1 Introduction

1.1 Energy conversion

In Spain the average power provided by the sun (day and night) per square metre is
180W/m
2
. Assume a Spanish person would have a solar panel with an eciency of
20%, what is the averaged power in W (day and night) that you can utilize per square
metre?
Since the power provided by the sun in Spain is 180W/m
2
and the solar panel has
an eciency of 20% then only 20% can be utilized from the provided power. at is
0.2180=36W/m
2
.
Lets consider under these Spanish irradiance conditions a solar-thermal systemof
40% eciency. We assume for the moment that the heat energy collected is used to
run a heat engine, which turns a generator to produce electricity. e eciency of the
heat engine is 45% and the eciency of the electrical generator is 90%. What is the
maximumpower (in W) that you can utilize per square metre using this solar-thermal
system?
In this exercise you have to understand the energy conversion path. Each interme-
diate conversion accounts for a certain loss. e solar energy is converted to heat, the
heat is converted to mechanical energy, the mecahnical energy is converted to electrical
energy. To answer this question you have to multiply the eciencies of the intermediate
conversion steps by the power provided by the sun. at is 0.40.450.9180=29.16W.
1.2 Photovoltaics
e eciency of an array of solar modules with area 10m
2
is 15%. Assuming that the
sun delivers a power per square metre of 1000W/m
2
, what is the peak power produced
by the array of solar modules in W?
e power delivered by the sun is 1000W/m2. A solar module can covert only 15%
of this into usable power. at is 0.151000=150W/m2. So 150W can be exploited by 1
square metre. erefore an array of 10m2 can convert 10150=1500 W.
Let us consider an installed PV system of 1kW rating with an annual energy yield
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of 850 kWh. is PV system has a total cost of 1500. If the cost of electricity from the
grid is 0.23/kWh, in how many years does the system pay its initial costs back? You
may assume that the cost of electrcity does not change over time.
Let the PV system pay its initial costs back in x years. Total energy yield of the PV
system in x years: 850x kWh. Total costs saved by not relying on the grid for these
x years: 0.23850x As the initial PV system costs are paid back in year x, we have:
1500=0.23850x. x=15000.23850=7.67 years.
1.3 Status and prospects of PV technology
NOTE: e power that a certain PV module delivers is usually expressed by its nom-
inal power, which is expressed in watt-peak (Wp). e nominal power is the power
delivered under certain specifc conditions: module temperature of 25oC, an irradi-
ance of 1000W/m2 and a spectrum similar to the sunlight hitting the earths surface at
latitude 35N in the summer (air mass = 1.5).
Imagine we have a PV plant with an installed capacity of 1MWp in New Delhi, In-
dia, where the averaged solar insolation at the earth surface is 4.5kWh/m2/day. If we
assume that the total losses in the generated electricity due to various systeminecien-
cies in the power plant amount to 20%, how much MWh/day are generated?
e energy produced will be calculated as the power multiplied by the equivalent sun
hours. e equivalent sun hours (ESH) are calculated by dividing the irradiation at that
particular location by the standard irradiation of 1000W/m2:
ESH=4.5kWh/m2/day1kW/m2=4.5h/day e total energy produced, including the
20% losses will be:
E=1MWp4.5h/day0.8=3.6MWh/day
In India the total amount of electricity generated is 922TWh per year. e total
installed PV capacity in India in 2011 was 1700MWp. What percentage of the total
electricity generation is covered by PV? (Take also into account the energy losses from
the previous question).
e total energy produced by solar in India will be obtained by multiplying the in-
stalled capacity by the energy obtained aer losses (80%)and the equivalent sun hours.
To calculate the percentage that it represents in the total mix, this energy will be divided
2
by the total electricity demand
Solar(%)=0.81700MWp4.5h/day365days/year922TWh/year*100=0.24%
e world-wide installed hydro-electricty power in 2010 was 1010GW. e world-
wide total amount of electricity generated is 20200TWh per year. Assume a capac-
ity factor for hydro-power of 40%. What percentage of the total electricity generation
world-wide is covered by hydro-power?
e capacity factor describes the percentage of time that the power installation is
running at rated capacity over a certain period of time. For example, a capacity of factor
50% means that the power plant will produce half the energy at rated capacity over a
certain period. erefore, the energy produced by the hydroelectric installations will be:
E=1010GW24h0.4=9696GWh/day e percentage would be then:
Hydro(%)=9696GWh365days/year20200TWh/year100=17.5%
e world-wide installed nuclear power in 2010 was 380GW. Assume a capacity
factor for nuclear power of 90%. What percentage of the total electricity generation
world-wide is covered by nuclear power?
e capacity factor describes the percentage of time that the power installation is
running at rated capacity over a certain period of time. erefore, the energy produced
by the nuclear installations will be:
E=380GW24h0.9=8208GWh/day e percentage would be then:
Nuclear(%)=8208GWh365days/year20200TWh/year100=14.8%
1.4 Solar light
Whats the ratio between the path length of sunlight through the atmosphere if the sun
is directly overhead (=0) and when the sun is =30 overhead?
e ratio between these two path lenghts is actually the defnition of the cosine:
x/y=cos(30)=0.866
What is the corresponding air mass for =30?
e air mass can be calculated as:
AM=1/cos()=1/cos(30)=10.866=1.15
What is the ratio between the path length at an air mass 1.5 and the path length at
an air mass 2?
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Figure 1: AirMass.
Figure 2: AirMass2.
cos(1)/cos(2)=a/x=a/y=y/x x/y=cos(2)/cos(1)=1/cos(1)1/cos(2)=1.52=0.75
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