SOLAR

ENERGY
Blessy Joy P. Larida
What is Solar Energy?
Solar energy is the energy received by the earth
from the sun. This energy is in the form of solar
radiation, which makes the production of solar
electricity possible.
Timeline: The History of Solar Energy
• 1838 Discovery of the Solar Photovoltaic Effect – a French physicist named Edmond
Becquerel, only 19 years old at the time, discovered that there is a creation of voltage
when a material is exposed to light.
• 1860 – Auguste Mouchout, used direct conversion of solar radiation into mechanical
power.
• 1876-78 – William Adams, wrote the first book about Solar Energy: A Substitute for Fuel in
Tropical Countries.
• 1883 – The First 1% Efficient Solar Cell is Created - American inventor Charles Fritts came
up with a simple design using selenium on a thin layer of gold to form a device
producing a modest, but nonetheless ground-breaking, 1 per cent efficiency.
• 1895 – Aubrey Eneas formed the first Solar Energy company.
• 1904 – Henry Willsie built 2 huge plants in California to store generated power. He was
the first to successfully use power at night after generating it during the day.
Timeline: The History of Solar Energy
• 1954 The Birth of Photovoltaics – Calvin Fuller, Gerald Pearson, and Daryl Chaplin of Bell
Laboratories discovered the use of silicon as a semi conductor, which led to the
construction of solar panel with an efficiency rate of 6%.
• 1956 – The first commercial solar cell was made available to the public at a very
expensive price, $300 per watt
• 1958 – Vanguard 1 the first satellite was launched that used solar energy to generate
electricity.
• 1985 New Solar Efficiency Record – By 1985, so many incredible things were already
being powered by solar energy, including cars (1955), communications satellites (1962),
a spacecraft (1967) and commercial buildings (1974)
• 2001 Australia Introduces a Renewable Energy Target – Solar power was Australia’s
optimal energy source for the future. Roofs around the country started housing solar
power systems as the market opened up with feed-in tariffs as high as 60c/kWh.
Timeline: The History of Solar Energy
• 2015 The Age of Solar Power
The solar power industry in Australia undergoes rapid growth during this period. As the
cost of fossil fuels continues to rise, solar energy drops to record lows, as does the cost
of rooftop installation.
Almost every gizmo, gadget and environment is capable of harnessing the power of
the sun’s unlimited resources, from luxury cars, to aeroplanes and, in some cases, entire
states and countries!
In 2015, solar power’s future is brighter than ever. And while it’s clear that so much has
already been achieved, we know that solar’s greatest achievements are still yet to
come.
Sunbelt
Types of Solar Energy
•Passive Solar Energy
•Active Solar Energy
•Photovoltaic Solar Energy
•Solar Thermal Energy
Passive Solar Energy
• Is a method in which solar energy is harnessed in its
direct form without using any mechanical devices.

Ex. Drying Clothes, Daylighting

Daylighting
Active Solar Energy
• Employs mechanical or electrical equipment for
functioning and increase system efficiency.

Ex.
Water pumps used to circulate water through the
active solar energy water heating system.
Active Solar Energy
Photovoltaic Energy
• The energy generated by incident solar energy (light)
into electricity is termed as Photovoltaic Solar Power.
This can be done by using Photovoltaic Solar Cell.

• Applications
Solar Electricity
Photovoltaic Solar Lighting
Photovoltaic Cooling
Photovoltaic Energy
Solar Thermal Energy
• Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) – Systems generate solar power by
using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a
receiver. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is
converted to heat (solar thermal energy), which drives a heat
engine(usually a steam turbine) connected to an electrical power
generators or powers a thermochemical reaction.
• Electricity is produced on a large scale by using this technology
Solar Thermal Energy
 SINAG: The First Philippine Solar-
Powered Car
• The first Philippine solar-powered race
car and the first entry of the Philippines
to the World Solar Challenge.
• The design and construction was
undertaken by a group of faculty and
students from the Mechanical
Engineering Department and the
Electronics and Communications
Engineering Department of De La Salle
University.
• The solar car was inaugurated on
January 27, 2007 at NBC Tent, Fort
Bonifacio, Taguig.
PH 5th worldwide, top in Asia in solar
power
• The Philippines ranked No. 1 among
developing countries in Asia in terms
of the use of solar photovoltaic
systems for electricity generation,
according to a Dutch consultancy
firm.
• Rotterdam-based Solar plaza also
ranked the Philippines fifth worldwide,
following Chile, South Africa, Brazil and
Thailand.
• As of June 2017, Solarplaza pegs the
Philippines’ solar power installed
capacity at 900 MW.
Read more: https://business.inquirer.net/243407/ph-5th-worldwide-top-asia-solar-
power#ixzz6CWjbjYVu
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 SOLAR PHILIPPINES Tarlac Corp.
• SOLAR PHILIPPINES has started
operating its Tarlac solar farm, which
has contracted its output to Manila
Electric Co. (Meralco) at P2.9999 per
kilowatt-hour to make it the lowest cost
power plant in the country.

• Tarlac solar farm has a full capacity of

150 megawatts (MW), allowing it to
help address the Luzon grid’s power
shortage, which in recent days has
ranged from 100 MW to 200 MW.
Pros and Cons of Solar Energy
Pros Cons
• Renewable Energy Source • Weather Dependent
• Reduces Electricity Bills • Solar Energy Storage is
• Diverse Applications Expensive
• Low Maintenance Costs • Uses a Lot of Space
• Technology Development • Associated with Pollution