Solar power needs more efficient materials than silicon

Solar power industry is the fastest growing industry in the whole world but solar is yet far away from fulfilling its destiny in becoming a world's primary source of energy. One of the reasons why solar power still finds it hard to replace fossil fuels is the solar panel efficiency.

Silicon is material predominantly used in solar panel production. Today's solar panels made out of silicon can achieve maximum efficiency of around 24% which means that majority of sunlight gets wasted and is turned into a heat instead of electricity.

The researchers are in constant search of new materials that could replace silicon. The latest interesting Bloomberg study claims that this new material could be perovskite, a calcium titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium titanate, that is found in Earth's mantle.

The experimental solar cells made from perovskite are already nearing the level of those made out of the silicon. Considering that this is an experimental technology the rate of progress in the lab has been astonishing.

The experimental solar cells made from perovskite were able to convert more than 20 percent of sunlight into power and the potential is enormous. In fact, researchers already believe that using perovskite in hybrid solar cell should result in efficiency of more than 40%.

The perovskite solar cells could be produced by using a printing process and researchers claim that the cost of manufacturing process could be reduced to below a third of silicon-based cells.

Solar cells made out of perovskite can absorb the spectrum of light that silicon-based cells can't reach, meaning that a hybrid cell could convert close to 30 percent of sunlight into electricity.

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Is facing solar panels south really the most efficient?

The conventional wisdom when installing solar panels says that by facing them south you achieve the maximum efficiency. But is this really always the case or not?

The recent energy studies argue that this popular thesis might be wrong and that south might actually be the wrong way for installing solar panels on your homes. The most recent study on this topic comes from United Kingdom. Professor Ralph Gottshalg of Loughborough University claims that too many solar panels are facing in the wrong direction resulting in the fact that "grid is disrupted on sunny summer lunchtimes with a flood of solar power so cheap it has to be almost given away."

In Germany, for instance, new solar installations are faced east-west in order to smooth the supply of power during the day and hinder spikes of power at midday.

The last year study by the researchers from the University of Austin, Texas also come with the rather surprising conclusion that solar panels facing west may achieve better efficiency than those faced south. The homeowners in Austin who faced their panels west were able to generate more electricity each day, and also in the afternoon, when power grids reach peak demand.

Professor Michael Walls, of Loughborough University says that "to maximise the amount of power produced by those panels, facing south is correct but if you have the solar panels facing east-west then you can even out the power during the day."

In other words, if all solar panels are facing south, the result is peak power at midday which is very difficult for the grid to cope with. The wise thing for new solar panel installations would be to face them east-west so they could smooth out the supply of power from all installed solar panels.

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US demand for solar to reach record levels

U.S. solar energy industry is set for very bright future. The latest Solarbuzz report predicts that the demand for solar panels in United States in 2013 will grow by more than 20% than compared to 2012, reaching a record high of 4.3 gigawatts (GW).

The second quarter of 2013 should account for 1 GW, with almost three quarters of new installations coming from four states: California, Arizona, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

The majority of new solar installations refers to  the utility-dominated ground-mount segment that should account for 68% this quarter with  residential and small commercial rooftop solar panel installations accounting for 18% and the remaining 14% referring to large commercial rooftops.

Solarbuzz predicts that large solar energy projects in top solar energy markets such as Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas will push US demand above 2.5 GW during the second half of 2013.

The demand for solar panels on US market should exceed 5 GW in 2014, representing a staggering 70% compound annual growth rate since 2009.

The strong demand for solar energy is driven by favorable incentives and specific mandates deployed in many of U.S. states. The main reason why solar energy is today the fastest industry in the nation is because of the mix of federal incentives and aggressive renewable portfolio standards.

There have been some fears that this strong surge in demand could lead to over-supply that would threaten the new solar PV investments and thus hinder the future solar energy growth in United States. So far, everything is well for US solar though US solar energy market still remains heavily dependent on strong PV demand from a small group of states that lead the way.

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Solar panel installation – Positives and negatives

Solar energy is currently enjoying tremendous popularity from all over the globe and there are many homeowners who are interested in installing solar panels. Therefore let us discuss the positives and negatives of installing solar panels.

Solar panel positives: 

Solar panels do not create harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change nor do they create water and air pollution like this is the case with currently dominant fossil fuels. Thus, installing solar panels belongs to environmentally friendly ways to generate electricity for your house hold.

Solar panels harness the almost unlimited energy from our Sun. Solar energy is the most abundant form of energy available on our planet and the potential of solar energy is almost limitless.

It is easy to maintain solar panels and the costs connected with their maintenance are minimal because there are no moving parts.

Solar panels operate extremely silently meaning they are not connected with big noise levels like this is sometimes case with large wind turbines.

It isn't difficult to install solar panels (the most important factor when installing them is choosing the right location).

Favorable tax incentives and rebates to homeowners for using solar panels are available in many countries from all over the world. Many U.S. states offer tax benefits for both residential as well as commercial solar panel applications.

The prices of solar panels are constantly decreasing- it has been said that in the last three years the prices of solar panels have declined by approximately 70 % meaning that solar energy could soon reach cost parity with fossil fuels.

You don't have to buy all required solar panels upfront but can instead buy them gradually meaning you don't have to make an instant multi-thousand-dollar investment.

Solar panels do not lose much of their efficiency during their lifespan of 20+ years.

The typical warranty for solar panels lasts 25-30 years which is more than enough for average homeowner to achieve money savings on the long run.

Solar panel negatives: 

Solar panels are still connected with significant costs, even despite the recent decline in prices. The price of solar panel rooftop system in United States for average home is currently in average at around $15,000.

Solar panels have relatively low efficiency because lot of sunlight gets wasted and turned into heat. Today's average solar panels achieve efficiency of 15-18% meaning that there is a great room for improvement. If not installed properly solar panel can become overheated leading to major decline in its efficiency.

Solar panels are made of several materials that are not environmentally friendly which means that they are in need of proper recycling in order to avoid environmental damage. The recycling of old solar panels could lead to environmental damage if not done carefully because of silicon, cadmium, selenium and sulfur hexafluoride (a potent greenhouse gas), all of which can be found in solar panels and released during the recycling.

Not all areas in the world have the adequate solar insolation values to effectively harness solar energy.

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Solar energy is free but solar panels are not

Solar energy is there, free for use, to anyone, because nobody owns the sun. While solar energy is free, solar panels are not, in fact they are still very expensive, and this is the reason why fossil fuels still very much dominate global energy market.

The global popularity of solar energy continues to grow but even among the proponents of solar energy there aren't that many of those who are ready to pay significantly higher energy bills for more solar energy instead of fossil fuels. We all know that our reliance on fossil fuels creates massive environmental damage, mostly in form of climate change and pollution, and yet when it comes to paying extra for more clean energy we seem to forget all about our planet's environmental condition.

The environmental conscience is still not planted throughout our society which means that science and technology is our only hope for solar energy to replace fossil fuels.

The holy grail of solar energy industry is to develop not only cheap but also highly efficient solar panels because standard solar panels convert only up to 18% of the sun's rays while the rest of available sunlight gets wasted in form of heat. Even the most efficient solar panels available on the market today have an efficiency of just 22%.

Solar energy industry needs further research to find its holy grail

There are countless ongoing studies that seek for this holy grail, and there has been plenty proposals, none of which has managed to find the solution that would be commercially viable, in terms of achieving the cost parity with fossil fuels.

The researchers use different approaches in their research of efficient and cheap solar panels. Some believe that the key may lie in complex nanomaterials and semiconductors, while others tend to focus more on the process itself instead of just focusing on materials used in process.

How difficult it is to improve efficiency of solar panels with currently available technologies? Many researchers say that improving efficiency of „standard“ solar panels by only 5% would be a massive achievement because photovoltaics are very complicated technology, and in many cases when scientists try to improve efficiency of solar cells they end up getting even worse results than they were in the beginning of the experiment.

The discovery of cheap and efficient solar panels therefore remains one of the greatest scientific and technological challenges of our time, something that could well decide what our energy future will look like.

Fossil fuels still have clear edge in terms of costs and efficiency compared to solar power technologies, but fossil fuel industry still wakes up each day in fear thinking "what if today is the day when solar industry will find its holy grail?"  And what hurts them the most is that they know that this day will eventually come.

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Solar panels good to know

Solar panels are devices that convert sunlight into electricity.

Each solar panel is equipped with many photovoltaic cells because more cells mean more electricity can be generated.

Solar panels need to be directly exposed to sunlight in order to achieve the best possible efficiency.

The efficiency of solar panels is still in average between 15-18% which is relatively low efficiency meaning that lot of available energy gets wasted in the conversion process.

Solar panels do not have moving parts and aren't difficult to install. They also have minimum requirements in terms of maintenance.

Solar panels usually last for more than 20 years, and throughout their lifetime they lose a negligible level of their efficiency.

Solar panels have a respectable lifespan of 20+ years

Solar panels do not contribute to climate change because they do not emit harmful greenhouse gases like fossil fuels do. Solar panels also do not contribute to air pollution.

Solar panels operate completely silently which is not the case with wind turbines that can sometimes be very loud.

Solar panels need to have adequate overheating protection because they are being constantly exposed to direct sunlight.

Solar panel prices are constantly dropping but solar panels still remain fairly expensive. However, may countries offer various incentives for installing solar panels that drives down the costs.

Solar panels are frequently used on satellites to power satellite’s electrical systems.

The world's largest solar panel manufacturer is China.

Each solar panel is equipped with solar power inverter that converts direct current (DC) from the solar cells to alternating current (AC).

Solar panels can be recycled.

Solar panels do not have to be necessarily mounted on the roof, some people also choose to mount them on a pole or on awnings.

Most commercial solar panels are currently produced from silicon photovoltaic cells.

Some companies even offer option to lease solar panels.

In United States, California leads the way in solar panel installation followed by New Jersey.

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