Trends and benefits of photovoltaic energy

Practical benefits

This technology enables to produce electricity directly from the sun light, which is a source of renewable energy.

There are two ways for this:

• Solar Thermal Energy is captured through an exchange between a circulating fluid exposed to the sun and a load circuit (accumulation tank or heat pump).
• Solar photovoltaic Energy is produced using the principle of the photovoltaic cell discovered by Edmond Becquerel in 1839.

It is particularly beneficial to use solar radiation reaching the Earth since:

• This radiation remains stable (to within 10%) on average from one year to the next
• At ground level, it supplies an average of 1000 Wh/m² per day although this depends on the following principal criteria:

 - The latitude
 - The angle of the surface and the direction faced
 - The degree of pollution
 - The time of year
 - The thickness of the cloud layer
 - The time of day
 - The shade

The global horizontal irradiation, which is the amount of energy received yearly on a plane varies from 700 kWh/m² per year in the North of Europe to 2500 kWh/m² per year in African desert areas.

Environmental benefits

Using solar energy allows to reduce the consumption of “fossil” fuels which are the likely cause of global warming and atmospheric pollution.

It contributes to sustainable development and is also in accordance with the policies of the European Union, which passed a decree in March 2007 setting the following targets to be met by 2020:

• Reduction of greenhouse emissions by 20%
• Reduction of energy consumption by 20%
• 20% renewable energy as a proportion of total energy consumption