Solar Energy components challenged for more efficiency and lower costs

The solar radiation that reaches the earth represents between 6,000 and 10,000 times as much energy as the entire planet now consumes. So in absolute terms, solar power could provide an inexhaustible source of energy. All we need to do is “tap” a tiny amount of it to cover all of our needs and those of future generations. In theory, photovoltaic systems could convert as much as 84% of the energy of photons — the “light packets” sent by the sun — into electricity, instead of the 15 to 20% they do now… so still plenty of work ahead!

Despite the sector's boom, solar energy will have to achieve economies of scale and undergo major restructuring to truly reach adulthood. Over the next ten years, the photovoltaic sector will invest considerable capital — no less than $700 billion — to attain a worldwide capacity of 200 GWp in 2020.

Challenging projects have been raised to stimulate creativity and we are living a great moment plenty of opportunities for new inventions and discoveries. One of theses Challenges is the Swiss solar plane “Solar Impulse” whose objective is to complete a roundtrip flight around the World by 2014. Its success relies in great portion on much more efficient solar cells and batteries than we have nowadays.  

Solar Energy projects in Latin America with some clouds

Several announcements have been made by different Latin American countries stating the beginning of new projects using the solar energy but if there is something in common among them is the lack of a clear and long term strategy for this renewable energy development.

Solar industry is still crawling and only basically known. The existing traditional source of energy is still plentiful available and not stressing for immediate changes which may drive to very complex modifications (mainly financial and administrative). Time for opportunity is now!

Another common link between the projects initiated is that they are all under test to verify their positive behaviour (power supplied, performance, maintenance, duration,…). Feed In Tariffs are not even established as connection to the Grid is merely starting on some areas. Most of the programs initiated and underway are based on experiences achieved in Europe where there is so much turbulence after subsidies have been drastically reduced. This is obviously generating more confusion and uncertainty to those countries wishing to develop a strategy on solar energy.

Some European companies are already starting to invest in South America bringing their “know-how” absolutely necessary to create a more favourable environment around solar projects required to impulse its development. Progressive appropriate training and induction is mandatory at the core of the Governments and decision makers in a way to create trust and have successful results in the benefit of all the parties involved.

Solar Energy.... Source of life on Earth.

The sun is our most reliable source of energy since the creation of the life in our Planet. It provides more energy than any other but intense research is still undergoing to find the best storage solutions. It is almost hard to believe that it takes the sun just three hours to send as much energy earthward as the entire population on earth consume in a year!
Currently, there are two ways to generate electricity from solar energy.
1) The first is photovoltaics (PV) where solar cells transform the sun's rays directly into electricity. The PV technology can be briefly disclosed in:
a) Crystalline Silicon cells are made from thin slices cut from a single crystal of silicon (monocrystalline) or from a block of silicon crystals (polycrystalline). This is the most widespread technology today. Efficiency up to 20%
b) Common Thin Film modules are constructed by depositing extremely thin layers of photosensitive materials onto a low-cost backing such as glass, stainless steel or plastic. Common Thin Film semiconductors include amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) or copper indium diselenide (CIS). Efficiency average around 12%
c) Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV).The solar cells are designed to operate with concentrated sunlight. These cells are built into concentrating collectors that use a lens to focus the sunlight onto the cells. Efficiency can raise above 30%.
2) The second is concentrated solar power (CSP): the sun's rays are concentrated to produce heat that generates steam to drive a turbine and generator, much like in a conventional power plant