Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.1 Roof-integrated Photovoltaic System [Georgetown University in
Washington (USA), Installed in 1984 with 4464 Photovoltaic Modules and
337 kW p Total Power]
Figure 4.1 shows an example of a roof-integrated photovoltaic system ,
which was installed in the 1980s in the US. Various megawatt roof-integrated
PV systems are installed today. One example is the 1-MW photovoltaic system
at the Munich exhibition halls, which was finished in 1997. Altogether 7812
photovoltaic modules on a roof area of 38,100 m 2 generate about one million
kWh of electricity per year. This equals the average consumption of 340
German households.
Worldwide, the installed photovoltaic capacity and the share of electricity
generated by PV are still low, despite impressive market growth. The political
environment and magnitude of market introduction programmes will
determine the future of this technology.
This chapter describes the fundamentals of PV systems such as the
operating principles, calculations of the energy yield and systems and their
applications. Since the descriptions use many electrical quantities, Table 4.1
gives an overview of them.
O PERATION OF S OLAR C ELLS
Bohr's atomic model
This section describes the operating principles of semiconductor solar cells;
therefore, an understanding is necessary of what a semiconductor is. The
section starts with Bohr's atomic model for single atoms and continues with
the energy band model for solids.
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