Cost, solar energy collectors

Wilhelm, W. G., "The Use of Polymer Films and Laminate Technology for Low Cost Solar Energy Collectors," submitted to the Am. Chem. Soc. Polymers In Solar Energy Symposium, Las Vegas, NV, March 28- April 2, 1982. 

Polymer Film and Laminate Technology for Low-Cost Solar Energy Collectors... 

Sensitivity studies have shown that costs are likely to be contaminant specific and depend on plant size and location. The design of a commercial facility has not been finalized. Solar collectors are the largest cost component of solar detoxification systems, and some research indicates that a one-sun system (in a one-sun system, solar energy is not concentrated by reflectors or solar panels) that does not use a solar collector may be more efficient in accessing diffuse ultraviolet light. Another design concern that may impact process costs is the use of a fixed catalyst versus a slurry feed (D12953N, pp.190-203). 

The interfaces of importance in SECS are the solid/solid (S/S), solid/gas (S/G), and solid/ liquid (S/L) (4). The area-intensive nature of SECS components was established in the previous section. The major problem is collecting solar energy at a cost that is competitive with other energy forms. Thus, low initial cost is required for the materials, support structures, and production processes in the SECS of interest in Fig. 1 (6). This requires, for example, using thin films in mirrors, in photovoltaic systems, for antireflection coatings on windows, for passive collection, etc. in addition, these films must be made from inexpensive, durable, and easily processed materials (5). Inexpensive long-life materials in flat-plate collectors and durable, stable absorber coatings are also necessary. 

In Dunhuang City, Gansu Province in China, the construction of a 100 mW 765 million solar power plant has been approved. The plant will have 3.1 km2 of solar collectors at an installed cost of 2,450/m2. Because the Sun shines for 3,362 h/yr in the area, assuming that the plant will run fully loaded when solar energy can be collected and that the electricity will be sold at 12 /kWh, the value of the produced electricity will be 40.3 million per year. 

McLoughlin, O.A., Fernandez, P., Gernjak, W., Malato, S. and Gilla, L.W. (2004) Photocatalytic disinfection of water using low cost compound parabolic collectors. Solar Energy 77, 625-633. 

Some 60 dyes have been selected as possible photovoltaic materials their electrochemical redox potentials, surface adsorption, spectroscopic properties, fluorescence yields, and acid-base properties have been measured. The aim of this work is to produce a low-cost panel for harvesting solar energy as electrical power. The physical principles of fluorescent solar collectors have been discussed by Raue and Harnisch and several classes of dyes examined. Coumarin dyes are suitable convertors, particularly if the amino-group is fixed by ring closure to the aromatic system. 

To the evaporator cost must be added the cost of collecting the energy in the solar heat collector. The variation in the water cost for the time of year and... 

The benefits of solar thermal collectors, as the rooftop panels that heat water using the sun s energy are called, are numerous they require very little maintenance they have virtually no running costs they usually only take a day to install and, in some cases, you don t require building permits. 

Polymers have many potential applications In solar technologies that can help achieve total system cost-effectiveness. For this potential to be realized, three major parameters must be optimized cost, performance, and durability. Optimization must be achieved despite operational stresses, some of which are unique to solar technologies. This paper Identifies performance of optical elements as critical to solar system performance and summarizes the status of several optical elements flat-plate collector glazings, mirror glazings, dome enclosures, photovoltaic encapsulation, luminescent solar concentrators, and Fresnel lenses. Research and development efforts are needed to realize the full potential of polymers to reduce life-cycle solar energy conversion costs. 

Balance of System - In a solar energy system, refers to all components other than the collector. In terms of costs, it includes design costs, land, site preparation, system installation, support structures, power conditioning, operation and maintenance costs, indirect storage, and related costs. 

Thus, the nature of solar radiation has innate problems that require means (heat stores, auxiliary energy source, control system, and large-surface solar collectors) for their solution, and so the investment costs are considerable. Obviously, a prerequisite to utilizing solar energy is economics and the need to achieve an acceptable rate of return. 

Payback calculations refer to the whole solar energy drying system [31,32]. With appropriate division of the costs, there is of course nothing in the way of making the calculation only for the collector system [33,34]. Construction of the collectors can be planned on the basis of the economic optimum [35,36]. 

Abstract. Usual plate solar collectors, based on a metal absorber (Cu, Al) selectively coated are technologically very sophisticated, expensive to produce and they are great consumer of fossil raw material. Polymeric materials are considered as a promising alternative for many interesting properties easy moldability, corrosion resistance, they also offer a significant cost-reduction for solar thermal collectors, and a mass production may thus benefit to a broader utilization of solar energy. Most drawbacks of polymers are their low thermal properties essentially thermal conductivity coefficient may strongly affect the solar absorber efficiency and deteriorate the collector performance. 

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