Concept
Solar panel
Related concepts (41)
Swanson's law
Swanson's law is the observation that the price of solar photovoltaic modules tends to drop 20 percent for every doubling of cumulative shipped volume. At present rates, costs go down 75% about every 10 years. It is named after Richard Swanson, the founder of SunPower Corporation, a solar panel manufacturer. The term Swanson's Law appears to have originated with an article in The Economist published in late 2012. Swanson had been presenting such curves at technical conferences for several years.
Photovoltaic system performance
Photovoltaic system performance is a function of the climatic conditions, the equipment used and the system configuration. PV performance can be measured as the ratio of actual solar PV system output vs expected values, the measurement being essential for proper solar PV facility's operation and maintenance. The primary energy input is the global light irradiance in the plane of the solar arrays, and this in turn is a combination of the direct and the diffuse radiation.
Photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar collector
Photovoltaic thermal collectors, typically abbreviated as PVT collectors and also known as hybrid solar collectors, photovoltaic thermal solar collectors, PV/T collectors or solar cogeneration systems, are power generation technologies that convert solar radiation into usable thermal and electrical energy. PVT collectors combine photovoltaic solar cells (often arranged in solar panels), which convert sunlight into electricity, with a solar thermal collector, which transfers the otherwise unused waste heat from the PV module to a heat transfer fluid.
Third-generation photovoltaic cell
Third-generation photovoltaic cells are solar cells that are potentially able to overcome the Shockley–Queisser limit of 31–41% power efficiency for single bandgap solar cells. This includes a range of alternatives to cells made of semiconducting p-n junctions ("first generation") and thin film cells ("second generation"). Common third-generation systems include multi-layer ("tandem") cells made of amorphous silicon or gallium arsenide, while more theoretical developments include frequency conversion, (i.e.
Power optimizer
A power optimizer is a DC to DC converter technology developed to maximize the energy harvest from solar photovoltaic or wind turbine systems. They do this by individually tuning the performance of the panel or wind turbine through maximum power point tracking, and optionally tuning the output to match the performance of the string inverter (DC to AC inverter). Power optimizers are especially useful when the performance of the power generating components in a distributed system will vary widely, such as due to differences in equipment, shading of light or wind, or being installed facing different directions or widely separated locations.
Agrivoltaics
Agrivoltaics, agrophotovoltaics, agrisolar, or dual-use solar is the simultaneous use of areas of land for both solar panels and agriculture. Because solar panels and crops must share the sunlight, the design of agrivoltaic facilities may require trading off such objectives as optimizing crop yield, crop quality, and energy production. In some cases crop yield increases due to the shade of the solar panels mitigating some of the stress on plants caused by high temperatures and UV damage.
Floating solar
Floating solar or floating photovoltaics (FPV), sometimes called floatovoltaics, are solar panels mounted on a structure that floats on a body of water, typically a reservoir or a lake such as drinking water reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals or remediation and tailing ponds. A growing number of such systems exist in China, France, India, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and the United States. The systems have advantages over photovoltaics (PV) on land.
Hybrid power
Hybrid power are combinations between different technologies to produce power. In power engineering, the term 'hybrid' describes a combined power and energy storage system. Examples of power producers used in hybrid power are photovoltaics, wind turbines, and various types of engine-generators - e.g. diesel gen-sets. Hybrid power plants often contain a renewable energy component (such as PV) that is balanced via a second form of generation or storage such as a diesel genset, fuel cell or battery storage system.
Duck curve
The duck curve is a graph of power production over the course of a day that shows the timing imbalance between peak demand and solar power generation. Used in utility-scale electricity generation, the term was coined in 2012 by the California Independent System Operator. In some energy markets, daily peak demand occurs after sunset, when solar power is no longer available.
Electric boat
An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion engine became dominant.