Photovoltaic and passive solar design :: Essays Papers

Photovoltaic and passive solar designThe insolate is an infinite source of energy for our planet. In 1839 Edmund Becquerel, a French experimental physicist, discovered the photovoltaic effect while experimenting with an electrolytic booth do up of two metal electrodes. His Discovery was never taken to a commercial level until 1950 when silicon was utilize in semiconductors. In 1973 thither was a oil crises in the U.S. and it created huge public awareness approximately the limited resource of fossil fuels, and led to the emerging market of solar photovoltaic technologies. This awareness was heightened even more by nuclear accidents corresponding Three Mile Island in 1979. There are many contrasting kinds of PV cells but all cells are do from silicon and have no moving parts. They convert light photons into moving electrons, which creates electricity. There are triad major types of PV cells that have been developed in Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States. us ing an experiment called integrated spectral response (ISR), it is possible to determine the qualification of each cell. In a laboratory solar cells have prove to be up to 26% efficient.In the real world, however, the efficiency tolerate vary. The light spectrum is what determines the solar cells to be used in a definite area. In order to decide which solar cell is best, the light used must be filtered by using IRS. The cell must too be hooked up to a spectrophotometer. A spectrophotometer measures the wavelength that is used by the solar cell. In an experiment done in Cairo, Egypt the procedure above was followed. The conclusion was that the monocrystalline cell from the United States was the closely efficient cell. However, due to the wrong of this cell it would be better to use more polycrystalline cells made in Germany. Also determined by the experiment was the fact that humidity changes the efficiency of the cells. In a desert climate the US cell was the most e ffective. In the presence of moisture the German cell was the most efficient (Shaltout, etc). Photovoltaic cells are a great template for online solar panels. However, solar panels take 15 years to get cover version the energy it took to make them. This is not a very sustainable design. So it is not the only technology being developed.