As civilization grows, the energy needed to support our way of life increases every day, requiring us to find new and innovative ways to harness our renewable resources, such as sunlight, to create more energy for our society to continue Progress.
Sunlight has provided and enabled life on our planet for centuries.Whether directly or indirectly, the sun allows the generation of almost all known energy sources such as fossil fuels, hydro, wind, biomass, etc.As civilization grows, the energy needed to support our way of life increases every day, requiring us to find new and innovative ways to harness our renewable resources, such as sunlight, to create more energy for our society to continue Progress.
As far back as the ancient world we have been able to survive on solar energy, using sunlight as an energy source originated in buildings built more than 6,000 years ago, by orienting the house so that sunlight passes through openings that act as a form of heating.Thousands of years later, Egyptians and Greeks used the same technique to keep their houses cool during summer by shielding them from the sun [1].Large single pane windows are used as solar thermal windows, allowing heat from the sun to enter but trapping the heat inside.Sunlight was not only essential for the heat it produced in the ancient world, but it was also used to preserve and preserve food through salt.In salinization, the sun is used to evaporate toxic seawater and obtain salt, which is collected in solar pools [1].In the late Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci proposed the first industrial application of concave mirror solar concentrators as water heaters, and later Leonardo also proposed the technology of welding copper using solar radiation and allowing technical solutions to run textile machinery [1].Soon during the Industrial Revolution, W. Adams created what is now called a solar oven.This oven has eight symmetrical silver glass mirrors that form an octagonal reflector.Sunlight is concentrated by mirrors into a glass-covered wooden box where the pot will be placed and let it boil[1].Fast forward a few hundred years and the solar steam engine was built around 1882 [1].Abel Pifre used a concave mirror 3.5m in diameter and focused it on a cylindrical steam boiler that produced enough power to drive the printing press.
In 2004, the world’s first commercial concentrated solar power plant called Planta Solar 10 was established in Seville, Spain.Sunlight is reflected onto a tower of approximately 624 meters, where solar receivers are installed with steam turbines and generators.This is capable of generating energy to power more than 5,500 homes.Almost a decade later, in 2014, the world’s largest solar power plant opened in California, USA.The plant used more than 300,000 controlled mirrors and allowed the production of 377 megawatts of electricity to power approximately 140,000 homes [1].
Not only are factories being built and used, but consumers in retail stores are also creating new technologies.Solar panels made their debut, and even solar-powered cars came into play, but one of the latest developments yet to be announced is new solar-powered wearable technology.By integrating a USB connection or other devices, it allows connection from clothing to devices such as sources, phones and earbuds, which can be charged on the go.Just a few years ago, a team of Japanese researchers at the Riken Institute and Torah Industries described the development of a thin organic solar cell that would heat-print clothes onto clothing, allowing the cell to absorb solar energy and use it as a power source [2] ].Micro solar cells are organic photovoltaic cells with thermal stability and flexibility up to 120 °C [2].Members of the research group based organic photovoltaic cells on a material called PNTz4T [3].PNTz4T is a semiconducting polymer previously developed by Riken for excellent environmental stability and high power conversion efficiency, then both sides of the cell are covered with elastomer, a rubber-like material [3].In the process, they used two pre-stretched 500-micron-thick acrylic elastomers that allow light to enter the cell but prevent water and air from entering the cell.The use of this elastomer helps reduce the degradation of the battery itself and prolong its life [3].
One of the industry’s most notable drawbacks is water.The degeneration of these cells can be caused by a variety of factors, but the biggest is water, the common enemy of any technology.Any excess moisture and prolonged exposure to air can negatively affect the efficiency of organic photovoltaic cells [4].While you can avoid getting water on your computer or phone in most cases, you can’t avoid it with your clothes.Whether it’s rain or a washing machine, water is inevitable.After various tests on the free-standing organic photovoltaic cell and the double-sided coated organic photovoltaic cell, both organic photovoltaic cells were immersed in water for 120 minutes, it was concluded that the power of the free-standing organic photovoltaic cell was The conversion efficiency is only reduced by 5.4%.Cells decreased by 20.8% [5].
Figure 1. Normalized power conversion efficiency as a function of immersion time.The error bars on the graph represent the standard deviation normalized by the mean of the initial power conversion efficiencies in each structure [5].
Figure 2 depicts another development at Nottingham Trent University, a miniature solar cell that can be embedded in a yarn, which is then woven into a textile [2].Each battery included in the product meets certain criteria for use, such as the requirements of 3mm long and 1.5mm wide[2].Each unit is laminated with a waterproof resin to allow laundry to be washed in the laundry room or due to weather [2].The batteries are also tailored for comfort, and each is mounted in a way that does not protrude or irritate the wearer’s skin.In further research it was found that in a small piece of clothing similar to a 5cm^2 section of fabric can contain just over 200 cells, ideally producing 2.5 – 10 volts of energy, and concluded that there are only 2000 cells Cells need to be able to charge smartphones [2].
Figure 2. Micro solar cells 3 mm long and 1.5 mm wide (photo courtesy of Nottingham Trent University) [2].
Photovoltaic fabrics fuse two lightweight and low-cost polymers to create energy-generating textiles.The first of the two components is a micro solar cell, which harvests energy from sunlight, and the second consists of a nanogenerator, which converts mechanical energy into electricity [6].The photovoltaic part of the fabric consists of polymer fibers, which are then coated with layers of manganese, zinc oxide (a photovoltaic material), and copper iodide (for charge collection) [6].The cells are then woven together with a tiny copper wire and integrated into the garment.
The secret behind these innovations lies in the transparent electrodes of flexible photovoltaic devices.Transparent conductive electrodes are one of the components on photovoltaic cells that allow light to enter the cell, increasing the light collection rate.Indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) is used to fabricate these transparent electrodes, which is used for its ideal transparency (>80%) and good sheet resistance as well as excellent environmental stability [7].The ITO is crucial because all its components are in near-perfect proportions.The ratio of thickness combined with transparency and resistance maximizes the results of the electrodes [7].Any fluctuations in the ratio will negatively affect the electrodes and thus the performance.For example, increasing the thickness of the electrode reduces transparency and resistance, leading to performance degradation.However, ITO is a finite resource that is quickly consumed.Research has been ongoing to find an alternative that not only achieves ITO, but is expected to surpass the performance of ITO [7].
Materials such as polymer substrates that have been modified with transparent conductive oxides have grown in popularity so far.Unfortunately, these substrates have been shown to be brittle, stiff and heavy, which greatly reduces flexibility and performance [7].Researchers offer a solution to using flexible fiber-like solar cells as electrode replacements.A fibrous battery consists of an electrode and two distinct metal wires that are twisted and combined with an active material to replace the electrode [7].Solar cells have shown promise due to their light weight, but the problem is the lack of contact area between the metal wires, which reduces the contact area and thus results in degraded photovoltaic performance [7].
Environmental factors are also a big motivator for continued research.Currently, the world relies heavily on non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels, coal and oil.Shifting the focus from non-renewable energy sources to renewable energy sources, including solar energy, is a necessary investment for the future.Every day millions of people charge their phones, computers, laptops, smartwatches and all electronic devices, and using our fabrics to charge these devices just by walking can reduce our use of fossil fuels.While this may seem trivial on a small scale of 1 or even 500 people, when scaled up to tens of millions it could significantly reduce our use of fossil fuels.
Solar panels in solar power plants, including those mounted on top of houses, are known to help use renewable energy and reduce the use of fossil fuels, which are still heavily used.America.One of the major problems for the industry is obtaining land to build these farms.An average household can only support a certain number of solar panels, and the number of solar farms is limited.In areas with ample space, most people are always hesitant to build a new solar power plant because it permanently closes the possibility and potential of other opportunities on the land, such as new businesses.There are a large number of floating photovoltaic panel installations that can generate large amounts of electricity recently, and the main benefit of floating solar farms is cost reduction [8].If the land is not used, there is no need to worry about installation costs on top of houses and buildings.All currently known floating solar farms are located on artificial water bodies, and in the future it is possible to place these farms on natural water bodies. Artificial reservoirs have many advantages that are not common in the ocean [9].Man-made reservoirs are easy to manage, and with previous infrastructure and roads, farms can simply be installed.Floating solar farms have also been shown to be more productive than land-based solar farms due to temperature variations between water and land [9].Due to the high specific heat of water, the surface temperature of land is generally higher than that of water bodies, and high temperatures have been shown to negatively affect the performance of solar panel conversion rates.While temperature doesn’t control how much sunlight a panel receives, it does affect how much energy you receive from sunlight.At low energies (ie, cooler temperatures), the electrons inside the solar panel will be in a resting state, and then when sunlight hits, they will reach an excited state [10].The difference between the resting state and the excited state is how much energy is generated in the voltage.Not only can sunlight excite these electrons, but so can heat.If the heat around the solar panel energizes the electrons and puts them in a low excited state, the voltage will not be as large when sunlight hits the panel [10].Since land absorbs and emits heat more easily than water, the electrons in a solar panel on land are likely to be in a higher excited state, and then the solar panel is located on or near a body of water that is cooler.Further research proved that the cooling effect of the water around the floating panels helps to generate 12.5% more energy than on land [9].
So far, solar panels meet only 1% of America’s energy needs, but if these solar farms were planted on up to a quarter of man-made water reservoirs, solar panels would meet nearly 10% of America’s energy needs.In Colorado, where floating panels were introduced as soon as possible, two large water reservoirs in Colorado lost a lot of water due to evaporation, but by installing these floating panels, the reservoirs were prevented from drying out and electricity was generated [11].Even one percent of man-made reservoirs equipped with solar farms would be enough to generate at least 400 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power 44 billion LED light bulbs for over a year.
Figure 4a shows the power increase provided by the floating solar cell in relation to Figure 4b.While there have been few floating solar farms in the past decade, they still make such a big difference in power generation.In the future, when floating solar farms become more abundant, the total energy produced is said to triple from 0.5TW in 2018 to 1.1TW by the end of 2022.[12].
Environmentally speaking, these floating solar farms are very beneficial in many ways.In addition to reducing reliance on fossil fuels, solar farms also reduce the amount of air and sunlight reaching the water’s surface, which may help reverse climate change [9].A floating farm that reduces wind speed and direct sunlight hitting the water surface by at least 10% could offset a full decade of global warming [9].In terms of biodiversity and ecology, no large negative impacts appear to be found.The panels prevent high wind activity on the water surface, thereby reducing erosion on the river bank, protecting and stimulating vegetation.[13].There are no definitive results on whether marine life is affected, but measures such as the shell-filled bio-hut created by Ecocean have been submerged under photovoltaic panels to potentially support marine life.[13].One of the main concerns of ongoing research is the potential impact on the food chain due to the installation of infrastructure such as photovoltaic panels on open water rather than man-made reservoirs.As less sunlight enters the waters, it causes a reduction in the rate of photosynthesis, resulting in a massive loss of phytoplankton and macrophytes.With the reduction of these plants, the impact on animals lower in the food chain, etc., leads to subsidies for aquatic organisms [14].Although it hasn’t happened yet, this could prevent further potential damage to the ecosystem, a major drawback of floating solar farms.
Since the sun is our greatest source of energy, it can be difficult to find ways to harness this energy and use it in our communities.New technologies and innovations available every day make this possible.While there aren’t many wearable solar-powered garments to buy or floating solar farms to visit right now, that doesn’t change the fact that the technology doesn’t have huge potential or a bright future.Floating solar cells have a long way to go in a wildlife sense to be as common as solar panels on top of homes.Wearable solar cells have a long way to go before they become as common as the clothes we wear every day.In the future, solar cells are expected to be used in everyday life without having to be hidden between our clothes.As technology advances in the coming decades, the potential of the solar industry is endless.
About Raj Shah Dr. Raj Shah is a director of the Koehler Instrument Company in New York, where he has worked for 27 years.He is a fellow elected by his colleagues at IChemE, CMI, STLE, AIC, NLGI, INSMTC, Institute of Physics, Institute of Energy Research and the Royal Society of Chemistry.ASTM Eagle Award recipient Dr. Shah recently co-edited the bestselling “Fuels and Lubricants Handbook,” details available in ASTM’s Long Awaited Fuels and Lubricants Handbook, 2nd Edition – July 15, 2020 – David Phillips – Petro Industry News Article – Petro Online (petro-online.com)
Dr. Shah holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University and a Fellow of the Chartered School of Management, London. He is also a Chartered Scientist of the Scientific Council, a Chartered Petroleum Engineer of the Energy Institute and a UK Engineering Council.Dr. Shah was recently honored as a Distinguished Engineer by Tau beta Pi, the largest engineering society in the United States.He is on the advisory boards of Farmingdale University (Mechanical Technology), Auburn University (Tribology), and Stony Brook University (Chemical Engineering/Materials Science and Engineering).
Raj is an adjunct professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at SUNY Stony Brook, has published over 475 articles and has been active in the energy field for over 3 years.More information on Raj can be found at Koehler Instrument Company’s Director elected as a Fellow at the International Institute of Physics Petro Online (petro-online.com)
Ms. Mariz Baslious and Mr. Blerim Gashi are chemical engineering students at SUNY, and Dr. Raj Shah chairs the university’s external advisory board.Mariz and Blerim are part of a growing internship program at Koehler Instrument, Inc. in Holtzville, NY, that encourages students to learn more about the world of alternative energy technologies.
Post time: Feb-12-2022
