| Photovoltaics |
Glass: an energy collector
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Since the first photovoltaic panel was developed in 1954, the efficiency of solar cells has risen steadily and at the same time prices have fallen consistently. Photovoltaic glass was first used in space because the only source of energy in space is the sun. Today photovoltaic technology can be used to replace construction materials on buildings and transform solar radiation into energy at the same time.
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 Photovoltaic means the direct conversion of sunlight into electric energy with the help of solar cells; in addition, they can also represent a form of passive solar protection. Photovoltaic (PV) technology is a clean source of energy, it produces neither noise, smoke, acid rain, water pollutants, carbon dioxide nor nuclear waste because it relies on the power of the sun for its fuel. At the same time, Silicon, the raw material used for most PV cells, is abundant and non-toxic. As PV systems use only sunlight for fuel, the undesirable environmental impact of activities such as mining, exploration, production and transportation are eliminated. However, the drawbacks of such systems are their high initial cost and low efficiency, which results in high collector area requirement. Research efforts are therefore concentrated in reducing the cost and increasing the efficiency of PV systems and developing building integrated PV systems, which can be assimilated into the design of the building from the very beginning. PV systems are available in different power outputs, frame types, cell technologies, life expectancies and efficiencies.
Although PV cells cannot yet compete economically with other ways of generating energy, they are gaining ground due to a generally increasing concern for the environment, supportive regulations and financial help from public funding.
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Photos: BP Solar
Last review: May, 2006 |
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