Photovoltaic Applications and Discussion

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Hello mylotters!!! Another 120% discussion for you, and especially those that want some discussion towards something else besides the common E-Z questions. Today's "I'm a nerd" discussion focuses on Photovoltaics or solar power. You can post what you think about it overall or certain applications toward it. To help you though I'll post extensive thoughts on the matter. If you don't like that much reading just bypass it. ******** Photovoltaic Overview Photovoltaics is the research and application of harnessing solar power and converting it to electricity. Solar cells are lined with a light absorbing material (silicon, or suitable substitute compounds usually among others) and are used to collect the solar power by means of photogeneration and the conduction of excited electrons into a suitable electric conductor. Generally, solar cells and photovoltaics describes solar power research, technology and application. **** Current Applications (at least the ones that really interest me) Advantages - Completely renewable source of energy, especially since it comes from the sun. I really don't see that thing going anywhere anytime soon. It can also be a very high production source of electricity out of other forms of renewable energy, due to the conversion factors and due to the abundance of the main resource. A due to some of this, if photovoltaics is used in conjunction with current electric grids, an efficient solar distribution can help mitigate highly loaded/taxed power grids during peak hours. Little maintenance is required and it results in lower overall operating costs. Disadvantages - An obvious flaw is the lack of collecting power at night. Another is bad weather, thick clouds can diminish solar power collection. Though competitive, solar energy is still slightly more expensive than mainstream power generation. Of course with more innovations in the field, the expenses will diminish in time. Operating costs are also slightly lower in most cases when compared to current electricity production but the initial costs and other public/private issues toward the power prevent or delay development and deployment of photovoltaic power. DC to AC conversion is also an issue in solar power generation and consumption but this conversion nets only a fraction of overall power loss (~5-10%). Building and cities - Solar cells are used in more recent building codes and standards especially green building, LEED and Smart Growth applications. In larger context cities, countries and power companies use ground or building lined solar panel arrays to collect a supplemental power source tied to an electric grid or in a few cases used as a emergency power storage. Also, to make some paneling merge better with the human environment, creative blending is used like placing ground panels in farming pastures or using photovoltaic sculptures and trees in more urban environments (along with the already mentioned building and roof placements). Power Plants - Current photovoltaic generator plants are relatively small when compared to electric counterparts but countries are making more and more strides to having some high quality facilities. Germany is known for having some of the top quality plants, but the US, Portugal, Spain and Australia are all constructing solar plants and parks of their own that will exceed anything presently existing. Transportation applications - Current research also applies photovoltaics to transportation technology, especially the car. At present, hybrid solar/electric or solar to hybrid cars are being researched by some car manufacturers and research institutions. Air travel has made decent strides in solar power application as well. Several unmanned craft and a few manned flights have been made, though a couple of the famous flights like Helios used a hybrid power source (solar and fuel cells for that example). Rail also has a hand in photovoltaics but current stances are applied to freight while concepts are being devised for the personal transit side of rail transportation. ***** Future Applications (some possibilities) Full solar powered cars. - Though a few very small and short range automobiles/craft exist, research is still being applied to solar cars comparable to the combustion engine car. With current technology however, the amount of solar paneling and generation needed to match current cars would make the solar car unwieldy; it would take far too many panels or far too large panels on the car to make it worth it. One idea however is to use a stationary collecting process (a "solar station" or a parking garage) to collect the energy for solar dependent cars. Kind of like a synergy set up between the car and the built environment. A different type of power Thermophotovoltaics, infrared based, is currently in research for vehicular application (along with other useful apps). Smaller photovoltaics made compact - This would go along with a different/direct variation of the solar car. But it would be something if the paneling and cells were made so that smaller cells could be inserted in likely products. It already happens with current electronics (digital wristwatches, calculators, roadservice phones). Imagine a more compact photovoltaic cell or panel and its applications. Uses for the car, landscaping/construction machinery, outdoor digital cameras. Hopefully this will get you thinking if you are reading my part of the discussion, or if you are even still in the discussion. ******* Now then, any news, comments, opinions, please share them. Happy posting everyone.