PV Gap

Lucille Said:

Should we be concerned the USA only has 4 of the world's top 30 companies in wind, solar, and battery tech?

We Answered:

dell is naive. China is as much economically motivated as any other country.

But if the US does not establish a position in these technologies, it will be repeating the mistake the US automakers made a generation ago, when they failed to invest in economy vehicles.

The US also needs a sensible nuclear policy, which implies spent fuel reprocessing. Carter got this one wrong, and every succeeding President has repeated the mistake.

Holly Said:

Why Solar Photovoltaic Technology is not Widely Used?

We Answered:

Probably the biggest factor is high initial cost. In the long run solar will pay itself off and then continue to provide free energy. The problem is, people think in terms of here and now, not in terms of ten years from now. Give a person the option between $15,000 worth of solar or their $200/month electric bill and they'll choose the $200/month.

Sharon Said:

I would like to know about History of Solar Photovoltaic Technology?

We Answered:

Photovoltaics (PVs) are arrays of cells containing a solar photovoltaic material that converts solar radiation into direct current electricity. Materials presently used for photovoltaics include monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, microcrystalline silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium selenide/sulfide.[1] Due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources, the manufacture of solar cells and photovoltaic arrays has advanced dramatically in recent years.[2][3][4]

Photovoltaic production has been doubling every 2 years, increasing by an average of 48 percent each year since 2002, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy technology.[5] At the end of 2008, the cumulative global PV installations reached 15,200 megawatts.[6][7] Roughly 90% of this generating capacity consists of grid-tied electrical systems. Such installations may be ground-mounted (and sometimes integrated with farming and grazing) [8] or built into the roof or walls of a building, known as Building Integrated Photovoltaics or BIPV for short.[9] Solar PV power stations today have capacities ranging from 10-60 MW although proposed solar PV power stations will have a capacity of 150 MW or more.[1]

Driven by advances in technology and increases in manufacturing scale and sophistication, the cost of photovoltaics has declined steadily since the first solar cells were manufactured.[10] Net metering and financial incentives, such as preferential feed-in tariffs for solar-generated electricity, have supported solar PV installations in many countries.
Overview
Photovoltaics are best known as a method for generating electric power by using solar cells to convert energy from the sun into electricity. The photovoltaic effect refers to photons of light knocking electrons into a higher state of energy to create electricity. The term photovoltaic denotes the unbiased operating mode of a photodiode in which current through the device is entirely due to the transduced light energy. Virtually all photovoltaic devices are some type of photodiode.

Solar cells produce direct current electricity from sun light, which can be used to power equipment or to recharge a battery. The first practical application of photovoltaics was to power orbiting satellites and other spacecraft, but today the majority of photovoltaic modules are used for grid connected power generation. In this case an inverter is required to convert the DC to AC. There is a smaller market for off-grid power for remote dwellings, boats, recreational vehicles, electric cars, roadside emergency telephones, remote sensing, and cathodic protection of pipelines.
Cells require protection from the environment and are usually packaged tightly behind a glass sheet. When more power is required than a single cell can deliver, cells are electrically connected together to form photovoltaic modules, or solar panels. A single module is enough to power an emergency telephone, but for a house or a power plant the modules must be arranged in multiples as arrays. Although the selling price of modules is still too high to compete with grid electricity in most places, significant financial incentives in Japan and then Germany, Italy and France triggered a huge growth in demand, followed quickly by production. In 2008, Spain installed 45% of all photovoltaics, but a change in law limiting the feed-in tariff is expected to cause a precipitous drop in the rate of new installations there, from an extra 2500 MW in 2008 to an expected additional 375 MW in 2009.[11]

Perhaps not unexpectedly, a significant market has emerged in off-grid locations for solar-power-charged storage-battery based solutions. These often provide the only electricity available.[12] The first commercial installation of this kind was in 1966 on Ogami Island in Japan to transition Ogami Lighthouse from gas torch to fully self-sufficient electrical power.

World solar photovoltaic (PV) installations were 2.826 gigawatts peak (GWp) in 2007, and 5.95 gigawatts in 2008, a 110% increase.[13][14] The three leading countries (Germany, Japan and the US) represent nearly 89% of the total worldwide PV installed capacity. According to Navigant Consulting and Electronic Trend Publications, the estimated PV worldwide installations outlooks of 2012 are 18.8GW and 12.3GW respectively. Notably, the manufacture of solar cells and modules had expanded in recent years.

Germany was the fastest growing major PV market in the world from 2006 to 2007. By 2008, 5.337 GWp of PV was installed, or 35% of the world total.[7] The German PV industry generates over 10,000 jobs in production, distribution and installation. By the end of 2006, nearly 88% of all solar PV installations in the EU were in grid-tied applications in Germany.[2] Photovoltaic power capacity is measured as maximum power output under standardized test conditions (STC) in "Wp" (Watts peak).[15] The actual power output at a particular point in time may be less than or gre

Jason Said:

Are there any schools for Photovoltaic Technologies in the midwest, especially Ohio?

We Answered:

I know of a professor at The Ohio State University named Steven Ringel that has done some great work with photo-sensitive materials, including solar panels (see article below). There are also other professors in the solid-state area of the ECE Dept. that you may want to investigate. Oh, and OSU has a pretty cool cleanroom for experimenting with microelectronics materials (see 2nd link below).

What I would recommend if you are in high school (or even if you aren't in high school):
1) Study your physics.
2) Buy some solar panels or play around with some solar panel material (do a mini-project on your own or something).
3) Do a little reading on current solar panel technology, and how they work (the web or an introductory book).
4) Go to OSU and apply to the Electrical/Computer Engineering Dept. once you have the course requirements.
5) Try to get into a class with a professor that does research on photo-sensitive materials.
6) Ask that professor about undergraduate research opportunities on solar panels (OSU is quite open to undergraduates helping out with research, if they are willing). Be sure to show off your knowledge of solar panels (and your interest in solar panels).
7) After 4-5 years at OSU, go out into the job market and shake things up OR go to grad school if you want further education/research.

Good luck.