22-04-2010

SOLAR ENERGY
&
ITS APPLICATIONS
Pre pare d by,

Hardik P. So nagra  (08BEC169)

Ankit Pate l  (05BEC128)

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Introduction
•Solar energy is in the form of the light and heat.

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•About 30% of total energy received by the earth is
reflected back towards the space. Remaining energy is
absorbed by the clouds, oceans and land masses.
•
•The amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the
planet is so vast that in one year it is about twice as
much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth's
non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and
mined uranium combined.
•
•Solar energy is the primary energy source among all of
the renewable source like wave energy, hydro-electricity,
wind energy, biomass etc.

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Classification of solar energy

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Solar energy

Active solar energy Passive solar energy

•Itinclude the use of •It include orienting a
photovoltaic panels and building to the Sun,
solar thermal collectors to selecting materials
harness the energy. with favorable thermal
mass or light
dispersing properties,
and designing spaces
that naturally
circulate air.
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Solar thermal

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Solar water heater
•Solar water heater uses solar

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collector panel to transfer the
heat energy of sun light to the
water.
•
•The unit uses convection
(movement of hot water upward)
to move the water from
collector to tank. Neither
pumps nor electricity are used
to enforce circulation.
•
•Material uses into the
fabrication of tank is
insulator for heat so heat of
the hot water can not transfer
to the surrounding enviornment
and hence water can be keep hot
for long time. 5
Solar water disinfection
•Solar water disinfection, also

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known as SODIS is a method of
disinfecting water using only
sunlight and plastic PET
(PolyEthylene Terephthalate )
bottles.
•
•SODIS is a free and effective
method for decentralized water
treatment, usually applied at the
household level and is recommended
by the World Health Organization
(WHO) as a viable method for it.
•
•UV-A rays from the sun destroys
cell structures of bacteria.
•UV-A reacts with oxygen dissolved
in the water and produces highly
reactive forms of oxygen that are 6
believed to also damage pathogens.
Solar cooker
•Principle  :  Sunlight  is  converted  to  heat 

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energy that is use for cooking purpose. This 
is done as follows:

─Concentrating sunlight.
─Converting light to heat.
─Trapping heat
─Plastic Sheet

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1. Box cooker 2. Panel cooker 3. Parabolic dish
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Solar power

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Photovoltaic
•Principle : Some materials
release electrons when hit

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with rays of light, which
produces an electrical current.
•
•This effect was discovered by
Alexander-Edmond Becquerel. The
first solar cell was
constructed by Charles Fritts Fig : Unit solar cell
in the 1880.
•
•There are at least fourteen
types of photovoltaic cells,
such as thin film, mono
crystalline silicon,
polycrystalline silicon, and
amorphous cells, as well as
multiple types of
concentrating solar power.
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• Fig : 11 MW Serpa solar
•Efficiency is about 4.5% - 6% power plant in Portugal
for silicon type of
Concentrated solar power systems
•Concentrated solar power systems are divided into :

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Øconcentrated solar thermal (CST)
Øconcentrated photovoltaic (CPV)
Øconcentrating photovoltaic and thermal (CPT)

•Principle : Concentrate the sunlight at particular

point to convert that energy into another form of
energy.

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Concentrated solar thermal (CST)
•Concentrated solar thermal (CST)

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is used to produce renewable heat.
•
•CST systems use parabolic lenses
or mirrors and tracking systems
to focus a large area of sunlight
onto a small area.
•
•Each concentration method is
capable of producing high
temperatures and correspondingly
high thermodynamic efficiencies
•
•They vary in the way that they
track the Sun and focus light.
•
•Solar thermal is more efficient
method to produce heat. 11
 Concentrated solar thermal (CST)

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Fig : Using Flat mirror reflector. (Courtesy of

www.visualdictionaryonline.com)
 Concentrated solar thermal (CST)

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Fig : Using parabolic reflector. (Courtesy of

www.visualdictionaryonline.com)
 Concentrated solar thermal (CST)

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Fig : Combination of previous both method (Courtesy of

www.visualdictionaryonline.com)
Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV)
•Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems employ sunlight
concentrated onto photovoltaic surfaces for the purpose

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of electrical power production.
•
•Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems classified as
follows:
•
ØLow concentration CPV (concentration of 2-100
suns)
Ø
ØMedium concentration CPV (concentration of 100-
300 suns)
Ø
Ø High concentration (concentration of 300 or
more suns)

•Concentration method using solar collector is cheaper

then solar cell as solar cell is costlier than solar
collector.
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•
•Electricity cost for solar collector is about $3/watt.
Solar chimney power plant
•Principle : It uses the
principle of solar energy &

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wind energy both. It also use
the principle of green house
effect.
•
•It has a high chimney.
(Height arround 1000 mtr.)
•
•This is surrounded by a
large collector roof made
from glass or resistive
plastic supported on a
framework.(Diameter in order
of 130 mtr.)
•
•In the center of the chimney
there is a wind turbine, which
generate electricity using
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wind velocity which is due to
the solar Energy.
Vent Chimney

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Green house & Agriculture
•Agriculture seek to optimize

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the capture of solar energy in
order to optimize the
productivity of plants.
•
•Greenhouses convert solar light
to heat, enabling year-round
production and the growth (in
enclosed environments) of
specialty crops and other
plants not naturally suited to
the local climate.

Fig : courtesy of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik 18
i
 References
•www.daviddarling.info/images/solar_chimney_po

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•http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg

•www.sxlist.com/techref/other/solar/chimpower.htm

•http://www.solarcookers.org/basics/how.html

•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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