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12/08/2015
The most prominent sectors for GHG emissions in US are the electric power
industry (33%), followed by transportation (28%), then industry (20%), and
commercial and residential combined (11%). Solar power is a possible
alternative for all these sectors. The GHG emissions from solar energy are almost
zero. It is estimated that if people switched from conventional fossil fuel-burning
power plants to solar cells, air pollution would be cut by roughly 90
percent. This makes it a very lucrative alternate energy option.
However, it is a fact that it takes energy to save energy. The term "energy
payback" captures this idea. Energy in some for or the other is utilized for
manufacturing the solar cells and setting up the solar power plants. This energy
utilization generates to Co2 emissions and pollution during the making of the
system. Energy payback estimates for rooftop PV systems are 4, 3, 2, and 1
years: 4 years for systems using current multicrystalline-silicon PV modules, 3
years for current thin-film modules, 2 years for anticipated multicrystalline
modules, and 1 year for anticipated thin-film modules. With energy paybacks
of 1 to 4 years and assumed life expectancies of 30 years, 87% to 97%
of the energy that PV systems generate won't be plagued by pollution,
greenhouse gases, and depletion of resources.
With today's commercial systems, the solar energy resource in a 100-by-100mile area of Nevada could supply the United States with all of its electricity. If
these systems were distributed to the 50 states, the land required from each
state would be an area of about 17 by 17 miles. This area is available now from
parking lots, rooftops, and vacant land. In fact, 90% of America's current
electricity needs could be supplied with solar electric systems built on the
estimated 5 million acres of abandoned industrial sites in our nation's cities.
Global solar PV power capacity grew from about 2.2 GW in 2002 to 100 GW
in 2012. From 2007 to 2012, it grew 10 times over, from 10 GW to 100 GW.
Germany accounted for nearly one third of global solar PV capacity at the end of
2012. Italy (16%) and Germany (32%) combined accounted for nearly
half of global solar PV capacity.
The price of solar PV panels dropped about 100 times over from 1977 to 2012.
Since 2008, the price of solar PV panels has dropped about 80%.
Under laboratory conditions and with current state-of-the-art technology, it is
possible to produce single crystal silicon solar cells close to 25% efficient.
However, commercially mass produced cells are typically only 13-14%
efficient.
The price of solar PV panels dropped about 100 times over from 1977 to
2012. Since 2008, the price of solar PV panels has dropped about 80%.
Saudi Arabian power company ACWE, with some $24 billion in assets, set a world
record low for the price of solar in the worlds largest tender. Its CEO, Paddy
Padmanathan, told RenewEconomy in an interview on Monday that the price of
solar will fall by at least a third in coming years. He expects at least half of the
140,000GW of power capacity to be installed in the Middle East and north Africa
in the coming decade to be solar.
Padmanathan predicts that solar could extend its reach of grid parity to 80
per cent of global markets within the next two years, assuming a 40 per
cent cut in solar costs by the end of 2017.
In the US, photovoltaic (PV) panels will see an average of 45 hours per day of
full sun, so the effective capacity of solar power generation is 4.5/24, or about
20%. In 2011, statistics showed that US installed solar power, PV and thermal,
totaled 4.9 GW, which produced 7454 GWh of energy. If the sun were always
freely from the city centre and the North Adelaide, and will also offer air
conditioning and WiFi to its 40 passengers.
The USA has 4.3 million km (2.7 m miles) of paved roads.(8) A podcar network 4
meters wide and 1 million miles (1.6 m km) long, about 37% of the paved
road in the USA, would produce a terawatt of electricity. Based on an
average solar capacity factor of about 20%, this network would produce around
1,800 TeraWatt-hours per year o half of the 3,700 TWh of electricity generated in
the USA.
Few Marine applications:
Japan's biggest shipping line Nippon Yusen KK and Nippon Oil Corporation said
solar panels capable of generating 40 kilowatts of electricity would be placed on
top of a 60,213 ton car carrier ship to be used by Toyota Motor Corporation.
In 2010, the Tranor PlanetSolar, a 30 metre long, 15.2 metre
wide catamaran yacht powered by 470 square metres of solar panels, was
unveiled. It is, so far, the largest solar-powered boat ever built. ] In 2012,
PlanetSolar became the first ever solar electric vehicle to circumnavigate the
globe.
In the case of climb the car could lift itself up a grade at only 0.33 m/s (6000 J to lift
the car one meter, 2000 J/s of power available). At a 5 percent grade the car would
slow down to 6.7 m/s, or 15 miles per hourin full sun.
As can be seen from the above data family car being run directly and
smoothly by solar power seems an impractical dream.
Analysis of some production models as examples, the Volt, Leaf, and Tesla
carry batteries rated at 16, 24, and 53 kWh, respectively:
Lets assume we have installed PV panels to provide the required power and
allowable charging time as one day. A typical location in the continental U.S.
receives an average of 5 full-sun hours per day.
This means that factoring in day/night, angle of the sun, season, and weather, a
typical panel will gather as much energy in a day as it would have if the high-noon
sun persisted for five hours.
To charge the Volt, then, would require an array capable of 3kW of peak
power.
The Tesla would require a 10 kW array to provide a daily charge.
A typical electric car requires about 30 kWh per 100 miles driven. Avg daily
miles driven = 30 miles, therefore 10kWh will be needed for a daily trip. This will
require a 2 kW PV system.
Cost Analysis:
For 30 miles per day with 40mpg efficiency for the vehicle annual gas cost would be
1000$.
Present cost of PV panel $4 per watt. Hence, for 2kW system cost= $8000.
Payback for the gas prices = 8 years.
Alternately if we consider the scenario where we could charge the car battery by
plugging it to battery bank charged by solar power and have several days of reliable
juice, battery bank of 3050 kWh will be needed. At $100 per kWh for lead-acid, this
adds something like $4,000 to the cost of your system. Considering the low life of
battery and assuming they last 35 years and the fact that bigger bank has
shallower cycles, and will therefore tolerate more of these and last longer, but for
higher up-front cost. The net effect is that the stationary battery bank will
cost about $1,000 per year which is equal to the fuel cost.
Sun Swift solar car (eve):
The eve car discussed in the above applications of car cost approximately $500,000
Technical Specification (eve)
Weight
299.371 Kg
Length: 4.5 metres (15 ft)
Dimensions
Width: 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in)
Height: 1.1 metres (3 ft 7 in)
4-square-metre (43 sq ft) permanent array
Solar
with a 2-square-metre (22 sq ft) auxiliary
Cells/Array
array. All cells are monocrystalline silicon with
an approximate efficiency of 23%
Chassis
Maximum
speed
We can safely deduce from the above calculations that solar power for
transportation is definitely not a cost effective option at present. It is not viable for
the private transport. However as the cost of the panels drops down and the cost of
fossil fuels shoots up use of solar power as a source of energy for public transport
might be practical. Economics of scale and possible government intervention
in this case make it favorable and viable option.
Environmental Factors:
While solar power certainly is less polluting than fossil fuels, some problems do
exist. Some manufacturing processes are associated with greenhouse gas
emissions.
Nitrogen trifluroide and sulfur hexafluoride has been traced back to the
production of solar panels. These are some of the most potent greenhouse gases
and have many thousand times the impact on global warming compared to
carbon dioxide.
Nitrogen trifluoride is 17,000 times more virulent than CO2, and SF6, the most
treacherous greenhouse gas, is over 23,000 times more threatening.
Transportation and installation of solar power systems can also indirectly cause
pollution.
Certain solar cells require materials that are expensive and rare in nature. This is
especially true for thin-film solar cells that are based on either cadmium telluride
(CdTe) or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS).
Most estimates of life-cycle emissions for photovoltaic systems are between
0.07 and 0.18 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour.
Most estimates for concentrating solar power range from 0.08 to 0.2 pounds of
carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour. In both cases, this is far less than
the lifecycle emission rates for natural gas (0.6-2 lbs of CO2E/kWh) and coal
(1.4-3.6 lbs of CO2E/kWh).
If we average only 4 hours of peak daylight hours (1460 hours per year), this
gives us: 9.19 Billion Kilowatts x 1460 hours =
13424295514511873.350923482849604 Kilowatt-hours (or) 13,424 Billion
Kilowatt-hours of electricity.
The average cost of asphalt roads in 2006 was roughly $16 per square foot. The
cost does not include maintenance (pot hole repair, repainting lines, etc.) or
snow/ice removal. The average lane width is 12 feet, so a 4 lane highway would
be 12' (width per lane) x 4 (lanes) x 5280' (one mile) = 253440 square feet.
Multiply this by $16 per square foot and your one-mile stretch of asphalt
highway will cost $4,055,040.00 and will last an average of seven
years.
It is planned to design the Solar Roadway to last at least 21 years
(three times that of asphalt roads), at which time the panels would need to be
refurbished. Adding no additional cost to the current asphalt system, this will
allow us to invest about $48 ($16 x 3) per square foot. This means that if each
individual panel can be made for no more than $6912.00, then the
Solar Roadway can be built for the same cost as current asphalt roads.
Conclusion:
In my opinion based on the study done solar power is definitely the most enticing
source of renewable energy in the long run. However I dont see solar power making
a major dent in the energy distribution in at least next 10 years. The progress in
solar technology is very encouraging but the market dynamics and cost is
hampering the practical application.
Specifically for the transportation segment solar energy is
theoretically the solution for all problems, but the solution is obtained by
assuming unrealistic values for many involved variables.
As seen from the calculation completely and directly solar powered personal car can
be termed as myth. However with when coupled with battery storage though costly
might work. Considering these facts I believe as the cost of the panels drops down
(22% cost reduction per doubling of production volume) and the cost of fossil fuels
shoots up use of solar power as a source of energy for public transport might be
practical. Economics of scale and possible government intervention in this case
make it favorable and viable option.
The bottom line is this: Theres nothing thats completely risk-free in the
energy world, but solar power compares very favorably with all other
technologies.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_car
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/adelaide-creates-worlds-first-solar-poweredpublic-transport-system-32530
http://www.ecotopia.com/ases/solar2012/ases2012prt100pctsolar.pdf
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/01/29/solar-costs-will-fall-40-next-2-years-heres/
http://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/design/efficiency-and-cost
http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/01/24/myths-and-facts-about-solarenergy/192364#pollution
http://energyinformative.org/solar-energy-pros-and-cons/#renewable
http://www.solarroadways.com
http://www.fastcompany.com/3034687/new-jersey-is-testing-solar-power-commuterpods
http://www.abb-conversations.com/2013/12/7-impressive-solar-energy-facts-charts/
http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/11/a-solar-powered-car/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_vehicle