Renewable Energy in Solar Power

Jonathan Sebastian, Exchange Student MSE Dept. POSTECH

Technology has come far since long time ago, particularly since industrial revolution. We used
to ride horse to get around the city and we used to write letters to communicate with our
relatives. The rise of technology is getting more and more. The world is fast changing both for
better and worse. The good thing about technology advancement is how convenient we are in
terms of menial activities. We can order foods to deliver right in front of our door; we can see
and talk to our friends far from us; we can travel all the way to the other side of the world in no
time; we have varieties of stuffs and things that can be bought easily. Without technological
advancement, all will not be possible.
The good side of technology also brings out the bad side of technology. In the social aspect,
people tend to be individualistic towards each other. In this modern world, people seem to care
only themselves, they want more money for themselves, they want more power to themselves,
they want more happiness to themselves. The sense of sharing and family is gradually
decreasing along with the rise of technology. All of this though is achieved by pushing other
peoples agenda behind, by not caring of other people. This me first mentality can create
injustice within society, for example using other peoples land without permission to build a
factory or corruption within company. All of this downside is bad, but what we dont really notice
is as technology advances, the environment takes its toll.
In Jakarta, Seoul and major cities in the world, pollution is a major problem. Pollution can come
in many ways. Air pollution is mostly caused by the waste of factories. Sound pollution can be
caused by traffic jam in the morning. Sea pollution can be caused by the plastic waste we throw
away every day and ends up in the ocean. The effect of this pollution is widely recorded in the
recent research. Air pollution has both acute and chronic effects on human health, affecting a
number of different systems and organs. It ranges from minor upper respiratory irritation to
chronic respiratory and heart disease, lung cancer, acute respiratory infections in children and
chronic bronchitis in adults, aggravating pre-existing heart and lung disease, or asthmatic
attacks. In addition, short- and long-term exposures have also been linked with premature
mortality and reduced life expectancy (Kampa & Castanas, 2008). Sound pollution can also
affect us. Noise stress from transportation sources also is related to reduce prenatal growth with
somewhat smaller decrements reported (Schell, et al., 2006). Sea pollution especially plastic

waste can be harmful particularly to the sea animals. Plastics break down and then eaten by the
plankton, which in turn eaten by the fish and last by human. This in turn can also create harmful
effect to us. There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic trash in the worlds oceans, and each year, 8
million tons of plastic are added to the count. Thats equivalent to one municipal garbage truck
pulling up to the beach and dumping its contents every minute. (Groden, 2015). Unless we do
something about it, our world will be harmful to the living beings in it.
Environmental problems in the world are getting worse and worse. Everybody including the
government, the industry and the scholars have to cooperate together to solve these problems.
Case in point of environmental problem is in South Korea. South Korea has changed
tremendously since the Korean War. The economic development and turning from third world
country to first world country is considered miraculous. Many people consider it as Miracle of
Han River, named after the river which runs through Seoul. Unfortunately, such case of
economic development can create pollution problem too.
Seoul has been hit with air pollution problem since a long time ago. As recently as April 2016,
the fine particles concentration in the air over Seoul reached 160 micrograms per cubic meter.
With the fine particle concentrations between 81 and 150 micrograms per cubic meter
considered bad, this data showed the air quality over Seoul is beyond bad. (Heon, 2016). In
recent reports conducted by Yale University, South Korea ranks near the very bottom in terms
of air quality. Out of 180 countries surveyed, South Korea ranks 173. The main pollutant of
Seoul and all of Korea is fine particle pollution known as PM 2.5. This microscopic particle can
enter your bloodstream and can contain lead and arsenic which are harmful to your bodies. In
the graph below, it shows that the concentration of air pollution in Seoul is significantly worse
than New York.

Although China is partially responsible for Korea air pollution, Korean also contribute to the air
pollution. South Korea's reliance on coal plants and diesel fuel for its vehicles contributes to
local pollution. About 50 coal plants already help power the country, and it has pledged to build
a dozen more by 2021. (Hu, 2016).
South Korea is not alone dealing with environmental problems. Other environmental problems
looming the world right now is the amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Industries and
human consumption create the release of carbon dioxide, which is the waste of oil and coal
burning. Ever since the industrial technology, people has been using oil and coal as a primary
source of energy. . Coal and oil themselves come from the remains of living beings trapped for
thousand of years inside the earth soil, with coal is primarily come from the plants and oil come
from the animals. Living beings contain carbon, therefore when we burn oil or coal, we release
the same amount of carbon that has been stored long time. This storing and releasing of
carbon, which is knows as carbon cycle, is currently being the center of attention by the
environmental scientists. We release carbon more than we store them.

Figure 1 Emission of Carbon Dioxide by humanity (Data from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center and Global
Carbon Project)

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when people first started burning fossil fuels,
carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have risen from about 280 parts per million to
387 parts per million, a 39 percent increase. This means that for every million molecules in the
atmosphere, 387 of them are now carbon dioxidethe highest concentration in two million
years. Methane concentrations have risen from 715 parts per billion in 1750 to 1,774 parts per
billion in 2005, the highest concentration in at least 650,000 years. (Riebeek, 2011). This carbon
increase cause an increase in global temperature because carbon dioxide is considered a
greenhouse gas, which absorb a wide range of energy and reemit it. Too many greenhouse
gases can contribute to heat trapped inside earths atmosphere, making earth warmer. Rising
carbon dioxide concentrations are already causing the planet to heat up. At the same time that

greenhouse gases have been increasing, average global temperatures have risen 0.8 degrees
Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1880. (Riebeek, 2011)

Figure 2 Rise of Carbon Dioxide and Global Average Temperature (Graphs by Robert Simmon, using CO2 data from the NOAA
arth System Research Laboratory and temperature data from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies)

Data shown by the research mostly shows that the main concern for the environment is mostly
air pollution which is harmful to health and the rising of the temperature caused by excess of
carbon dioxide. By using non-renewable energy as our primary source of energy, including coal
and oil, we contribute more and more to the environmental problem. Thankfully recently the
topic of renewable energy comes to light in the scientific community. Scientist and engineers are
working together to solve the environmental problem facing the world. One of the ways to

resolve the environmental issue is to use renewable energy as opposed to non-renewable

energy.
Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that is collected from resources which are
naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and
geothermal heat (Ellaban, et al., 2014). Renewable energy is seen as the future of energy
because they can provide energy resources with minimal harmful impact to the environment.
Based on REN21's 2016 report, renewables contributed 19,2 percent to humans' global energy
consumption and 23,7 percent to their generation of electricity in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
This energy consumption is divided as 8.9% coming from traditional biomass, 4.2% as heat
energy (modern biomass, geothermal and solar heat), 3.9% hydro-electricity and 2.2% is
electricity from wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. Worldwide investments in renewable
technologies amounted to more than US$286 billion in 2015, with countries like China and the
United States heavily investing in wind, hydro, solar and biofuels. (REN21, 2016). The next
challenge is how to use renewable energy effectively and find ways to replace non-renewable
energy source with a renewable energy one.
In the next future, after I finish my undergraduate in Bandung Institute of Technology, I am
seriously considering of taking a graduate school. Materials science and engineering covers a
wide range of topics, from metals to semiconductor, from ceramics to polymers. I want to dig
more knowledge about materials science and doing research by going to graduate school.
Lectures given by POSTECH professors about renewable energy and semiconductors, I am
considering to do research about solar cells in particular.
Solar energy is one of the most abundant sources of energy we take for granted. Solar energy
is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of ever-evolving
technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar architecture and
artificial photosynthesis. (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016). Sun shines for most of the time
during the day, it is free and available everywhere therefore the potential is endless. The United
Nations Development Programme in its 2000 World Energy Assessment found that the annual
potential of solar energy was 1,57549,837 exajoules (EJ). This is several times larger than the
total world energy consumption, which was 559.8 EJ in 2012 (United Nations Development
Programme, 2000). This huge amount of energy is there and now we only need some way to
harness it.

Solar cell is an electronic device which converts solar energy to electrical energy. Light creates
both current and voltage to generate electric power. The operation of solar cell includes the
absorption of light, generating electron-hole pair or excitons, the separation of charge carriers of
opposite types and the separate extraction of the carriers to external circuit. When light strikes
two dissimilar materials with different electronic properties, electron-hole pairs are generated.
These photo generated charge carriers are separated at the interface between the two materials
by an internal electric field, resulting in the generation of electrical power. (Contreras & Deb,
2012).
Solar cell has been the hot topic for researchers in recent years. The solar cell technology kept
advancing and thus reducing the cost of solar cell. A law called Swansons Law states that solar
cell prices fall 20% for every doubling of industry capacity (Carr, 2012) As of 2013, the price of
solar cell is $0.74 per watt generated. This of course is beneficial to the public. More and more
people can now afford solar power as their main source of energy. This in turn creates more
demand for solar energy. In fact recent reports suggest that solar power capacity has increased
exponentially since 2005. In 2015, solar power global capacity has reached 227 Gigawatts
(REN21, 2016)

The problem with solar cell technologies is always been the efficiencies of the solar cell and the
cost of production. Many technologies regarding solar cell has been researched to tackle these
issues. First generation solar cell is based on crystalline Silicon and it is reliable and performs
well, which is why it comprise the bulk of solar cell production today (Guillemoles, 2012) Second
generation of solar cells consist of thin film solar cells and organic solar cell and the need for
better efficiency and low cost lead to third generation of solar cells, which do not use traditional
p-n junction to separate photo generated charge carriers. Recent research creates what it is
now called 4th generation solar cells, which use inorganic nano components such as carbon
nanotubes, graphene and its derivatives. (Jayawardena, et al., 2013). The outlook of solar cells
efficiencies are bright, considering the recent research we have achieved. Data from National
Renewable Energy Laboratory shows that the highest efficiencies of solar cells achieved in
2015 is 44% using multijunction cells. The graph also show how efficiencies increase as year
goes by, proving that solar cell research is still developing.

A particular material used in solar cell is considered promising solar cells material. The material
perovskite is a calcium titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium titanate, with the chemical
formula CaTiO3. This structure can be used in Laser, LED but the most used areas is in solar
cells. Recent research by Stanford University scientists of perovskite solar cells show that by

applying pressure to the perovskite can change the properties of this material regarding of light
absorption. This can lead to increasing voltage and dramatic increase of electronic conductivity
of these materials at high pressure. (Shwartz, 2016) I am interested in researching perovskite
solar cell in the future. I believe that solar cell; especially perovskite can have higher efficiencies
and unique properties and also can be produced cheaply for people all around the world.
After I finished my research in solar cells, I would like to come back to Indonesia to build solar
cell industry there. Located right across the equator, Indonesia has much potential for solar
energy. Uniform radiation is achieved throughout Indonesia, in the range of 15 to 20 MJ/m2
(Morrison & Sudjito, 1992). Living in Indonesia, I believe that solar power as primary source of
energy is the key. A lot of Indonesians are still living in the remote village, where electricity is
hard to get. With the abundance of solar power, my dream is to install cheap and convenient
solar energy for these household so they can have electricity. I truly believe that Indonesia has
all the potential for renewable energy consumption and can catch up the first world countries
regarding the use of energy.
In conclusion, the world we live in has a lot of environmental problems. Air pollution, sea
pollution, sound pollution and rising temperature are few of the worries we have today. By using
renewable energy, we can help the environment. Solar energy is one of the main sources of
renewable energy and recent researches on solar cells are looking promising. Solar cells are
getting more and more efficient, cheap, stable and easy to use. I am looking to do research on
perovskite solar cell because of its potential and I want to go back to build Indonesia in terms of
Solar Cell technology.

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