Solar Power Electric is a form of energy that uses sunlight to generate electricity. Solar power is one of the most efficient and eco-friendly forms of renewable energy available, and has the potential to provide a significant proportion of the world’s electricity needs.
Solar PV panels work by converting sunlight into DC electricity, which is then converted into AC electricity by an inverter. This AC electricity can be used to power appliances and lighting in your home or business, or it can be fed back into the grid. Solar PV systems are typically made up of three main components: solar panels, an inverter, and a meter.
Solar Thermal technology uses heat from the sun to generate electricity. Solar thermal power plants use mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, where water is heated to produce steam. The steam drives turbines which generate electricity. Solar thermal power plants are usually much larger than solar PV systems, as they require more land area to collect enough heat energy from the sun. However, they have the advantage of being able to store heat energy for use at night or during cloudy weather conditions.
There are two types of solar Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) systems: single-axis tracking CPV systems and dual-axis tracking CPV systems . Single-axis tracking CPV system tracks the sun along one axis only , whereas dual-axis tracking CPV system tracks along both axes (up-down and left-right). Dual-axis tracking CPV system gives better overall performance as it can capture more sunlight compared to single – axis tracker , however it comes with a higher price tag .
The global installed capacity of solar PV was 303 GW as of end 2019 . China , USA , Japan , Germany , India are leading countries in terms of total installed capacity . The top 10 countries accounted for around 73% of global installations in 2019 .
China added almost 40 GWdc (gigawatt direct current) in 2018 alone – almost double what was deployed globally in 2017 – representing 53% growth over 2017 levels worldwide . This massive increase was primarily due to continued strong policy support including new provincial targets set for 2020 and beyond plus central government policies focused on approving large scale projects quickly while maintaining high quality standards