Although the elephant has a large body, and a sharp tusk, yet it fears the attack of the tigers. [Thirukkural 599].
Solar Energy, the average energy from the sun falling on top of our atmosphere is approximately 1360 Watts per square meter of area as per NASA. Sun is the most resplendent source of energy which would last many a human lifetimes and is solely responsible for all life form to exist on earth directly or indirectly.
Going by the definition of energy as we discussed earlier, how does sun helps in creating the unbalance which in turn helps us generate or convert the solar energy into electrical form ? It ain't that simple, sun emits radiation across the spectrum from infra red used for heating to ultra-violet, x-rays to gamma radiation which are some of the most potent forms of radiation in terms of energy. Here its noteworthy to mention that higher the frequency of radiation higher the energy and lower the bandwidth and its this energy which is used to convert into energy with usable form.
So how do we capitalize on these radiations coming from sun ? We have two ways to consuming the energy from sun, one is to capitalize upon the high energy radiation of the sun to make the electrons in photovoltaic materials jump the equilibrium barrier to create a potential difference or an imbalance which when provided a path tries to achieve the equilibrium by movement of electrons[electric current] to balance out the potential difference. The other way is to capitalize on the infrared or the heat energy coming to us in form of radiation. With current set of concentrating solar panels technology it is possible to focus this solar radiation at a common point to achieve very high temperature which can then be used to convert this thermal energy into usable electric energy, this mode of energy transformation is also called solar thermal electricity.
Efficiency in both these cases i.e. photovoltaic and solar thermal energy conversion is less than 40% today i.e. if we assume that sun is directly overhead at any given instant of time even then less that 40% of the area exposed will yield us the actual conversion of solar energy to electrical energy.
Two basic types of Solar PhotoVoltaic Panels available in General as per Quora.
How Solar Thermal works as per solarquotes.com.au.
There are many other aspects today that need to be sorted out from electrical power perspective i.e. energy transmission, storage and consumption. There are special tubular batteries used for storage of electrical power from photovoltaic solar panels however the solar thermal energy is connected directly to the grid. Also the power output from the photovoltaic is in DC mode or Direct Current mode which needs an inverter set to be consumed in AC or Alternating Current format.
Solar Energy has already become one of the main stays of renewable energy transformation scenario and mostly its based out of photovoltaic mode as Solar Thermal conversion is only feasible in limited areas. The existing conundrum of carbon footprint and associated use of fossil fuels causing pollution are the main targets which might eventually help the environment but we are far off from having a complete replacement. As of today, the developed and developing economies are relying more heavily on electricity which is making a per capita energy requirement going higher by the day which is currently being met by the non-renewable sources of energy with contribution from renewable sources to the extent plausible however not all economies are completely into it as of today.
As more and more electrical based appliances are coming into being wherein transportation sector has taken a giant leap in EV or electric vehicles it might be possible to cater to the growing pollution issue if and only if we build upon solar or renewable sources of energy. Having said that it doesn't mean having solar in such quantities is coming without any pollution, getting high efficiency solar panels needs a lot of treatment and equivalent energy spent on it however given the options today it is definitely a safe bet. So also the CSP or concentrating solar panels wherever applicable can be implemented to complement the base loads of consumption the only issue is, they can work at maximum efficacy for only a few hours in a day so challenge for the same is still working towards increasing the efficiency.
