Electrical Engineering (semiconductors, power electronics, controls, instrumentation, batteries)
Mechanical Engineering (module manufacture, materials, flywheels and other energy storage)
Chemical Engineering (batteries, fuel cells)
Areas of engineering
relevant to PV:
Electrical Engineering
(semiconductors, power electronics, controls, instrumentation, batteries)
Mechanical Engineering
(module manufacture, materials, flywheels and other energy storage)
Chemical Engineering
(batteries, fuel cells)
PV research at SDSU:
Have a PV question?
Click
here to submit your question.
Photovoltaics (PV) is the direct conversion of sunlight to electrical energy using solar cells, which are essentially illuminated semiconductor diodes. People have been interested in PV for years because it has long promised "free", virtually unlimited energy without pollution. Unfortunately, the high cost of PV, coupled with the technical challenges in energy storage and control of an intermittent source, have prevented PV from realizing this potential. This is starting to change, though--increasing concern about environmental problems and the lack of sustainability in modern society, plus the fact that the developing world will soon be demanding orders of magnitude more energy than it presently does, have rekindled interest in PV and other renewable energy technologies.
PV does offer certain other advantages over other energy conversion technologies. Examples:
- Because it is entirely solid-state and has no real wear-out mechanism, PV systems can be extremely reliable and long-lived. PV modules have operated in the field for well over 20 years without problems, and new PV modules now carry warranties of 15 years or even more (about how many other devices can you say THAT?). This indicates that PV has a niche market (i.e., is cost- competitive) in applications where a very low-maintenance power source is needed, such as remote loads that are isolated from conventional utility sources of electricity.
- The cost of PV-produced electric energy (in dollars per kWh) does not increase appreciably as the size of the system decreases; that is, the cost of PV systems scales approximately linearly with system size. For almost all other technologies, there is what is known as an "economy of scale"--the cost of energy decreases, in some cases markedly, as the size of the system increases. PV is different. The cost per kWh of a 10-W PV system can be about the same as the cost per kWh of a 100-kW PV system. This means that PV has a niche market for small loads.
- PV produces only a very minimal impact on the immediate environment. PV systems require no fuel (other than sunlight), and thus they require no roads for frequent refueling and no storage tanks, and have no associated possibility of fuel spills during transportation. They also produce no sound or motion. PV systems, therefore, "lay lightly on the land", in the words of the National Park Service. This might also create a niche market for PV systems.
- PV modules can be integrated (or even used as) building materials. PV shingles are on the market, and PV building facades, roofing structures, and highway dividers have all been fielded successfully. Integration of PV into other structures, such as buildings, has the potential to significantly lower PV costs by displacing other materials. This also is something of a niche market; windpower systems, for example, cannot be building-integrated without significant structural changes.
If you're looking
for more PV info, the links below may help you. If they don't, feel
free to write me at michael_ropp@.sdstate.edu.
I have set up a FAQs page that might help you. To go to my PV FAQs page, click here.
Table
of contents:
General
PV resources
PV
research projects at SDSU
| The National Center for Photovoltaics (NCPV) | The NCPV is attached to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO. NCPV conducts its own PV research, but it also serves as a clearinghouse for large amounts of PV information. | |
| Sandia National Laboratories' Photovoltaics Program |
Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, NM, has been conducting PV research for a long time. This WWWeb site gives access to technical documents, news, and achievements of the Program. |
|
| Georgia Tech's Photovoltaics Systems Group | This is the home page of the premier University PV systems group in the U.S. The Georgia Tech Aquatic Center Roof PV array is under their care, as is a smaller AC array. This is another good place to go (other than where you are now!) to get questions answered. | |
- Design of module-integrated power electronics
- Maximum power point tracking optimization and experimental comparison
- Utility system behavior under high connection densities of PV (and/or windpower)
- Initial degradation of crystalline and multicrystalline PV modules
- Advanced anti-islanding techniques, including the use of power line carrier communications
Facilities
We have a small (2
kW) PV array and a battery bank that is being installed on/in the new addition
to our Engineering building. There has been a great deal of student
involvement in all projects developed thus far, and we intend to expand
both the number of projects and the student involvement in the future.