Solar Renewal Energy – Taking The Burdon Off New Renewable Resources

The advent of solar renewal energy has lifted a great burden off the non-renewable resources like coal, fossil fuel, natural gases etc. Many scientific breakthroughs have come up in recent times and photovoltaic or solar cells, solar collectors have been a notable invention in that arena.

Single crystal silicon solar cells convert solar radiation to electric power. Solar cells are made up of semiconductor material so that when sunlight strikes it, a part of its wavelength is absorbed by the semiconductor material. This absorbed energy gives rise to free electrons and the applied built in electric field makes these electrons flow in a particular direction. Current is nothing but the flow of electrons. So this current along with the built in electric field forms the power produced by the solar cell.

Solar cells are used in powering space vehicles like satellites, telescopes and rovers etc. The international space station has incorporated an array of 250,000 solar cells for power generation. They are used in solar vehicles. They are arranged to form panels and are widely used in solar power plants too.

Researchers at University of Notre Dame have come up with nano solar cell which is cheaper and more efficient. Sharp, a company dedicated to solar renewal energy has come up with a triple junction solar cell with world’s highest conversion efficiency. The unfathomable solar renewal energy utilization is escalating new heights every day.
Solar renewal energy is harnessed by solar collectors which produce heat energy from solar radiation. It is broadly categorized into three parts:

1. Parabolic trough system where the receiver is heated up to 400° C to produce steam for generating electricity.
2. Power tower system where reflected rays of the sun heat the receiver above 1000° C.
3. Parabolic dish systems are the most efficient heating receiver up to 1000° C.

Application of solar collectors include solar water heating systems which can be used for swimming pool heating, underfloor heating, space heating and cooling.

Formation of fossil fuels occurs due to trapped solar energy so the European Science Foundation (ESF) have taken it upon themselves on generating clean fuels from solar renewal energy directly by using photovoltaic technology.
The future prospects of harnessing solar renewal energy are bright and we are just getting started but we are still a long way from using the solar renewal energy to the hilt. Nonetheless, the sun is definitely the next big thing all over again!