systems

Singaporean scientists have reviewed all thermal evaporation methods for the production of perovskite solar cells and modules. Despite the limitations, new methods can lead to higher production capacity and more efficient products.

January 2, 2023 Emiliano Bellini

Scientists at the Energy Research Institute of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have investigated how thermal evaporation (TE) can be used to make mini-perovskite solar modules. TE is a mature technique widely used in the microelectronics and optoelectronics industries to produce organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), metal contacts, and coatings for various materials.

“We analyzed the use of several evaporation-based techniques to fabricate halogen perovskite thin films,” said researcher Annalisa Bruno. pv magazine. “These range from relatively simple single-source deposition and multi-source co-evaporation to more complex multi-stage evaporation and hybrids of thermal evaporation with gas reaction and solution processing.”

According to him, this combined approach uses the advantages of both methods. But he noted that this also has some limitations, such as increased complexity and the use of solvents.

“We believe that thermal evaporation is the ideal perovskite deposition method to make a rapid breakthrough because it is easily scalable, free of hazardous solvents, and already well integrated into current opto- and microelectronics production lines,” said Bruno.

One of the key issues with co-evaporation is the need for extensive optimization of deposition parameters for perovskites with complex stoichiometry, especially when more than two or three precursors are evaporated simultaneously, the researchers said. They also noted that sedimentation time may be a barrier to commercial production, as most studies of these methods have neglected this issue.

Their review presented a number of methods for the production of both perovskite solar cells and mini-modules. These methods include single-step thermal evaporation, multi-step thermal evaporation, and multi-step hybrid deposition.

“Using the same production lines, it would be desirable to produce not only evaporated perovskite films, but also fully evaporated modules,” the group said.

Advantages include a high degree of process control, precisely controlled film thickness, easy sequential addition of multiple layers, and the ability to process at low substrate temperatures. The researchers claim that the methods can also allow for better purification of precursors during film formation, excellent spatial uniformity in device arrays, good reproducibility over multiple production runs, and high productivity.

“The entire process can be automated and controlled, making it attractive for large-scale and high-throughput production,” they said.

They described their fabrication methods in a recent paper, Thermal Evaporation and Hybrid Deposition of Perovskite Solar Cells and Mini-Modules, published in Joule.

“We believe that the future of research in this area should look at new optimal device interlayers to improve active material quality and transparency, passivate defects with vacuum-based methods, and increase operational stability to maximize and realize full potential. of thermally evaporated perovskite solar devices,” Bruno said.

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Chet Sullivan

January 1, 2023 at 7:00 a.m

“There is a growing awareness that industrial wind and solar energy require large areas, which means transmitting energy over greater distances,” Fred Hubler said in a recent letter. What he means by “greater distances” can be understood if we consider what it would take to replace the once operational and reliable 600 megawatt (MW) Duane Arnold Energy Center with solar and batteries.

A 7,200 MW solar farm covering 36,000 acres and a 13,200 MWh battery covering 132 acres are required to reliably supply 600 megawatts of power 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is for optimal weather conditions. However, here in Iowa we can go days without seeing the sun. This means that the above figures considerably underestimate the actual amount of land and transmission requirements for this renewable energy dependence.

Chet Sullivan

Marion

Rising energy prices and new tax incentives for green home improvements this year are fueling interest in solar power.

Experts say now is a good time for many homeowners to go solar. While solar energy may not work for every home, it can dramatically reduce home heating costs and reduce the environmental damage caused by burning fossil fuels. Although installing a solar power system is still not cheap, initial costs have come down significantly over the last 10 years.

The price of solar panels

Costs vary from state to state and depend on things like the size and quality of the solar array. According to EnergySage.com (opens in new tab), an information website for alternative residential energy, the national average cost of a residential photovoltaic system is about $20,000 after 30% of federal tax credits.

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Nick Liberati, communications manager at EnergySage, shares: The national average for a 10-kilowatt system is $2.86 per watt, costing $28,600. The federal tax credit allows 30% of the cost of installing solar panels to be deducted from federal taxes (or in this case $8,580 total), bringing the cost to $20,020.

On average, it takes 8.7 years to dismantle – that is, to save enough energy to recover the cost of the solar panels. After that, your solar power is free until the equipment wears out. Solar panels are usually guaranteed for 20-25 years, although the system’s inverter is usually guaranteed for 10 years. An inverter converts the DC electricity generated by the solar panels into AC electricity used in your home.

Should you buy a solar panel battery?

The above average solar panel cost does not include storage. Depending on size and other features, a battery can add up to more than $9,000 on average after the federal tax credit. Specifically, Liberati says the national average cost of a battery in the 10- to 12-kilowatt-hour size range is about $13,000. Starting in 2023, all residential batteries above 3 kWh will be eligible for the full 30% tax credit. So you’ll be able to deduct $3,900 on your taxes, with an after-tax credit price of $9,100 for the battery.

Although batteries are becoming increasingly popular, most solar homes do not have them. Instead, most consumers send their excess energy as a credit to their utility when the panels don’t accumulate enough, such as for nighttime energy use.

Without batteries, if your utility loses power, your home loses power, even if it’s sunny. “The main reason for this is safety,” says Liberati. “If your solar panel system is still generating electricity and sending it to the grid during an outage, these live wires present a serious safety hazard to any utility workers trying to restore power to the grid.

If you have a battery with “islanding capability”, this will not be a problem. Islanding is a technology that allows your home to support itself. “You can continue to generate solar energy and feed it into the battery because an islanded system will no longer push electricity into the grid without risking line workers,” explains Liberati. He notes that not all solar panels are automatically labeled as energy harvesting. If you buy a battery, you need to make sure your installer gives you the right equipment to run this technology.

Things to consider when buying solar panels

With thousands of dollars up front, going solar can be intimidating for many people, notes Vikram Aggarwal, CEO and founder of EnergySage.

Aggarwal urges comparison shopping and checking out any claims — such as that your utility or the government will give you solar power for free. EnergySage, he says, helps with that and connects consumers with reputable contractors. The site also has information on incentives offered by various states.

Another factor to consider is how your utility company will credit you for the solar energy they charge you, especially if you don’t have a battery and depend on the utility to run your home if your panels don’t accumulate enough.

Michael Ware (opens in new tab), chief solar specialist at consulting firm EcoMotion, says there’s tension over how utilities issue credit to customers for solar. Utilities ask for a rebate just like how they pay for other forms of energy they sell to consumers. But solar advocates want utilities to credit customers the full amount they pay for electricity, known as net metering.

Sherri Shields, director of communications and marketing for the Florida Solar Energy Center at the University of Central Florida, said people installing solar should check with their insurance companies to see if they cover the panels or if you need to buy additional insurance.

Other reasons to go to the sun

Saving money is one reason people are going solar, notes Robert Stoner, associate director of science and technology at the MIT Energy Initiative (opens in new tab). “I think most people investing in residential roofing just want to be part of the transition and less visible,” he said. “There’s nothing to it… Some people have houses like mine – my weekend house is at the end of a five-mile long barrier beach – just can’t afford to have electricity.” A solar system consisting of a series of lead-acid batteries provides all of his electricity, says Stoner: “And it brings me so much joy! “Part of it comes from the sense of independence I’ve gained, and part of it comes from experiencing the miracle of solar electricity.”

Rotraut Bockstahler, 86, of Sarasota, Florida, and her husband installed 26 solar panels and a Tesla battery in November 2016. The solar panels cost just under $28,000 to install, and they received a tax credit of about $8,400, leaving a net cost. about $19,600. It cost about $8,400 to get the battery, and they received about a $2,500 tax credit for a net cost of about $5,900. “We feel strongly about climate change and want to contribute to reversing this trend,” Bockstahler said. Going solar was “one of the most positive decisions we made to live in Florida. We saved money, contributed to the fight against climate change and were lucky enough to have electricity every time the grid went out.”

Going solar doesn’t always cut you off from the power company completely. When the system was first installed, Bockstahler says, their need for electricity from the utility was significantly reduced, and their electric bills dropped to about $40 to $60 a month. With rising energy costs, they are now over $100 a month. But in addition to the electricity savings, he counts the money saved on non-perishable food and hotel rooms they don’t have to buy when the power goes out.

If they regret it, he says, it’s that they didn’t get a bigger system. “We think the decision we made with the number of panels we had was maybe a little too conservative and should have included more circuits that could be powered by the battery,” he said.

Should you wait for new solar panel technology?

Another reason you might be hesitant to go solar is that technology will advance to offer more efficient and/or less expensive options. And it is true that different technologies continue to emerge. For example, some companies offer a roof that serves as a solar collector. Also, standard solar panels have become more efficient, cheaper and better looking.

If you wait, might you have a chance to get something better?

Aggarwal says solar panels are improving slightly every year, but not enough to justify expecting a dramatic change. Ten years ago, he said, the panels would produce maybe 240 or 245 watts each. Now each of them produces 400 or 420 watts of power. This means you can get more power from a system covering the same amount of roof space. The panels used to be bright blue with silver edges, he said. Now they’re all black, and he says it “looks great.” And they are more durable.

According to him, solar pebbles are not yet ready for widespread use. A roofing company plans to introduce an “exciting product” along those lines sometime this year, Aggarwal says. But solar panels are less efficient and more expensive than traditional solar panels. However, if you’re planning to replace your roof, he says solar shingles are worth considering.

Ware said he expects the cost of batteries to drop over the next five to 10 years as companies explore different battery technologies. Currently, the most popular battery technology is lithium-ion, which can pose a fire hazard in some cases and requires them to be installed outdoors in some jurisdictions.

Is the sun right for you?

Some homes are not suitable for solar energy:

For example, if you have an old roof that will need to be replaced in a few years, it doesn’t make sense to wait because it can cost thousands to remove and reinstall the solar panels. If your roof faces north or is in the shade, you probably aren’t. A good solar candidate. Installing solar on clay tile roofs is also more complicated and expensive, Liberati says.

There is another option for people who cannot put solar collectors on their roofs.

Community solar includes a number of solar panels that people may be interested in. People who participate in community solar generally receive a credit from their utility company for the energy they generate from their share of the project. You can find information about community solar projects in your area on the EnergySage website (opens in a new tab).

Note: This article first appeared in Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, our popular monthly periodical that covers the top concerns of affluent older Americans who are retiring or about to retire. If you want to get retirement money advice, subscribe here (opens in a new tab).

From Texas to China, governments around the world have taken steps to dramatically increase renewable energy development in the coming years as they seek to reduce emissions and protect against the spikes in energy prices that have rocked economies around the world this year.

The International Energy Agency, which advises the world’s governments on energy supply, raised its forecast for renewable energy installations by 30 percent earlier this month. He predicts the world will produce as much renewable energy in the next five years as it did in the previous two decades.

“Renewables were already expanding rapidly, but the global energy crisis has ushered them into an extraordinary new phase,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said earlier this month.

The surge in projects is expected to dramatically transform the world’s electricity grids, with renewables including hydroelectric dams expected to overtake coal plants as the world’s largest source of energy by 2025.

In an October report, consulting firm McKinksey predicted that “renewable energy driven by wind and solar is poised to become the backbone of the world’s energy supply.”

That further diminishes the role of the world’s fossil fuel industry, including Texas’ oil and gas industry, which has invested tens of billions of dollars in LNG terminals to ship American gas to power plants and industrial facilities around the world.

Still, the boom in renewables will hurt coal the most, said Michael Webber, an energy professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

“It will take some time for new energy technologies to capture market share. “Coal’s market share is down. Maybe someday when the last coal plant closes, renewables will take market share from gas, but that’s probably at least a decade away.”

According to the IEA, the leader in the development of renewable energy sources is China, followed by the European Union, the United States and then India.

In the US, tax credits for renewable energy included in the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law in August are expected to boost investment. Not just in Texas and California, long leaders in wind and solar development, but also in places like Georgia and Louisiana, which are looking to renewable sources to generate their own power while reducing emissions, said President Jeff Clark. of the Austin-based Advanced Power Alliance.

“I met with a bunch of chemical companies, and they’re all desperate for clean energy,” he said. “They say gas is too expensive and they have to decarbonize their products.”

The question now is whether countries can upgrade their power grids fast enough to meet the surge in electricity from new wind and solar farms, often far from urban centers where electricity is most needed.

In Europe, for example, timelines for building new infrastructure are long, and according to a report earlier this month by research firm Rystad Energy, Germany is already having to cut back on wind farms due to a lack of transmission lines.

But these barriers do little to limit expectations for renewable energy.

In a report earlier this year, consultants McKinsey predicted that renewables would account for 60 percent of electricity generated worldwide by 2035, warning that this could be “very low.”

“Three years ago, we looked at the progress made by renewable energy and asked how fast can they go?” “The answer is: faster than you think.”

Dallas County is going green.

The county signed a three-year contract to buy solar power for 55 of its buildings, including the county jail, beginning in January.

County Judge Clay Jenkins said it’s important for the county to demonstrate its commitment to renewable energy and prove to businesses that it’s possible to rely entirely on wind and solar power.

“When people vote with their pocketbooks, it helps grow renewables,” Jenkins said.

The county contracts with the Public Power Pool, a nonprofit organization founded by the Texas Conference of Urban Districts that works with state governments and political districts to regulate energy contracts. Jenkins is a board member.

David Quin of Public Power Pool said Dallas County is the first of 95 businesses to go all-renewable.

Sources can be difficult to trace because all energy ends up on the grid before being transmitted to customers. Quin said he directed the Dallas County Public Power Pool to purchase power from a solar farm in Fort Bend County.

The county directed the Public Energy Pool to find renewable energy that costs 10% or less than fossil fuel-based energy. The contract costs an additional 25%, or $3 million, over the county’s existing energy plan.

Now is the time to invest in renewable energy for a better future, Jenkins said. North Texas is one of the largest areas in the country not meeting national air quality standards.

There are a number of nonattainment areas across the country, which means the air quality does not meet the national ambient air quality standard. National Ambient Air Quality standards are set at levels necessary to protect public health.

US Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Joseph Robledo said ozone in the Dallas-Fort Worth area was reported to be 75 parts per billion in 2008 and 70 parts per billion in 2015.

Dallas Environmental Commission air advisor and North Texas Public Citizen advisor Rita Beving said in a press release that the agreement supports the expansion of renewable energy in Texas while supporting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.

“With the region seriously underachieving in terms of air quality, this agreement sets a new bar for other neighboring countries,” Beving said.

Reliance on cleaner energy sources than fossil fuels reduces greenhouse gas emissions, a major contributor to climate change.

Climate change is already affecting North Texas. Both average daily minimum and maximum temperatures in Texas rose by 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit from 1895 to 2020, according to a 2021 report published by the state climatologist.

In 2036, the average annual surface temperature in Texas is expected to be 3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the 1950-1999 average. The number of 100-degree days is expected to nearly double by 2036 compared to 2001-2020, with more 100-degree days in urban areas, the report said.

Jenkins said the agreement is a step in the right direction to prevent further increases in temperatures.

“We don’t need to wait for a magical future. We can do what we can do now, today,” Jenkins said.

Dallas County designs new buildings and renovates old buildings with green standards in mind. The county has opted to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, a national green building rating system.

South Dallas Government Center received certification. The Oak Cliff Government Center, Records Building and North Dallas Government Center have been built or are being renovated to meet LEED standards, but the paperwork for official certification has not yet been completed, said Assistant County Administrator Jonathon Bazan.

Commissioners directed all new construction and facilities to meet the standards.

“More projects are underway to meet the standard,” Bazan said in an email.

David Griggs of the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter said the deal shows the government can play a big role in fighting the climate change crisis by choosing affordable, reliable renewable energy.

“It’s a win-win for Dallas County and the environment,” he said.