Photovoltaics (PVs) Now and in the Future by Alex Giocondi '07

At the end of the year 2005 the total power generated by solar panels worldwide was 5,300 MV. Although this is a large step forward, the total demand of electricity for a year is 3,000,000 MV. Solar grids have a long way to go.

Right now the worldwide installation of PV panels generates an equal amount of electricity as one coal power plant. Japan, Germany, and the United States are the three countries taking the most steps toward advancing the technology of PV panels.

Are Photovoltaics "green"?

A common belief of PV panels is that they are much more environmentally safe than other sources of energy. While gathering energy there are no harmful emissions being released, but what people don’t realize is that during the manufacture of the modules that go in the PV panels some pollutants are produced. Although it's minor there’s always the indirect CO2 pollution from the factories that create these panels.

Today's Photovoltaics

The base unit of PV panels is the single cell. They take direct light waves from the sun and turn it into electric energy. Common use of single cells is in small appliances and tools like a handheld calculator. When more energy is needed these single cells are grouped together into modules or PV panels. Currently the most common uses are to power electronics in homes and businesses that are in remote areas. Out in space where there are no outlets, solar panels are used to power some spaceships and satellites, even a research module on Mars. If you have ever seen roadside emergency telephones chances are they could be powered by solar energy. Many houses in the Midwest use solar panels on their roofs as a source of electric power. A lot of construction companies are also looking into PV power to produce energy for road signs.

Future PV's

Things are looking up for PV panels in the future. Every year the cost of cell production goes down 3 to 5 percent. Colleges and private industries conduct a majority of the research for the advancement of solar panels. A leader in development and research is BP Solar. Public companies are trying to find new ways to increase the practicality. Due to the rising need for silicon in the cells the prices of the panels are rising slowly. But the more people who become interested in these panels and purchase them the more the price will drop. Some of the more up and coming projects include Building-integrated photovoltaics or BIPVs. This is when PVs are worked into the structure of the building so as to generate power to run it. These buildings generally look modern and contribute to the national power grid. Two more notable BIPV’s are some of the structures at Georgetown University and the CIS tower in England. These integrated PV’s are attractive to commercial projects because the cost is also integrated into the building’s projected construction cost.

The main reason PV’s have not been widely accepted is that they are inefficient.

Only about 15% of the solar energy shone onto their surface is being converted to electric energy. Researchers are working on this.

So overall the “now” of these PV panels is a slow rise in usage but not too much popularity. But the future looks very good. With the predicted rise in popularity due to lack of pollution the prices will drop. Some day soon we hope to see many more BIPV’s and a much cleaner source of energy.