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Estimating solar energy requirements to meet U.S. energy needs: an outreach event

Estimating solar energy requirements to meet U.S. energy needs: an outreach event . Daniel Esposito, 1 Vernon Alt 2 1 Columbia University 2 Northrup Grumman Corporation. An Introduction to Energy and Power. Energy is the capacity to do work and has the unit of Joules (J)

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Estimating solar energy requirements to meet U.S. energy needs: an outreach event

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  1. Estimating solar energy requirements to meet U.S. energy needs: an outreach event Daniel Esposito,1 Vernon Alt2 1Columbia University 2Northrup Grumman Corporation

  2. An Introduction to Energy and Power • Energy is the capacity to do work and has the unit of Joules (J) • Poweris the rate of energy consumption or generation and has the unit of Watts (W), equal to one Joule/second. 20 mW 1.2 kW 1 GW 60 W

  3. Primary Power Use in the U.S. 3,500,000,000,000 W = 3.5x1012 TW = 3.5 TW

  4. Today’s Question: How Many Solar Panels are Needed to Power the U.S.? D.) Alaska 1,507,000 km2 A.) Connecticut 13,000 km2 (5,000 mi2) B.) Virginia 102,000 km2 C.) Texas 684,000 km2 (588,000 mi2) (40,000 mi2) (267,000 mi2)

  5. Photovoltaic Energy Conversion Light Electricity Load Solar Panel U.S. Energy consumption = 3.5 TW Area?

  6. Why Solar Energy? Solar is abundant 130,000 TW

  7. Why Solar Energy? Solar is abundant Solar is widely available across the globe

  8. Why Solar Energy? Solar is abundant Solar is widely available across the globe Solar is a renewable resource

  9. Why Solar Energy? Solar is abundant Solar is widely available across the globe Solar is a renewable resource Solar is environmentally friendly. It does not emit green house gases or other pollutants while operating

  10. Description of a Solar Cell 4 main components of a solar cell: 1. Semiconductor 2. front contact 3. back contact Sun light 4. wires (+) (-) Electricity

  11. Measuring electrical power produced by a a solar cell Quantities to be measured Voltage (units: Volts) Current (units: Amps) Area (units: cm2) Power = (Voltage) x (Current) [=] Watts Multimeter Leads

  12. Calculating Required Area of Solar Panels: Find electrical power from a single solar panel (Ps ) : Ps = (Voltage) x (Current) (unit: Watt) Find number of Solar Panels required to get 3.5 TW: 3,500,000,000 ,000 Watts Number of Panels = (Power from 1 panel)x(6/24) 3. Find total area occupied by solar panels Total Area = (Number of panels) x (Area of 1 Panel)

  13. How did you do??? Alaska 1,507,000 km2 Connecticut 13,000 km2 (5,000 mi2) Virginia 102,000 km2 Texas 684,000 km2 (588,000 mi2) (40,000 mi2) (267,000 mi2)

  14. Why Isn’t Solar Energy More Prevalent?

  15. Why Isn’t Solar Energy More Prevalent? 3. Efficiency • $$$$$$$$$$ • Solar Intermittency Price trends in U.S., 1976-2009^ ^ J. Newman, J. Electrochem. Soc., 2012.

  16. Final Questions?

  17. Extra Slides

  18. What is Electricity, and how do we quantify the energy/power in electricity? • Electricity is the flow of negatively charged electrons • Three major metrics to describe electricity: electron (-) (-) Power= Current x Voltage V (+) (+) 1. Voltage (V) 2. Current (I) 3. Power (P) Unit: Volt Unit: Amp Unit: Watt

  19. What is Light? • Light is made of photons • The more photons being emitted by a light source, the brighter the light source appears, and the more power being released by the light source high low Power Power

  20. How do we measure the power contained by Light? Detector 1. Brightness (B) unit: lux 2. Power, also known as Irradiance (PL ) unit: mW / cm2 PL = B/1,000 Flux meter

  21. Primary Energy Use in the U.S. 3,500,000,000,000 W =60 billion light bulbs =3 billion toasters =4 thousand nuclear plants

  22. How do we make Solar Panels more common • Engineers (Chemical Electrical, Mechanical, Civil) • Scientists (Chemists, Physicists, Biologists) • Technicians & skilled workers Technology (Math & Science) Sustainable Energy Future • Politicians • Psychologists • Sociologists • Urban planners • Economists • Bankers • Marketing Policy Business

  23. Where does Energy Come From? (Oil)

  24. 2 MAJOR Problems with fossil fuels 1. Fossil fuels are non-renewable

  25. 2 MAJOR Problems with fossil fuels 2. Global Warming / Pollution Energy Fossil Fuels (Coal, oil, natural gas)

  26. 2 MAJOR Problems with fossil fuels 2. Global Warming / Pollution Energy Fossil Fuels (Coal, oil, natural gas)

  27. Greenhouse Gas Effect Some outgoing light is trapped by the earth’s atmosphere and warms turns it into heat Some light is radiated back into space by earth Much of the sun’s radiation is absorbed by the Earth

  28. One More Important Metric: Efficiency Light Electricity PL PPV

  29. One More Important Metric: Efficiency Light Electricity PL PPV Conversion efficiency= PPV PL Power produced by the solar panel Power from the sun or light =

  30. Electrical Loads Radio 80 mA Refrigerator 2 Amps small lights 20 mA

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