Solar energy cycles, effects

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. 

The unusually large heat of vaporization of water has an important effect on the earth s weather. Evaporation of the surface waters absorbs over 30% of the solar energy reaching the earth s surface. This energy is released when the water vapor condenses, and thunderstorms and hurricanes may result. In the process, the waters of the earth are circulated and the freshwater sources are replenished. This natural cycle of water from the oceans to freshwate- sources and its return to the ocean is called the hydrologic cycle (Figure 11.53). 

The prototypical photochemical system for CO2 reduction contains a photosensitizer (or photocatalyst) to capture the photon energy, an electron relay catalyst (that might be the same species as the photosensitizer) to couple the photon energy to the chemical reduction, an oxidizable species to complete the redox cycle and CO2 as the substrate. Figure 1 shows a cartoon of the photochemical CO2 reduction system. An effective photocatalyst must absorb a significant part of the solar spectrum, have a long-lived excited state and promote the activation of small molecules. Both organic dyes and transition metal complexes have been used as photocatalysts for CO2 reduction. In this chapter, CO2 reduction systems mediated by cobalt and nickel macrocycles and rhenium complexes will be discussed. 

In addition to the cost effectiveness of silicon ribbons, energy payback time (i.e. the time needed to produce the amount of energy that was consumed during the manufacturing of a solar system) is drastically reduced. In a recent life-cycle analysis of crystalline silicon wafer based PV systems, it was demonstrated that the energy pay-back times can be reduced by half (based on cut multi-crystalline wafers), by the use of RGS ribbons for systems in central Europe [97]. 

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