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A Review Of Solar Energy

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DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3579939

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 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
ISSN: 2458-9403
Vol. 6 Issue 12, December - 2019

A Review Of Solar Energy

Najeem O. Adelakun Banji A. Olanipekun
Department of Electrical / Electronic Engineering, Department of Electrical / Electronic Engineering,
The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro. The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro.
Ogun State, Nigeria. Ogun State, Nigeria.
e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract— Solar Energy is the prime important

source of energy, and it has continued to gain
II. MATERIALS AND METHOD
popularity globally. As of 2018, about 486 GW of solar The Photovoltaic system can be classified into two
PV was installed worldwide. One of the key parts which are the PV array (this includes the PV
requirements for socio-economic improvement in any
panels and support structures) and the balance-of-
nation of the world is the provision of dependable
electricity supply systems. Recently, there is a massive system (BOS) components (which includes storage
growth in access to solar electricity in several Africa batteries, Charge controllers, inverters and wirings).
countries, notably South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and A. Basic Components of Solar Power
Algeria. As a result, it decreases the global population
without access to electricity with an appreciable value. There are four basic components of a solar power
This paper review the present state of solar energy system: Solar Panels, Charge Controller, Batteries,
capacity in the world also identifies vital approaches of Power Inverter.
improving their functionality, reliability, and
affordability as well as the essential method that a) Solar panels: are composed of individual solar
policymakers may implement in the future. The result cells that are connected to form a solar module and
shows that there is a recurrent growth in solar energy multiple solar modules are connected to form a solar
annually and as at the end of 2018 Asia with the largest array, it can be connected in series, parallel or series-
capacity of 56.58%, while Central America and the parallel combination for maximum power output.
Caribbean have the lowest installed capacity of 0.36%.
As the request for an uninterrupted supply increases in b) Charge Controllers: Charge Controllers are used
different regions, progressive builders are embracing to preventing overcharge of the battery by preventing
solar photovoltaics (PV) renewable energy as an option high voltage that damages the batteries. The minimum
for their customers. charge controller for home uses a technology called
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), but the best charge
Keywords— Solar energy; electricity; capacity;
controllers use Maximum Power Point Tracking
growth
(MPPT) technology.
c) Batteries: Deep Cycle Batteries are needed for
I. INTRODUCTION the storage of electricity, but more specialized
batteries such as Tubular batteries are also gaining
Recently, the need for a clean and environmentally popularity for larger applications like powering your
friendly energy source has given Solar energy a home.
massive growth due to both technological
improvements resulting in cost reductions and d) Power Inverters: The electricity produced by the
government policies supportive of renewable energy PV panel is Direct Current (usually 12V, 24V, or 48V,
development and utilization. etc.), which is then converted to Alternating Current
The solar energy system is the transition of sunlight (AC).
into electricity, it can be achieved directly using However, Fig. 1.0 shows that DC load can be
photovoltaic (PV) panels or indirectly with the aid of connected to the charge controller and battery storage
concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar system respectively, it is essential to incorporate a
power systems with a total of 5,469 MW installed circuit breaker in between the charge controller and
capacity worldwide which amour to 1.13% of the total the battery storage system to prevent excess current
solar energy installed globally. Solar Energy has an to flow to the battery in case of short circuit. Which can
estimated world-wide average power potential of be replicated at all the necessary points.
24W/m2 of the earth's surface [2]. As at the end of
2018 the solar power was about 486 GW globally.
According to the International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA) report, (2019) Nigeria with 19MW,
South Africa 2959MW, Egypt 770MW, Morocco 735
MW, Algeria 435MW out of 6093 MW Solar Energy
Installed Capacity in Africa 2018.

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 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
ISSN: 2458-9403
Vol. 6 Issue 12, December - 2019

Solar Energy
Installed
Region Country
Capacity in
2018
Africa South Africa 2.96
Asia China 175.03
Central
America and
Honduras 0.52
the
Caribbean
Eurasia Turkey 5.66
Europe Germany 45.93
Middle East Israel 1.08
Fig. 1, Block diagram of a typical Photovoltaic System. North
USA 51.45
America
B. Advantages of Solar Energy Oceania Australia 9.77
a) Low running cost South
b) No Monthly Bills Brazil 2.30
America
c) It is renewable
Source: International Renewable Energy Agency. [5].
d) Low Maintenance Cost
e) Environmental friendly TABLE 3. SOLAR GLOBAL CAPACITY BY REGIONS
f) Source of Income 2018 (MW)
g) Value-Added Property
h) Improving Technology Concentrate
Solar Solar
i) Shared Solar d solar
Energy Photovoltai
j) Improves the Economy power
Region Installed c Installed
k) Job provision Installed
Capacity Capacity in
Capacity in
in 2018 2018
C. Disadvantages of Solar Energy 2018
a) It is expensive to setup Africa 6,093 5,118 975
b) Intermittent in a cloudy weather
c) Low Efficiency Asia 274,866 274,619 247
d) Occupy more space Central
e) Dependency on Latitude America
+ 1,737 1,737 Nil
TABLE 1. RENEWABLE ENERGY CAPACITY AND Caribbe
SOLAR ENERGY CAPACITY (2009 – 2018) IN GW an
Eurasia 5,663 5,662 1
Renewable Solar Energy
Year Europe 121,692 119,380 2,312
Energy Capacity Capacity
Middle
3,181 3,025 156
2009 1,136.226 23.371 East
North
2010 1,224.050 40.871 57,118 55,346 1,772
America
2011 1,329.202 72.683
Oceania 10,006 10,001 5
2012 1,441.393 102.871
South
2013 1,563.122 139.602 5,469 5,469 Nil
America
2014 1,693.254 177.496 Total 485,826 480,357 5,469
2015 1,848.157 225.820
2016 297.293 Source: International Renewable Energy Agency. [5].
2,007.996
2017 2,179.448 391.063 D. Nations with the most solar capacity
2018 2,350.755 485.826 Table 4. shows that China has a bigger solar
Source: International Renewable Energy Agency. [5]. energy capacity than any other country in the world,
these achievement are made easier by the fact that
TABLE 2. TOP OPERATIONAL SOLAR POWER China is the world's largest manufacturer of solar
CAPACITY IN DIFFERENT REGIONS 2018 (GW) panels and Japan follows with appreciable capacity
and USA home to some of the world's largest solar
power plants is the third, and it is visible from the table
that three Asia countries are among the top five

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 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
ISSN: 2458-9403
Vol. 6 Issue 12, December - 2019

nations with the most solar installed capacity which Fig. 3, Chart showing Solar Energy capacity by top
makes Asia the leading region with a total of 274,866 countries and region in world 2018 (GW)
MW with 56.58% of the total installed capacity as
shown in table 3. which is more than half of the total
Solar Energy installed capacity in the world.
TABLE 4.0 SOLAR POWER CAPACITY BY TOP 10
COUNTRIES IN WORLD 2018 (GW)
Solar
Energy
S/N Country Installed Region
Capacity
(2018)
1 China 175.03 Asia
2 Japan 55.50 Asia
3 USA 51.45 North America Fig. 4, Percentage of Solar Energy Installed capacity
4 Germany 45.93 Europe of different region in the world in 2018
5 India 27.98 Asia
6 Italy 20.13 Europe There is a recurrent growth in solar power capacities
yearly as shown in Fig. 2, China tops the world with
United
7 13.11 Europe the most capacity. Besides, Fig. 4, shows the
Kingdom
percentage of solar power capacity by regions in the
8 Australia 9.77 Oceania world, from the pie chart, Asia has the largest
9 France 9.48 Europe percentage with 56.58%, the difference is not far-
Korea fetched but since three countries from Asia is among
10 7.86 Asia
Republic the top five countries with much capacity of Solar
energy in the world and Central America and the
Source: International Renewable Energy Agency. [5].
Caribbean with the lowest percentage of 0.36%
respectively.
Fig. 5, implies that Solar Photovoltaic is the most
III RESULT AND DISCUSSION
common with 98.87% installed capacity and only
1.13% from the Concentrated Solar power system,
and table 4, also depict that some regions of the world
have not explored the CSP approach at all, but some
with minimum installed capacity.

Fig. 2, Solar Power Global Capacity in MW

Fig.5, Percentage of Solar Photovoltaic & Concentrated

Solar Power Capacity in MW (2018)

IV CONCLUSION
It is apparent that concerns about greenhouse effect
and unavailability of constant conventional energy
source have made renewable energy sources an
alternative energy source to be adopted, solar energy
been one of the fastest-growing renewable energy
source as shown in the result with a recurrent growth

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JMESTN42353246 11346
 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
ISSN: 2458-9403
Vol. 6 Issue 12, December - 2019

should be embraced owing to the benefits associated

[3] GCEP, “An Assessment of Solar Energy
with it, from the total solar energy installed worldwide
Conversion Technologies and Research
Asia has the largest installed capacity of 56.58%,
Opportunities,” Global Climate and Energy Project,
while Central America and the Caribbean has the
Stanford University, 2006.
lowest installed capacity of 0.36%. As the request for
an uninterrupted supply increases in different regions, [4] IEA, IRENA, UNSD, WB, WHO, “Tracking SDG
progressive builders are embracing solar 7: The Energy Progress Report 2019,” Washington
photovoltaics (PV) renewable energy as an option for DC
their customers, moreover, if all the suggestions and
recommendations stated in the paper is implemented, [5] IRENA, “Renewable capacity statistics 2019,
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA),”
solar energy will be more functional, reliable and
affordable which will also help the deployment on a Abu Dhabi, 2019.
large scale. [6] Jäger-Waldau, A., “PV Status Report 2019,
EUR 29938 EN,” Publications Office of the European
RECOMMENDATIONS Union, Luxembourg, 2019.
The following are suggested for improvement of Solar
energy power technology: [7] MESIA, Solar Outlook Report 2019, Middle East
a) Renewable energy power station such as Solar Industry Association, Dubai – UAE, 2019.
solar (PV) should be actively encouraged. [8] C. U. Okoye, N. O. Adelakun, “Design and
b) There should be massive increase in Evaluation of Electrical Services for an Energy
manufacturing capacity and more effort has to Efficient Home,” Iconic Research and Engineering
be put into improving efficiencies while Journals, Vol. 3, Issue 6, Pp 95 – 102, 2019.
reducing the manufacturing costs.
c) Installation of LEDs bulb instead of [9] REN21, “Renewables 2019 Global Status
incandescent or high power consume bulb. Report,” (Paris: REN21 Secretariat). 2019.
d) Turn off all standby mode for used equipment. [10] S. M. Rompicherla, “Solar Energy: The
e) Embraced the culture of energy efficient Future”, International Journal of Engineering
home.
f) High consumption devices should be run Trends and Technology, Vol. 4, Issue 6, June, Pp
during the day when there is sun. 2513 – 2517, 2013.

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