Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy Utilization - Office of ...
Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy Utilization - Office of ...
Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy Utilization - Office of ...
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Cost <strong>of</strong> PV Electricity<br />
The cost <strong>of</strong> PV electricity is determined from solar cell conversion efficiency together with areal<br />
cost <strong>of</strong> the module. The relationships are simple:<br />
where<br />
C = $/peak watt = (module areal cost/Eff) + (BOS areal cost/Eff) + 0.10, (1)<br />
C = cost per watt <strong>of</strong> incident solar irradiance at peak solar intensity, $/Wp<br />
Eff = converted solar power (fractional conversion efficiency × 1,000 W/m 2 ), Wp/m 2<br />
Module areal cost = cost <strong>of</strong> modules only per unit area, $/m 2<br />
BOS areal cost = balance <strong>of</strong> systems (support structure, installation, wiring, land, etc.) cost<br />
per unit area, $/m 2<br />
$0.10 = cost <strong>of</strong> power conditioning, AC-DC inverter, $/Wp<br />
Then, taking into account the cost <strong>of</strong> capital funds, interest rates, depreciation, system lifetime,<br />
and the available annual solar irradiance integrated over the year (i.e., considering the diurnal<br />
cycle and cloud cover, which reduce the peak power by a factor <strong>of</strong> about 5), cost per peak watt<br />
$/Wp can be converted to $/kWh from the simple relationship:<br />
1$/Wp ≈ $0.05/kWh (2)<br />
Currently, silicon PV module costs are about $350/m 2 and BOS costs are about $250/m 2 , so that<br />
with present silicon module conversion efficiencies <strong>of</strong> 10%, C ~ $6/Wp, and the electrical energy<br />
costs are about $0.30/kWh.<br />
<strong>Solar</strong> electricity is currently more than a $7 billion per year business, growing at more than 40%<br />
per year.<br />
PV TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS — FLAT PLATE OR CONCENTRATORS<br />
Photovoltaic technologies can be divided into two main approaches: flat plates and<br />
concentrators. Flat-plate technologies include crystalline silicon (from both ingot and ribbon- or<br />
sheet-growth techniques) and thin films <strong>of</strong> various semiconductor materials, usually deposited on<br />
low-cost substrate, such as glass, plastic, or stainless steel, using some type <strong>of</strong> vapor deposition,<br />
electrodeposition, or wet chemical process. Thin-film cells typically require one-tenth to onehundredth<br />
<strong>of</strong> the expensive semiconductor material required by crystalline silicon. Even thinner<br />
layers are involved in some <strong>of</strong> the future generation technologies, such as organic polymers and<br />
nanomaterials. In the case <strong>of</strong> concentrators, a system <strong>of</strong> lenses or reflectors made from less<br />
expensive materials is used to focus sunlight on smaller, somewhat more expensive, but highly<br />
efficient solar cells. Table 1 provides a breakdown <strong>of</strong> PV module production in 2003 by<br />
technology.<br />
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