Photovoltaics

Photovoltaics

This week I had to prepare a pecha kucha presentation on Photovoltaics, so I've featured some slides and a brief overview. 


 
Photovoltaics, also known as solar panels, are the most reliable methods for producing renewable energy in the world. Photovoltaic systems (PV systems) transform solar energy into electricity. 

The sun is a limitless source of energy and is the key to all life on Earth, luckily our planet lies within the Goldilocks zone where we are neither too close nor too far away for the sun's rays. . Every second, the sun fuses over 600 million tons of hydrogen into helium which is equivalent to 384.6 septillion watts of energy per second. Or comparatively, the sun releases more energy in one hour than the Earth’s population uses in an entire year. 





The first practical photovoltaic cell wasn’t developed until 1954, meaning solar energy wasn’t viable until at least the 1960s. The American oil crisis in the 1970s sparked a change in the way we sourced our energy. Extensive research into the renewable energy sector was incentivised by growing global demand for cheap and reliable energy. The debut of ‘Solar One’, the first ever solar farm, launched interest in solar power as an option but still was not as popular as traditional fossil fuels. Gas and oil are finite resources that will eventually, sooner than we think, run out forever, whereas renewable energy like solar power is infinite, well until we die or the sun dies as it’s a star after all, its hydrogen fuel will too run out eventually. In recent years, with growing concern over climate change, more and more must we consider how to source our energy sustainably. 


How does a photovoltaic cell work?





Agrivoltaics = using photovoltaics in agriculture















Solar canopies = shade and EV charging



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