Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion

Technologies, Applications and Environmental Impacts

Shiva Gorjian, Ashish Shukla, Shiva Gorjian, Ashish Shukla

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780128226414
• Topic: Naturwissenschaften
• Subtopic: Energie

Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion - Technologies, Applications and Environmental Impacts features comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge on the photovoltaic solar energy conversion technology and describes its different aspects in the context of most recent scientific and technological advances. It also provides an insight into future developments in this field by covering four distinct topics include "PV Cells and Modules", "Applications of PV Systems", "Life Cycle and Environmental Impacts" and "PV Market and Policies".

• An up-to-date reference book on the advances of photovoltaic solar energy conversion technology
• Describes different aspects of PV and PVT technologies in a comprehensive way
• Provides information on design, development, and monitoring of PV systems
• Covers applications of PV and PVT systems in the urban, industry, and agriculture sectors
• Features new concepts, environmental impacts, market and policies of the PV technology

Chapter 1: Introduction

Shiva Gorjian^a; Hossein Ebadi^{b a} Biosystems Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran, Iran
^b Biosystems Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Energy production and consumption are still among the main focal points of mitigating actions against climate change. Global energy demand increased by about 2.3% in 2018, which was the highest rise in a decade. This growing demand was due to strong worldwide economic growth of 3.7% and higher cooling and heating demands in some regions around the world. Therefore, a rise in fossil fuel consumption brought global growth in carbon-based emissions, usually as carbon dioxide (CO₂), from energy providers to 1.7% during the year. In recent years, renewable energy technologies have received remarkable support through policies targeting deployment as well as adaptation. Solar photovoltaic (PV) is currently the mainstream option in the power sector with a growing number of countries generating their electricity from this technology. The annual global market for solar PV is around 100 GW (including on- and off-grid), accounting for 55% of the renewable capacity. Although this is a promising trend, bolder policy decisions are still required across all sectors of energy to make the energy systems sustainable.

Keywords

Renewable energy; Power generation; Solar energy; Solar PV; Energy systems

1.1: Introduction

The world is undergoing a global crisis because of increasing population, with an extra 1.7 billion people expected to be added by 2040. This will increase energy demand by more than a quarter, mostly driven by developing nations. Improvement in new energy sectors has decreased the relentless appetite for conventional energy sources, although robust data still suggest a continuous increase in coal, oil, and natural gas production. Based on the conclusion of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its annual “World Energy Outlook” report (2018) [1], meeting future energy demands seems implausible to fulfill climate goals, unless governments take serious and forceful steps to employ carbon-free sources. The report warns that if the current policies scenario (CSP), the set of active policies in today's world, remains constant, energy security will be strained from almost all aspects. However, the gap between the outcome and the sustainable development scenario remains huge in addressing goals to halt climate change. Therefore, governments may be the only game-changer in making decisions for the future.

Data analyses estimate that there was a 1.6% rise in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) released from the energy sector in 2017 globally, with this trend possibly causing millions of premature deaths per year as the fallout. Being aware of the tragedy behind the consequences of current policy measures, people are directing a global march toward clean energy at a higher but not sufficient pace. However, the coincidence of three main changes—the drastic cost reduction in renewable energy technologies, the emergence of digital applications, and the growing role of electricity—has triggered a notable prospect for meeting sustainable development goals.

The deployment of renewable energy systems into the global energy mix is an essential and beneficiary tool in world progress strategy. Renewable energy sources are extensively distributed around the world, and every nation can harness a substantial share. The integration of these green sources with economic developments in remote and less-developed areas contributes to financial improvements, thanks to alleviating migration from rural regions and easing social problems. In this regard, considering current challenges and new advances in technology associated with economic issues and environmental impacts is crucial.

1.1.1: Basic energy concepts

Energy is a conventional concept that may be remembered by definitions such as “the potential for causing change,” and “the capacity to do work.” Energy comes in different forms such as thermal, chemical, mechanical, electrical, etc. There is also the term power that indicates “the rate at which energy is transformed, used or transferred.” The source is the matter that energy comes from, and the mass of matter is proportional to the amount of energy transformed as work [2]. Some of the primary energy concepts are introduced in this section, as follows:

• • Energy conversion is the transformation from one form to another, which is a common occurrence in nature. Sometimes there is a conversion process chain between a set of energy forms that means, in this process, that more than one form of energy has resulted from the device. In other cases, energy may be converted through several ways to yield the desired format [3].
• • Energy efficiency comes as a measure to estimate the amount of output from a given input of energy. In a broader description from the European Union (EU) Energy Efficiency Directive (2015) [4]; “It means the ratio of the output of performance, service, goods, or energy to the input of energy.”
• • Energy flow refers to the flow of energy through different processes from the primary source to the final form of energy [5].
• • Energy balance is a set of relations considering input and output energies in forms of supply, generation, consumption, and loss in a processor stage. This can be used as a technique providing overviews for analyzing energy positions such as management, optimization, and energy auditing tools.
• • Traditional energy or traditional resource is another name for fossil fuels, which are nonrenewable resources and are formed by rotting animals and plants buried under rock layers over millions of years. Three main types of traditional resources are coal, oil, and natural gas [5].
• • Commercial energy includes sources of energy that have been monetarized, which are usually based on fossil fuels. However, there are some renewable forms of energy that are cost-competitive and have a considerable share of the world economy [5].
• • Cogeneration is defined as the sequential use of energy to generate two different forms of energy originating from a primary source. In most cogeneration cases, electricity and heat are generated from the same process, and the overall efficiency of energy use can be as high as 85% [6].
• • Gross energy requirement (GER) can be defined as the accumulation of resources coming from all nonrenewable energy forms that are used in yielding a product or service; it is denoted as the ratio between energy units and the physical unit of product or service delivered. GER is a metric tool to evaluate the consumption of nonrenewable resources. It exhibits the share of exhaustion of the Earth's inherited supply of nonrenewable energy in the manufacturing procedure of a product or service [7].
• • Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are a set of gases that accumulate in the lower layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, and absorb infrared radiation, which contributes to increasing the average temperature of the Earth's surface [8].
• • Renewable energy comes from natural and renewable sources that are known as nonpollutant sources. These are continuously replenished and have a high capacity for being implemented in rural and remote areas with no access to local power grids [9].

1.1.2: Energy economics

The energy sector plays a crucial role in the entire economy, and what is known as stability or vibrancy is affected by energy under different states such as job creation, environmental considerations, and energy efficiency [7]. With the advent of concerns over climate change and its severe impacts on human welfare and the environment, policymakers and law enforcement are compelled to shift from fossil-based fuels to renewable energy systems. As the energy sector's contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) is 6% on average, governments must maximize the benefits of renewable energy deployment for their national economy [10]. Under world energy scenarios focusing on future energy, global energy consumption is predicted to undergo an annual 1.2% increase from 2010 to 2050. This energy consumption supports the economic...