G2V outlines the importance of solar cell technology in the context of world’s increasing energy needs, as well as the need to move away from fossil fuels in order to combat climate change. These factors drive the need for better solar cell technology, in terms of efficiency as well as carbon footprint during manufacturing. In order to understand all the challenges facing solar cell development, an understanding of the fundamental design, physics and materials making up solar cells is needed.
This article moves from the very basics of semiconductors all the way to multi-junction solar cells, making an effort to add historical and industrial context along the way. Ultimately, with the steadily decreasing cost of silicon-based solar cells, researchers need accurate data about their new devices as quickly as possible in order to maximize their opportunities in the market. The right tests, models and tools will allow them to do that.
One of the types of energy everyone is most familiar with, electrical energy (or electricity), is actually a secondary energy source. The reason is that we have to produce it through some other means, and some of those means (primary energy sources) are in the pie chart above. For example, we can turn turbines with flowing water, and the spinning turbine can then generate electricity. This is known as hydroelectric energy. Nuclear energy takes advantage of Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2, where mass (m) is converted to energy (E) during the splitting of an atom (nuclear fission). This releases huge amounts of heat that can be used to boil water into steam, which can then turn a turbine to generate electricity. A much cleaner form of nuclear energy involves putting atoms together (nuclear fusion). Fusion is the reaction that powers our sun, and needs intense heat and pressure to happen, so it’s still under development. However, it’s seen great progress in recent years. Coal, oil and gas are called fossil fuels, because they are produced from plants and animals that have decayed over hundreds of millions of years. As you can see from the above pie chart, we get a huge portion of our energy from burning fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels releases energy that can produce steam, turn a turbine, and again give us electricity. It can also just produce motion, as in internal combustion engines. Wind energy takes advantage of the Earth’s breeze to spin turbines and—you guessed it—generate electricity. Solar energy is named after the latin word solaris, meaning “of the sun”. There are many ways of using the sun’s energy, ranging from using it to heat homes and industrial processes directly, or to heat molten salts and water for electricity. There are also ways to convert solar energy directly into electricity. Solar photovoltaic energy takes advantage of the photoelectric effect, where an electrical current flows as a result of the sun shining on specific kinds of materials. Think photo=light and volt=electricity. If you’ve ever seen a solar panel, that’s an example of solar photovoltaic energy, and we’ll see that it plays an important role in meeting the world’s anticipated energy needs. There are many other ways to generate energy; this is just a sample of the main ways we get the energy for all the things we do around the world.
Future Energy Demands
Humanity’s need to use energy is not going away. In fact, our energy usage keeps growing. According to the International Energy Agency, the world’s energy consumption in 2018 increased at almost twice the rate of growth since 2010, needing an additional generation of 1000 TWh (a trillion kilowatt-hours, or about how much energy it would take for everyone on Earth to run a hairdryer for four days straight). The 2018 World Energy Outlook reports that global energy demand is expected to increase by more than 25% by 2040. These projections are conservative in the sense that they assume humanity doesn’t drastically increase its energy usage, particularly in third-world and developing countries. However, we can and should do better than that, because we need to strive to improve the living conditions of everyone on Earth. An investigation of the data reveals that GDP, life expectancy, and infant mortality statistics all improve with increased energy use per person. Bottom line: everything gets better with more energy.
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