This document provides an overview of solar technology basics. It discusses the definition of solar panels and how they work by generating electricity from sunlight using silicon cells with no moving parts. It then outlines the different technology options for solar power at different temperature ranges, including photovoltaic modules that directly convert sunlight to electricity using different silicon technologies or thin film approaches. The document concludes by discussing solar thermal systems, which convert solar energy to heat for applications like cooking, water heating, and power generation using solar collectors.

1. Solar Technology Basics

2. Module 1 : Solar
Technology Basics
Module 2: Solar Photo Voltaic
Module Technologies
Module 3: Designing Solar PV
Systems ( Rooftops)
Module 4: Designing Solar PV
Systems (Utility Scale)
Module 5: Financial Analysis
Module 6: DPR (Detailed Project
Report) & EPC
Module 7: The present Solar
industry scenario and the future

3. Solar Panels:
A eco-friendly electric generator
The Definition: A collection of individual silicon cells that generate
electricity from sunlight.
The physics: The photons (light particles) produce an electrical current
as they
strike the surface of the thin silicon wafers.
The bright side: Generating free power from the sun by converting
sunlight to
electricity with –
no moving parts
zero emissions
no maintenance

4. Technology Options
for Solar power
Parabolic Dish
Solar Power
Thermal
Low
Temperature
<100°C.
Solar Water
Heating (FP/ET)
Solar Chimney
Solar Pong
Med Temp
<400°C.
Focusing
Parabolic
High Temp.
>400°C.
Central Tower.
PV
Technology
Mono
Crystalline
Silicon
Polycrystalline
Silicon
Amorphous
Silicon
Production
Process
Wafer
Thin Film

5. Solar Photo Voltaic

6. Electricity Generation
 Photovoltaic cells
directly convert sunlight
Into electricity.
 Current is produced
based on types of silicon
(n- and p-types) used for
the layers.
 Since there are no moving parts, there is no wear.
 Lifespan is about 20-25 years.

7. Solar PV technologies are usually classified into three
generations, depending on the basis material used and
the level of commercial maturity.
First generation PV
System:
Use of wafer based
crystalline silicon (c-Si)
either single crystalline or
multi-crystalline.
Second Generation PV
Systems: Based on the
thin-film technology and
generally includes:
Amorphous silicon admium
Telluride (CdTe) and
copper Indium – Selenide
(CIS) & Copper Indium
Gallium Di-Selenide
(CIGS)
Third Generation PV
Systems:
Concentrating Solar PV
(CPV), Desensitize PV,
Polymer cells etc. are still
in demonstration or have
not yet been
commercialized widely.

8. Single/mono-
crystalline
silicon solar cell
• Pure and hence more
efficient.
• Most efficient solar
cell technology till
date, having a module
efficiency of 15-19%.

9. Multi-Crystalline
silicon solar cell
(poly-Si or
mc-Si)
• Multiple layers of
silicon and hence the
name.
• These cells have
module efficiency of
around 12-15%.

10. THIN FILM POLYCRYSTALLINE
SOLAR CELL
These are the new generation solar cells that contain multiple
thin film layers of just 1 micron thick of photo voltaic
materials.

11. Thin film cell technology
• Multiple thin layers of photovoltaic materials are
imposed on a low cost substrate to form solar
thin films. Different types of thin film solar cells
available are:
• Amorphous silicon (Efficiency: 5-7%)
• Copper indium di-selenide (Efficiency: 9-11%)
• Cadmium telluride (Efficiency: 8.5%)
• Dye- sensitized (Efficiency: 5-12%)

12. Solar Thermal

13. SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEMS
Convert solar energy in the form of heat as the main energy source.
Main application:
1. Cooking
2. Water heating
3. Refrigeration
4. Electric power generation
The heart of a solar thermal system is solar collector. It absorbs solar
heat, and transfers it to the system.
There are different design concepts for collectors such as flat-plate
collectors, evacuated flat-plate collectors, evacuated-tube collectors and
concentrating collectors.