Engineering

Photovoltaic Systems II

Application Flexibility
of Solar Electricity

Original Presentation by J. M. Pearce, 2006

Revised by D. McLaughlin and J.M. Pearce, 2010
Email: profpearce@gmail.com
 Outline Part II
• Distributed Energy Source
– Roof Retrofits
– BIPV
– Tiles, Shingles
– Facades
– Parking and Sound Barriers
• Centralized PV
• PV Systems for Transportation
– Cars, Boats, and Bikes
 Photovoltaic Cells as
Distributed Energy Source

• Located near the consumer in order to

eliminate transmission losses (which can
be higher than 50% on some antiquated
grids).
• Panels can be placed on roofs, built into
roofs, building facades, carports,
highway sound barriers, etc.
• Any surface which is exposed to sunlight
is fair game.
 Roof Retrofits
• This house on right is
modular construction
and includes 6 kW of
PV modules.
• Below retrofits to
schools
 Building Integrated
Photovoltaics or BIPV
The design and integration of PV technology into the building
envelope, usually replacing conventional building materials:

Solar modules come in • vertical facades,

a variety of shapes, • replacing view glass,
colors, sizes and can • spandrel glass,
be integrated into • or other facade material;
any type of
• into semitransparent skylight
architecture. systems;
• Advantages • into roofing systems,
– Aesthetics
• replacing traditional roofing
– Reduce the cost of
materials;
the system
(e.g. roof, • into shading "eyebrows" over
awning, etc.) windows;
• or other building envelope systems.
 Residential Rooftops
● Specifically designed for
PV.
● This energy efficient
home in Oxford
generates more
electricity than it uses.
● Surplus electricity is
sold to the local utility
company and to power
an electric car
Roofing Tiles and
Shingles
• The PV shingle shown here
won Popular Science
Magazine's grand award for
What's new in Environmental
Technology.
• PV shingles can replace
common roofing shingles.
• PV shingles look much like
ordinary roofing shingles, but
they generate electricity.
• They were laid out and nailed
to the roof using the same
methods as are used to lay
conventional shingles.
• Like their non-PV
counterparts, these shingles
overlap providing for water
shedding capability.
 Relaxing on Solar Shingles
• Bill Ball, president of the Stellar Sun
Shop in Little Rock, Arkansas, is
clearly comfortable with PV shingles
on the rooftop of his shop.

The flexible
shingles, rated at
17 watts each, are
manufactured by
United Solar
Systems Corp.
 Peel and Stick Solar Cells
• Thin film amorphous
silicon solar cells which
can be deposited on
plastic or steel (right)
are extremely versatile
• The panels on the right
can be stuck directly to
standard standing seam
metal roofs
• Simple installation
method reduces overall
cost of system
 Standing-Seam PV
• Buildings with standing-seam
metal roofs can use solar
module material referred to
as "thin films" that can be
rolled out inside the
standing seams.

Roof-integrated PV panels were

installed on the south-facing roof
of the BigHorn Home
Improvement Center in
Silverthorne, Colorado.
Semi-Transparent Solar PV
These panels have amorphous silicon
deposited on glass and are semi-
transparent – they can be used both
as tinted glass but also as a project
screen backdrop.
 Putting it all
Together
The Boston Edison
“Impact 2000” home
incorporated
●
a 4-kWp utility-
connected
photovoltaic array in
the original
construction
●
all electric
appliances,
●
solar electric water
heating, and
●
both passive and
active space heating.
 Commercial Rooftops
Large rooftops
are ideal
locations for
PV

PowerGuard
sloped tiles, 150
Wp per tile, shown
on customer's roof
 PV at Lowe's
• Lowe’s executives
determined that clean,
reliable distributed solar
generation offers many
benefits both to its retail
operations and to the
surrounding community.
• Lowe’s is extremely
committed to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions,
while promoting and
selling energy efficient
home improvement
products.
• Lowe’s sought a cost-
effective solution to
reduce the operating costs
associated with providing
reliable electricity supply
at its West Hills store.
 Wal-Mart as a solar
leader?

• Wal-Mart’s Apple Valley Distribution Center

Location: CA
Operator: Wal-Mart
Configuration: 1 MW
Operation: 2010

• These 5,300 panels covering nearly 7 acres will

cover 20% of the center’s electricity
requirements 
 Solar Powered Hotels
• Hawaii’s Mauna Lani
Bay Hotel
• This sprawling hotel
had acres of roof
space, making it the
perfect host for a
photovoltaic system.
• They installed a
PowerGuard (R)
system of insulating
PV roofing tiles that
covers 10,000 ft2
and generates
75kWs.
• The hotel will be
spared hundreds
and thousands of
dollars in utility bills.
4 Times Square - BIPV
• The building’s most
advanced feature is
the photovoltaic skin, a
system that uses thin-
film PV panels to
replace traditional
glass cladding
material.
• The PV curtain wall
extends from the 35th
to the 48th floor on the
south and east walls of
the building, making it
a highly visible part of
the midtown New York
skyline.
Solar Skylights and Cladding
 PV Facades
• Scheidegger Building
with photovoltaic
facade near Bern in
Switzerland.
Courtesy of Atlantis
Solar Systeme AG
• Austria
• Swtizerland
Building Facades
 Building Facades
• 73 kW system and generates ~ 55 000 kW-hrs
of electricity per year in Sunderland, UK.
• This 3500 m2 solar office building at the Doxford
International Business Park near Sunderland
in the UK incorporates 646 m2 of photovoltaic
modules.
 Facades
• Solar cells can be made in
different colors
• Glass façades on office
buildings, winter gardens or
sunroofs on automobiles will
become energy suppliers
with the transparent solar
cell.
• The use of the transparent,
dark blue solar cells allows
a beautiful play of light and
shadow.
• The standard product lets a
tenth of the light pass
through and has a 10 %
efficiency rate.
 Solar
Cube
The 20kW cube
stands 135
feet tall on top
of the
Discovery
Science
Center in
Santa Ana
 Solar Olympics
• The 1996 Olympic
Games in Atlanta
featured a very unique
PV system.
• The Natatorium
(swimming and diving
facility) that houses a
large PV array for
powering the facility
also features a canopy
system at the entrance
to the building.
• The modules were
made especially for the
swimming facility with
a clear backing to allow
light to pass through.
Solar PV as Shading
Centralized
PV
Prescott Airport
Location: AZ
Operator: Arizona Public
Service
Configuration: 1,450 kWp

SGS Solar
Location: AZ
Operator: Tucson Electric
Power Co
Configuration: 3,200 kWp
 Pros and Cons of
Centralized PV
• Advantages
– Economy of scale
– Single location for maintenance
– You can put a fence around it
• Disadvantages
– All eggs in one basket –
natural/terrorist disaster
– Transmission losses
– Land cost
Rem: Distributed vs
Centralized
Hysperia PV Power Station.
 Solar Concentrators
• These 20-kW Solar
Systems dishes
dwarf visitors in
Alice Springs,
Australia.
• The concentrators use
an array of mirrors
to focus sunlight
onto high-efficiency
solar cells.
• Four supports hold the
cells in front of the
mirrors
• The supports also
supply cooling water
and electrical
connections
PV Thermal (PV/T) Systems
• Combines PV cells with
a solar thermal
collector
– Produces electricity
and heat
• Solar thermal collector
can heat liquid
(typically water) or
air
• Increases overall
efficiency of energy
conversion (over
50%) versus only PV
• Saves space compared
to separate PV and
solar thermal
systems
 BIPV/T Systems
• SolarWall on the John
Molson School of
Business building
at Concordia
University
• 24.5 kWp of PV
panels and 75 kWp
thermal heating
• 288 m2 worth of
panels
• Constructed
December 18th ,
2008
Centralized Wind-Solar
Hybrid System
• In hybrid
energy
systems more
than a single
source of
energy
supplies the
electricity.
• Wind and
Solar
compliment
one another
•
 Hybrid PV-Diesel Systems
• Unique to
the project
is the
introductio
n of a new
generation
of hybrid
power
processing
equipment
• This new
115 kW
PV/hybrid
energy
system
 PV for Hydrogen
Production
• Electricity from PV panels can
be used to form hydrogen
gas by splitting water
molecules (electrolysis)
• Hydrogen can be used in fuel
cells to produce electricity
– Offers storage mechanism of
PV energy and electricity
source at night
• The produced hydrogen can
also be used as a vehicle
fuel with specially designed
engines

Engineering Photovoltaic Systems 34

 Art and PV

• Located among the rolling hills of Northern California, these solar electric
sunflowers elegantly combine art and technology.
• Each sunflower produces 1 kW of solar electricity and consists of four 240
Wp polycrystalline PV modules custom made with yellow back-skins and
yellow frames.
• The custom PV modules are attached to a two-axis-tracking mechanism
and mounted on custom-painted green poles producing a field of 36 kW
solar electric sunflowers.
• The sunflowers wake up each day and follow the sun's path from sunrise to
sunset, increasing solar harvest over a fixed array by 25%.
• This system produces enough energy for approximately eight to ten homes
and was an ideal engineering solution for the steep hillside site.
 PV Systems for
Transportation
PV will be most applicable to
transportation
if it can be stored
–Batteries
–Electrolysis of water to produce
hydrogen
 Solar Car Racing
• Car #195, Cal
State
University/Long
Beach, at the
start line of
Sunrayce 1995

Sunrayce is a biennial solar-powered car

race for colleges and universities in
North America. Students design, build
and then race their car 1,250 km from
Indianapolis, IN, to Colo. Springs, CO.
 Can Cars be Solar
• From July 15th to
Powered?
the 25th, 2001,
2300 miles of solar
“raycing”
challenged teams
from around the
world.
• High tech and high
efficiency solar
cars crossed the
Great Plains,
climbed the Rocky
Mountains, and
dashed over the
Great American
Desert to the finish
line in Southern
California
 More Solar Cars
• This solar
powered race car
was built in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, by
students at Drexel
University during
the 1989-1990
school year.
• Car #43,
University of
Missouri/
Columbia, on the
road in Sunrayce
1995
 PV Covered Parking
Electric or hybrid
electric vehicles can
recharge their
batteries at PV power
stations such as this
one at the University
of S. Florida.

Covered parking in
California provides
shading and
makes electricity
 PV Integrated into
Highway Sound Barriers
• Solar Panels on Sound
Barriers
• This solar power, in
proposed system, could
give EVs essentially
unlimited range on
freeways that supply in-
transit power.
• Highway sound barrier
above planted slope, with
integrated PV panels,  in
Austria. 
• An upcoming project in
Holland will use PVs, 
installed on railway right-
of-way,  to power an entire
electric rail system.
Solar Powered Bikes and
Gold Carts!
Team #2, from Green
• These golf carts are Mountain High School
powered by in Lakewood, CO won
photovoltaic modules the women's division
of the solar bike race
from Shell Solar
•
Solar Electric for Boats
300-watt system powers
on-board
communications and
lighting, an application
that has been in use for
15 years
 Solar Boats
• On board, the solar modules
create a fascinating play of light,
shadow, and transparency.
• The largest solar boat in the
world began operating on the
Alster River in Hamburg on May
23, 2000.
• This boat can hold up to 120
passengers for excursions and
charter tours

The boat can hold

up to 120 passengers for
excursions and charter
tours. The "Alster Sun"
reaches a speed of 5 kmph
just from solar power.
If it has to go
faster, the rest of the
energy comes from
batteries.
•
Solar Powered Fun!

• Catamaran “Sol
10”: direct current
powering from 550
to 1600 watts.
• No drivers license
needed, unsinkable,
and easy to use.
Solar Photovoltaics
is the Future
 Acknowledgements
• This is the third in a series of presentations
created for the solar energy community
to assist in the dissemination of
information about solar photovoltaics.
• This work was supported from a grant from
the Pennsylvania State System of Higher
Education.
• The author would like to acknowledge
assistance in collecting information for
this presentation from Heather Zielonka
• The full series can be found here:
http://www.appropedia.org/Solar_Photovoltaic_Open_Lectures