The Solar Energy Review

From the ancient time, people have been fascinated by the sun. Ancient civilizations expressed the sun as the supreme power, worshipping it as a God or Goddess .Farming and agriculture efforts have depended upon the sun’s rays to grow crops and provender .Recently we have developed the ability of obtaining sun’s energy called “Solar power” . Photovoltaic’s (PV) system regenerate solar energy of sunlight into solar power for electricity generation. The resulting technologies have promising implications for the future of renewable energy and sustainability. It is the cleanest and greenest source of renewable energy.

We can harness energy from the sun using photovoltaic system. A PV system has photovoltaic panels, an inverter, battery pack for storage, interconnection wiring. PV panels absorb the sunlight as a source of energy to generate electricity. Photovoltaic (PV) panel is a packaged, connect assembly of photovoltaic solar cells. Most solar panels are currently produced from crystalline silicon (c-Si) and solar cells made of multi-crystalline and mono-crystalline silicon. Photovoltaic cells convert sunlight (photons) into electricity using the photovoltaic effect.

Solar energy is a renewable source of energy as it can be used to produce electricity as long as the sun exists. Solar energy is an alternative for fossil fuels as it is non-polluting, clean, reliable and renewable source of energy. It does not pollute the air by releasing harmful gases like carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide or sulphur oxide. So, the risk of damage to the environment is reduced. Solar panels are easy to install and does not require any wires, cords or power sources. solar panels does not create any noise or release any toxic substances .Solar energy is now used in photovoltaic power stations, rooftop solar PV systems, solar vehicles, solar panels on spacecrafts and space stations.

Solar power provides just 1% of total worldwide electricity production. In 2010, the International Energy Agency predicted that global solar PV capacity could reach 3,000 GW or 11% of projected global electricity generation by 2050—enough to generate 4,500 TWh of electricity. But the International Energy Agency projected in 2014 that under its “high renewable” scenario, by 2050, solar photovoltaic’s and concentrated solar power would contribute about 16 and 11 percent, respectively, of the worldwide electricity consumption, and solar would be the world’s largest source of electricity .The United Nations Development program in it’s 2000 world energy assessment found that the annual potential of solar energy was 1,575-49,837 EJ. Worldwide growth of photovoltaic’s has averaged 40% per year from 2000 to 2013[33] and total installed capacity reached 303 GW at the end of 2016.

Bangladesh is among those countries in which sun warms the surface throughout the year and therefore has a strong potential for solar power generation. Bangladesh is starving for energy for last few decades since its power generation is mainly depended on imported fossil fuel and natural gas. Bangladesh has a strong potential of generating solar power for her geographical position. In Bangladesh the long term average sunshine data indicates that the period of bright sunshine hours in the costal regions varies from 3 to 11 hours daily. These indicate that there are good prospects for solar thermal and photovoltaic application in our country. In some rural areas of Bangladesh, people having no access to electricity, solar home systems (SHM) is introduced to provide electricity to households. As a climate vulnerable country, and for sustainable energy development and energy security, a Bangladesh solar mission needs to be designed fruitfully . We can dream of providing all the modern facilities to thousands of rural villages through the next decade. From the experiences of the last two decades, we can say that solar energy has become very familiar and accepted by the people of Bangladesh.

Solar power is a virtually unlimited and inexhaustible resource (unlike power produced from expendable fossil fuels).The development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge, longer term benefits .It will Increases countries energy security through reliance on an indigenous and,mostly import-independent resource and thus enhance sustainability .