Introduction:

In this world of technology and science, everyone is aware of the fact that we need to take steps to make our environment green and sustainable. It is imperative to think for the renewable sources as the demand for oil and fossil fuels is exceeding that can create international economic crisis. Moreover, the use of fossil fuels to produce electricity affects the environment as it releases greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide. The other preference should be solar energy rather than using fossil fuels that will help us reaching out our needs of electricity for tomorrow as it is available to us in abundant amount and has no environmental issue. However, to take advantage of this abundant energy, photovoltaic panels are used to capture the solar energy and convert it into electricity.

With the attempt to save cost for producing electricity, first question arises is the type of photovoltaic panel used for the large scale building like ‘The Old Main’.

Type of Solar Panels:

There are three basic types of photovoltaic solar panels that convert solar radiations directly to produce electric energy. These solar panels are made up of the most employed semiconductor Silicon that has great capacity for conducting solar radiations. There are three type of Silicon modules in the market used in the photovoltaic panels.

1.    Monocrystalline

2.    Polycrystalline

3.    Amorphous

Monocrystalline cells are the most efficient panels, basically a slice of crystal. They are more affordable than polycrystalline cells and must be mounted in the rigid frame. On the other hand, they are the most expensive panels to produce.

Polycrystalline cells are less expensive to make but has less silicon in it which make them less efficient than the monocrystalline cells. They also need to be mounted in a rigid frame.

Lastly, amorphous cells (a-Si) are flexible to move and the cheapest of all the photovoltaic panels. They are also manufactured with the thin film of silicon that uses less silicon but also the least efficient than the other panels.

However, a-Si panels have lower efficiencies than the crystalline cells, efforts have been made to produce new kind of panel that is made of both amorphous cells and mono-crystalline cells and “for producing tandem-type, thin film photovoltaic panel” (Mount, 2011).  Although, these type of panels have increased the production cost as the deposition of the micro-crystalline layer that made negative impact on the manufacturing lines. To improve this system, “a new plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) system” which produces highly efficient film formation “that allow light from the red-to- infrared wavelengths to be converted in to electricity” (Crystec Technology Trading GmbH, 2005). With this, the production cost decreased by 10% and efficiency accelerates to 30%.

Consequently, it has been figured out that the new plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition system should be used over the old main building to make it efficient for the future electricity production. The product named Orion III PECVD system is one the product which can be used for this purpose. “The Orion III has many standard features not typically found on a system so reasonably priced, which is why many users worldwide have made it their PECVD system of choice.”

After looking at the type of photovoltaic panels that can be used for this project, there is need to know what kind of system should be arranged. There are four type of photovoltaic systems such as stand alone, grid tied, remote system with battery backup and grid tied with battery backup.

Photovoltaic Systems:

Stand alone have got no battery system that collect energy to use it at night time. It only works when it gets sun energy and when there is no sunshine or at night it produces no electricity. It is the simple system leading to low cost production, mostly used in remote locations as it is not suitable for daily use where you want more and more power.

Grid Tied system has an advantage compared to the stand alone system as it saves all the energy and when the sun is not there, power can be supplied from the grid. It also collects the energy that is not being used during the production of power. In this system, power meter can be run backwards as it can be sold back to the grid.

Remote System with battery backup is the energy saver system in which the power can be stored in batteries. Even when there is no sun’s energy, power from the batteries can be used. These systems also sometime come with an additional generator so that the power can be used for several days.

Grid Tied with battery backup is a similar system like grid tied but has battery system with it that can be used at night time. Net meter can be used to send the energy back to the grid. “With this system, you will have the power even if your neighbourhood has lost power” (Solar Trading Post LLC, 2007).

How it works:

Photovoltaic system starts working when the sun radiation (photon) falls on the panels in the form of light. The panel convert those photons into electrons, producing stream of direct current (DC) electricity. The more sun’s energy it gets more power it produces. A weather station should be located to know the weather conditions outside and to measure the amount of sun energy reaching the panels. The produced direct current flow out of the panel to an inverter, it converts the DC electricity into alternating current (AC) power. This AC electricity can be used in houses, offices and schools to operate television or refrigerator when plugged into the wall outlet. The transformer is required to ensure that the electric voltage produced is compatible with the voltage running in the building. An electric meter keeps track of all the electricity produced in the photovoltaic system and the unused energy goes back to the grid through the meter. The electric distribution panel routes the electric energy produced by the solar panels with the “electricity supplied by the electric utility company” (Conservation Services Group, 2011).

How to arrange solar panel:

This is the most important part to get proper use of solar energy that we are getting for free. Photovoltaic panels can be mounted in an array. First step is to know how much space a rafter will take to place it on the whole roof of the old main building. Lines can be drawn with chalk so that metal flashing be put on top of the lines.  “One method is to mount solar panels on low-tilt legs” (Solar Technology, 2009). This metal racking system fits the panels at 15 degrees angle to improve the solar energy input as it raises panels off the roof surface. With the reference from the “maps of the photovoltaic (PV) potential and solar resource of Canada”, it has been figured out the Kamloops has the photovoltaic potential (kWh/kW) South facing tilt from 1100-1200 annually (Photovoltaic potential and solar resource maps of Canada, 2007). There is another method that employs a locking system that holds the panels in place with the pre drilled holes into the rafters. These rafters can be interconnected in series and parallel to form an array. This system produces direct current electricity, in order to convert this to an alternating current, an inverter is needed.  Then, connect this inverter to the fuse-box in the building to get use of this energy.

Conclusion:

The people around the world is trying to make the environment green and getting their houses to use net-zero energy. I obtain this idea to make the old main building efficient to use the solar energy to produce power that will help the community to save lots of money spent to light up the whole building. It is quite a bit expensive to install the solar panels at a large scale but eventually it helps to save more dollars. This idea can help the whole society with its clean and green environment that leads in reduction of green house gases, which is the main purpose of my research.

Refernces:

Photovoltaic potential and solar resource maps of Canada. (2007, April 9). Natural Resources of Canada.  Retrieved from https://glfc.cfsnet.nfis.org/ mapserver/pv/ index_e.php

Mount, David J. (2011). Producing High-performance Thin-film Silicon PV Panels. Retrieved from http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/ article/2010/07/ producing-high-performance-thin-film-silicon-pv-panels

Crystec Technology Trading GmbH. (2005). Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition, PECVD. Retrieved from http://www.crystec.com/tridepe.htm

Solar Trading Post LLC. (2007).Types of Photovoltaic Systems. Retrieved from http://www.solar tradingpost.com/typesofphotovoltaic.html

Conservation Services Group. (2011). Conservation Services Group. http://www .soltrex.com/learn/how.cfm

Solar Technology. (2009). Photovoltaic (PV) panels and Flat-Roof Mounting Systems. http://www.solar-technology.co.uk/articles/uncategorized/photo voltaic-pv-panels-and-flat-roof-mounting-systems/