Photovoltaics as an Element of Intelligent Transport System Development - Geoinformatics for Intelligent Transportation - page 184

means of concentrating solar power (CSP) where parabolic solar collectors or solar
towers concentrate the light for the purpose of warming up a single point generating
in that way steam driving the turbine. PV cells based power stations can be con-
nected to storage batteries or to the power grid. Heat from the CSP can be stored for
energy generation in case of unavailability of solar light [ 6 ]. Solar power, i.e.
photovoltaics is considered one of the most environment friendly energy sources
given the wide potential for obtaining energetic bene ts. Their simple construction,

ease of installation compared to other energy sources and availability, i.e. the
possibility of installing in dif

cult to access terrain are the major advantages of PV

systems.
Electricity powered cars are the future of transport. According to Mo ko et al. [ 7 ]

the volume of total greenhouse gases emissions produced by a car is very highly
dependent on the type of renewable energy in power grid. Solar energy seems to be
the most rational solution. However, productivity of photovoltaic panels depends on
the year season, hour, location and weather conditions. The advantage of the system
is that it can be installed in places with dif

ć

cult access to power, it does not pollute
the air and does not generate noise. It must, however, be appropriately oriented as the
highest power generation productivity is possible in case of southern exposure [ 8 , 9 ].
In different parts of the world solar power is less or more popular. In Poland, so
far, thermal energy obtained from solar installations enjoyed interest.
The actual spread of photovoltaics in Poland is quite limited. We observe very
high disproportions compared to the other European countries. According to For-
owicza [ 10 ] German photovoltaic installations offered the capacity of 17,200 MW
while in Poland it was just 1.75 MW. According to Roma ski et al. [ 11 ], the volume

of energy obtained in our climate is small and highly dependent on the year season.
The authors also evaluate ef

ń

ciency of the devices as very poor — ranging within

6 15 %. The examples of photovoltaics use in other countries, e.g. Germany, that are

situated in the climate zone very similar to Poland can be presented as contradicting
the opinions presented. In 2013, energy production from renewable sources, mainly
photovoltaics, is at the record level. Worldwide, only the United States and Japan are
ahead of Germany in total capacity of the installed photovoltaic systems. Photo-
voltaics market is developing at a surprising rate; new solar power plants are estab-
lished, but Poland, unfortunately, because of the legal regulations and politics is
lagging behind the majority of the European countries.
All the time new solutions for energy from renewable sources are proposed (in
ventilation devices, lighting, industrial machines and motors, construction of energy
ef

-

cient houses) [ 12 ].
Sharma and Harinarayana [ 13 ] propose energy production with photovoltaic
installations forming a roof-type structure along the national roads and motorways.
According to the authors, such solutions offer numerous bene c

participants. They draw particular attention to the effect of shade that causes
decrease in energy consumption by air conditioning devices in vehicles, longer life
of tyres and signi

ts for road traf

cantly lower damages to road surfaces [ 14 ]. The advantage of
such solution is also making use of the space taken for road belts and decreasing of
CO 2 emissions to the environment or creating new jobs [ 13 ].