Re: PV solar design example

On Jun 4, 12:49 pm, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgro...@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
"James Arthur" <dagmargoodb...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:4b500acd-6f67-4f2c-901d-e18dab92525a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From that document:
"Purifying and crystallizing the silicon are the most energy-
intensive parts of the solar cell manufacturing process."

Certainly a significant point. It emphasizes how in general it's difficult to
do a "big picture" comparison between energy production techniques:

Shouldn't be that difficult--as a start, just ask the wafer suppliers
what their power bills are, and divide by m^2 of product they ship.

Is pure
silicon available as "scrap" with the energy used to purify it already
"charged' to some other "budget?' Or does it need to be included?

It needs to be included. For PV to make the big time, we'll need LOTS
more silicon surface area in solar cells than we've ever had in chips,
and so they'll account for most of the refining energy.

Thin film cells use less material--that could save a bunch of the
manufacturing energy.

<snip>

I'm still thinking eventually we'll just be building more nuclear power plants
and the 'day to day' car of the majority will be electric.

---Joel

That would be fun. (I like electric cars!) An electric with a super-
clean 10 KW auxiliary generator is my ideal so far. Unlimited range,
twice the efficiency.

James Arthur
.

Relevant Pages

  • Solar Cell attains 40.7% efficiency
    ... New World Record Achieved In Solar Cell Technology ... U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable ...
    (sci.energy.hydrogen)
  • Re: Annealing of Radiation Damage
    ... >>significant damage being observed in hard single crystals (silicon, ... >thumb based on the temperature and the displacement energy. ... temperature for sure is an issue. ... Correct me if I'm wrong, but your target is amorphous, isn't it, no ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Solar Cell Efficiency
    ... Because of the nature of solar energy, with the photons adding ... junction solar cells are designed such at higher energy photons ... light into the solar cell while making a low resistance connection. ...
    (sci.energy)
  • Re: Solar Cell Efficiency
    ... >>Is there any real feisible way to increase the efficiency of a solar ... Because of the nature of solar energy, with the photons adding ... > light into the solar cell while making a low resistance connection. ...
    (sci.energy)
  • New silicon 100-500x more light sensitive
    ... Silicon is a wonderfully cooperative element. ... little energy to promote the electrons in a silicon crystal from their ... Executives for the company, called SiOnyx, believe that its technology ... And because black silicon is just silicon that’s been roughed up a bit ...
    (rec.photo.digital.slr-systems)
Quantcast