ME165-1

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY RESOURCES

Week-1.2 Solar Energy
2015-2016 / 3T

Prepared By:
Engr. Estelito V. Mamuyac
13 January 2016

SOLAR ENERGY
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been
harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of
ever-evolving technologies.
Solar energy refers primarily to the use of solar radiation for
practical ends. However, all renewable energies, other than
geothermal and tidal, derive their energy from the sun.
Solar energy technologies include solar heating, solar
photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity and solar architecture,
which can make considerable contributions to solving some of
the most urgent problems the world now faces.

SOLAR ENERGY
In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the
development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar
energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits.
It will increase countries energy security through reliance on
an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent
resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the
costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel prices
lower than otherwise.

SOLAR ENERGY

These advantages are global. Hence the additional costs of the

incentives for early deployment should be considered learning
investments; they must be wisely spent and need to be widely
shared".

SOLAR ENERGY
Energy from the Sun - About half the
incoming solar energy reaches the
Earth's surface.
The Earth receives 174 petawatts
(PW) of incoming solar radiation
(insolation) at the upper
atmosphere. Approximately 30% is
reflected back to space while the
rest is absorbed by clouds, oceans
and land masses.
The spectrum of solar light at the Earth's surface is mostly spread across the
visible and near-infrared ranges with a small part in the near-ultraviolet.

SOLAR ENERGY
Earth's land surface, oceans and atmosphere absorb solar
radiation, and this raises their temperature. Warm air
containing evaporated water from the oceans rises, causing
atmospheric circulation or convection.
When the air reaches a high altitude, where the temperature is
low, water vapor condenses into clouds, which rain onto the
Earth's surface, completing the water cycle.

SOLAR ENERGY
The latent heat of water condensation amplifies convection,
producing atmospheric phenomena such as wind, cyclones
and anti-cyclones. Sunlight absorbed by the oceans and land
masses keeps the surface at an average temperature of 14 C.
By photosynthesis green plants convert solar energy into
chemical energy, which produces food, wood and the biomass
from which fossil fuels are derived.

SOLAR ENERGY
The total solar energy absorbed
by Earth's atmosphere, oceans
and land masses is
approximately 3,850,000
exajoules (EJ) per year.
In 2002, this was more energy
in one hour than the world used
in one year. Photosynthesis
captures approximately 3,000 EJ
per year in biomass.

SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES

Early Application of Solar-Mechanical Conversion

EARLY APPLICATION OF SOLAR-MECHANICAL

CONVERSION

Figure 1. The first large solar furnace built in 1774 by the French Chemist L. Lavoisier. It was used to study the
properties of metals by melting them by solar radiation in a very pure environment. (Trombe 1955)
Source:

A Short Historical Review Of Renewable Energy,

E. Delyannis1 and A. El-Nashar2

EARLY APPLICATION OF SOLAR-MECHANICAL

CONVERSION

Figure 2. The Mouchot's solar power engine, as it was presented, in the 1778 Paris exhibition. The collected solar
energy, in the solar concentrator drives a steam engine to operate a press. The press was used to print during the
exhibition the "Sunshine Journal (Teller 1979).
Source:

A Short Historical Review Of Renewable Energy,

E. Delyannis1 and A. El-Nashar2

EARLY APPLICATION OF SOLAR-MECHANICAL

CONVERSION

Figure 3. The concentrator used by Ericson, in 1883, to collect solar radiation for a mechanical power
system (Jordan 1955).
Source:

A Short Historical Review Of Renewable Energy,

E. Delyannis1 and A. El-Nashar2

SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES

Solar Energy Applications in the Philippines

SOLAR ENERGY APPLICATIONS IN THE

PHILIPPINES
Pangan-an Island Solar Electrification Project
People in Pangan-an Island, Cebu, Philippines,
enjoy 24-hour electricity service from a
centralized solar photovoltaic (PV)system
donated by the Kingdom of Belgium. This
power plant consists of 504 PV panels, a
battery bank with 118 storage batteries, a
charge controller, and 2 inverters made in
Germany. The solar power plant has been
operating since December 1998, supplying 230
Volt (V) Alternating Current (AC) electricity to
around 200 households. The Panganan
residents use electricity for lighting, radio and
TV sets.
Source: Dialog Asia, 2/2006

Photovoltaic generators array composed of

504 modules.
The stationary lead
acid battery banks is
composed of 2 parallel strings of 59
elements

SOLAR ENERGY APPLICATIONS IN THE

PHILIPPINES
Solar Panels cover up ADB roof
As one of the countrys prime
advocates of Renewable Energy, the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has
recently converted its Ortigas City
offices roof into a powerful solar
battery. Fitting 2,040 photovoltaic
solar panels in its 6,640 sq/m roof,
the use of these renewable energy
fixtures is a sustainable channel of
power that will help provide
electricity in the office grounds.

Solar Panels on top of ADB building in

Ortigas Avenue, Pasig City
Source: http://www.renewableenergy.ph/

SOLAR ENERGY APPLICATIONS IN THE

PHILIPPINES
Solar Energy Project in Subic Bay
Freeport
A renewable energy project is going to be
developed at the Subic Bay Freeport in
Philippines.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA)
approved a clean energy project worth
$125 million (Peso 5.59 billion).
The renewable project will cost $125
million and will be spread over a surface of
300 hectares. The 150 to 200 Megawatts
of power will be generated at land
situated at Subics Mount Sta. Rita and
Redondo Peninsula.

Solar Panels for Subic Bay Freeports

Solar Energy Project
Source: Renewable Power News, 9 January 2011

SOLAR ENERGY APPLICATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Photovoltaic battery charging station in Antique,

Panay Island, Philippines.

SOLAR ENERGY

Solar Energy Technologies

Solar energy technologies include solar heating, solar
photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity and solar
architecture, which can make considerable contributions to
solving some of the most urgent problems the world now
faces.
They are broadly characterized as either passive solar or
active solar depending on the way they capture, convert
and distribute solar energy.

SOLAR ENERGY

Solar Energy Technologies . . . .

Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic
panels and solar thermal collectors to harness the
energy.
Use pumps and fans to convert sunlight into useful
outputs.
Increase the supply of energy and are considered
supply side technologies.

SOLAR ENERGY
Active Solar Heating

SOLAR ENERGY

Solar Energy Technologies . . . . .

Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to
the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass
or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that
naturally circulate air.

Include selecting material with favorable thermal

properties, designing spaces that naturally circulate air,
and referencing the position of a building to the sun.

SOLAR ENERGY

Passive solar . . . .
Passive solar relies on the inherent thermo-dynamic
properties of the system or materials to operate.
They do not need external energy sources.

Reduce the need for alternate resources and are generally

considered demand side technologies.

SOLAR ENERGY
Passive Solar Heating

SEATWORK

The Solar Bowl in Auroville, India,

concentrates sunlight on a movable
receiver to produce steam for cooking

Greenhouses like these in

the Westland municipality of
the
Netherlands
grow
vegetables,
fruits
and
flowers.

Helios UAV in solar powered

flight

Solar water heaters facing the

Sun to maximize gain.

Daylighting features such as this oculus at the

top of the Pantheon, in Rome, Italy have been
in use since antiquity.

Water Heater: system uses a

tank located above collector.

Batch Water Heater: system

uses a tank that acts as both
storage and solar collector

SEATWORK
Exercises/Mini-workshop: (20 minutes)
Form 5 groups.

Assign each group with an example of the use of solar energy (see
previous page).
Determine whether the use is active or passive solar energy, and
why?
Each group will present their findings. (5 mins. per group)

APPLICATIONS OF SOLAR TECHNOLOGY

Architecture and urban planning
Agriculture and horticulture
Transport and reconnaissance
Solar thermal
Water heating
Heating, cooling and ventilation
Water treatment
Process heat
Cooking
Electricity production
Concentrated solar power
Photovoltaics
Others
Fuel production

ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING

Sunlight has influenced building design since the beginning of
architectural history. Advanced solar architecture and urban
planning methods were first employed by the Greeks and
Chinese, who oriented their buildings toward the south to
provide light and warmth.

This
passive
house
designed
specifically for the humid and hot
subtropical climate.

The common features of passive solar architecture are

orientation relative to the Sun, compact proportion, selective
shading and thermal mass. When these features are tailored to
the local climate and environment they can produce well-lit
spaces that stay in a comfortable temperature range. The most
recent approaches to solar design use computer modeling tying
together solar lighting, heating and ventilation systems in an
integrated solar design package. Active solar equipment such as
pumps, fans and switchable windows can complement passive
design and improve system performance.

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE

Greenhouses like these in

the Westland, Netherlands
grow vegetables, fruits and
flowers. Agriculture and
horticulture seek to optimize
the capture of solar energy
in order to optimize the
productivity of plants.

Greenhouses convert solar light to heat, enabling yearround production and the growth (in enclosed
environments) of specialty crops and other plants not
naturally suited to the local climate. Primitive
greenhouses were first used during Roman times to
produce cucumbers year-round for the Roman emperor
Tiberius.
The first modern greenhouses were built in Europe in the
16th century to keep exotic plants brought back from
explorations abroad. Greenhouses remain an important
part of horticulture today, and plastic transparent
materials have also been used to similar effect in poly
tunnels and row covers.

TRANSPORT AND RECONNAISANCE

The Helios UAV, powered solely by

photovoltaics, sets the altitude record for a
non-rocket-propelled aircraft at 29,524
metres (96,864 ft) in 2001.

Solar car Nuna3 race through a

3,021 km (1,877 mi) course from
Darwin to Adelaide.

Some vehicles use solar panels for auxiliary power, such as

for air conditioning, to keep the interior cool, thus
reducing fuel consumption.
Developments turned back to unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAV) with the Pathfinder (1997) and subsequent designs,
culminating in the Helios which set the altitude record for
a non-rocket-propelled aircraft at 29,524 metres (96,864
ft) in 2001.
The Zephyr, developed by BAE Systems, is the latest in a
line of record-breaking solar aircraft, making a 54-hour
flight in 2007, and month-long flights are envisioned by
2010

SOLAR THERMAL

Solar thermal energy (STE) is an innovative technology for

harnessing solar energy for thermal energy (heat).
Solar thermal technologies can be used for water heating,
space heating, space cooling and process heat generation.

SOLAR THERMAL

Classification of solar thermal collectors:

Low-temperature collectors
Medium-temperature collectors
High-temperature collectors

SOLAR THERMAL
Low-temperature collectors are generally installed to heat
swimming pools, although they can also be used for space
heating. Collectors can use air or water as the medium to
transfer the heat to their destination.
Medium-temperature collectors are also usually flat plates
but are used for heating water or air for residential and
commercial use.
High-temperature collectors concentrate sunlight using
mirrors or lenses and are generally used for electric power
production.

SOLAR THERMAL

Solar water heaters facing the

Sun to maximize gain.

Solar hot water systems use sunlight to heat

water. In low geographical latitudes (below 40
degrees) from 60 to 70% of the domestic hot
water use with temperatures up to 60 C can be
provided by solar heating systems.
The most common types of solar water heaters
are evacuated tube collectors (44%) and glazed
flat plate collectors (34%) generally used for
domestic hot water; and unglazed plastic
collectors (21%) used mainly to heat swimming
pools.

SOLAR THERMAL
Heating, cooling and ventilation

Solar House #1 of Massachusetts

Institute of Technology in the United
States, built in 1939, used Seasonal
thermal energy storage for year-round
heating.

Thermal mass is any material that can be used to store

heatheat from the Sun in the case of solar energy.
Common thermal mass materials include stone, cement
and water. Historically they have been used in arid climates
or warm temperate regions to keep buildings cool by
absorbing solar energy during the day and radiating stored
heat to the cooler atmosphere at night. However they can
be used in cold temperate areas to maintain warmth as
well. The size and placement of thermal mass depend on
several factors such as climate, day lighting and shading
conditions. When properly incorporated, thermal mass
maintains space temperatures in a comfortable range and
reduces the need for auxiliary heating and cooling
equipment.

SOLAR THERMAL
Solar Water Treatment

Solar water disinfection

Solar water disinfection (SODIS) involves exposing

water-filled plastic polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) bottles to sunlight for several hours.
Exposure times vary depending on weather and
climate from a minimum of six hours to two days
during fully overcast conditions.
It is recommended by the World Health
Organization as a viable method for household
water treatment and safe storage.
Over two million people in developing countries
use this method for their daily drinking water.

SOLAR THERMAL
Solar Water Treatment
Solar distillation can be used to make saline or brackish water
potable.
The first recorded instance of this was by 16th century Arab
alchemists. A large-scale solar distillation project was first
constructed in 1872 in the Chilean mining town of Las Salinas.
2, could
The
plant,
which
had
solar
collection
area
of
4,700
m
Small scale solar powered
produce up to 22,700 L per day and operated for 40 years.
sewerage treatment plant
Individual still designs include single-slope, double-slope (or
greenhouse type), vertical, conical, inverted absorber, multi-wick,
and multiple effect.
These stills can operate in passive, active, or hybrid modes. Double-slope stills are the
most economical for decentralized domestic purposes, while active multiple effect units
are more suitable for large-scale application

SOLAR THERMAL
Cooking

The Solar Bowl in Auroville, India,

concentrates sunlight on a movable
receiver to produce steam for cooking.

They can be grouped into three broad categories: box

cookers, panel cookers and reflector cookers.
The simplest solar cooker is the box cooker first built by
Horace de Saussure in 1767. A basic box cooker consists of
an insulated container with a transparent lid. It can be used
effectively with partially overcast skies and will typically
reach temperatures of 90150 C.
Panel cookers use a reflective panel to direct sunlight onto
an insulated container and reach temperatures comparable
to box cookers. Reflector cookers use various concentrating
geometries (dish, trough, Fresnel mirrors) to focus light on
a cooking container.
These cookers reach temperatures of 315 C and above but
require direct light to function properly and must be
repositioned to track the Sun.

SOLAR THERMAL
Process Heat
Solar process heating systems are designed to provide large
quantities of hot water or space heating for nonresidential
buildings.
Evaporation ponds are shallow ponds that concentrate dissolved
solids through evaporation.
The use of evaporation ponds to obtain salt from sea water is one
of the oldest applications of solar energy.
Modern uses include concentrating brine solutions used in leach
mining and removing dissolved solids from waste streams.
Altogether, evaporation ponds represent one of the largest
commercial applications of solar energy in use today.

SOLAR THERMAL
Solar Salt Evaporation Pond

A salt pan worker in a salt evaporation pond in Tamil Nadu, India

SOLAR THERMAL
Process Heat (contd.)
Unglazed transpired collectors (UTC) are perforated sun-facing walls
used for preheating ventilation air.
UTCs can raise the incoming air temperature up to 22 C and
deliver outlet temperatures of 45-60 C.
The short payback period of transpired collectors (3 to 12 years)
make them a more cost-effective alternative to glazed collection
systems.
As of 2009, over 1500 systems with a combined collector area of
300,000 m had been installed worldwide. Representatives
include an 860 m collector in Costa Rica used for drying coffee
beans and a 1300 m collector in Coimbatore, India used for
drying marigolds.

SOLAR THERMAL
Unglazed transpired collectors (UTC)

SOLAR THERMAL
Solar drying
Solar thermal energy can be useful for drying wood for construction
and wood fuels such as wood chips for combustion.
Solar is also used for food products such as fruits, grains, and fish.

Crop drying by solar means is environmentally friendly as well as cost

effective while improving the quality.
The less money it takes to make a product, the less it can be sold for,
pleasing both the buyers and the sellers.

SOLAR THERMAL
Solar drying . . . . . .
Technologies in solar drying include ultra low cost pumped
transpired plate air collectors based on black fabrics.
Solar thermal energy is helpful in the process of drying products
such as wood chips and other forms of biomass by raising the
heat while allowing air to pass through and get rid of the
moisture.[

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either
directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated
solar power (CSP).
CSP systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a
large area of sunlight into a small beam.
PV converts light into electric current using the photoelectric
effect.

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION

View of Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System from Yates Well Road,
San Bernadino County, California.

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
Commercial CSP plants were first developed in the 1980s. Since
1985 the eventually 354 MW SEGS CSP installation, in the
Mojave Desert of California, is the largest solar power plant in
the world.
Other large CSP plants include the 150 MW Solnova Solar Power
Station and the 100 MW Andasol solar power station, both in
Spain.

The 250 MW Agua Caliente Solar Project, in the United States,

and the 221 MW Charanka Solar Park in India, are the worlds
largest photovoltaic plants.

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
Concentrating Solar Power systems use lenses or mirrors and
tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam.
The concentrated heat is then used as a heat source for a
conventional power plant. A wide range of concentrating
technologies exists; the most developed are the parabolic trough, the
concentrating linear fresnel reflector, the Stirling dish and the solar
power tower.

Various techniques are used to track the Sun and focus light. In all of
these systems a working fluid is heated by the concentrated sunlight,
and is then used for power generation or energy storage.

HIGH-TEMPERATURE COLLECTORS

Concentrated solar power plant using

parabolic trough design

Solar Power Tower and

Heliostats
Fresnel solar power plant PE 1 in southern Spain

A parabolic solar dish concentrating the sun's

rays on the heating element of a Stirling
engine. The entire unit acts as a solar tracker

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
Photovoltaic Cell (PV)
A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell , is a device that converts light into
electric current using the photoelectric effect.
Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovered in 1839, the photovoltaic
effect.
Photovoltaic cells were used mainly for the purposes of measuring
light.
The first solar cell was constructed by Charles Fritts in the 1880s. In
1931 a German engineer, Dr Bruno Lange, developed a photo cell
using silver selenide in place of copper oxide.

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
Photovoltaic Cell . . . . .
Although the prototype selenium cells converted less than 1% of
incident light into electricity, both Ernst Werner von Siemens and
James Clerk Maxwell recognized the importance of this discovery.
Following the work of Russell Ohl in the 1940s, researchers Gerald
Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin created the silicon solar cell
in 1954.

These early solar cells cost 286 USD/watt and reached efficiencies of
4.56%.
By 2012 available efficiencies exceed 20% and the maximum
efficiency of research photovoltaics is over 40%.

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION

19 MW solar park in Germany

REFERENCES

Textbook
Renewable Energy Technologies, Jean-Claude Sabonnadiere, 2009

Web
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy
http://www.renewableenergy.ph/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal_energy