Solar cell Applications

a .  Rural electrification

1. lighting and power supplies for remote building (mosques, churches, temples etc farms, schools, mountain refuge huts) - low wattage fluorescent lighting is recommended
2. power supplies for remote villages
3. street lighting
4. individual house systems
5. mini grids

b.  Water pumping and treatment systems

1. pumping for drinking water
2. pumping for irrigation
3. dewatering and drainage
4. ice production
5. saltwater desalination systems
6. water purification

c. Health care systems

1. lighting in rural clinics
2. UHF transceivers between health centres
3. vaccine refrigeration
4. ice pack freezing for vaccine carriers
5. sterilises
6. blood storage refrigerators

d. Communications

1. radio repeaters
2. remote TV and radio receivers
3. remote weather measuring
4. mobile radios
5. rural telephone kiosks
6. data acquisition and transmission (for example, river levels and seismographs)

e. Transport aids

1. road sign lighting
2. railway crossings and signals
3. hazard and warning lights
4. navigation buoys
5. road markers

f. Security systems

1. security lighting
2. remote alarm system
3. electric fences

g.  Miscellaneous

1. ventilation systems
2. calculators
3. pumping and automated feeding systems on fish farms
4. solar water heater circulation pumps
5. boat/ship power
6. vehicle battery trickle chargers
7. earthquake monitoring systems
8. emergency power for disaster relief

Advantages of the photovoltaic power

1.       No fuel requirements

2.       Modular design

3.       High Reliability of PV modules

4.       Easy to maintain - Operation and routine maintenance requirements are simple.

5.       Long life - With no moving parts and all delicate surfaces protected, modules can be expected to provide power for 15 years or more.

6.       National economic benefits - Reliance on imported fuels such as coal and oil is reduced.

7.       Environmentally benign - There is no pollution through the use of a PV system - nor is there any heat or noise generated which could cause local discomfort. PV systems bring great improvements in the domestic environment when they replace other forms of lighting - kerosene lamps, for example.

Amorphous silicon or thin film silicon cell

1.      

They are known as thin-film because they are deposited in very thin layers on stainless steel, glass or a flexible substrate. The thickness of the film is less than 1 micron. Like c-Si, thin-film PV cells are combined into modules and laminated to protect them from the elements. They are less expensive than c-Si cells, but their demonstrated energy conversion efficiency is only around 8%. The advantage of thin-film technology is that it can be applied over large areas, providing more opportunity to generate electricity in cloudy conditions.

Polycrystal silicon cell

1.     

Polycrystalline silicon, also called polysilicon, is a material consisting of small silicon crystals.This is relatively a fast and low cost process to manufacture thick crystalline cells. Instead of drawing single crystals using seeds, the molten silicon is cast into ingots. In the process, it forms multiple crystals. The conversion efficiency is lower, but the cost is much lower, giving a net reduction in cost per watt of power