This is a repost from one of our sister publications, Windermere Sun, below:
Perovskite solar cells (Attribution: Stanford ENERGY, video by Mark Shwartz, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/, Presented at: WindermereSun.com)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
Back in 2015, I interviewed the Chief Technology Officer Dr. Christopher Case of Oxford PV during the InterSolar North America in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Case introduced me to a potentially game-changing solar technology, the perovskite solar cell technology, that holds much promise for lowering the cost and boosting the performance of solar power by increasing photovoltaic efficiency of any solar photovoltaic thin film material to 30+% in a perovskite tandem layer (which is more than the maximum efficiency achieved in traditional mono-and poly-crystalline silicon cells). In laboratories, perovskite cells are manufactured by spin-coating, spraying, or “painting” them onto a substrate (material that provides the surface for the chemicals to crystalize on). Perovskites are only about half a micron thick while silicon layer is roughly 200 microns. The main hurdle for perovskite is durability. Perovskites are very sensitive to oxygen, moisture, and heat, therefore, requiring heavy encapsulation to protect the cell, leading to increased cost and weight of solar cell. Oxford PV’s tandem cell conversion efficiency is 29.52%. More research and development and data are needed for testing its efficiency, stability, as well as increasing lifespan and replacing toxic materials with safer ones. Company such as Saule Technologies has some very interesting perovskite products in the works: 1. they have a perovskite photovoltaic glass ( a semi-transparent perovskite solar cell printed onto flexible foils and overlayed with layers of glass), making it a window that generates electricity. 2. Saule is also producing energy-harvesting sun-blinds that can block intense summer sunlight, and allowing sunlight to enter the building in mornings and evenings to provide natural light and passive heating. These blinds can be adjusted manually or automatically. 3. In May of 2021, Saule launched the world’s first industrial production line of perovskite solar panels in Poland. Jinko Solaris also working on rolling out perovskite technology. The perovskite solar cell could be the future of energy, in the video published on Sep. 14, 2021, “Perovskite Solar Cells Could Be the Future of Energy“, below:
Perovskite mineral was discovered over 150 years ago, but it’s only recently that scientists have been able to synthesize the properties of the material in laboratories using commonly available chemicals. And what they’re finding is that it can give a big boost to the performance of existing solar cell technology. This week we take at look at how it works, in the video published on Aug. 9, 2020, “Perovskite Solar Cells: Game changer?“, below:
In the video published on March 26, 2021, “Perovskite solar out-benches rivals-2021| perovskite solar cells shines a little brighter“, below:
Perovskite, a calcium titanium oxide mineral discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in 1839. This new old material is generating quite an explosive buzz because scientists have found, in recent years, that it is a great material to be used in solar absorption applications. It can be made simply and inexpensively by using common wet chemistry lab methods and low cost equipment instead of the expensive deposition equipment common in the semiconductor industry. To take a look at how this process is made cheap and accessible, I’m sharing the video below:
These solar (photovoltaic) cells are made in tandem (layer by layer) fashion on a specially coated glass support. In the video above:
the glass is coated with a dense layer of titanium dioxide, by robotic arm, to prevent electrical charge generated by sunlight from leaking out of the cell.
a less dense porous oxide layer covers the dense oxide layer (usually titanium dioxide, other oxides may also be used).
a simple high speed spin coater deposits this layer from solution and spreads this coating evenly across the device.
heating this glass/device in an oven conditions it for solar cell use.
prepare the Perovskite material (which absorbs in the broad range of solar spectrum) by combining 2 precursor materials: PbI2 (lead iodide) & CH6IN (methylammonium iodide)
drip the liquid phase mixture (from 5.) onto the oxide coated device (from 4.)
spin the resulting device in 6 to assure even coating
applying halide solution
heating the device resulting from 8 on a hot plate–>spontaneously crystallizes precursors in freshly deposited liquid
color changes also result from crystallization process resulting from 9.
Such tandem product has the advantage of being able to be introduced into existing infrastructure of current silicon module manufacturing process, boosting its efficiency. With added few steps toward the end of the production line, the coating (equivalent to second solar cell) takes advantage of the blue portion of the solar spectrum and may improve the solar cell efficiency by 20-25% above the underlying silicon. The fact that Perovskite-based solar cell technology is of earth abundant material also insures its availability and low cost. Its high absorption in solar spectrum enables it to have comparable characteristics to that of gallium arsenide. Its ability to change its sensitivity to different band gaps in solar spectrum allows it to make different architectures in tandem solar cells. It can truly be considered as the Custom Solar Absorber! In short term, Perovskite-based solar cell may boost the efficiency level of existing technology and in the long term. It may be a stand-alone technology with closer efficiency level to that of gallium arsenide but at a much lower cost. It may potentially be sprayed, ink-jet printed, dip-coated, etc. It is no wonder that Dr. Case commented, “the perovskite in solar application is the fastest increasing photovoltaic efficiency of any solar photovoltaic thin film material ever! In just a few years, it went from a lab efficiency of about 6% to well over 17%…the material is a very good solar absorber….bringing the material to 25% efficiency in a monolithic layer and 30%+ in a perovskite tandem layer….potentially the future replacement for silicon.” The perovskite thin-film solar cells, is currently being developed by Oxford PV (a spin-out from the University of Oxford in 2009-2010 to commercialize this technology, which has exclusively licensed the intellectual property developed by Professor Henry Snaith and his team of 20 scientists). Below, Professor Henry Snaith will embellish upon the development of this solar technology, in the video published on Jan. 10, 2014, “Perovskites: The Emergence of a New Era for Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Solar Cells“, below :
Henry J. Snaith is Professor of Physics in the Clarendon Laboratory at the University of Oxford and Fellow of the Royal Society. He has pioneered the field of perovskite solar cells and published hundreds of papers. He is founder and CSO of Oxford PV, which holds the largest perovskite patent portfolio worldwide and focuses on developing and commercializing perovskite PV technology. In this interview, he discusses the present status and future prospects of perovskite PV, in the video published on Nov. 11, 2018, “The Path to Perovskite on Silicon PV | Prof. Henry Snaith“, below:
Oxford PVplans on continuing to optimize this technology’s cell efficiency and accelerate the transfer of the technology into production. Furthermore, it aims to develop the range of substrates to which the cells can be applied. With its promising future, we, the solar enthusiasts and investors alike, should keep our eyes on Oxford PV in the coming years. In the next few years, we anticipate that Dr. Henry Snaith and his team of scientists will continue to tackle challenges in trap densities, doping densities, mobility, mechanisms for free carrier generations, etc., to further improve device performance. You will find that many in the solar industry share the optimism of Professor Henry Snaith and Dr. Christopher Case. In the video published on June 9, 2021, “Henry Snaith – The advent of Perovskite solar cells“, below: For those of you interested in more details about Perovskite-based solar cell technology, please refer to the two videos below:
1. Introducing Perovskite Solar Cells to Undergraduates:
2. In the video published on Nov. 17, 2017, “Everything you ever wanted to know about perovskite“, below:
Keep in mind that Shockley-Queisser limit applies to silicon solar cell and not to perovskite solar cell. The Shockley-Queisser limit is calculated by examining the amount of electrical energy that is extracted per photon of incoming sunlight.For better understanding of Shockley-Queisser limit, please refer to the excerpt from wikipedia, in italics, below:In a traditional solid-statesemiconductorsuch as silicon, a solar cell is made from two doped crystals, one an n-type semiconductor, which has extra free electrons, and the other a p-type semiconductor, which is lacking free electrons, referred to as “holes.” When initially placed in contact with each other, some of the electrons in the n-type portion will flow into the p-type to “fill in” the missing electrons. Eventually enough will flow across the boundary to equalize the Fermi levels of the two materials. The result is a region at the interface, thep-n junction, where charge carriers are depleted on each side of the interface. In silicon, this transfer of electrons produces a potential barrier of about 0.6 V to 0.7 V.[6]When the material is placed in the sun, photons from the sunlight can be absorbed in the p-type side of the semiconductor, causing electrons in the valence band to be promoted in energy to the conduction band. This process is known asphotoexcitation. As the name implies, electrons in the conduction band are free to move about the semiconductor. When a load is placed across the cell as a whole, these electrons will flow from the p-type side into the n-type side, lose energy while moving through the external circuit, and then go back into the p-type material where they can re-combine with the valence-band holes they left behind. In this way, sunlight creates an electric current.[6]In physics, the Shockley–Queisser limit (also known as the detailed balance limit, Shockley Queisser Efficiency Limit or SQ Limit, or in physical terms the radiative efficiency limit) is the maximum theoretical efficiency of a solar cell using a single p-n junction to collect power from the cell where the only loss mechanism is radiative recombination in the solar cell. It was first calculated by William Shockley and Hans-Joachim Queisser at Shockley Semiconductor in 1961, giving a maximum efficiency of 30% at 1.1 eV.[1] This first calculation used the 6000K black-body spectrum as an approximation to the solar spectrum. Subsequent calculations have used measured global solar spectra (AM1.5G) and included a back surface mirror which increases the maximum efficiency to 33.7% for a solar cell with a bandgap of 1.34 eV.[2] The limit is one of the most fundamental to solar energy production with photovoltaic cells, and is considered to be one of the most important contributions in the field.[3]The limit is that the maximumsolar conversion efficiency is around 33.7% for a single p-n junction photovoltaic cell, assuming typical sunlight conditions (unconcentrated, AM 1.5 solar spectrum), and subject to other caveats and assumptions discussed below. This maximum occurs at a band gap of 1.34 eV.[2] That is, of all the power contained in sunlight (about 1000 W/m2) falling on an ideal solar cell, only 33.7% of that could ever be turned into electricity (337 W/m2). The most popular solar cell material, silicon, has a less favorable band gap of 1.1 eV, resulting in a maximum efficiency of about 32%. Modern commercial mono-crystalline solar cells produce about 24% conversion efficiency, the losses due largely to practical concerns like reflection off the front of the cell and light blockage from the thin wires on the cell surface.The Shockley–Queisser limit only applies to conventional solar cells with a single p-n junction; solar cells with multiple layers can (and do) outperform this limit, and so can solar thermal and certain other solar energy systems. In the extreme limit, for a multi-junction solar cell with an infinite number of layers, the corresponding limit is 68.7% for normal sunlight,[4]or 86.8% using concentrated sunlight.[5] (See Solar cell efficiency.) Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
This is a repost from one of our sister publication, Windermere Sun, below:
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
Tesla Solar Roof (credit: Tesla/Solar City)
Tesla Solar Roof (credit: Tesla/Solar City)
Tesla Solar Roof (credit: Tesla/Solar City)
Tesla Solar Roof single held up by CEO Elon Musk (credit: Tesla/Solar City)
Tesla Solar Roof (credit: Tesla/Solar City)
Tesla Solar Roof single held up by CEO Elon Musk (credit: Tesla/Solar City)
Tesla Solar Roof (credit: Tesla/Solar City)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
Just weeks after our previous reporting of Tesla/Solar City’s Solar roof, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that their Tesla/Solar City solar roof will be cheaper than the conventional/traditional roofing material. Previously Elon Musk said their solar roof would be cheaper, when taking into consideration of the fact that power would be generated from these solar roofs. But now he believes that the cost of manufacturing and installing their solar roofs will be less than the traditional roofs even before taking into consideration of its power generation. Solar City is the largest solar manufacturer and installer in USA. In November of this year, the share holders approved the merger of Tesla and Solar City. Tesla’s solar roofs are expected to hit the market in Summer of 2017.
It’s a no brainer: Tesla/Solar City solar roofs will cost lower, are stronger and last longer, better insulated, and generate power! So when it’s time for you to replace your existing roof or building your roof for the first time, think about Tesla-Solar City Solar Roof!!!
Talk about revolution! Elon Musk continues to lead the charge of this revolution for our Renewable Future!
Elon’s Mission in Accelerating World’s Transition to Sustainable Energy Via 3 Most Important Paths
Elon’s Integrated Future
New Solar Roof with greater longevity than conventional roof technology
Tesla’s New Solar Roof with greater longevity than conventional roof technology
Tesla’s Powerwall 2
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
Instead of the conventional 25-year roof, how would you like to install solar roofs that would effectively cost less, better insulation, last almost 75 years for your house, with more appealing styles to choose from, no less?! Yesterday, the unveiling of Tesla’s new Solar Roof took place at the Desperate Housewives set in LA, CA. The original roof had been replaced by solar roof tops (photos above)! Can you really tell that these are solar roof tops if I didn’t mention it in advance?
Tesla’s New Solar Roof with greater longevity than conventional roof technology
Tesla’s New Solar Roof with greater longevity than conventional roof technology
Our WonderWorker Elon Musk continues to amaze us! When I first heard the news about Tesla may be acquiring Solar City, I suspected that Elon is cooking something in that genius kitchen of his…..behold! We are all totally ecstatic yesterday, upon receiving the news about Tesla’s new Solar Roof and his presentation about the three critical components in accelerating our transition toward the sustainable future: Generation-Storage-Transport—–>Solar Roof-Battery-EV —-> Solar Roof-Tesla’s Powerwall 2-Tesla’s EV. I did not write Tesla’s Solar Roof-Tesla’s Powerwall 2-Tesla’s EV because the vote regarding the acquisition is on November 17, not yet a fait accompli. Personally, I believe it would be a wise step for Solar City to take, to become part of Elon Musk’s Solution To The Energy Equation. There will be a lot of individuals, families, groups, businesses that will want to take part in solving the global warming problem and in reducing CO2 emission. Furthermore, for those who want to drive an EV, one expects that they are also more likely to also want to install solar roof tops and vise versa.
Elon also pointed out that the future is bright for both utilities and local power generation (solar roof tops) because as we transition our energy use into all electric, that will roughly triple the electricity that will be needed.
In Elon’s presentation of a beautiful, affordable, and seamlessly integrated future: EV(electric vehicle)+Powerwall+Solar Roof awaits us, shown below:
For all the solar installers out there, it might be a good idea to devote part of your business to subcontract for Tesla/Solar City, because this integrated solar roof will probably be proprietary in the next few years.
We Look Forward To Our Renewable/Solar Future!
As one of the audience at the unveiling shouted out, “Elon, Save Us!”
Elon, now help us to get the solar self-driving car !
Just received a video that I trust all of us Solar Enthusiasts would enjoy, below, esp. from these three segments:
1. 0:48-2:05
7:50-9:10
12:25-13:40
Elon Musk concurs with our effort and interest in helping our planet Earth to transition into Solar/Renewable Energy! He is definitely our Peops!
In this next video, below, please especially note these segments where Elon Musk discusses carbon tax, battery technology, solar/renewable energy, and our sustainable future.
8:28-9:30
24:45-28:20
31:54-33:30
40:00-41:00
Our coverage on Elon Musk will continue in the next episode/post.
This is a continuation from the previous post, by Karl Rabago, on the Value of Solar, in Boulder, Colorado. This talk explores many issues associated within solar industry and is very timely and relevant. With more than 25 years of experience in policy and regulation, energy market and energy technology development, Karl Rabago brings us in-depth insight. He now operates an energy consulting practice, Rabago Energy LLC, providing strategic policy, regulatory and market development consulting in the clean and innovative energy sectors. He is serving as the Chair of the Center for Resource Solutions, a San Francisco-based non-governmental organization that advances voluntary clean energy markets, and sits on the Board of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Without further ado, Karl Rabago in Boulder, CO, talks about Value of Solar, Beyond Value of Solar (where Value of 4S’s-Storage, Smarts, Security, Savings), and Ideal Distributed Solar Tariff are also discussed, below:
Now for the Q & A session after Karl’s talk, below:
Perhaps I am biased. But in my limited perception, I tend to think solar enthusiasts are also more likely to be futurists. This is a post, with two videos (one edited version of another), for all of you solar futurists out there!
I think you already know and I cannot say/add enough good things about Elon Musk or Tesla. This past Tuesday, Elon Musk was interviewed by New China TV in Hong Kong, where he commented that Chinese Minister of Finance mentioned Tesla favorably in a recent speech, with regard to Tesla’s effort in making its patents open sourced so that any company in China or elsewhere can utilize these patents to create electric vehicles. He further commented that Solar Energy can easily power the whole of China, the most populated country on earth (2015 population data: China has 1,361,512,535 India has 1,251,695,584 United States has 321,368,864, etc.). Below, you will find this comment (top video) edited from the complete interview (bottom video):
This will be a terrific move for the planet earth! For if all of China and India will be converting their vehicles to electric vehicles sooner as a result of Tesla’s patents being shared, the industry charger (Tesla’s Supercharger Event) will be standardized much more quickly and the CO2 emission of the planet will be reduced at a much faster rate, slowing the rate of climate change. In this process, both China and India will have much cleaner environment. This will also translate into much cleaner planet earth.
For the complete interview where Elon Musk speaks about Tesla, sustainable energy, and Mars at the Venture Forum in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is the city where the most Tesla per capita (with the highest percentage of vehicles that is Tesla or electric vehicles any where in the world) and can function as the model for other high density cities to transform into sustainable transport future. Elon Musk further embellishes on the importance of focusing on creating products that would be loved by the customers. There are also discussions of: the future possibility in solving Beijing traffic issue via tunnel or flying cars; currently available supercharging station networks in China (such that people have driven from Beijing to Tibet in Tesla); upcoming affordable Tesla3 to be mainstream;whether rote educational format would be good for producing innovators;all new cars on the road will be autonomous within fifteen years; submmersible Tesla;pertonic ideal of a perfect car;how to supply Hong Kong with sufficient solar power;bringing human kind to Mars and enabling earthlings to become interplanetary beings and to be inspired and transcend beyond what is the current limit; anticipation of first flights to Mars by 2025; necessary high tolerance for pain if some one wants to try to build startup;brain computer interface at the neuron level (concept of brain internet). Ultimately, focusing on producing a product that is loved by consumers would help to insure the success of a startup. It’s an excellent interview that you don’t want to miss, below, enjoy:
For those of you who are entrepreneurs out there, the take-away is that: focusing on producing a product that is loved by consumers would help to insure the success of a startup.
Gathered, written, & posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any suggestions, concerns, questions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Homepage: http://www.sunisthefuture.net
For more on solar energy topics, please feel free to check into links below:
Miracle on Pennsylvania Ave (photographed & photoblended by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
Sunshine Coming Through (credit: sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
Thank You, President Obama, for signing the bill and bringing the Best Holiday Gift For All Americans To Transition Into Renewable Energy Age…. please refer to more details in this –>Post on “Solar For Oil: Miracle On Pennsylvania Avenue“.
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
HAPPY HOLIDAY &
SUNNY 2016 !
gathered, photographed and photoblended by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
any questions, suggestions, and concerns will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
I saved the most potential game-changing solar technology in the last interview spot, the update of Perovskite-based solar cell technology with the Chief Technology Officer of Oxford PV, Dr. Christopher Case, of this series of Intersolar North America 2015 interviews. Recallingone of our earlier posts, I wrote about Perovskite, a calcium titanium oxide mineral discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in 1839. This new old material is generating quite an explosive buzz because scientists have found, in recent years, that it is a great material to be used in solar absorption applications. It can be made simply and inexpensively by using common wet chemistry lab methods and low cost equipments instead of the expensive deposition equipments common in the semiconductor industry. To take a look at how this process is made cheap and accessible, I’m sharing the video below:
These solar (photovoltaic) cells are made in tandem (layer by layer) fashion on a specially coated glass support. In the video above:
the glass is coated with a dense layer of titanium dioxide, by robotic arm, to prevent electrical charge generated by sunlight from leaking out of the cell.
a less dense porous oxide layer covers the dense oxide layer (usually titanium dioxide, other oxides may also be used).
a simple high speed spin coater deposits this layer from solution and spreads this coating evenly across the device.
heating this glass/device in an oven conditions it for solar cell use.
prepare the Perovskite material (which absorbs in the broad range of solar spectrum) by combining 2 precursor materials: PbI2 (lead iodide) & CH6IN (methylammonium iodide)
drip the liquid phase mixture (from 5.) onto the oxide coated device (from 4.)
spin the resulting device in 6 to assure even coating
applying halide solution
heating the device resulting from 8 on a hot plate–>spontaneously crystallizes precursors in freshly deposited liquid
color changes also result from crystallization process resulting from 9.
Such tandem product has the advantage of being able to be introduced into existing infrastructure of current silicon module manufacturing process, boosting its efficiency. With added few steps toward the end of the production line, the coating (equivalent to second solar cell) takes advantage of the blue portion of the solar spectrum and may improve the solar cell efficiency by 20-25% above the underlying silicon. The fact that Perovskite-based solar cell technology is of earth abundant material also insures its availability and low cost. Its high absorption in solar spectrum enables it to have comparable characteristics to that of gallium arsenide. Its ability to change its sensitivity to different band gaps in solar spectrum allows it to make different architectures in tandem solar cells. It can truly be considered as the Custom Solar Absorber! In short term, Perovskite-based solar cell may boost the efficiency level of existing technology and in the long term, it may be a stand-alone technology with closer efficiency level to that of gallium arsenide but at a much lower cost. It may potentially be sprayed, ink-jet printed, dip-coated, etc. It is no wonder that Dr. Case commented, “the perovskite in solar application is the fastest increasing photovoltaic efficiency of any solar photovoltaic thin film material ever! In just a few years, it went from a lab efficiency of about 6% to well over 17%…the material is a very good solar absorber….bringing the material to 25% efficiency in a monolithic layer and 30%+ in a perovskite tandem layer….potentially the future replacement for silicon.”
The perovskite thin-film solar cells, is currently being developed by Oxford PV (a spin-out from the University of Oxford in 2009-2010 to commercialize this technology, which has exclusively licensed the intellectual property developed by Professor Henry Snaith and his team of 20 scientists). Below, Professor Henry Snaith will embellish upon the development of this solar technology:
Oxford PV plans on continuing to optimize this technology’s cell efficiency and accelerate the transfer of the technology into production. Furthermore, it aims to develop the range of substrates to which the cells can be applied. With its promising future, we, the solar enthusiasts and investors alike, should keep our eyes on Oxford PV in the coming years. In the next few years, we anticipate that Dr. Henry Snaith and his team of scientists will continue to tackle challenges in trap densities, doping densities, mobility, mechanisms for free carrier generations, etc., to further improve device performance. You will find that many in the solar industry share the optimism of Professor Henry Snaith and Dr. Christopher Case.
For those of you interested in more details about Perovskite-based solar cell technology, please refer to the two videos below:
1. Introducing Perovskite Solar Cells to Undergraduates:
2. Perovskite Solar Cells: From Device Fabrication to Device Degradation-Timothy Kelly:
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, edited, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any comments and suggestions are welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers, (Please click on red links below),
Solar Energy Reduces Carbon Emissions (credit: SEIA, with Ethelbert Reinhard Carpio)
Sharing the 148-page National Climate Assessment (NCA) report that was released by a non-partisan committee of experts yesterday (May 7, 2014), warning us about the danger of climate change. The report concluded, “Although some additional climate change and related impacts are now unavoidable, the amount of future climate change and its consequences will still largely be determined by our choices, now and in the near future.” Seriously, we’ve all got to combine our efforts in combating pollution. This realization led me to begin Sun Is The Future in 2011, contributing my part to the picture of Solutions. I simply cannot think of any better form of energy than Solar Energy to resolve our earthly challenge of Pollution-Energy-National Security. U.S. solar industry has done its share in combating climate change and will continue to do so in the future.
According to SEIA:
Today, we’re generating enough clean, reliable electricity to power nearly 2.5 million homes. When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, the 13 GW of solar currently installed in the United States generates enough pollution-free electricity to displace 14.2 billion pounds of coal or 1.5 billion gallons of gasoline. Put another way, it’s the equivalent of taking 2.7 million passenger cars off U.S. highways. That’s a huge plus for our increasingly-fragile environment.
Yes, Sun/Solar Is The Future and the sooner there are more of us coming to this realization the better chance we all have in combating our energy and pollution problem throughout our planet earth.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments/suggestions/questions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
Today’s post will take you to a city outside of Abu Dhabi (one of the fastest growing and hottest cities on planet Earth), where the luscious green lawns and spectacular fountains helped to display the fact that Abu Dhabi, even though located in the desert, is a city harnessing the power of technology to defy the laws of nature. But Abu Dhabi is not the city I want to focus our attention on today because it relies heavily on fossil fuel, the fuel of yesterday. Instead, I’d like to take you to a City of Tomorrow, the Masdar City, a new and green city built from the scratch just outside of Abu Dhabi, the Masdar City. It is the home to the largest solar power plant in the Middle East, covering area equivalent to thirty-five football pitches via 88,000 solar panels, producing power for Masdar City and Abu Dhabi. Let’s take a look at this fantastic experimental city in the video below:
built by Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, with the majority of seed capital provided by the government of Abu Dhabi. It is Designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners and engineering and environmental consultancy Mott MacDonald , the city relies entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, with a zero waste ecology. It initially aimed to be a sustainablezero-carboncar free city.Masdar City is being constructed 17 kilometres (11 mi) east-south-east of the city of Abu Dhabi, beside Abu Dhabi International Airport. Masdar City will host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The city is designed to be a hub for cleantech companies. Its first tenant is the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which has been operating in the city since it moved into its campus in September 2010.The city as a whole was originally intended to be completed by 2016 but due to the impact of the global financial crisis, the date has now been pushed back to between 2020 and 2025. Due to the limitations found during the initial implementation, the city is now aiming to be low carbon. The project was projected to cost US$22 billion and take some eight years to build, with the first phase scheduled to be completed and habitable in 2009.Construction began on Masdar City in 2008 and the first six buildings of the city were completed and occupied in October 2010. Phase 1 of the city, the initial 1,000,000 square meters (0.39 sq mi), will be completed in 2015. Final completion is scheduled to occur between 2020 and 2025. The estimated cost of the city has also declined, to between US$18.7 and 19.8 billion. The city is planned to cover 6 square kilometers (2.3 sq mi) and will be home to 45,000 to 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses, primarily commercial and manufacturing facilities specialising in environmentally friendly products, and more than 60,000 workers are expected to commute to the city daily.
The initial design considered that automobiles would be banned within the city as travel will be accomplished via public mass transit and personal rapid transit (PRT) systems,
Podcar at a personal rapid transit (PRT) station in Masdar City (wikimedia)
with existing road and railways connecting to other locations outside the city. The absence of motor vehicles coupled with Masdar’s perimeter wall, designed to keep out the hot desert winds, allows for narrow and shaded streets that help funnel cooler breezes across the city.
In October 2010 it was announced the PRT would not expand beyond the pilot scheme due the cost of creating the undercroft to segregate the system from pedestrian traffic. Subsequently, a test fleet of 10 Mitsubishi i-MiEVelectric cars was deployed in 2011 as part of a one-year pilot to test a point-to-point transportation solution for the city as a complement to the PRT and the freight rapid transit (FRT), both of which consist of automated electric-powered vehicles. Under the revised concept, public transport within the city will rely on methods other than the PRTs. Masdar will instead use a mix of electric vehicles and other clean-energy vehicles for mass transit inside the city. The majority of private vehicles will be restricted to parking lots along the city’s perimeter. Abu Dhabi’s existing light rail and metro line will connect Masdar City’s centre with the greater metropolitan area.
Building and courtyard of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi (wikipedia)
has been behind the engineering plans of Masdar City and is at the center of research and development activities. The institute, developed in cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, uses 70% less electricity and potable water than normal buildings of similar size and is fitted with a metering system that constantly observes power consumption.
Masdar will employ a variety of renewable power resources. Among the first construction projects will be a 40 to 60 megawattPV solar power plant,
Masdar rooftop solar panels in city model (wikipedia)
built by the German firm Conergy, which will supply power for all other construction activity. This will later be followed by a larger facility, and additional solar panels will be placed on rooftops to provide supplemental solar energy totalling 130 megawatts. Besides photovoltaics, concentrated solar power (CSP) plants are also being explored. For example, so-called “beam down” CSP plants (be sure to watch the video clip) have been constructed to test the viability of the concept for use in the city. Wind farms will be established outside the city’s perimeter capable of producing up to 20 megawatts, and the city intends to utilize geothermal energy as well. In addition, Masdar plans to host the world’s largest hydrogen power plant.
Water management has been planned in an environmentally sound manner as well. A solar-powered desalination plant will be used to provide the city’s water needs, which is stated to be 60 percent lower than similarly sized communities. Approximately 80 percent of the water used will be recycled and waste water will be reused “as many times as possible,” with this greywater being used for crop irrigation and other purposes.
The city will also attempt to reduce waste to zero. Biological waste will be used to create nutrient-rich soil and fertiliser, and some may also be utilised through waste incineration as an additional power source. Industrial waste, such as plastics and metals, will be recycled or re-purposed for other uses.
The exterior wood used throughout the city is palmwood, a sustainable hardwood-substitute developed by Pacific Green using plantation coconut palms that no longer bear fruit. Palmwood features include the entrance gates, screens and doors.
There are many supporters behind this project: World Wide Fund for Nature , sustainability group BioRegional. In response to the project’s commitment to zero carbon, zero waste and other environmentally friendly goals, WWF and BioRegional have endorsed Masdar City as an official One Planet Living Community. The project is also supported by Greenpeace, which, however, stresses that there should be more focus on retrofitting existing cities to make them more sustainable rather than constructing new zero-carbon cities from scratch.The US Government has supported the project. The US Department of Energy have signed a partnership agreement with the Masdar group in a deal that will see the two organisations share expertise to support plans on zero-carbon cities. The Alliance to Save Energy honored Masdar City with a 2012 EE Visionary Award in recognition of the city’s contributions to the advancement of energy efficiency. (wikipedia)
Let’s hope Masdar will not just be an expensive experiment but will truly become the prototype for all cities for our sustainable future.
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