Solar Energy- Photovoltaic Cells

Amelia Romero

PV Cells can replace…

Coal is dug upand sent ontrains andboats.

The trains andboats deliverthe coal to thepower plant.

The coal isburned to heatwater to makesteam.

Inside thegenerator, thesteam spins abig fan called

a turbine.

Mining-

TransportationWhere does the water go? – Thermal Pollution??

Improvements could bring the costdown from $1.90 to $2.10 per watt to $1.65 per watt.

Indirect emissions of coal other fossil fuels used to generate the electricity for PV manufacturing facilities.

It takes power to make powerManufacturing a photovoltaic

• The energy balance of a PV system is expressed by the Energy Pay-Back Time (EPBT), which is the time it takes for the PV system to generate the amount of energy equal to that used in its production.

–EPBT varies according to site

EPBT of a PV system varies between 1-6 yearsGreenhouse gas emissions in PV life-cycleCO2

Heavy metal emissions in PV life-cycleHeavy metals are emitted directly during the manufacturing process

– Cadmium

Round-mounted installations in the U.S., subjected to an insolation of 1,800 kW/yr, EPBT was calculated to be only 1.1 years

Advantages

• Lower your utility bills• quiet, reliable, fossil-fuel

free• avoids greenhouse gas

emissions• can operate for many years

with little maintenance or intervention after their initial set-up

• locally available renewable resource.

Disadvantages

• Cost• location (climate and

clouds)– Dependent on the sun.

• Space (batteries and solar panels)

• Disposal • Transportation of the parts• Manufacturing

Works Cited• http://www.gosolarinarizona.com/solar/photovoltaic(PV)solar/what-is-a-s

olar-power-system.asp• http://www.solardirect.com/pv/pvlist/pvlist.htm• http://www.solarenergy-solarpower.com/disadvantages-of-solar-panels.ht

ml• http://www.cetonline.org/Renewables/PV_pro_con.php• http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=engineering-silicon-sol

ar-cells• http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=solar-cells-prove-clean

er-way-to-produce-power• http://www.leonardo-energy.org/emissions-photovoltaic-manufacturing