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Solar Energy Potential and Future
Solar Energy Potential and Future
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A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: The development of novel solar power technologies is considered to be one of many key solutions toward
Solar energy fulfilling a worldwide increasing demand for energy. Rapid growth within the field of solar technologies is
Technologies nonetheless facing various technical barriers, such as low solar cell efficiencies, low performing balance-of-
Research systems (BOS), economic hindrances (e.g., high upfront costs and a lack of financing mechanisms), and in-
Renewable energy
stitutional obstacles (e.g., inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of skilled manpower). The merits and de-
Policy frameworks
merits of solar energy technologies are both discussed in this article. A number of technical problems affecting
renewable energy research are also highlighted, along with beneficial interactions between regulation policy
frameworks and their future prospects. In order to help open novel routes with regard to solar energy research
and practices, a future roadmap for the field of solar research is discussed.
1. Introduction also anticipated that its use will play an important role within the
transportation sector in the future as it does not require any fuel
The sun is a major source of inexhaustible free energy (i.e., solar transportation.
energy) for the planet Earth. Currently, new technologies are being Policies, investment, and supports (such as research funding) from
employed to generate electricity from harvested solar energy. These various governmental and non-governmental organizations for solar
approaches have already been proven and are widely practiced technologies have helped build up a solid foundation for the exploita-
throughout the world as renewable alternatives to conventional non- tion of this renewable energy system. While incentives and rebates can
hydro technologies. Fig. 1 shows a comparison of the non-hydro re- be effective motives for the development of these markets, there are
newable energy capacities between countries for 2012. Theoretically, also growing efforts to reduce the fiscal burden of these policy in-
solar energy possesses the potential to adequately fulfill the energy centives. However, solar power subsidies have already faced sharp cuts
demands of the entire world if technologies for its harvesting and in many countries, which may retard growth within the industry. To
supplying were readily available [2]. Nearly four million exajoules (1 revert this potential decline, policies are changing to support the de-
EJ = 1018J) of solar energy reaches the earth annually, ca. 5 × 104 EJ ployment of solar power systems for large-scale power generation.
of which is claimed to be easily harvestable [3]. Despite this huge po- Furthermore, greater subsidies should be provided for residential solar
tential and increase in awareness, the contribution of solar energy to generators over utility-scale generators. In this article, we provide a
the global energy supply is still negligible [4]. global scenario with regard to solar energy technologies in terms of
Another major prospect with regard to solar research is associated their potential, present capacity, prospects, limitations, and policies.
with the current drive toward reducing global carbon emissions, which This will help us expand our understanding on how much further we
has been a major global environmental, social, and economic issue in can count on solar energy to meet the future energy demand.
recent years [4]. For example, 696,544 metric tons of CO2 emissions
have been reduced or avoided via the installation of 113,533 household 2. Potential of solar energy technologies and comparisons
solar systems in California, USA [5]. Therefore, the adoption of solar between locations
technologies would significantly mitigate and alleviate issues asso-
ciated with energy security, climate change, unemployment, etc. It is Only three renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, and
⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (K.-H. Kim).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.09.094
Received 21 September 2016; Received in revised form 12 August 2017; Accepted 25 September 2017
1364-0321/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
E. Kabir et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 82 (2018) 894–900
solar) can be utilized to yield sufficient heat energy for power genera- other than Africa (like south-western United States, Central and South
tion. Of these three, solar energy exhibits the highest global potential America, North and Southern Africa, Middle East, the desert plains of
since geothermal sources are limited to a few locations and the supply India, Pakistan, Australia, etc.), such potential is only limited to gen-
of biomass is not ubiquitous in nature [6,7]. A number of factors (e.g., erate 125 gigawatt hours (GWh) from a 1 km2 land area [13]. Hang
latitude, diurnal variation, climate, and geographic variation) are lar- et al. [14] estimated that around 6300 km2 of the wasteland located in
gely responsible for determining the intensity of the solar influx that the northern and western regions of China (where solar radiation is
passes through Earth's atmosphere [8]. The average amount of solar among the highest in the country) has around 1300 GW electricity
energy received at Earth's atmosphere is around 342 W m−2, of which generation capacity. In contrast, the National Renewable Energy La-
ca. 30% is scattered or reflected back to space, leaving ca. 70% boratory (NREL) in the United States has estimated that the solar en-
(239 W m−2) available for harvesting and capture [9]. The annual ef- ergy potential within the USA is capable enough to provide 400 zet-
fective solar irradiance varies from 60 to 250 W m−2 worldwide [10]. tawatt-hours annually (ZWh) [15], hugely exceeding the current
Fig. 2 depicts the annual average intensity of solar radiation over the electrical generation capacity (22,813 terawatt-hours (TWh) [16]).
surface of the earth. Research has shown that “black dot” areas could Morocco, a northern African country that enjoys about 3000 h of sun-
provide more than the entire world's total primary energy demand, shine per year has recently launched one of the world's largest solar
assuming that a conversion efficiency as low as 8% is achieved [11]. energy projects (including both PV and CSP technologies), targeting the
In comparison, the sunniest places of the planet are found on the generation of 2000 MW (MW) by the year 2020 [17]. Such a plan is
continent of Africa. As theoretically estimated, the potential con- ideal due to their suitable atmospheric conditions (such as high alti-
centrated solar power (CSP) and PV energy in Africa is around 470 and tudes, low fugitive dust, high transparency, and low humidity). Simi-
660 petawatt hours (PWh), respectively [12]. However, in the regions larly, the Tibetan plateau in Northern China has been reported to
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E. Kabir et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 82 (2018) 894–900
receive a very high solar radiation of ca. 195 kCal cm-2 y−1 [18] fans) for the conversion of solar energy to heat and electric power. The
(Fig. 3). In a similar environment, the yearly duration of sunshine in most well known application of this system is the solar water heater
Lhasa was reported to be 3021 h, while those in Chengdu and Shanghai system.
were 1186 and 1932 h, respectively [18]. In general, active solar energy technology can be further grouped
Australia has the highest solar radiation per square meter of all into two categories: (i) photovoltaic technology and (ii) solar thermal
continents and is estimated to have the best solar energy resource in the technology [23]. In recent years, photovoltaic technology involving the
world. On the Australian continent, a relatively high daily solar irra- use of semiconductors to convert sunlight directly into electrical energy
diance of 4–6 kW h m−2 has been reported [20]. Comparable levels of has become a highly desirable option [24]. The intense research efforts
solar radiation were also observed in the desert areas of northern and of energy scientists with regard to solar options have helped to yield an
southern Africa, the southwestern United States, adjacent areas of improved efficiency of photovoltaic technology; in case of hybrid per-
Mexico, and regions of the Pacific coast off South America [13]. ovskite solar cells ((CH3NH3)PbI3), a promising achievement (e.g., an
The whole solar energy concept is regarded as the harvesting and efficiency increase of ca. 18%) has been reported [25,26]. Currently,
utilization of light and/or heat energy generated by the Sun and tech- photovoltaic technology involving wafer-based cells (traditional crys-
nologies (passive and active) involved in achieving such goals [21]. A talline silicon or gallium arsenide), commercial thin-film cells (cad-
classification of present solar energy technologies is shown in Fig. 4. By mium telluride, amorphous silicon, copper indium gallium diselenide),
definition, passive technology involves the accumulation of solar en- and new thin-film technologies (perovskites, organic materials,
ergy without transforming thermal or light energy into any other form quantum dots) are progressing with the advent of intense R & D efforts
(for power generation, for instance) [22]. Solar energy collection, sto- [27].
rage, and distribution in the form of heat for the heating of homes In solar thermal technology, solar energy is harnessed into thermal
(especially during the winter season) exemplifies a form of passive solar energy for domestic and/or commercial applications such as drying,
technology. On the other hand, active solar system collects solar ra- heating, cooling, cooking, etc. [28,29]. However, on the industrial
diation and uses mechanical and electrical equipment (e.g., pumps or scale, concentrated solar thermal (CST) technologies are being used to
fulfill such heating requirements while concentrated solar power (CSP)
technologies are being employed to generate electricity. The latter in-
volves the use of high-magnification mirrors to concentrate solar energy
prior to converting it into heat energy to power a steam turbine [30].
Four types of CSP technologies are currently available on the open
market: (i) parabolic troughs (these concentrate sunlight onto a receiver
tube containing a working liquid); (ii) Fresnel mirrors (use multiple flat
mirrors to concentrate solar sunlight onto a receiver tube); (iii) power
towers (an array of thousands of sun-tracking reflecting mirrors posi-
tioned in a field to concentrate solar radiation to a single point), and
(iv) solar dish collectors (concentrate power by focusing ST energy onto
a single point situated above a reflector dish) [31].
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E. Kabir et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 82 (2018) 894–900
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E. Kabir et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 82 (2018) 894–900
from rare or precious metals such as silver, tellurium, or indium, in- operation to exert a significant influence on the current water shortage
sufficient facilities exist with which to recycle spent panels. Factors issues. A limited accessibility to water during droughts and heat waves
associated with the maintenance of systems such as a shortage of skilled has hindered the generation of electricity by limiting its generation
manpower to meet growing demands for installation, maintenance, from power plants. On the other hand, electricity generated from solar
inspection, repair, and evaluation of solar power systems are another installations does not require water to operate; additionally, the ex-
constraint as well. Furthermore, a lack of basic technical knowhow on istence of fuel by-products or the requirement for radioactive waste
the user's behalf (especially in rural areas of the developing world) with storage is nonexistent.
regard to solar power systems can result in irregular usage, over- When compared with fossil fuel technologies that are primarily
charging the battery, polarity reversal, by-passing the charge controller, mechanized and capital intensive, solar power technologies are re-
etc. which can all lead to system damage. Additionally, the plausibility garded as being more labor-intensive. A positive aspect of this notion is
of cracks within the PV module, water intrusion, exposure to dust, and that solar technologies should improve job opportunities. On average,
algal growth can greatly lower the performance of the system. Poiso- more jobs can be created per unit of electricity production with solar
nous silicon tetrachloride, a byproduct of the polysilicon production energy as opposed to fossil fuels. The Solar Foundation [59] reported
process, is costly (about $84,500 per ton) to process and recycle. To that the solar industry employed around 208,859 workers in the USA on
make things worse, silicon tetrachloride is often dumped by most either a part-time or full-time basis for manufacturing, installation, and
manufacturing companies without proper pre-disposal treatment [49]. sales. Within a year, a growth rate of 20.2% was reported. Moreover,
Another obvious shortcoming is that solar energy can only be har- the industries responsible for solar energy supply chain systems will
nessed during the day and works most efficiently when it is sunny. also benefit tremendously, while some unrelated local businesses (due
Thus, solar energy is likely not the most reliable source of energy in to an increase in shop and restaurant business hours) would also benefit
regions with unsustainable weather or climate conditions. Moreover, from an overall increase in income [60]. Furthermore, local solar en-
air pollution levels at the installation area can also influence the ef- ergy projects would keep money circulating within the local economy,
fectiveness of the solar cells [50]. Exposure to exhaust fumes and thereby saving a substantial amount of money presently being used for
aerosols was found to reduce the current of silicon solar cells by 10% the importation of fossil fuels from other locations. From an economical
and 7%, respectively [50]. Finally, huge plots of land are often required perspective, solar power is beneficial in a variety of ways due to tax
to generate solar power at large scales. The rule of thumb is that a incentives, an elimination of electricity bills, increased property values,
1 MW solar power plant with crystalline panels (about 18% efficiency) and high durability.
would require about 4 acres (16,187 m2) of land area, while thin film The efficiency of solar power technologies has increased greatly in
technologies (12% efficiency) would require ca. 6 acres (24,281 m2) recent years and has been accompanied by a progressively steady de-
[51]. cline in costs, which are projected to drop even further. For instance,
the total cost of a PV module has been reduced from USD 1.30 per watt
3.2. Benefits of solar energy technologies (in 2011) to USD 0.50 per watt (in 2014) (ca. 60% cost reduction) [61].
As the solar markets mature and more companies take advantage of the
It is well known that nothing can compare with the energy potential solar economy, the availability and affordability of solar power will
of the sun. As solar power is theoretically abundant enough, it is more grow at an impressive pace.
than capable of fulfilling the world's electricity demands. Because solar Although solar power systems require an upfront investment for
energy is not only sustainable but also renewable, it is not necessary to their installation, they otherwise operate at very low costs. Unlike the
consider the notion that solar energy may eventually be depleted [52]. price of fossil fuels, which are prone to substantial price swings, the
Global warming is characterized by cataclysmic potential, thus por- financial demand for solar power is relatively stable over long periods.
tending its harmful impact on the climate, environment (including Moreover, there are no (mechanically) moving parts in solar panels,
animals and plants), and human health [53]. Power plants (especially making them free of noise pollution and durable (no wear and tear),
coal-fired) are a significant source of greenhouse gases (GHG), which with very little in the way of required maintenance. Moreover, solar
are responsible for approximately 25% of all anthropogenic emissions panels can be easily installed on roof tops and mounted onto building
[54]. Hence, GHG emissions associated with the generation of solar walls, meriting their installation flexibility. Furthermore, solar power
power (including manufacturing, installation, operation, and main- systems are less prone to large-scale failure because they are distributed
tenance) are minimal [55]. The range of CO2 emission per kilowatt-h and composed of numerous individual solar arrays. Therefore, if any
generated from coal, natural gas, and solar are estimated as 0.64 ̴ 1.63, section of arrays were found to be faulty, the rest could continue to
0.27 ̴ 0.91, and 0.03 ̴ 0.09 kg (emission ratio of 18:9.5:1), respectively. operate. However, additional solar modules could also be added over
As such, this comparison again confirms the superior environmental time to improve the energy generation capacity. These notions reveal
friendliness of solar power among others [15]. Hence, solar power has huge advantages in the ruggedness and flexibility of solar power sys-
become one of the most feasible solutions to the current global warming tems over all other energy sources that have already been established.
crisis, which if left unabated, could be extremely expensive with its
potential ramifications. Thus, mitigating global warming through the 4. Future prospects of solar technology
substitution of coal and gas-based power sources with solar power will
eventually be environmentally, economically, and socially beneficial Solar energy is one of the best options to meet future energy de-
toward achieving sustainable development. mand since it is superior in terms of availability, cost effectiveness,
Solar energy is considered to be a non-polluting, reliable, and clean accessibility, capacity, and efficiency compared to other renewable
source of energy. Unlike other energy sources, its use is not accom- energy sources [62,63]. For the first time, researchers have successfully
panied by the release of harmful gases (e.g., oxides of C/N/S and/or measured in detail the flow of solar energy, in and between different
volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) and particles (e.g., soot, carbon parts of a photosynthetic organism [64]. The result is a first step in
black, metals, and particulate matter (PM)). Such fossil fuel emissions research that could ultimately contribute to the development of tech-
from gas-fired power plants have been indicted with regard to causing nologies that use solar energy far more efficiently than what is currently
neurological damage, heart attacks, breathing problems, cancer, etc. possible. Researchers from the Graphene Flagship showed that the
[56,57]. Machol [58] reported that the replacement of fossil fuels with lifetime of perovskite solar cells can significantly enhanced by using
renewable energy could minimize premature mortality rates, lost few-layer MoS2 flakes as an active buffer interface layer [65]. Fur-
workdays, and reduce the overall costs for healthcare. Additionally, thermore, scientists in Hong Kong reported that they have successfully
fossil fuel power plants require huge amounts of water for their developed perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells with the world's highest
898
E. Kabir et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 82 (2018) 894–900
power conversion efficiency of 25.5% [66]. It is worth mentioning here Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science,
that the efficiency of perovskite solar cells was only 3.8% when first ICT & Future Planning (No. 2016R1E1A1A01940995). This work was
appeared in 2009 [62]. Hence, semi-transparent perovskite solar cells also carried out with the support of "Cooperative Research Program for
have been created that demonstrate high-power conversion efficiency Agriculture Science and Technology Development (Project No.
and transmit visible light while blocking infrared light, making them PJ012521032017)" Rural Development Administration, Republic of
great candidates for solar windows [67]. It was demonstrated that the Korea.
polymer poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) should have great potential
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