Sun Power

Class V

• Oct 17: Global Warming Talk by Dr. Charles "Chick" Keller: Taos, Taos Convention Center, 7:30pm.
• Oct 22: NM PRC RPS Hearing, Santa Fe, Marion Hall (Old Hospital), 10 am.
• Oct 27: Trip to Albquerque to retrieve active hot water system: Meet at EcoVersity at 9am, or meet at Kenny Freeberg's home in Albuquerque, 1511 Ridgecrest Drive, near Gibson and San Mateo. All are welcome.
• Nov 3: Harvest Festival with solar cooking at EcoVersity, 2pm to 6pm. All are welcome
• Nov 4: Trip to Wagon Mound to begin PV installation: Meet at EcoVersity at 10 am.

Review of Photovoltaics: Components, costs, output

Solar Electricity - Photovoltaics II

• Basic types of solar cells: mono/poly crystalline, amorphous (thin film)
• Semiconductor candidates: Germanium, silicon, indium phosphide, gallium aresenide, cadmium telluride, aluminum antimonide, cadmium selenide, gallium phosphide.
• How Solar Cells Work - n-p junctions/separation of charge carriers.
• voltage vs. sunlight characteristic
• Theoretical Efficiencies - Band Gap Theory - < 28% for simple Si cells, ~11-15% for polycrystalline, lower for amorphous cells.
• Books on semiconductor aspects
• Cell design/testing: Sandia/NREL/Australian Institute
• cells/modules/arrays
• Voltage/current/power characteristics
• Temperature derating
• Pay Back Times
• PV Industry
• AC/DC Electricity
• Balance of System: charge controllers, inverters, batteries
  • Costs, lifetimes, failures, etc.
• Dangers: Multiple Energy Sources, etc
• NEC - article 690, Sandia - John Wiles
• Appliance loads and sine wave requirements
  • Fridges, microwaves
• Concentrator Systems
• Alternative types of storage
• General Resources