JOURNAL OF INFORMATION, KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCH IN

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

POTENTIAL OF SOLAR ENERGY : SOLUTION OF

ENERGY CRISIS -- A REVIEW
PROF. R. D. PARMAR
Lecturer, Electrical Engineering Department, C.U.Shah Polytechnic, Surendranagar,
Gujarat, India

raghuvir_dhirubha@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT : Taking into account the growth in global energy consumption, world energy problems are of
major importance and utilisation of the conventional carriers of energy must be limited. For mankind to survive
on the earth in the nearby future energy source other than fossil fuels must be developed. A solar radiation is a
non exhausting reservoir of energy.The part of solar energy reaching the earth atmosphere is about 1018
kWh/year. This energy is higher than energy stored in all recognised fossil fuels sources. In this review energy
crisis and potential of solar energy is discussed to solve crisis along with advantages and disadvantage of solar
energy.

INTRODUCTION: Till date, transport do not play a significant role in

Almost upto 1850, main sources of energy were the electricity consumption.However, it is expected
wood, energy of wind, running water, energy of that transport related electricity consumption will
animals and men.About 150 years ago people started increase in the coming decades, as well.In 2007,
to use fossil fuels: coal, oil and gas. About 50 years 20200 TWh of electricity was generated world-
ago nuclear fission of uranium became an important wide.1 trillion GWh reach the earth’s surface per year
sourceof energy. All these sources of energy are non from sun to earth within 8 minutes only which is
renewable. Growing exploitation results not only in roughly 10000 times the world’s primary energy
their depletion but creates serious ecological demand[4],but the biggest question is to tap all that
problems.Oil,gas and coal are raw materials for energy.
chemical industry and should be stored for future THE SOLAR POTENTIAL :
generation.Fossil fuels mentioned above (besides There is more than enough solar radiation available
uranium) have been created as a result of around the world to satisfy the demand for solar
photosynthesis and biological processes - it means as power systems. The proportion of the sun’s rays that
a result of the sun activity in previous epochs. reaches the earth’s surface is enough to provide for
The world population is still rapidly growing, and global energy consumption 10,000 times over.The
some studies predict a world population of 9 billion greater the available solar resource at a given
around 2040 in reference to the 7 billion people location, thelarger the quantity of electricity
living on this planet today.All these people will need generated. Tropical regions offer a better resource
energy, which increases the global energy demand.In than more temperate latitudes. The average
addition, the energy consumption per capita is linked irradiation in Europe is about 1,000 kWh per square
to the living standard of a country. metre and year, for example, compared with 1,800
This very serious energy situation is understood kWh in the MiddleEast.Using today’s PV
allover the world now. A big effort is being done in technology, an array field that is 300 miles on each
developed countries in the field of exploitation of side could produce the entire electrical energy used
renewable energy sources including solar energy, by the U.S. in a year[5]
wind and water energy, geothermal energy as well as As Solar Energy technology becomes increasingly
otherkinds of renewable sources. affordable and available, its potential as a major
Around 1.2 billion out of the 7 billion people world- source of low-carbon energy grows. In a 2004 report
wide still do not have access to the electricity entitled, “Solar Generation” [Greenpeace and the
grid.65% of the electricity is coming from fossil European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA)],
fuels, where coal is the dominant contributor. Nuclear estimated that, by 2020, Photovoltaic systems could
is responsible for 16% of the world's electricity provide 276*10^6 MWh of energy-equivalent to 1%
generation and hydro-power is with 19% - the largest of the global demand projected by the International
contributor among the renewable energy sources.In Energy Agency (IEA).The study assumed that the
the conversion from chemical and nuclear energy to Photovoltaic systems market would grow at a
electricity,two thirds of the energy is lost.One third compound annual growth rateof 30% until 2020, well
ends up in the form of electricity.40% of the electric below the 45% growth that the industry averaged
energy is used for residential purposes and 47% is from 2002 to 2007. This would prevent the emission
used by industry.13% is lost in transmission. of 664 million tons of CO2 annually. Moreover, the

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report found that with a 15% growth rate from 2020 consumption in the U.S. can be sourced back to the
to 2040, the solar energy output could be more than United States. This number is steadily growing and is
9000*10^6 MWh, which would be 26% of the expected to help replacing fossil fuels in the long run.
projected global demand. Solar power generation:
Total spectrum of electromagnet energy emitted by Solar PV systems converts sunlight directly into
the sun is defined as solar radiation energy or electricity.When PV modules are exposed to
insolationor sunlight.A small fraction of this energy sunlight,they generate Direct current (D.C.)
hits the Earth. The sunlight that hits the earth’s electricty.An inverter then converts D.C. into
surface contains visible light, infrared and ultraviolet Alternating current (A.C.) electricity.A solar PV cell
light.Travelling time for sunlight from the sun to is the smallest semiconductor device which converts
earth is approximately about 8 minutes. sunlight into electrical energy. A module is an
The net mass before and after a fission or fusion assembly of cells in series or parallel to augment
process is negative; in other words, there is a loss of voltage and/or current. A panel is an assembly of
mass in a nuclear reaction. This mass does not just modules on a structure. An array is an assembly of
disappear, but is converted into energy.‘ panels at a site. [5]
Nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium is the process Advantages of Solar Energy :
due to which sun gives us energy. In fact, the Sun 1. Renewable
fuses about 620 million metric tons (almost 1.4 According to astrophysics, the Sun was born about
billion pounds) of hydrogen into helium every 4.57 billion years ago and has another 6-7 billion
second. years before it becomes a white dwarf (a planetary
99% of the energy from nuclear fusion is generated stage where nuclear fuel in the star is exhausted).
inside 24% of the Sun’s radius, which flows outwards 2. Abundant
through several different layers, before it escapes as The potential of solar energy is beyond
sunlight. A little further out, there is no nuclear imagination. The surface of the earth receives
fusion taking place at all.Over its lifetime, a typical 120,000 terawatts of solar radiation (sunlight) –
PV module, in a sunny climate, will produce over 20,000 times more power than what is needed to
twenty times the electricity initially used to supply the entire world.
manufacture it. 3. Sustainable
The sun has been burning for several billion years An abundant and renewable energy source is also
already. The continual loss of mass caused by nuclear sustainable. Sustainable energy sources meet the
fusion means that the sun is slowly disappearing. But needs of the present without compromising the ability
don’t worry; according to NASA the Sun has another of future generations to meet their needs. In other
6.5 billion years worth of fusion processes left before words, solar energy is sustainable because there is no
it shuts down. way we can over-consume.
174 petawatts (PW) of energy comes in form of solar 4. Environmentally Friendly
radiation (or insolation) hits our atmosphere. Almost Harnessing solar energy does generally not cause
one third of this is reflected back into space. The rest, pollution. However, there are emissions associated
3 850 000 exajoules (EJ) every year, is absorbed by with the manufacturing, transportation and
the atmosphere, clouds, oceans and land. This installation of solar power systems – almost nothing
amount of energy is equivalent to 40 000 times the compared to most conventional energy sources. It is
total energy consumption in the United States, 8000 clear that solar energy reduces our dependence on
times the total consumption in the whole world.One non-renewable energy sources. This is an important
hour of insolation is the equivalent to more than the step in fighting the climate crisis.
world’s energy consumption for an entire year. 5. Good Availability
Unfortunately, harnessing all this energy is not Solar energy is available all over the world. Not only
achievable.Solar power is greener than conventional the countries that are closest to the Equator can put
ways of harnessing energy sources such as fossil solar energy to use – Germany, for example, has by
fuels and coal. far the highest capacity of solar power in the world.
Solar energy is by far the largest energy resource on 6. Reduces Electricity Costs
the Earth.Here are some other interesting With the introduction of net metering and feed-in
comparisons to help make you grasp the massive tariff (FIT) schemes, homeowners can now “sell”
potential of solar energy:One year’s worth of solar excess electricity, or receive bill credits, during times
energy reaching the surface of the Earth would be when they produce more electricity than what they
twice the amount of all non-renewable resources, actually consume.
including fossil fuels and nuclear uranium. 7. Many Applications
The solar energy that hits the Earth every second is 8. Silent
equivalent to 4 trillion 100-watt light bulbs.The solar 9. Financial Support from Government/State
energy that hits one square mile in a year is 10. Low Maintenance
equivalent to 4 million barrels of oil. 11. Technology is improving
In comparison, only 1% of the electricity

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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Disadvantages of Solar Energy:
Expensive,Intermittent,Energy Storage is
Expensive,Requires Space,there are issues regarding
manufacturing of the solar panels, as well as disposal
and recycling of byproducts.
Emissions of greenhouse gases do take place during
the manufacturing. Dangerous climate gases such
as nitrogen trifluoride and sulfur hexafluoride are
both on the list. These literally have many thousand
times the impact on global warming as an equal
amount of carbon dioxide would.
REFERENCES:
1) Conference paper of R.TRYKOZKO, Institute of
Physics, Warsaw University of Technology,
Warszawa, Poland on“Principles of photovoltaic
conversion of solar energy'”,1997
2) “Solar generation :solar electricity for over one
billion people and two million jobs by
2020”,september 2006,GREENPEAKS,,European
photovoltaic industry association
3) “Solar Generation” by Greenpeace and the
European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA),
2004 report
4) “High quality polysilicon – The basis for high
wafer yields and high efficiency solar cells” by
WACKER POLYSILICON, capital markets day,
Burghausen, July 25, 2007
5) “Crystalline silicon solar cell technology” by
Rubin Sidhu, Dacid E.Carlson, BP solar, 2010
6) “Energy and global economic crisis: The chances
for progress,10 papers for Barcelona 2010”by George
Joffe, Samir Allal and Houda Ben Jannet
Allal,Institute for security studies,European union
and European institute for Mediterranean,October
2009
7) Averting the next energy crisis: The demand
challenge, McKinsey Global Institute, Mar 2009
8): Energy crisis: Will technology save us?” By
JOHN ZIAGOS, LLNL Scientist, KEN WEDEL,
March 24, 2007
9)”World energy outlook” by International agency,
2009

REVIEW PAPER PUBLISHED ON : 13/05/2010

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