Lecture 10 Energy Technologies: Solar

Gang He

October 3, 2023

Solar

Solar spectrum

Solar constant: 1.361 kW/m2

Harvesting the sun

Heqing Solar Cooker Project in Zhangye

Young NaDEET students in Namibia learning to use a parabolic solar cooker

Silicon

P and N type

P-N Junction

How solar works

Solar irradiance

• Direct normal irradiance (DNI)
  
• Diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI)
• Ground reflected irradiance (GRI)
  
• Global horizontal irradiance (GHI)
  
• Plane-of-array irradiance (POA)

GHI=DNI+DHI+GRI

POA = GHI \(\times \cos \theta\)

Key corrections

• Solar position at any time of day: altitude angle, latitude, zaimuth angle, hour angle
  
• Radiation: direct beam, diffusion, reflected
  
• Tracking: fixed, 1-axis, 2-axis

The quest for efficiency

Global and U.S. distribution

Air pollution and dust

Climate change impact

Prioritize solar installation

Solar thermal: CSP

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Renewables	Variable & integration
Low emissions	Land use
Low costs	Distribution

References

Bergin, Mike H, Chinmay Ghoroi, Deepa Dixit, James J Schauer, and Drew T Shindell. 2017. “Large Reductions in Solar Energy Production Due to Dust and Particulate Air Pollution.” Environmental Science & Technology Letters 4 (8): 339–44.

Chen, Shi, Xi Lu, Chris P. Nielsen, Michael B. McElroy, Gang He, Shaohui Zhang, Kebin He, Xiu Yang, Fang Zhang, and Jimin Hao. 2023. “Deploying Solar Photovoltaic Energy First in Carbon-Intensive Regions Brings Gigatons More Carbon Mitigations to 2060.” Communications Earth & Environment 4 (October): 369. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01006-x.

Liu, Laibao, Gang He, Mengxi Wu, Gang Liu, Haoran Zhang, Ying Chen, Jiashu Shen, and Shuangcheng Li. 2023. “Climate Change Impacts on Planned Supply–Demand Match in Global Wind and Solar Energy Systems.” Nature Energy 8 (8): 870–80. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01304-w.

Masters, Gilbert M. 2013. Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems. John Wiley & Sons.