My students may wish to explore materials complimentary to the course, Design of Solar Energy Conversion Systems.
Solar Energy:
Facts and Anecdotes
In order to meet the demands of our global society in the future, what can we do?
Past, Present and Future
Theses Graduates: Follow the links to download!
Ms. Mesude Bayrakci (MS EME; Summer 2011): Temperature Dependent Power Modeling of Photovoltaics
Mr. Charith Tammineedi (MS EME; Spring 2011): Matlab Modeling of Battery-Ultracapacitor Systems for Solar and Wind
Mr. Luke Witmer (MS EME; Fall 2010): TRNSYS: Quantification of the Passive Cooling of Photovoltaics Using a Green Roof
Mr. Jonathan Perez-Blanco (BS Honors ME; Spring 2010): Conventional and Green Roof Albedo Measurement and Analysis for Roof-Mounted Photovoltaic Applications
Natural Fusion Solar Decathlon
The Natural Fusion project at Penn State has seen a very successful experience on the National Mall in in Washington D.C. this October 2009! Congratulations to the team for taking 3rd place in both Engineering and Lighting Design! What an amazing design-build process for all of us.
Contact Information if you would like to contact our group for outreach, consulting, or otherwise.
Solar Energy Conversion: Historical Context
Technologies using solar energy conversion have been developing for thousands of years, often as a response to economic or fuel constraints; as in Greece and Rome, and following our own Great Depression.1 Yet the field is still in its infancy for the many global societies of the developed world. Solar energy conversion is not at all like traditional energy engineering, and requires a different mind-set to assess distribution, scales of use, systems design, predictive economic models for the fluctuating solar resource, and storage plans to address transient cycles.
One does not "harness" or "produce and refine" the photon (the fundamental packet of light), and there are no "mineral rights" to photons (although there certainly are relative to the contingent materials that deliver the conversion technologies). The spectrum of the solar resource is broad, and allows for heating, cooling, and electrical power conversion (i.e. solar cogeneration). And at the core of the field, one finds that solar energy applications are simply conversions of light to do work found useful to society. The field of solar energy utilization is ripe for a transformative new interpretation that will feed innovative minds and sustain the excitement that I encounter every day in my own students of engineering, science, economics, and architecture for a new green energy economy.
1. A Golden Thread: 2500 Years of Solar Architecture and Technology. (1980) Ken Butti and John Perlin.
The Sun
The Sun provides about 120,000 terawatts (a trillion watts! TW : 1012) of power (or energy burn rate, power is just energy per time unit) to the Earth's surface. How does this comepare? Well, the average power consumed by humans on Earth in 2001, when we had 6.6 billion people, was about 13 TW!
What would we need?
At minimum estimates, our global energy demands will double to 28 terawatts (a trillion watts! TW=1012 Watts) by 2050, and the sun is uniquely prepared to offer us that amount of energy in a carbon-neutral form.1,2 If we consider using only available solar cell technology, having 10% photoconversion efficiency, how much land area would we need for 20 TW?
PV area = 500,000 km2 (193,000 mi2)
But what does such a scale really mean? Well, in the USA, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Highway System (begun in 1956) is 75,376 km (46,837 mi) long.3 If we make minimal estimates of two lanes and two shoulders on that road, the areal coverage would be 995,000 km 2 (384,171 mi 2. Now imagine the quantity of concrete required to finish that job!
1. Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy Utilization. (2005) U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences.
2. N. S. Lewis, Chemical Challenges in Renewable Energy. California Institute of Technology, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.
3. DOT Homepage for D. D. Eisenhower Interstate Highway System
My research efforts will often lead to opportunities for undergraduate research projects. Interested students with outstanding skills are asked to contact me with a copy of their resumes.