“Solar Energy”

 ‘Solar Energy’ or ‘Renewable Energy’

 ‘Sustainability’

 Solar or Renewable Energy

– Solar ‘Radiant’ Energy
– Wind Energy
– Biomass Energy
– Hydro and Wave Energy
– Geothermal Energy **
 Some ‘Solar’ Energy
History

 Solar Energy Use is Not New

 In Use well before Our Discovery of Oil

 Is the Source of our Coal and Oil

 Augustin Mouchot’s largest ‘Sun Machine’,
on display at the Universal Exposition in Paris, 1878
An Eneas ‘Sun Motor’ - 4 H.P. Solar Thermal Powered Steam
Engine - on farm in Arizona, 1904
 A Maryland Gentleman of the 1890’s enjoys a
Hot Bath provided by a Climax Solar Water Heater

 Climax Solar Water

Heaters were sold
extensively between
1890 and about
1920.

 Later, the Day and

Night Co. was a
major supplier of
solar hot water
systems.
Solar Water Heating in Los Angeles, circa 1900

• Olive Street in LA in
1900.

• Three buildings using

‘Climax Solar’ water
heaters ($25) ….

• A major solar collector

boom from 1891 to
1930.
(Note the ‘clear’ skies)
 “Bell System Solar Battery Converts Sun’s Rays into
Electricity”, Advertisement from Look Magazine, 1956.
Photovoltaics (PV)
 How
PV cells
work
How ‘Silicon’ cells are made
 Other Types of Solar Cells
 Poly-crystal

 Ribbon type ------------>

 Thin Film
 Commercial Solar Cells
 Single crystal silicon

 Poly-Crystal Silicon

 Thin Films
 Emerging Technolgies
Nano-solar techniques
•NanoSolar – Electrically Conductive Plastics
•Konarka – Polymer and dye-sensitized solar
cell have flexible cells about 5 % efficient
Cells, Modules and Arrays
 Energy Tid-bit
 The solar cells in the early 1950s
were about 0.5 % efficient. Today a
module is about 15 % efficient.

 A 1 kW system:
 In 1950 = 2,400 square feet
 In 2005 = 80 Square feet
Typical PV Systems
1.5 kW PV Array - Vliet Residence,
Austin TX, 2000
 Building
Integrated
Photovoltaics
(BIPV)

Roof Shingles

(many other
examples)
PV System Installation on Roof of
Commercial Building
BJ’s Wholesale Club & Sun Power Electric
Solar - Electric Car
PV Market
California Solar Business Development
(480 Companies Installed 26 MW in 2003)
500 30

450 Companies
MW 25
Number of Active Companies

400

350
20

MW Installed
300

250 15

200
10
150

100
5
50

0 0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
PV Module Manufacturing Cost
The Major PV Cell/Module Manufacturers
Revenue
Manufacturer MW $ Millions
BP Solar 74 $259
Shell 58 $203
Kyocera 60 $210
RWE Schott 30 $105
Sharp 123 $431
Astropower 30 $105
Sanyo 35 $123
Mitsubishi 24 $84
Evergreen 5 $18
Others 123 $431
Totals 562 $1,967
 PV Energy Tid-bit
• Energy required to manufacturer single-
crystal silicon PV modules will be
produced by the module in 1.5 to 2.5
years.
• Thereafter the energy produced is a net
gain.
• PV modules are expected to last beyond
20 years.
• Energy costs for some of the emerging
technologies are expected to be lower.
 Solar Thermal

 Swimming Pool Heating

 Solar Cooking
 Space Heating
 Solar Hot Water
 Solar Cooling
 Ocean Thermal (Electric)
 Solar Thermal (Electric)
Swimming Pool Solar Heater,
Austin, TX, late 1970’s
Collector for Solar Water Heating
- Vliet Residence, Austin, TX, 1977
 Simple
Paybacks
for Solar
Water
Heating
against
Electricity
Passively Heated Asphalt Storage Tank
- Midland, TX, mid - 1980’s
Tracking-Concentrating Collectors for
UT Solar Cooling project, late 1970’s
 Solar Furnace in French Pyrennes
- Tracking Heliostats and Parabolic Reflector
Power Tower or Central Receiver type Solar
Thermal Electric Power Generation
 10 MWe Solar Power Plant
- Barstow, CA, circa mid - 1980’s
Luz Parabolic Trough Collector Field for Thermal Electric
Power Generation, about 600 MWe, Kramer Junction, CA,
late 1980’s
37
 Thermal Energy Storage
• Thermal energy storage (TES) systems heat or cool a
storage medium and then use that hot or cold medium
for heat transfer at a later point in time.
• Using thermal storage can reduce the size and initial
cost of heating/cooling systems, lower energy costs,
and reduce maintenance costs. If electricity costs more
during the day than at night, thermal storage systems
can reduce utility bills further.
• Two forms of TES systems are currently used. The
first system used a material that changes phase, most
commonly steam, water or ice. The second type just
changes the temperature of a material, most commonly
water.

38
TES Economics Are Attractive
for
 High utility demand costs
 Utility time-of-use rates (some utilities
charge more for energy use during peak
periods of day and less during off-peak
periods)
 High daily load variations
 Short duration loads
 Infrequent or cyclical loads

39
 Methods of Thermal Energy Storage
• TES for Space Cooling: produce ice or chilled water at night
for air conditioning during the day
– Shifts cooling demands to off-peak times (less expensive in areas with
real-time energy pricing)
– May be used take advantage of “free” energy produced at night (like
wind energy)
• TES with Concentrated Solar Power: store energy in thermal
fluid to use when sunlight is not available
– Gives solar concentrating power plants more control over when
electricity is produced
• Seasonal TES
– Long term energy storage
– Store heat during the summer for use in the winter
• Many other methods
40
 TES for Space Cooling: Calmac’s
IceBank® Technology

Charge Cycle: At night, a

chiller is used to cool a
water/glycol solution. This
runs to the Ice Bank, where
water inside the tank is
frozen.

Discharge Cycle: During the

day, the glycol solution is
cooled by the ice in the
tank and then used to cool
the air for the building’s AC
needs. 41
http://www.calmac.com/products/icebank.asp
 An Inside View of the IceBank®

 Coolant runs through

tubes
 Water in the tank gets
frozen by the coolant at
night
 The ice is then used to
cool the solution during
the day for air
conditioning

42
http://www.calmac.com/products/icebank.asp
Why Use TES for Space Cooling?
 Shifts electricity demands to the night to take advantage
of lower rates at night

• Can also be a way to take advantage of wind power, which is

more abundant at night

http://www.calmac.com/benefits/ 43
UT’s Thermal Storage System

 Acts as chilling station, but with 1/3 of the cost

 4 million gallon capacity
 30,000 ton-hours of cooling (~105 MWh)
– Enough to run A/C for 1500 Austin homes (2500 sq ft) each day

Kriti Kapoor 44
 TES with Concentrated Solar Power
(CSP)
• CSP technologies
concentrate sunlight to
heat a fluid and run a
generator

• By coupling
CSP with
TES, we can
better control
when the
electricity is
produced

45
 TES with Concentrated Solar Power
 Two-tank direct method
(CSP)
– Two tanks, hot and cold
– Heat transfer fluid flows
from the cold tank and is
heated by the solar
collectors.
– This hot fluid travels to the
hot tank, where it is stored.
– As needed, the hot fluid
passes through a heat
exchanger to make steam
for electricity generation.
 Other methods include two-
tank indirect (where the heat
transfer fluid is different than
the storage fluid) and single-
tank thermocline (storing
heat in a solid material) The two-tank direct method

46
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/thermal_storage.html
 Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage
Drake Landing Solar Community (Okotoks, Alberta,
Canada)

47
http://www.dlsc.ca/how.htm
Annual Energy Savings at Drake
Landing

48
http://www.dlsc.ca/brochure.htm
 Incentives
 Newly passed 30% Federal Tax Credit (Recall federal
tax credit of 40% back in early 1980’s.)
 State of Texas:
- S.B. 20 - Extends Renewable Energy Portfolio
Standard to 2015. [The Renewable Energy
Credits (REC’s) are a means to insure that
providers of electric power have the necessary
amount of renewable energy in their portfolio.]
- S.B. 982 - Tightens Energy Conservation
Requirements in State Buildings. [Deals with
Renewables and Sustainability.]
 Wind Production Tax Credit:
1.6 - 1.9 cents/kWh, extended through 2007
 City of Austin Rebate Program
 Pays for up to 70 % of the cost of an installed
PV system (started 2005)
- Rebate expected to decrease with time
- For residential and commercial buildings
- Residential systems typically 1.5 to 3 KW
- Almost 1 MW installed to-date
- A goal of 15 MW by 2007

 Projected increase in solar HW rebate

- from $300 to max. of about $600
- systems cost $3000 to 4000
 Solar Land Area Requirement
• Solar Insolation in West Texas (Pecos):
• Varies during year from about:
• 3.5 to 7.5 kWh/m2-day during year.
• Annual average of 6kWh/m2-day
• Assume PV or Solar Thermal conversion
efficiency of 7.5% (half of current commercial PV)
• Land Area
• = 850 GWe/(6/24kW)(1609x1609)(0.075)
• = 17510 sq/mi. or about 133 mi. x 133 mi.

• See Map of US. for Solar Land Area.

Land Requirement for Solar to Produce Future
US Electricity Demand
 Comments on Comparisons
 Nuclear: can operate at high capacity factor.
- major water cooling requirement
 Wind: Must operate at a much lower capacity factor ……
maybe 30%, and maximum penetration into grid of about 20%.
- Takes little land area out of ‘production’
- Requires no water cooling
 Solar: Seasonal, intermittent and diurnal variations. Must also
operate at much lower capacity factor.
- covers ‘much’ of the land area, but land of low
productivity.
- area could be rooftops, distributed generation (good)
- no water cooling required if PV
• What’s needed …… cheap storage !!! About $0.10/kWh