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Solar Energy Presentation Slide

Solar energy is a renewable energy source that harnesses the power of the sun's rays to generate electricity. This is achieved through the use of photovoltaic (PV) cells, which convert sunlight into DC electricity. Solar energy is a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels, as it does not emit harmful greenhouse gases. With the decreasing cost of solar technology, it has become more accessible to homeowners, businesses, and communities. Solar energy has the potential to play a significant role in reducing our dependence on non-renewable energy sources and mitigating the impacts of climate change. If you want to explain more about Solar energy, you can use this slide.

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Solar Energy

Apr 07, 2019

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Solar Energy. Raymond F. Carl. History of Solar Energy Types of Solar Energy Technologies Passive Concentration Photovoltaic Photovoltaic Cell (Solar Cells) Materials and Efficiency Inorganic Organic Concerns about risks of toxic materials in PV Cells. The History of Solar Energy.

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Presentation Transcript

Solar Energy Raymond F. Carl

History of Solar Energy • Types of Solar Energy Technologies • Passive • Concentration • Photovoltaic • Photovoltaic Cell (Solar Cells) • Materials and Efficiency • Inorganic • Organic • Concerns about risks of toxic materials in PV Cells

The History of Solar Energy • Greeks used passive solar to heat Buildings (400 BC) • Romans improved by using glass to trap heat in the buildings and green houses (100 AD) • 1700: Antoine LaVoisier built a solar heater • 1839: French physicist Antoine-Cesar Becquerel observed that shining light on an electrode submerged in a conductive solution would create an electric current. • 1860: The First Solar Motor, heated water used to drive a steam motor, Auguste Mouchout • 1883: American Charles Fritts described the first solar cells, which was made from selenium wafers

The History of Solar Energy • 1900: The photoelectric effect was discovered. • 1904: Henry E. Willsie first use of solar energy at night. • 1916: Millikan provided experimental proof of the photoelectric effect • 1918: Polish scientist Czochralski developed a way to grow single-crystal silicon. • 1941: American Russell Ohl invented a silicon solar cell • 1954: Bell Labs researchers Pearson, Chapin, and Fuller reported their discovery of 4.5% efficient silicon solar cells • 1950’s: Solar cells developed for satellites • 1960: Hoffman Electronics achieved 14% efficient PV cells. • 1973: OPEC Energy Crisis causes US to re-examine use of renewable energy sources; federal and state tax credits result in rapid growth for a new solar industry.

Passive • Direct Solar Gain • South facing large windows • Floors, walls, ceiling used to trap heat. The heat is released at night

Passive • Indirect Solar Gain • Thermal storage materials are placed between the interior habitable space and the sun • Can use vents in wall to help circulate hot air through room

Passive • Isolated Solar Gain: • Uses a fluid (liquid or air) to collect heat in a flat plate solar collector attached to the structure.

Concentration • Power towers • Large field of mirriors is used to concentrate the sunlight. • Concentrated Sunlight is used to heat molten salt

Concentration • Trough Collectors • Uses parabolic mirrors to heat a fluid in an absorbing tube. • Hot fluid is used to boil water to run a steam generator.

Photovoltaic Cells (Solar Cells) • Photoelectric effect • PN junction directly converts sunlight into electricity. • Electricity can be stored for later useage or used on demand.

Photovoltaic Cells (Solar Cells) • Multiple PN junction Cell has multiple transparent layers • Top layer absorbs the high energy light and passes rest through

Photovoltaic Cells (Solar Cells) • Solar Cells transform light to electricity • Controller regulates were the charge is directed • Batteries store the energy • Inverter converts from DC to AC

Photovoltaic Cells (Solar Cells) Inorganic Materials • Thick Crystalline Materials • Crystalline Silicon • Single-crystal • Multicrystalline • Edge-defined film-fed growth • Dendritic • Gallium Arsenide (GaAs)

Photovoltaic Cells (Solar Cells) Inorganic Materials • Thin Film Materials • Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) • Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) • Copper Indium Diselenide (CuInSe2, or CIS)

Inorganic Materials • Concerns: • Use of toxic metals like Cadmium • Use of toxic gasses in the manufacturing of PV, silane, hydrogen selenide • Can the materials be recycled or are they destined for landfills

Inorganic Materials • Concerns Answered • Cd is produced as a byproduct of Zn production and can either be put to beneficial uses or discharged into the environment • CdTe in PV is much safer than other current Cd uses. • CdTe PV uses Cd 2500 times more efficiently than NiCd batteries • 􀂄Occupational health risks are well managed - • Continuous vigilance is required • 􀂄Absolutely no emissions during PV operation • 􀂄Risk from fire emissions is minimal • 􀂄Disposal of spent modules is an environmental issue – • Reducing the amount of CdTe will alleviate the problem • Recycling will resolve most environmental concerns • Burning of Coal produces 140 g Cd/GWh in fine dust • Burning of Coal produces 2 g Cd/GWh be emitted from the stack (for plants with perfectly maintained electrostatic precipitators or baghouses operating at 98.6% efficiency

Inorganic Materials • Concerns Answered • Manufacturers use gas handling systems to reduce risk, and use careful engineering and administrative controls to prevent exposure of workers or the public. • Landfill leaching is a modest concern only, because PV materials are largely encased in glass or plastic and many are insoluble. • Because of dispersed use, and small amounts of semiconductor material per cell, PV recycling will be challenging. Machinery for dismantling modules for recycling has been developed, and recycling systems for batteries and electronics provide useful models.

Photovoltaic Cells (Solar Cells) Organic Materials • Pure and chemically modified fullerenes • polythiophene derivatives • polyphenylene vinylene

Organic Materials • Current obstacles • All of the PV cells made from Organic molecules decompose rapidly. • Only 3-6 % conversion of solar energy to electricity

Conclusion • Using a combination of Passive solar energy and photovoltaic cells can lessen pollution. • Concerns with use of Cadmium in PV cells is exaggerated when compared to electricity produced from coal • More research is needed and being done • Cost of Solar system will come down in price when production increases

Sources • http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/stories/s225110.htm • http://www.solarenergy.com/info_history.html • http://pvpower.com/pvtechs.html • http://www.adsdyes.com/fullerenes.html • http://www.azsolarcenter.com/design/pas-2.htm • http://www.eere.energy.gov/RE/solar_concentrating.html

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Create best, wonderful, professional and creative presentation template for your business and profession with Solar Energy. This agenda template is useful for researchers, businessmen, auditors, professionals, teachers and students.

What Can you make from this Presentation Design ?

• Sales & Marketing strategy Agenda PPT Presentation Slide
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• Fully editable and easy to edit
• Colorful Chart and Graph Slide
• Contain editable charts, graphics, icons and colors
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• Agenda Centric Design to showcase Pointers, Agenda or Listing

How can Agenda Designs like this be helpful in Presentations ?

Design like this presentation slide template can be helpful for creating an effective and impactful presentation. While drafting presentations, requirement of showcasing overall agenda of any business, service, assessment, research or project is immense. Presentations without any agenda around it is not good or say, effective/ impactful.

Professionals require agendas to engage customers/ clients or potential investors. Students and teachers require agenda in their presentations to show their approach for the project or any social issue related research. Presentation. Thus, you can explore agenda related presentation templates at SlidesGeek and enhance the quality of your PowerPoint Presentations.

You can completely customize the color contrast and icons placed in this Solar Energy design, as per your requirement. Create best presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides with free presentation pptx templates at SlidesGeek.

How do you prepare an agenda for presentation ?

• Create a new slide with the Bulleted List layout. You'll probably want to place the slide after the presentation's title slide. Again, compare the overall thing with a book. Table of contents comes after the main cover of the book, right ?
• Enter a title (such as Agenda or Table of Content) and type bullet items to describe each of the sections, parts of the presentation or each of the custom shows--in your presentation
• Now, if you want to work with animation and transition, you can put those in the elements itself by using the "Transitions" and "Animations" tab in PowerPoint. However, it is completely subjective matter, to use or not to use animation and transitions. For business pitch decks, where slides count is comparatively less and ideal presentations are kept 10-15 mins short - the use of transitions and animations are kept at minimum level.
• You can quickly change the background of your Agenda presentation slide. You can do so by using the "Design" tab in PowerPoint. Design tab consists of pre-built backgrounds and themes for your presentation. There are variants available, which you can choose from. Slide size and background formatting can also be done using the features in this tab.
• Having said that, if you are looking for a pre-built templates for agenda and objective slides in your presentation, you can very much explore free agenda ppt designs like Solar Energy compatible with all versions of PowerPoint, Google Slides, WPS Office, Open Office and more.

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Solar Power 101

How renewable energy from the sun can mean a brighter future for people and the planet.

Solar farms, like this one located in the Carrizo Plain in California, use the sun's rays to generate clean, renewable energy.

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Did you know that people have harnessed the power of the sun at least as far back as 700 BCE, when glass lenses were used to magnify sunlight and create fire? It’s easy to imagine how the sun’s energy—the way it provides warmth and light—has always inspired the human mind.

Today, we know that the sun’s rays can actually provide endless clean electricity, and great progress has been made to make that renewable energy as affordable as possible. In fact, solar power is one of the nation’s fastest-growing energy sectors, with  more than half of all new generating capacity coming from solar in 2023.

But how can sunshine recharge your smartphone, refuel your electric car, warm your bath, and keep your appliances humming? Read on to learn more.

What is solar energy?

Types of solar power, advantages of solar energy, challenges with solar energy, the future of solar energy.

Solar energy refers to the electrical or thermal energy that is created from solar radiation—the power of the sun. Solar energy is also called  solar power, or even just  solar , for short.

The sun emits an enormous amount of radiation onto Earth: around 44 quadrillion watts of power a year. However, the amount of solar energy that can be generated depends not only on the technology and equipment used but factors like geography, season, time of day, and even the shade of local trees and buildings. 

Because the energy source—the sun—is not depleted over time (or at least in a timeline that concerns us mortal humans), it is considered renewable energy. 

One important note: Throughout this guide, we’ll reference solar power at two scales, which have different qualities and costs: 

• Residential, or rooftop, solar: small systems installed on top of or near homes or businesses. These energy sources are relatively easy to install, often taking advantage of existing infrastructure like rooftops. Because of the way these smaller, scattered systems plug into the grid, they’re considered “distributed” energy resources.
• Utility-scale, or commercial, solar: larger systems that operate like a typical power plant, providing energy to entire neighborhoods. These systems require more space and infrastructure than residential solar and are typically owned by utilities (aka power companies), which sell the energy to their customers on the local grid. Terms like  solar farms and  solar plants refer to these utility-scale solar power plants. While distributed solar may be cheaper to set up because they are smaller, utility-scale solar systems cost less per kilowatt-hour (kWh) because of economies of scale.

There are two main types of solar energy: photovoltaic power and thermal power. Both utilize sunlight as a fuel but they harness it in different ways. 

Photovoltaic power

Photovoltaic (PV) energy, which converts sunlight directly into electricity, is what most people think of when we talk about solar power. PV panels are the large black or blue modules you see in places like residential rooftops and parking lots, or clustered together in utility-scale solar farms. Each PV panel is made up of individual PV cells, and several connected panels form a solar array.

Solar installers set up panels at the Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, taking advantage of the vast rooftop space.

Richard Vogel/AP Photo

But how does sunlight become electricity, exactly? PV cells contain semiconductor material: silicon, most commonly. When sunlight—which is made up of tiny bits of energy called photons—hits the PV cell, the material absorbs the photons, which dislodge electrons. This movement of electrons creates an electrical current. 

Metal connectors on the side of each PV cell then transfer the electricity to wires and to an inverter, which feeds this current into our electrical grid. 

It takes about 20 solar panels to satisfy the 11,000 kWh of power consumed by a typical U.S. household every year.

Thermal power 

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of warm sunlight on a cool, crisp day. Amazingly, we can harness this heat, or thermal energy, for many things. Thermal energy can be used to warm the water for your shower or, more passively, maintain a comfortable temperature inside your home. We can even use it to generate electricity at a massive scale.

When it opened in 2014, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California was the world’s largest concentrated solar-thermal plant.

Mlenny/Getty Images

Concentrated solar-thermal power 

Just as humans first focused sunlight with glass lenses more than 2,700 years ago, concentrated solar-thermal power (CSP) creates electricity using the same basic mechanism. CSP utilizes mirrors to point sunlight into a receiver to heat up a fluid and generate steam. That steam spins the turbines that then create electricity. 

CPS systems are utility-scale solar plants that are typically built on large swaths of land and can power tens of thousands of homes and businesses.

One of the advantages of a CPS system is that the fluid can retain the heat for a long time, which is especially handy on cloudy days when CPS systems aren’t able to harness as much sunlight. However, the technology is still in limited use and the industry is not expected to grow as much as utility-scale PV solar. 

Gas- and coal-powered plants also use steam to spin turbines but with CSP, there’s no nasty pollution or waste—or climate-warming emissions—like there are from burning fossil fuels.

Passive solar design

Most of us have seen at least one example of passive solar heating: a greenhouse, which is designed to take maximum advantage of sunlight. 

A passive solar system isn’t so much about equipment as it is about strategy. This method of controlling indoor temperatures doesn’t even require electricity—just the right building materials and conditions to take advantage of the sun’s warmth.

Whether it’s primarily for heating or cooling, there are a few key requirements for a passive solar system in a building: 

• Aperture: large windows that face within 30 degrees of true south, with no shade between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. (In North America, this is where the sun sits the highest during the day.)
• Thermal mass: materials like concrete, brick, or stone that can hold onto heat
• Distribution: Thermal energy is distributed around the building via: conduction, like when you touch the thermal mass; convection, moving thermal energy through the air, as through vents and fans; or radiation, moving through electromagnetic waves.
• Controls: things like thermostats, awnings, or blinds that can help prevent overheating or under-heating the building throughout all kinds of weather 

Solar water heaters

The sun’s thermal power can also be used to heat tap water in a home or business. Similar to the PV systems, solar water heaters utilize collector panels to absorb solar radiation. Water will heat up as it’s circulated through the panels and sent to a storage tank. These panels are typically installed on rooftops to capture the most direct sunlight, and some systems include pumps and valves to move the water through the system. 

For a typical U.S. home, heating water accounts for a good chunk of its total energy use: about 20 percent. The cost of a solar water heater varies, based on factors such as the size of the storage tank, how many collector panels are needed, and installation fees. And while it can be pricier up-front compared with a conventional water heater, a solar water heater can cut your water heating bills by 50 to 80 percent. That’s because sunlight is free!

(If you’re not in such a sunny location,  heat pump water heaters are another efficient and eco-friendly option.)

Solar power—along with wind energy and other renewable technologies—is lighting the path toward a future without fossil fuels. 

Clean and renewable energy source

Unlike power plants that rely on fossil fuels, solar energy does not produce greenhouse gases or air and water pollution. That’s because nothing is burned. And the more we develop and install solar power, the less we will have to depend on dirty sources of electricity. 

Building up more solar energy at residential and utility scales also  makes our electrical grid more reliable , especially under the stress of extreme weather—like the heat waves that can send our energy consumption soaring to the point of blackouts. Solar energy is a major  climate solution , helping us not only adapt to climate change but to mitigate it.

Job creation and economic growth

Clean energy jobs are on the rise across the United States, especially as private and public investments are plugged in. Solar leads as a top employer within renewable energy, with more than  346,000 people employed in the U.S. solar sector in 2022. And these jobs aren’t limited to installing solar panels on rooftops but spread out across construction, manufacturing, software, and science.

The booming clean energy industry is making way for new jobs, including solar installation and manufacturing.

Sandy Huffaker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Megan Jelinger/Reuters

Cost savings

With the increased efficiency of solar technology comes decreased costs. And these aren’t small savings, either. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory found an  85 percent cost reduction in PV modules between 2010 and 2021, whether residential or utility scale. In fact, electricity from utility-scale solar is now almost always  less expensive than electricity from gas or coal.

And if we compare clean solar with the polluting fossil fuel technologies that have dominated the energy landscape for the past century, the  savings for public health care are astronomical.

Although solar technology isn’t new, the sector is still evolving to become more efficient, affordable, and accessible. Here are some of the challenges the sector is working to address.

Weather and location dependency

Naturally, solar power depends on how much sunlight can be reached. For instance, PV panels do not generate as much energy on a cloudy day, or if they’re blocked by a tree during daylight hours—and they stop generating electricity altogether at night. 

This is where  battery storage comes in. Whether at the residential or utility scale, batteries can store the energy generated during sunny periods so that it can be accessed when the sun isn’t shining or energy use is extra high.

Energy storage, like at Orsted’s Eleven Mile Solar lithium-ion battery storage facility in Coolidge, Arizona, helps maintain a steady supply of electricity when the sun isn’t shining.

Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo

The future looks even brighter as the United States  modernizes its grid infrastructure , including increasing capacity, plugging in more distributed energy sources (including small solar systems), and building new transmission lines. And solar energy isn’t the only renewable energy source on the market:  Wind energy is also rapidly expanding across the country.

High initial cost

While the cost of installing a residential solar system has dropped, a typical home system requires an average initial investment of about  $25,000 . The good news is that if the solar system can cover all of your electricity needs, you can save that amount or even thousands more over the 35-year lifetime of the system. And  clean energy tax credits are making it that much easier to recoup your initial investment.

Community solar projects, through which customers join together to collectively purchase and use locally produced solar energy, are also a great option for businesses and homes (benefiting owners and renters alike). Typically, participants can pay a monthly subscription to access solar energy or purchase a portion of the panels. Both subscribers and owners will also receive credit from the utility to cover any excess energy that their share of solar panels produce to reduce their electricity bills. Community solar is also a good solution if your rooftop isn’t suitable for solar panels, like if your property is shaded or your roof is aging.

Solar owners can potentially pay little or nothing for electricity if they generate more energy than they use. Depending on the specific city and state policies, some utility companies (as in  California ) offer net metering programs that exchange access to residents’ and businesses’ excess electricity for credits toward their bills.

Environmental concerns 

Since utility-scale solar farms and plants do not generate any carbon emissions while operating, solar energy is an asset in the fight against climate change. In fact, moving from fossil fuels to clean energy means reduced air and water pollution, as well as water consumption.

However, the siting, production, and end-of-life phases of solar equipment, like in any other power sector, involve resources and waste that can potentially have negative impacts.

A sorting machine breaks down solar panels at North America’s first utility-scale solar panel recycling plant, We Recycle Solar, in Yuma, Arizona.

Gregory Bull/AP Photo

Thankfully, end-of-life impacts from solar are low, as the materials in modern panels pose no threat of leaching. Nevertheless, recycling panels is better but currently very limited. NRDC, the electric utility industry, and the solar industry have jointly called for more investment and public support for building the infrastructure needed to support more recycling.

The growing industry is taking steps to address other issues head-on. For example, utility-size solar plants require a lot of space. One way to address this is with agrivoltaics, which  combines solar and farming on the same land. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has designated millions of dollars to researching how this promising field can grow. The land usage challenge can also be addressed by siting solar farms on degraded land, such as brownfields or retired  landfills .

Sheep graze and rest among solar panels at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Heather Ainsworth/AP Photo

Part of the responsibilities of the DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office is researching best practices for developing solar energy with minimal impacts on the environment. This includes how PV cells and other solar components might be built to last longer and then recycled at the  end of their lifespan .  

NRDC and other organizations are advocating for a circular economy approach, in which we invest the resources and build out infrastructure so that solar panel components are reused as much as possible, or otherwise safely recycled. 

Trade and labor concerns

As we push for a faster transition to renewable energy, it’s important that we avoid the harms that have become the trademarks of the fossil fuel industry. That means fostering an environment where workers are treated as valued stakeholders—investing in the skills and well-being of workers so they can provide positive contributions to local economies and workforce diversity. 

Investing in domestic manufacturing is another way in which we can address concerns around labor exploitation in the global solar industry. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which includes the Advanced Manufacturing Production tax credit, does just that by spurring the creation of  stable, family-supporting jobs as well as helping the U.S. solar industry compete on the international stage. Moreover, partnership with labor unions can help to reduce burdens on developers, contractors, and customers to meet the requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act and other regulatory hurdles, so we can get solar to market much more efficiently.

With greater incentives and access, more residents can benefit from rooftop solar, like these homes in Folsom, California.

Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo

As mentioned above, the  Inflation Reduction Act has helped to energize the clean power industry, with $369 billion in investments to help fight climate change. That includes billions to spur solar development, like the clean energy Investment Tax Credit, which provides a 30 percent credit for qualifying solar investments, as well as the extended Residential Clean Energy Credit, which can cover 30 percent of costs for solar installation, among others. 

While solar power accounts for just  4 percent of electricity generated in the United States right now, it’s an integral part of a broader, booming  renewable energy market. 

Unfortunately, fossil fuels are still the primary energy source in the world, by far, and we’ve got a long way to go in achieving  net zero emissions by 2050 , as scientists are telling us we must do to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. 

The good news is, according to  NRDC’s modeling , the recent tax credits could boost generation from utility-scale wind and solar to account for around one-third of the country’s electricity portfolio by 2030—and up to 46 percent by 2035. And unprecedented investments, like  Solar for All , are expanding access to residential solar and creating solar programs where none previously existed. So don’t count us down-and-out. A future where it’s lights out for fossil fuels remains in reach.

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