Challenges in solar power generation

One of the most promising renewable energy technologies is solar power which allows generating electricity from free, unlimited sunlight. It’s one of the rapid growth industry and technology which contributes significantly to homeowners and commercial industry. It would be a reasonable and useful solution for new power generation installations in developing countries to be powered by carbon emission free sources like solar.  Solar seems perfect for countries with lots of sun exposure and no efficient way of bringing the conventional power grid to remote locations.  But solar still faces a number of obstacles before it can really replace fossil fuels for power generation. However, there are many unexpected challenges with solar electrification that entrepreneurs are learning about while doing business in these developing countries. The Levelized Cost of Solar PowerLevelized cost of Solar Power is a term which describes the cost of the power produced by solar over a period of time, typically the warranted life of the system. It is the capital cost for solar power plants which is high initially. Moreover, there are on-going maintenance costs for both types and the cost of financing any loans.Intensity of Solar RadiationIntensity of solar radiation is one of the main obstacles to the extensive application of solar power. It varies with different locations of the world. The amount of useful solar energy incident in any particular location is highly dependent on latitude and climate. The equator receives the most annual solar energy and the poles receive the least. Dry climates receive more solar energy than those with cloud cover.Required Land SpaceA good amount of land space is required for solar farms, as power generation is directly proportional to the surface area covered. Therefore, the largest solar farms in the world are built in deserts and huge open spaces. However, this is not feasible in smaller countries with limited landmass, or even for larger countries where a land compromise develops restricting the use of agricultural land for developing solar farm.Transmission Sufficient transmission is required to transport the power to urban load centres. Intermittent resources like solar can pose distinctive problems in transmission planning and in efficient operation of transmission infrastructure, causing in higher transmission costs, increased congestion, and even generation limitations when sufficient transmission capacity is not available. Due to potential transmission barriers, solar project developers will need to evaluate the economic trade-off of locating where the resource is best versus locating nearer to loads where transmission barriers are less possible.ReliabilityReliability is one major problem with solar power. A solar panel can produce electricity for maximum 12 hours a day and a panel can only reach peak output for a short period around noon. Solar panels with tracker can track the sun spreading the major generation period fairly, but it still means that panels employ very little of the day producing at maximum capacity. During peak generation, storage batteries can be charged by solar panels which help to supply a dribble of power at night. But they can be costly, contain toxic materials and wear out rapidly due to frequent charging and discharging cycles.Efficiency of Solar PanelPhotovoltaic efficiency is another obstacle. In the desert area, a single square meter of solar panel could receive the equivalent of more than 6 kilowatt-hours of energy in the course of a single day. But a solar panel cannot convert that much of energy to electricity. The efficiency of a solar panel regulates usable power. Most commercial solar panels have efficiency less than 25%. The more efficient a panel is, the more expensive it is to produce.Environmental IssuesThough generating power from solar is free from carbon emission, manufacturing of solar panels and associated technologies can comprise some environmentally unfriendly elements. Nitrogen trifluoride is a common by product of electronics manufacture; including those used in solar cells, and it is a greenhouse gas 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Moreover, many solar cells contain small amounts of the toxic metal cadmium, and the batteries required to store generated electricity can contain a host of other heavy metals and dangerous substances. As solar technology improves, manufacturers may be able to move away from these potentially dangerous substances, but for now, they ruin the otherwise notable environmental benefits solar power offers.

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