Opportunities and Challenges offered by Solar PV

The energy harvesting through solar photo voltaic cells has been a wonderful addition to clean and green energy production. The process of energy harvesting is very simple and straight forward. However, till date the efficiency of solar power is not up to the mark and needs further improvement. Solar power has opened doors to various opportunities, but at the same time it brought numerous challenges as well. This article is about discussion of opportunities and challenges offered by solar PV system.

· Efficiency: The efficiency of the photo voltaic cells is not up to the mark as of today since its invention. In order for solar PV to be included in mainstream energy sources, the efficiency is needed to be improved quickly. The current solar panel modules are having an efficiency of about 13 to 20 percent which is obviously very low. It is approximated that within 2025 the efficiency of solar panel modules can be increased up to 40%. However, Green which is international organization on smart research has admitted that there is a long way to achieve better efficiency of solar PV.

· Reliability: Reliability is very important factor and is going neck to neck with efficiency. The reliability of solar panel array is dependent on various factors such as weather, extent of radiation, and humidity etc. Currently the lifespan of solar panel is approximated to be 10 to 15 years if it is made of good quality material. The reliability of solar panels still needed to be improved. Some of the researchers have mentioned that solar panel array is expensive till date, installation plan is not easy, and must be installed in exterior places for solar energy harvesting. Because of short life-span of solar panel array not more than bunch of people would be interested to install system on their rooftops and replace it after few years.

· Manufacturability: Manufacturability is one of the major concerns in the success of solar power harvesting. In the beginning of research there were numerous materials which were held back from manufacturing because of their rareness and inability to produce bulk solar panels. The process of manufacturability is also highly dependent on cost effectiveness. There are numerous organic compounds which can be used for yielding better efficiency of solar energy harvesting, however such compounds are not cost effective. Therefore, experimentation on such compounds is out of question.

· Subsidy: Subsidy is another major concern regarding success of solar power panel system. Subsidy assistance is very important as subsidies are contributing on the growth of certain product. If the solar power industry will get subsidy then the success will be assured within short time. Better marketing strategy and subsidies on a product are playing a key role in its quick adaptation and success not the technology on which it is built. The solar power industry is fortunate enough that in countries such as Europe and America there is enough subsidies that people are moving in to smart grid system. The consumers in a smart grid system becomes prosumers and they can take energy from grid and can give back excess energy they produce through solar power system back to grid.