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Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [solar-energy]

Use for questions about non-photovoltaic solar energy applications, such as passive solar heating or concentrated solar thermal power. For PV applications, use the photovoltaics tag instead.

70 questions
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What are the disadvantages of concentrated solar thermal power?

Concentrated solar power looks on the surface to be an excellent source of grid power. It's sustainable, has no obvious waste products to deal with either during construction or operation, and with thermal storage it can generate power at night or…
Stephen Collings
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Will more electricity be generated by using a lens to focus sunlight onto solar cells?

I have been wondering about this question for quite some time. Assuming an ideal case, the energy from photons hitting solar cells is converted into electric energy as described by the equation: $RI^2t=W\equiv E=\hbar\nu$ where $\nu$ is the…
TBBT
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Why isn't heatpump technology used for solar collector panels and boiler tanks?

All solar collector and boiler tank systems that I can find on the market use a liquid to circulate the heat between solar collector panels (or PVT panels) and boiler tanks. Is there a reason why they do not use expandable gas and a compressor…
Louis Somers
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Did I wire these solar panels correctly?

recently I bought 3 solar panels rated at 5V 200 mA each. I want to use them to charge a 5V battery bank to charge a phone. Thinking about the proper way to put them, I thought i can connect all in parallel to get maximum current, but realized that…
Nadim
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Is it possible to modify a home gutter to absorb sufficient solar energy to melt ice?

This is related to the question Will dark gutters stay ice free better than light colored gutters? The current consensus seems to be that the mass of the gutters and limited light may make simply painting them black insufficient. In my particular…
James Jenkins
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Why do monocrystalline solar cells have rounded/cropped edges?

What is the meaning of this croped part? Why do they crop it, rather than let it be full square?
PhysicsSolvesAll
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Solving heat loss equation associated with solar trough concentrators

My project is about finding the efficiency of solar trough (cylindrical parabola) concentrator that will boil water in a pipe located at the focus (check picture please). In the process of doing so (of course I made many assumptions, but I think…
Rachid Brah
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Can solar panels absorb heat for energy?

Solar panels can absorb sunlight and use it for energy, but can they absorb the heat that is generated from their use and use the heat for energy?
Rishi Kavikondala
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What mathematical operation should I do in order to translate from TWyr/y to TWyr_30 in this article?

In this article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266711312200002X the authors show a result of prediction on energy reserves (in particular solar ones) as known in 2015 (Figure 1) and as known in 2022 (Figure 2). In the first one…
Mathieu Krisztian
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How are solar panels at equator placed?

Are solar panels placed horizontally at the equators since the solar altitude (solar window) changes direction from north to south?
Nagabhushan Baddi
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Is it better to heat a heat pump evaporator or the load directly?

I have a heat pump which moves heat from outside to inside. I also have a solar heating array that collects radiant heat from the sun. Given that my goal is to heat the inside (with minimal energy consumption from the heat pump), my question is: Is…
Hari
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CUF v/s PLF of power plants

What is the difference between capacity use factor (CUF) of solar power plant and plant load factor (PLF) of coal based power plant? Can we compare both since they seem analogous?
user473180
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How large would a solar panel array need to be in order to supply all the world's energy?

This story from 2016 claims that all the world's energy needs could be supplied by covering 1% of the Sahara in solar PV panels. Was (is?) this true, and if not, how would you go about approximating the size of solar PV array needed to supply the…
tomh
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Mirror specification used in Solar Fresnel Collector systems

Im designing a Linear Fresnel collector system, and wanted to know what type of mirrors would be suitable for use as the reflectors. Thickness, type, coating etc. I couldnt find a manufacturer of ''tempered mirrors'' where I live. I need it to be…
afterburner77
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Internal Tent Temperature

Here is the problem I am working on: "Consider a perfectly sealed polygonal tent with the sun directly overhead. The solar irradiance of a surface 90° to the sun’s rays is 1,000 W/m2. However, the solar irradiance on sides of the tent is 65° from…
Tramory
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