Solar power is the conversion of sunhine into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly by making use of concentrated solar power (CSP). CSP systems use a mirror or lense system and tracking systems to focus a large area of light into a small beam. PV then converts this light into electric current using the photoelectric effect.
Commercial CSP plants were first developed around 30 years ago, and the 354 MW SEGS CSP installation is the largest solar power plant known to man and is located in the Mojave Desert of California, in America. Other big CSP plants would include the Solnova Solar Power Station (150 MW) and the Andasol solar power station (100 MW), both of which are in Spain, Europe.. The 97 MW Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant in Canada, is the world’s greatest photovoltaic (PV) plant.
Despite Scotland not being famous for it’s abundance of sunshine, solar thermal panels can still be effective as they can still produce hot water even in cloudy weather.
Solar panel technology was developed in the Seventies and is now well-established ,with various installers in place up and down Scotland, although AES Solar based in Forres (who provided the panels for the Scottish Parliament building) are Scotland’s only manufacturer.
Since the introduction of government grants for solar panels and Feed-in tariffs there has been a growth in the volume of installed PV panels, which generate electricity. Not too long ago in 2004, the largest installation in Scotland was a 21 kWp system at the Sir E. Scott secondary school in Tarbert, Harris although larger systems have been built since then. The UK’s practicable resource is estimated at 7.2 TWh per annum, which in the Scottish context is the approximate equivalent of 70 MW or less of installed capacity.
This methoed, aka the “road energy system” uses water pipes sunk beneath a layer of tarmac. The theory being, that over the course of the summer, the dark asphalt is gradually baked by the sun which in turn heats the water in the pipes. This water can be contained in an underground aquifer and the heat extracted in winter using a heat pump. The system can be used to warm or cool down roads, keeping them ice-free and/or preventing the road surface from becoming softened due to overheating. Or, if required, the stored energy can be used for cooling buildings.
IDES Energy Solutions are the leading installers of solar panels in Scotland and have a complete info and fitting service from solar panel FAQ’s to home energy efficiency systems.