Renewable Energy | Solar energy is the light and radiant heat from the Sun that control Earth’s climate and weather and protract life. It is a renewable source of energy and originates with the thermonuclear process that transfers about 650,000,000 tons of hydrogen to helium per second.
First solar (green energy) collector created by Swiss scientist named Horace-Benedict DE Saussure in 1767, he take an insulated box enclosed with three layers of glass which suck up heat energy. After that Saussure’s box became famous and widely known as the first solar oven, getting temperatures of 230 degrees Fahrenheit. After that in 1839 a most important landmark in the progression of solar energy occurs with the significant of the photovoltaic effect by a French scientist Edmond Becquerel. In this he used two electrodes placed in an electrolyte and then exposing it to the light and results is tremendous electricity increased a lot. After that lots of experiment are occurred by various scientists at time to time and modified our solar energy system to produce more electricity from solar energy. But now a day’s also in this field various experiments are doing by a scientist, how to utilise maximum solar energy which is available on the earth.
Horrible load shedding, bills, generator issues and never ending UPS battery issues! All of these probably sound familiar to an average Pakistani. In the past 10 years, one viable alternative to counter power and energy problems has emerged in the form of solar panels. While still not very common, solar panels are increasingly becoming popular across the country, both in urban areas and in rural regions which have access to very little or no electricity at all. The switch towards using solar panels is due to the dramatic decrease in the prices of photovoltaic equipments | Renewable energy .
A residential solar panel measures 65 inches by 39 inches (L x W), while a commercial solar panel is usually 77 inches by 39 inches in width. The depth of both is 1.8 inches. The residential panel is made up of 60 photovoltaic cells, while a commercial panel can have anywhere from 72 to 96 photovoltaic cells. Since households consume relatively less electricity than commercial ventures or organisations hence they need only one solar panel to provide the required electricity. Whereas businesses and organisations consume more electricity therefore they need more panels. They also have more space and area to house solar panels which makes it easier to install 5 or 10 solar panels to fulfil their electricity requirements.
A solar panel can generate anywhere from 50 W to 270W depending on how bright the sun is. solar panels for residential and domestic use are cost effective and readily available in the market. Solar panels use the sun as a source of energy. However this energy can only be converted to power and electricity through a solar system that is made up of different elements that work together to produce electricity. These elements include a solar panel, inverter, and a battery. Each of these elements comes in different sizes which impact the performance of the solar system.
Household electrical appliances work on AC current, and not DC current, therefore a pure sine wave inverter is connected to the solar panel to convert the produced DC current into AC current. Inverters have different power ratings ranging from 1kVA to 10kVamp. quite a few solar system configurations available in the market. Most of them are configured for industries, with only a few options for residences. we should produce more technology for home usage and our engineers should developer systems that efficiently use solar technology for our homes. if we use this technology more in our homes and offices for generation of power,it would be very better for our progress and it will reduce our many energy problems. we can also use dc bulbs led dc fan and dc appliances so that their is no need of inventor in our solar home system. dc also reduce power usage of homes.
Solar electric power generation system is useful for producing moderate amount of power. The system works as long as there is a good intensity of natural sunlight. The place where solar modules are installed should be free from obstacles such as trees and buildings otherwise there will be the shade on the solar panel which affects the performance of the system. It is a general view that solar electricity is an impractical alternative of the conventional source of electricity and should be used when there is no traditional alternative of the conventional source of electricity available. But this is not the actual case. Often it seems that solar electricity is more money saving alternative than other traditional alternatives of conventional electricity it is not easy to use solar technology at a commercial level due to some major reasons but we can easily use it at the domestic level.
Hopefully, this article will help University students who are doing bachelor or masters in electrical engineering OR research in Renewable Energy.
This Article has been written by Mr. WAQAR AHMED, Dept of applied physics {major in electronics} uok.
