Audrey Kabel

October 27, 2013

GEO 380
Problem #6 & 7
Solar Power and its Applications
For many centuries now, the United States, and a majority of the world, has been using
fossil fuels to produce power- for our homes, cars, and many other things. However, as time goes
on, it is becoming increasingly obvious that fossil fuels are both harming our environment, and
running out. Currently, we are in limbo- trying to decrease our independence on fossil fuels, and
yet at the same time trying to find a new source of power. Many believe that solar power is the
best source to turn to. Already, there is technology that allows us to harness the energy from the
sun. While it is effective to some extent, more work still needs to be done to help us improve the
use of solar power, and forever eliminate the dependence on fossil fuels.
Many have discussed the gathering of solar energy through the use of photovoltaic arrays.
These arrays harness the energy of the sun through the use of band gaps. Band gap energy refers
to the minimum amount of energy required to eject an electron from the crystal structure
(Wolfson, 2012). Inside these photovoltaic cells, there are semiconductors, usually made of
silicon. These semiconductors are between good conductors and good insulators, and they
conduct electricity when a few electrons are freed when they enter interatomic bonds (Wolfson,
2012). This creates a hole, which acts as a positive charge, moving through the material and
creating an electric current. Often, we manipulate the electrical properties of silicon by doping
it, or inserting another element into the mix, leaving more free electrons to help create an
electrical current. A semiconductor that has excess free electrons is an N-type semiconductor

because the majority of the electrons are negatively

charged. Likewise, a P-type semiconductor is named so
due to having predominantly positively charged
electrons. Figure 1 demonstrates how a solar cell is
arranged.
Solar energy, while the supply is there, most of the
time there are few places that it is concentrated enough
to produce ample power. There have been many
Figure 1: The arrangement of solar
panels and the solar cells within
them.

attempts in the United States and around the world to

intensify the amount of energy we receive from the sun,

due to the large demand for power. Some of these attempts include parabolic dish systems, power
towers, trough concentrators, and solar chimneys. Each of these employs their own method of
intensifying the suns rays to produce energy.
However, even though the supply of solar energy we receive from the sun far outweighs
the demand, one problem we do have with it is that in order for solar power to be most efficient,
sunlight needs to be heated to high temperatures- over 100 C (Wolfson, 2012). Due to this,
several concentration strategies have been developed, most involving mirrors. Lens could also be
used, but due to their fragile and expensive nature, lenses arent typically used in solar
concentration (Wolfson, 2012).
The first solar concentration strategy is known as a parabolic dish, or parabolic reflector.
This method involves bringing sunlight to a point, which causes the suns rays to be heated up to
thousands of Kelvins, and is the most efficient among the concentration strategies (Wolfson,

2012). These dishes are pointed towards the sun for maximum effect, which involves a steering
mechanism that allows them to pivot. In a similar fashion, solar troughs concentrate solar rays to
a line, rather than a point. However, the troughs heat the rays to a lower temperature, due to them
being concentrated over a larger area. These devices have already been implemented in some
places in the United States, but due to them needing a large area, they havent been widely used.
Another type of concentrator is the solar tower. These solar power plants use flat, suntracking mirrors called heliostats to focus sunlight onto an absorber located at a central tower
(Wolfson, 2012). This produces steam- either directly in the tower or indirectly through a heattransfer fluid. There were a few towers located in the California desert during the 1980s and
1990s, but since then Spain has become the leader in solar towers and their efficiency (Wolfson,
2012). Another bit of technology used to concentrate solar rays is known as the solar chimney,
and is also sometimes referred to as a solar tower. Solar chimneys use greenhouse-like areas that
surround a central, chimney-like tower. The heat generated would rush up the tower, activating
the internal turbines, thus generating electric power. However, these chimneys are incredibly
expensive, and are not as efficient as the other methods of concentration.
In recent times, the solar field has taken off. There have been many new developments,
including the possibility of solar vehicles. The Solar Impulse plane and Turanor Planet Solar, the
largest solar boat, have both broken records and have made strides in showing that solar powered
transportation may one day be a reality (BBC, 2013). On top of that, Alion Energy has developed
robots to help aid in the installation, upkeep, and cleaning of solar panels (Cardwell, 2013). This
would make some of the hidden costs to large solar fields diminish, and make it easier for those
who install them to properly take care of them, not to mention making them more competitive
with fossil fuels.

Speaking of the solar panels, scientists have also recently discovered a way to make them
more efficient, and cheaper than the ones we use now. Research conducted by the Nanyang
Technological University has shown that these new organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite material
panels are about five times cheaper than the panels we use currently (Phys.org, 2013). The use of
these new panels could very well kick-start a wider usage of solar technology.
However, perhaps the largest possible breakthrough in solar technology in the future
would be able to harness the suns energy before it reaches the Earths atmosphere. The suns
rays become distorted as it passes through the atmosphere, weakening the intensity. Some
suggest that the use of satellites in space to directly capture this energy and send it to Earth
would solve our greenhouse gas issue entirely (NSS, 2012). However, this is a technology still in
development, and may not be ready for quite some time. One day, this very well could help
produce clean energy for our planet.
Although the use of solar power is a relatively new and developing field in energy, with
the improving technology in the next few years, it is very possible we could be on the verge of a
breakthrough in the fight against the use of fossil fuels. Solar energy, while expensive right now,
could become cheaper in the coming years as the demand increases and the technology becomes
more advanced. Soon, the use of fossil fuels will be a thing of the past, and we will be well on
our way to improving our planet for many generations to come.

Works Cited

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 2013. Solar-power vehicles pushing boundaries of

possibility http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130912-solar-powered-record-breakers (Accessed
October 29, 2013).
Cardwell, Diane. October 14, 2013. A Staff of Robots Can Clean and Install Solar Panels. New
York Times.
National Space Society (NSS), 2012. Space Solar Power: Limitless clean energy from space
http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/ (Accessed October 29, 2013).
Phys.org, 2013. Scientists make breakthrough solar technology http://phys.org/news/2013-10scientists-breakthrough-solar-technology.html (Accessed October 29, 2013).
Wolfson, R. Energy, Environment, and Climate. New York. W.W. Norton & Company.