Solaires Team | Victoria, B.C. | June 2021
Photovoltaic (PV) is the process of converting light to electricity that can be used to power our appliances, electronics, homes, etc. It is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy resource available. The sun’s energy is one of the fastest-growing and cheapest sources of power and will continue to spread rapidly in the coming years. With photovoltaic technology advancements, the economic benefits of using solar energy are improving and are moving the planet towards a clean energy future.
The most common way to harness solar energy is through solar panels or photovoltaic modules. When the sun’s radiation or photons strike a solar panel, energy from the sunlight is absorbed by the PV cells. The absorbed energy knocks electrons loose. The loose electrons flow and create currents that can be captured and transferred to a wire or an external circuit.
Current solar panels use silicon or silicon in tandem with another material. This table yields the pros and cons of conventional PV technology using silicon:
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Reduces our carbon footprint: a more environmentally-friendly solution to generate electricity. | Not 100% pollution-free: emits greenhouse gases during manufacturing silicon solar panels. |
| Sustainable: energy independence and security. | Limited applications due to heavy weight and rigidity of current panels. Setup requires a lot of land or space. |
| Mature and advanced technology. | Long supply chain, dependency of manufacturers to other countries for supplying materials. |
| The future of solar PV technology is looking bright: new technology advancements that can revolutionize how we harness this energy are coming soon. | Limited energy conversion efficiency of current solutions. |
According to this Allied Market Research report , the global solar market was valued at USD $52.5 billion in 2018 and is anticipated to surge at a CAGR of 20.5% between 2019 to 2026 to reach USD $223.3 billion in 2026.
Driving factors that are fuelling the solar energy market include growing investments in solar energy and supportive government policies . Due to environmental regulations, companies are installing renewable energy plants and numerous countries are investing heavily into solar energy. Additionally, supportive government policies in some countries, in the form of investment tax credits and capital subsidies, are boosting solar installations. However, the biggest restraining factor that hinders market growth is the space constraints. Large solar projects like utility-scale or large industrial-scale plants require huge spaces or land for system set-up. Land use is a problematic limitation for the industry.
Solaires Entreprises Inc.’s Solar Ink™ and the Solar Cells that are fabricated using Solaires’ technology are revolutionary mediums to harness solar power. Addressing the limitations of current solutions, Solaires’ perovskite technology will allow for a slew of new application possibilities made with next-generation solar photovoltaics. As a light, flexible thin-film that can be transparent and integrated onto IoT devices, vehicles, buildings, etc, perovskite solar technology will enable every surface to be remarkably efficient sun-traps without the space restraining factor. Imagine harvesting solar energy from anywhere to power everything!
Solaires is innovating photovoltaic solutions for a cleaner world.
Want to go solar? Contact Us.
Download our free fact sheet on the Pros and Cons of Conventional Silicon Photovoltaics here.
