Synopsis submitted by S.ARUNACHALMDepartment of Mechanical Engineering Achariya College of Engineering Technology, Puducherry India 20 /5/2015SOLAR THIN FILM TECHNOLOGY1. ASTRACTSolar PV thin film technologies reduce the amount of material required in creating a solar cell. Although this reduces material cost, it may also reduce energy conversion efficiency. Thin film silicon cells have become popular due to cost, flexibility, lighter weight and ease of integration an interesting aspect of Solar PV thin film is the possibility to deposit the cells on a variety of building materials, including flexible materials like waterproof roof covering membranes

2: MOTIVATION Several Indian cities and towns are experiencing rapid growth in the peak electricity demand. The local governments and the electricity utilities are finding it difficult to cope with this rapid rise in demand and as a result most of the cities/towns are facing electricity shortages. In this context, the Development of Solar Cities programme is designed to support/encourage Urban Local Bodies to prepare a Road Map to guide their cities in becoming renewable energy cities or solar cities.INDIA, is primarily an agricultural country out of which only 80% is electrified remaining 20% is not electrified because those are hilly areas where transmission and distribution of electric power is very difficult so this solar thin film PV technology will provide a solution for this . Thin film technology cells are printed on glass in many thin layers in order to produce the desired modules. Manufacturing them requires less material than producing crystalline cells because no cutting is needed. In addition they only require lamination on one side since they are glued to a glass pane on the other side during the production process3. BACKGROUNDEvery day, light hits your roofs solar panels with photons (particles of sunlight). The solar panel converts those photons into electrons of direct current (DC) electricity. The electrons flow out of the solar panel and into an inverter and other electrical safety devices. The inverter converts that DC power (commonly used in batteries) into alternating current or AC power. AC power is the kind of electrical that your television, computer, and toasters use when plugged into the wall outlet. Solar system components work together to power your business with clean energy from the sun.Solar PanelsSolar panels are installed on your roof or adjacent structure. These panels are made up of photovoltaic (PV) cells, which convert sunlight into DC power. These cells dont need direct sunlight to work; they can still generate some electricity on a cloudy day.

InverterThe DC power from the solar panels is sent to an inverter, where it is converted into AC power, or standard electrical current used to power your facility. Specifically, the PV inverter has features that maximize the energy available from a photovoltaic energy system. The power of a PV panel is dependent on the voltage and current of the PV panel which can vary.Electrical PanelAC power travels from the inverter to the electrical cabinet, often called a breaker box. This power is then available to service all of your electrical needs.Utility MeterThe utility meter continually measures your electrical supply; when your solar system produces more power than you need, the meter literally spins backwards, accumulating credits with the utility company that will offset your next bill.Utility GridYour business remains connected to the utility grid to supply you with electricity when you need more power than your system has produced, such as at night.

4. HYPOTHESIS The hypothesis of the study was that installations of solar photovoltaic and solar thermal panels add value to, or increase the salability of, the properties in Oxford on which they are installed. The hypothetical value added could be expected to be a function of: expected fuel savings per year (x) expected number of years during which savings will accrue (i) consumer discount rate (r) 1 This is also an assumption made in the governments Green Deal Impact Assessment (Department of Energy and Climate Change 2011). Opticon1826, Issue 11 (Autumn 2011) 2 These parameters can be expressed as net present value to the house buyer as: Where R = expected annual revenue, r = consumer discount rate, i = amount of years over which the savings will accrue and C = the initial cost. If we assume that the average Oxford house buyer stays in a property for 12 years (HM Government 2009), the average saving per year is 50 for a solar thermal system (EST 2010a), 190 for solar PV system (EST 2010b) and the capital cost to the house buyer is zero, we could expect solar thermal panels to add 341 to the value of a property and solar photovoltaic panels to add 1295. 2 This calculation assumes that: the house buyer has reliable information on the savings associated with the solar panels the house buyer knows at the time of purchase how long they will stay in the property no other information or perception affects their decision, such as familiarity with the technology, association with 'green' issues, or the converse, or aesthetic opinions, positive or negative. In reality the perceptions and associations a householder has regarding solar technology are likely to be as important, if not more important, to their purchase decision than the economic benefits. Furthermore, it would be wrong to assume that the influence of solar panels on house prices will always be positive; the study hypothesizes that 'direction of travel' would be different according to whether the individual has positive or negative perceptions of and associations with solar technology.

5. SHORTCOMINGS:Listed below are few of the major roadblocks related to cost, pollution, location, reliability that makes it impossible to harness energy all through the year.1.Initial Cost: The initial cost of purchasing and installing solar panels always become the first disadvantage when the subject of comes up. Although subsidy programs, tax initiatives and rebate incentives are given by government to promote the use of solar panels we are still way behind in making full and efficient use of solar energy. As new technologies emerge, the cost of solar panels is likely to decrease and then we can see an increase in the use of solar cells to generate electricity.2.Location: The location of solar panels is of major importance in the generation of electricity. Areas which remains mostly cloudy and foggy will produce electricity but at a reduced rate and may require more panels to generate enough electricity for your home. Houses which are covered by trees, landscapes or other buildings may not be suitable enough to produce solar power.3.Pollution: Most of the photovoltaic panels are made up of silicon and other toxic metals like mercury, lead and cadmium. Pollution in the environment can also degrade the quality and efficiency of photovoltaic cells. New innovative technologies can overcome the worst of these effects.4.Inefficiency: Since not all the light from the sun is absorbed by the solar panels therefore most solar panels have a 40% efficiency rate which means 60% of the sunlight gets wasted and is not harnessed. New emerging technologies however have increased the rate of efficiency of solar panels from 40 to 80% and on the downside have increased the cost of solar panels as well.5.Reliability: Unlike other renewable source which can also be operated during night, solar panels prove to be useless during night which means you have to depend on the local utility grid to draw power in the night. Else you can buy solar batteries to store excess power which you can later utilize in the night.6.Installation area: For home users, a solar energy installation may not require huge space but for big companies, a large area is required for the system to be efficient in providing a source of electricity.Above disadvantages makes it quite obvious that one has to shell out good amount of money to harness solar energy that is available free but before you reach any further conclusion lets go through the advantagesof solar power which will make you think that it would be wise to make this investment once and then reap its benefits later.

6. OUTCOMEThe Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Energy Foundation asked the Brattle Group to evaluate the potential effects of adding solar photovoltaic (PV) generation in the Texas wholesale energy market. To evaluate such effects, we used a hypothetical situation, where a range of incremental solar PV generation was added to the supply mix of the Texas market (ERCOT) in summer 2011.In this report, we present the findings of this analysis, which demonstrate that adding solar PV could have significantly reduced energy prices for electric customers in the summer of 2011. Specifically, we estimate that adding 1,000 megawatts (MW) of solar PV could have reduced average wholesale energy prices by approximately $0.6 per megawatt-hour (MWh); 2,500 MW of solar PV by $1.5/MWh; and 5,000 MW by $2.9/MWh. This would have lowered total wholesale energy payments by $155-$281 for each MWh of solar PV generation.In addition, our analysis shows that adding incremental solar PV generation could also significantly reduce total electricity production costs and greenhouse gas emissions as it displaces generation from conventional, fossil-fuel plants, and these effects last through the lifetime of the solar PV assets. Including a relatively modest assumption about the value of avoided greenhouse gas emissions of $15/ton, the combined total value of avoided emissions and production costs and reduced wholesale power costs due to price effects could have been $216-$343/MWh of solar PV generation during the summer of 2011.It is important to note that these figures represent the magnitude of the benefits accruing to all consumers in lowered underlying electric energy prices in the wholesale market. Ultimately, these savings, which correspond to the value incremental solar PV would have had in the summer of 2011, provide a basis for comparison against all-in costs of incremental solar PV generation; however, that is beyond the scope of this analysis.Instead, our study examines the impact of incremental solar PV on the average ratepayer and consequently does not distinguish between benefits to system owners and other customers. Therefore, our results may differ from those of some prior studies, which focus on the savings (and costs) of solar PV to individual system owners. In reality, due to a number of factors, including the structure of retail electricity rates, benefits to system owners may differ significantly from average customer benefits.To analyze the effect of incremental PV generation in Texas, we chose two approaches: a statistical approach and a model-based approach.1. In the statistical approach, we used historical data to construct a relationship between demand levels and energy prices, and then analyzed the price effects of solar PV by assuming that it would have reduced the net load that needs to be served by generators with higher incremental costs whenever the PV resources were generating power.2. In the model-based approach, we used publicly available data to construct electricity supply curves based on the estimated variable costs of generation sources, ordered from least to most expensive. We then estimated marginal energy prices by finding the most expensive marginal generator needed to meet demand in each hour. To estimate the impact of solar PV, we compared the results for a system with current levels of solar PV to the results for a system with incremental amounts of solar PV added.Our analysis focuses on the benefits of incremental solar PV generation that may come from wholesale energy markets. Incremental solar PV generation would likely have other benefits.