Solar Energy

							     Solar Energy




           Terri Fiez
Head & Professor, School of EECS
Co-founder Azuray Technologies
What Has Changed????



  Unprecedented Growth
      in Population
           &
      Urbanization
Tipping Point: The China Miracle
U.S. Supplies 50% of its Energy with Coal

  China Supplies 80% of its Energy with Coal
Are We Doomed?
Energy Security
Clean Tech is Cool
          Why Solar? It’s Free!!
• On a bright, sunny day, the sun shines
  approximately 1,000 watts of energy per
  square meter of the planet's surface, and if we
  could collect all of that energy we could easily
  power our homes and offices for free.
         How Does Solar Work?
• Energy in the form of photons causes charges
  to be excited in a semiconductor – electrical
  current flows
  Mono-Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells
         (15-22% Efficient)

Cross Section of Solar Cell   Completed Solar Cell
           Other Solar Technologies
                           Flexible Thin Film
Polycrystalline Silicon




                                       Thin Film
Solar Installations
            Balance of System
• Everything but the Solar Panel
  – Wiring
  – DC-AC Converter
  – Combiner boxes
  – Racking & mounting
  – Etc.
Solar Energy Conversion to Grid
    Today’s System                              Future System




                               Micro-inverter

   DC
                                                          AC
           AC



Inverter        Grid or User
                                                   Grid or User
 Is Solar PV Too Expensive?

 What about government subsidies?
Energy Tax Credits as much as 50% of
              system…
                      Solar from 1973 to Today
                  Manufacturing from 1MW100MW
                              Wafered Silicon Process




    Polysilicon     Ingot      Wafer        Solar Cell    Solar Module     Systems



$300/kg$30/kg
          3 inches in diameter
                Now 8”
                Sawn one at a time
                Now < $0.25/W             0.5 watts each3W
                Thinner wafers: 15 mil → 10 mil          $100/watt
                                                           $1-$5/watt
                                                                         $200/watt
                                                                          $7/watt
                      Source Modified from: Dick Swansen, SunPower                   18
Solar reducing from $0.18/kWhr to
        $0.09 /kWhr by 2012
   World’s Energy Supplied by Solar:
 0.06% in 2008 -- Projected 9% in 2030
     100          1979
                 $32/W
                                     81% Progress Ratio

Module
  Price 10                                          2002
                                                   $3.10/W
(2002$)

                                              Silicon
                                             Shortage
        1
             1        10         100        1000             10000
                     Cumulative Production (MW)


     Solar Panel Cost Drops by 19% with
   Each Doubling in Manufacturing Capacity
Solar Cell/Module Production




         Source: Good Energies   20
          Cost & Benefit of Solar

                   kWhr/Yr   Avg $/kWhr
Palm Springs, CA    572       0.14
Portland, OR        252       0.07
Redding, CA         449       0.14
Newark, NJ          281       0.1726
Flagstaff, AZ       528       0.0999
Scottsdale, AZ      553       0.0999
            Historical PV Landscape
Era                  Main Players                     Characteristics

1975-1985            Small Start-ups                  •Rapid Growth
                         –Solar Technology            •Development of
                          International → ARCO         technology
                         –Solar Power Corp. → Exxon    paradigm
                         –Solarex → BP
                         –Tyco → Mobile


1985-1995            Oil Companies                    •Moderate growth
                         –ARCO                        •Search for market
                         –Exxon                       •Massive losses
                         –BP                          •Few start-ups
                         –Mobile
                         –Shell


              Source : Dick Swansen, SunPower                           22
         Historical PV Landscape
Era             Main Players                    Characteristics
1995 – 2005     Japanese Companies              •Emergence of
                     –Sharp                      residential roof market
                     –Sanyo                     •Improved
                     –Kyocera                   manufacturing

2000 -          Entrepreneurial Co’s            •Explosive growth
                     –Q-Cells (Germany)         •Profitability
                     –Scanwafer (Norway)        •Technology evolution
                     –Solar World (Germany)
                     –Evergreen (US)
                     –SunPower (US)
                     –Suntech (China)
                     –MiaSole (US)
                     –Nanosolar (US)


              Source : Dick Swansen, SunPower                           23
      Recent Industry Milestones
1999: 1 GW accumulated module
     production
2001: More square inches of silicon used
     than in entire microelectronics industry
2004: 1 GW production during year
2006: More tons of silicon used than in
      microelectronics


            Source: Dick Swansen, SunPower      24
Solar PV Early in Growth Cycle




          Source: Good Energies   25
Large Solar Installations




             Bavaria SolarPark, Germany (10MW)
                                                 26
Wind and Solar Production




                   Source: Hal LaFlash, PG&E
     Oregon Reinvents Itself…

Forestry

            Silicon Forest

                             Solar Forest