaic Electric

Conversion.

The direct conversion of solar energy into electrical energy by

means of the photovoltaic effect, that is conversion of light into

electricity.
The photovoltaic effect is defined as the generation of an

electromotive force as a result of the absorption of ionizing

radiation.
Energy conversion devices which are used to convert sunlight

to electricity by the use of the photovoltaic effect are called

solar cell.
Combination of such cells, designed to increase the electric

power output is called solar module or solar array.

Semiconductor
Definition. A material that is neither a good conductor of

electricity nor a good insulator, but has properties of

electrical conductivity somewhere between the two. Silicon
and germanium are goodsemiconductormaterials
The specific properties of a semiconductor depend on the
impurities, ordopants, added to it. AnNtypesemiconductor carries current mainly in the form of
negatively-chargedelectrons, in a manner similar to the
conduction of current in a wire.
AP-typesemiconductor carries current predominantly as
electron deficiencies calledholes. A hole has a positive
electric charge, equal and opposite to the charge on an
electron. In a semiconductor material, the flow of holes
occurs in a direction opposite to the flow of electrons .

PV principle
The

base unit of many semiconductor devices is a

semiconductor body, in which two different dopants directly
adjoin one another. This is called a p-n junction if a p-doped
area merges into an n-doped area within the same lattice.
The interface between these two layers contains an electric
field and is called a junction.
Photons with energy greater than Band gap energy are

absorbed and excite some of the electrons. (valence to

conduction).

When light (photons) hits the solar cell, some of the photons

are absorbed in the region of the junction, freeing electrons in

the silicon crystal.

If the photons have enough energy, the electrons will be able to

overcome the electric field at the junction and are free to move
through the silicon and into an external circuit.

Indian scenario
India is located in the equatorial sun belt of the earth,

thereby receiving abundant radiant energy from the sun.

In most parts of India, clear sunny weather is experienced

250 to 300 days a year.

India receives solar energy equivalent to over 5,000 trillion

kWh per year.

The daily average solar energy incident over India varies

from 4 -7 kWh per square meter depending upon the

location.

 The utilization of solar energy in the country is regularly

increasing, however, the high initial cost of the solar energy

systems is a barrier in its large-scale utilization.
A total of 33 grid interactive solar photovoltaic power plants

have been installed in the country with financial assistance

from the Government. These plants, with aggregate capacity
of 2.125 Megawatt peak are estimated to generate about
2.5 million units of electricity in a year.
In addition, around 14.5 lakh decentralized off-grid solar

photovoltaic systems aggregating to about 125 Megawatt

capacity have been installed in the country, which is capable
of generating about 150 million units in a year.
Further, a collector area of about 2.15 million square meter

has been installed for solar water heating applications.

 For projects approved and commissioned by 31st December,

2009, the Ministry will provide generation based incentive

up to Rs.12 per kWh for solar photovoltaic power and Rs.10
per kWh for solar thermal power after taking in to account
the tariff provided by the State Electricity Regulatory
Commissions.
Indias first solar powered village is Rampura village in

Jhansi of 8.7KW installed by the help of Scatac solar of

Norway with an investment of 31.5lakhs serving to 69
houses of that village.