Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 12.3
Binary cycle geothermal system
Ground source heat pumps which are categorized and basically cover a majority
portion of the direct systems, use the relatively constant temperature of the earth
below its immediate surface in order to generate heating or cooling for residential
and commercial buildings. For a more detail description of these units refer to types
of HVAC systems and system selection chapter in this topic.
12.2
Solar Power Technologies
A research performed in University of Michigan “
http://css.snre.umich.edu/css_
doc/CSS07-08.pdf ” shows the world electrical demand is less than 0.2 % of the total
Sun radiation (1.05 × 10 5 terawatts (TW)) that reaches to the earth surface. Therefore
fi nding ways to convert this radiation into suitable electricity can be very valuable.
Two of these methods are utilization of what we call photovoltaic (PV) solar cells
and concentrating solar power systems. Next two sections are dedicated to discuss
these two systems in brief.
12.2.1
Photovoltaic (PV) Technology
A photovoltaic (PV) solar panel is a solar panel capable of creating electrical power
from sunlight. Photovoltaic cells generally are made of multiple layers of semicon-
ductors such as silicon. These panels when are exposed to the Sun light generate a
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