The advantages of solar energy are the most prominent: zero emission, zero noise, maintenance-free, high stability and safe use during operation. Especially rich in resources, the sun is everywhere, inexhaustible, inexhaustible; and comprehensive utilization of light and heat, the energy conversion efficiency is only lower than nuclear power, but much higher than wind power and bioelectricity. The main disadvantage of using solar energy at present is that the silicon solar material manufacturing process consumes a lot of energy, and the cost of solar power generation is too high. The solution is to increase the conversion rate of solar materials and devices and the output power and energy per unit mass of energy storage equipment, while reducing the cost of power generation. Recently, thin-film solar cells in which photoelectric materials are deposited on the upper surface of common materials have been developed, which can greatly reduce manufacturing costs and save energy. In addition, concentrating solar cells have also been developed and applied. Due to the increase in output power, the cost of power generation may reach the level of coal power. Below we explain the advantages and disadvantages of clean energy. The advantages and disadvantages of several kinds of clean energy are shown in Table 1.
| Compared with traditional energy | Bioenergy | Wind power | Nuclear power generation | solar energy generation |
| Overall advantages | Easy access to raw materials, storage, easy transportation, high production capacity | Rich wind resources | Concentrate, clean | Zero emission, zero noise, maintenance-free, abundant resources |
| Overall disadvantage | High cost, complicated feeding system, high maintenance cost | Large area, noisy, affecting large airflow, visual pollution | Nuclear waste has no proper placement method, and waste heat is discharged | High energy consumption in the manufacturing process of solar materials |
| Power generation cost | 3 | 2 | Lower than coal power | 3~5 |
| Fuel cost | About 0.4 yuan/kW·h | unnecessary | About 4583 USD/lb | |
| Maintenance cost | need | need | need | unnecessary |
| Full conversion efficiency | 1% | A few thousandths | 33% | 15%~20% |
| stability | Stablize | Unstable, affected by wind | Stablize | Stablize |
| Security risks | Have | Have | Have | without |
| Energy consumption | regenerable | Consumable | Consumable | Consumable |
| carbon dioxide emissions | Have | without | without | without |
| Future direction | Increase conversion rate, non-grain-based | Improve fans and energy storage equipment | High efficiency, reduce waste gas | High efficiency, comprehensive utilization of light and heat |
At present, due to the continuous development of solar power generation, the development of solar materials and devices industry is also facing twists and turns
(1) Global development. The global development, installation and application of solar cells before 2010 is shown in Figure 1. It can be seen from the figure that the output of solar cells has grown at a double-digit rate in the past ten years, but only Germany has grown rapidly in installations, and the growth rate in other countries has been very slow.
Figure 2 shows the comparison of the market demand and installed capacity of solar cell production in 2008. It can be seen from the figure that in 2008, China and Germany had the highest solar cell output but still could not meet the market demand; Europe and other regions except Germany had low output but high demand. In terms of installation volume, Spain and Germany are the largest, while other countries have fewer.
The current types of solar cells are (a) Monocrystalline silicon solar cell (b) Polycrystalline silicon solar cell (c) Thin film solar cell (d) Concentrating solar cell
Photovoltaic science and technology and industry. The core of photovoltaic science is photoelectric conversion, which is a comprehensive discipline that intersects optics, materials science, electricity, chemistry, and thermodynamics. The key to photovoltaic technology is to use the achievements of photovoltaic science to develop photovoltaic materials and devices, and to develop and apply innovative products that serve industry, agriculture and people’s lives. As can be seen from the 2014 project guide for the National Natural Science Foundation’s “Energy-oriented Photoelectric Conversion Materials” major research plan announced in 2013, the plan is “oriented to the country’s major strategic needs for solving energy problems. As the core, based on material design and preparation, play the leading role of optoelectronic materials theory and simulation, pay attention to the research of micro-nano structure and surface interface engineering, and aim to reveal the mechanism of high-efficiency photo-electricity/electricity-optical conversion, and break through the existing Principles and technical limitations provide new ideas and technical support for photoelectric conversion materials and devices in the development of renewable energy and efficient use of energy.” The purpose is to “through the intersection of materials, chemistry, mathematics and information, etc., in theory and experiment We have made breakthroughs in the innovation of the source, revealing new mechanisms for improving the performance of photo-electricity/electricity-light conversion, establishing and developing new methods for the preparation of high-efficiency photoelectric conversion materials, developing a material system with independent intellectual property rights, and contributing to the development of renewable energy and energy The efficient use of solar cells provides a new way to create an internationally influential research team and improve China’s overall innovation capabilities in the field of optoelectronic materials and device research. “The field of photovoltaic engineering involves machinery, electrical machinery, electronics, material smelting, purification and processing, Electrification and automation, design, manufacture and application of devices. The photovoltaic industry covers the photovoltaic material industry, photovoltaic device industry, photovoltaic power generation industry, photovoltaic application industry (involving heavy electromechanical industry, light industry and household appliances, agriculture and forestry, military, medicine and health, chemical industry and pressure vessels, food, rolling stock, automobiles, Ships, aerospace, etc.). It can be seen from this that the deep disciplinary foundation, the wide range of knowledge, and the wide range of production and application require a wide range of experts and technicians to work together at all levels to become bigger and stronger. It is to solve the problem of energy conservation and emission reduction and the fossil energy crisis. , The main way to improve the living environment.
