Three main types of PV installations Depending on the locality, economics, and availability of the grid, there are a few types of PV installations, but their inherent components remain almost the same. These types of PV installations are specifically designed for each locality. The three major types of PV installations
Month: May 2021
Components of solar PV system The major component of a solar PV system is the solar panel itself. After the solar panel, there are many components that are needed to provide power to appliances, store the additional energy, and provide power to the grid itself. The major components of a
Climate change The major factor disabling the human race from achieving sustainability is climate change. Climate change is the change in weather conditions that adversely affect the areas on earth locally or globally. Climate change is occurring mostly due to human activities that result in the release of greenhouse gases
What are Bypass diodes in solar panels? The bypass diodes were discussed briefly in the design of the solar panel, but their complete functionality was left for later. Bypass diodes are actually employed in solar panels to reduce the adverse effects of shading. Bypass diodes are high-power diodes (to withstand
Shading The key aspect that reduces the power from a photovoltaic (PV) system is “shading”. Shading comes from shade or shadow, which is actually a dark figure of an object blocking the path of the light. In terms of PV systems, the shading is the covering of a full or
From solar cells to solar panels Solar panels (photovoltaic panels-PV) are a combination of multiple solar cells. Solar cells generate voltage and current and typically these values are too small for the solar cell to be employed for power generation alone. Therefore, in order to increase these values, a number
Thin Film calculations using matrix method From our previous discussions on refractive index, and thin film interference, we can now move towards solving a complex system of multiple thin films (or multilayer coatings) and perform thin film calculation as shown in Fig. 1. Thin film calculation can help us to
What is a solar cell? A solar cell is a device that converts solar energy into electrical energy through a photovoltaic effect . This is why a solar cell is referred to as a photovoltaic (PV) cell . The term Photovoltaic effect signifies the generation of voltage and current when
Thin film interference Thin films (sometimes referred to as multilayer coatings) are layers of naturally occurring materials that are deposited in such a fashion that their thickness is small, in comparison to the wavelength of Electromagnetic (EM) waves they manipulate. Thin film interference can be used to calculate the behavior
Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Based on our previous discussion of complex refractive index ( N ) involving real ( n ) and complex parts ( k ), there can be multiple scenarios dictating the behavior of EM waves passing through a material. These scenarios are explained below. 1) The value of