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Solar Power is Hot - Research on inexpensive production methods for solar panels
STAGE 1: Location and Theory
Alternative Energy resources can provide solutions to many of the problems that we face for the future. Currently efficiency is the only roadblock to creating an alternative energy solution for many of the basic functions that we consume energy for. In considering the delivery mechanism of energy to modern households the reality of converting our domiciles to be use of alternative energies is limited by the products being used. There isn't much of a chance of a quick integration for society to adapt to self-generated types of power like solar panels on a large scale, but on a limited basis there is progress being made. In order to use the technologies that we have it is reasonable to test solar power generation for efficiency. By locating in the desert this abundant resource can be tested for methods of collection then fed into the power grid until such time as the products and households themselves can adapt to energy self-generation systems. To work within the current economic realities several monetary questions arise:
#1) At what point is solar power profitable based on current wholesale rates?
#2) At what scale would a solar generating facility need to operate to cover it's cost?
STAGE 2: The process of Solar Energy Capture and Conversion
I setup a warehouse in Nevada and tested tested solar panels and storage systems on a limited basis. This worked well since for a time the power company did not turn on the electricity at the warehouse and solar energy was the only available lighting power source. The panels capture the radiation and convert the energy to dc power which is then fed into a 12volt battery bank. Energy to equipment can then be delivered on demand through an inverter to the mostly 110volt electrical devices that were being used there.
Analysis of solar collection and use of solar power in a practical self-contained environment:
#1) Large banks of batteries would be necessary to store significant amounts of energy to produce and store enough energy to run a warehouse, especially with the need for cooling in the hot environment of the desert. How many batteries and how economical is it to store energy? Is the final waste product, i.e. the batteries, worse than current electrical system byproducts? How many solar panels and how much space would it take to keep large battery banks charged sufficiently to endure periods with extended cloud cover?
#2) Wind and dust are serious issues in the desert creating a physical maintenence issue. Efficient design and condensed collection methods would reduce the amount of labor involved inaintaining a solar power system. Rotational solar panels would increase the efficiency of any solar panel and make solar panel systems more economical.
#3) Reducing the cost of the panels themselves would allow the implementation of panels to a large enough space to create a significants amount of energy. Currently the panel cost are a limit to the implementation of a larger solar panel system. I've bought regular silicon glass-framed panels used and they can do the job for a few batteries, but they aren't enough, even in the desert to run any serious equipment for any long period of time consistently.
STAGE 3: Screenprinting inexpensive Solar Panels
I have been researching the feasibility of screen printing layers of photo-reactive chemicals and through contact layers transfering the electricity to a solar energy collection system. This appears feasible and would result in low-cost solar panels, but I have not been able to test the chemicals and determine what is the proper carrier that would allow me to run actual printing test. I compare this process to creating EL, Electro-luminescent, products which are commonly used to light products commercially today. The only difference to apply of the techniques of printing EL to printing Solar Energy panels. With this application I could create a wide-range of products that could either self generate power or feed the power into a solar power collection system.
#1) The chemical Cadmium can be used, as well as, other chemicals and materials to collect the solar energy. These chemicals can be made into printable materials and layered in translucent substrates to allow energy collection.
#2) The efficiency of this collection process is lower than silicon type collection processes and would therefore require more space to capture the same amount of energy. Screenprinted panels would be cheaper than the more cumbersome rigid panels currently on the market, but they would require more space to collect the same amount of energy.
#3) Test need to be done on geometric spacing to increase the quantity and locations that smaller panels can be integrated in to. The combination of thinner flexible panels to more environments could allow for increased use of solar panels for localized use. I have several ideas for modeling of this type of collection system that could be adaptable, aesthetically pleasing and cheap, but I need to do more testing on the printability of panels and the geometric configurations of collection systems.
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