Amanda Martinez

March 21, 2016

ENGL 219-022

Making Solar Energy Economical

RESEARCH QUESTION
In what way can we make solar energy economical?
INTRODUCTION
The development of this issue came up because solar energy supplies are extremely
pricey. Natural resources such as coal, oil and natural gas. Are being used a lot faster than nature
can reproduce them so we have to come up
with something that will never run out, the

suns energy.

Engineers have been working on

developing a solar power system that mimics
that of plants during photosynthesis. There

are

many issues that are ran into though. Solar

energy, by far, exceeds the amount of energy
that is demanded. It is environmentally safe
and the sun is transferred to earth for us to make energy for free. Even though this sounds all
around amazing there are some issues that need to be handled by engineers in order to complete
this project. Issues such as capturing the suns energy, converting it to useful forms, and storing it
for use when the sun itself is obscured. Many of these issues are being researched and worked on
now. Dishes can concentrate the sun rays to hat fluids that drive engines and produce power. This

Amanda Martinez
March 21, 2016
ENGL 219-022
could be a possible approach to solar electricity generation. Another popular way of converting
solar energy is through direct current from captured sunlight which is used with solar cells.
METHODS
A key issue in making solar energy economical is material purity. The current solar cells used
require high purity. This means expensive materials. If there are

www.stormenergy.
org/

any impurities they will block the electric charge. The charge would only travel a short distance
through a thin layer of material, but think layers would not absorb much sunlight to begin with. A
solution to this problem would be to use thick and thick layers. Thick for absorbing sunlight and
thin for the traveling of the charges. Another approach includes a combination of dye molecules
to absorb sunlight with titanium dioxide molecules to collect electric charges. Large
improvements need to be made in efficiency to make such systems compatible.
Being that solar energy is better for the environment and it is easing peoples nerves about
running out of energy supply, the majority of people support it.
RESULTS
The situations that have delayed this project are being handled in various way by MEs.
There has been ideas about using resources, like water to hold the energy and make this more
economical. Also, the most commonly used way of capturing solar ray is through solar cells that
you can see in some parts of New Mexico. Many engineers are studying this issue and working
on making improvements to create this energy in the least expensive way but can support a vast
amount of energy needed. Looking at all the research that has been done, the future for this
project is looking up. Maybe we will be running completely off of the suns energy.

Amanda Martinez
March 21, 2016
ENGL 219-022
DISCUSSION
How do you store solar energy?
Advanced solar cells become at generating electricity cheaply and efficiently, a major
barrier to widespread use of the suns energy remains: the need for storage. Cloudy weather and
nighttime darkness interrupt solar energys availability. At times and locations where sunlight is
plentiful, its energy must be captured and stored for use at other times and places.
Many technologies offer mass-storage opportunities. Pumping water or large banks of
batteries are proven methods of energy storage, but they face serious problems when scaled up to
power-grid proportions. New materials could greatly enhance the effectiveness of capacitors,
superconducting magnets, or flyweels, all of which could provide convenient power storage in
many applications.
Another possible solution to the storage problem would mimic the biological capture of
sunshine by photosynthesis in plants, which stores the suns energy in the chemical bonds of
molecules that can be used as food. The plants way of using sunlight to produce food could be
duplicated by people to produce fuel. For example, sunlight could power the electrolysis of
water, generating hydrogen as a fuel. Hydrogen could then power fuel cells, electricitygenerating devices that produce virtually no polluting byproducts, as the hydrogen combines
with oxygen to produce water again. But splitting water efficiently will require advances in
chemical reaction efficiencies, perhaps through engineering new catalysts. Natures catalysts,
enzymes, can produce hydrogen from water with a much higher efficiency than current industrial
catalysts. Developing catalysts that can match those found in living cells would dramatically

Amanda Martinez
March 21, 2016
ENGL 219-022
enhance the attractiveness of a solar production-fuel cell storage system for a solar energy
economy.
If the engineering challenges can be met for improving solar cells, reducing their costs,
and providing efficient ways to use their electricity to create storable fuel, solar power will assert
its superiority to fossil fuels as a sustainable motive force for civilizations continued prosperity.
How to Reduce Cost
The first goal is to drive down the cost is per kilowatt until it is significantly lower than the
cost of conventional sources such as coal and natural gas. At this point of price demand will sky
rocket and market forces will reply with surging solar energy. The price of photovoltaic solar
panels has been falling at significant rates for decades. Panels are now available for under a
dollar per watt. This is a hundred times less expensive than in 1975. The other parts of the
system, such as the solar inverters, are now the dominant factor in the price per watt.
Former US Energy Secretary estimates the price for solar energy to reach cost $0.50 per watt,
assuming corresponding reductions in all the other costs associated with installing a system.
These balance of system costs include the cost of the inverter and electrical system,
mechanical racking, installation, and permitting. In the last three years, the average wholesale
price for solar modules has fallen to about $0.80 per watt, putting the $0.50 per watt target within
sight. Because of this, the balance of system costs is now the limiting factor. They can be two to
three times more expensive than the panels themselves.

Amanda Martinez
March 21, 2016
ENGL 219-022

0/en/.

In the graph above it shows that as the cost decreases the production increases. As you
can see there are measures that have been taken to lower costs of solar energy per megawatt. The
price for solar modules is highly correlated with production volume. Prices have fallen to under
$1 per watt today.
Its also important to consider the total lifetime cost of operating a solar energy system. Over
the lifetime of the system, the maintenance, repair, and downtime costs are paramount. The cost
of electricity is a calculation that factors in all of these lifetime costs. High-quality solar modules
are extremely durable and often last for 20 years or more with only a 20 percent reduction in
production. The reliability of the power inverters that put the electricity on the power grid is a
challenge for the solar industry. Extending the inverter lifetime to 20 years could reduce the real
cost of the system by 40 percent.

Amanda Martinez
March 21, 2016
ENGL 219-022
To facilitate the lifetime extension of power inverters, National Instruments uses a
comprehensive graphical system design approach that makes it possible for designers to evaluate
the difficult design trade-offs impacting both cost and lifetime.

<http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9082.aspx>.

Digital sensing and control technologies for the grid are rapidly decreasing in cost and
increasing in performance. These smart monitoring and control systems will help solar and wind
become primary sources of electricity while increasing the quality, stability, and resilience of the
grid. A key element of this puzzle is the development of energy storage technologies that are
cost-effective and able to scale to terawatt levels.
Working across multiple vectors, NI customers such as Elcom, Prolucid, and Siliken are using
a graphical system design approach to achieve milestones in both reducing the cost per kilowatt
and updating the electrical grid to achieve true efficiency and availability of solar energy. As the
global population and energy consumption expand, it becomes increasingly important to

Amanda Martinez
March 21, 2016
ENGL 219-022
accelerate the innovation behind making solar energy economical to achieve independence from
nonrenewable sources and reach a solution to this grand challenge.
No other natural resource is as plentiful as sunlight, with 5,000 times more energy from
the sun reaching planet Earth than all of human energy consumption. Using commercially
available solar panels, an area the size of Texas can theoretically provide enough electricity to
meet worldwide demand. Solving this engineering grand challenge has been identified by the
National Academy of Engineering as one of the 14 most important technical goals of today. The
mission is to make clean, renewable solar power a primary source of energy. Achieving that goal
requires innovations in two key areas: reducing the cost per kilowatt until it is significantly lower
than conventional fossil fuel sources, and updating the electrical grid to intelligently manage the
variability and bidirectional power flow associated with distributed renewable energy sources.
WORKS CITED
"Making Solar Energy Economical." - National Instruments. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.ni.com/newsletter/51760/en/>.

"Make Solar Energy Economical." Grand Challenges -. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

<http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9082.aspx>.