Terawatt-scale photovoltaics: Trajectories and challenges

Haegel, N. M.; Margolis, Robert; Buonassisi, Tonio; Feldman, David; Froitzheim, A.; Garabedian, Raffi; Green, Martin A.; Glunz, Stefan W.; Henning, Hans; Holder, Burkhard; Kaizuka, Izumi; Kroposki, Benjamin; Matsubara, Koji; Niki, Shigeru; Sakurai, Katsutoshi; Schindler, R.; Tumas, William; Weber, E. R.; Wilson, Gregory; Woodhouse, Michael; Kurtz, Sarah

doi:10.1126/science.aal1288

Cited by 340 publications

(247 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…development of the semiconductor theory and practice has greatly advanced this branch of technology, and large-scale production of solar panels (mostly enabled by crystalline Si) continue to dominate the market, how to cost-effectively store the electricity remains a grand challenge. [6] Another well-studied route of solar energy harvesting and storage concerns photochemical reactions. [7] The rationale is that chemical bonds are convenient media for energy storage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photocatalysis: Basic Principles, Diverse Forms of Implementations and Emerging Scientific Opportunities

Zhu

Wang

2017

Advanced Energy Materials

552

298

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Photocatalysis promises a solution to challenges associated with the intermittent nature of sunlight which is considered as renewable and ultimate energy source to power activities on Earth. This review aims to provide a broad overview of the field. Insight into natural photosynthesis is discussed first, which provides a scientific basis for most efforts on photocatalysis. Afterwards, the details of four existing types of photocatalysis are presented, namely photosynthesis by plants, photosynthesis by microalgae, photocatalysis by suspension and photoelectrocatalysis. Detailed analyses of simple photocatalysts and integrated photocatalytic systems are followed to shed light on the different functionalities of different components in a working photocatalyst. Special attention is given to the roles played by surface and interface chemical phenomena. Lastly, perspectives on artificial photosynthesis are discussed briefly at the end.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photocatalysis: Basic Principles, Diverse Forms of Implementations and Emerging Scientific Opportunities

Zhu

Wang

2017

Advanced Energy Materials

552

298

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“…For other countries, like Japan, South Korea or most European nations with high population density, however, this presents a severe constraint [44]. Transmission requirements also present problems arising from cost of transmission lines and power losses over long distances [45]. Another difficulty is that the technosolar energy sources are inherently variable and intermittent-sometimes they deliver a lot of power and sometimes little or none, for short or extended periods [24,45,46].…”

Section: Alternative Energy Mixes and The "Silver Buckshot"mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another difficulty is that the technosolar energy sources are inherently variable and intermittent-sometimes they deliver a lot of power and sometimes little or none, for short or extended periods [24,45,46]. This means that to satisfy the needs of an "always on" power demand, even with a multi-source interconnected distributed network, ways must be found to store vast amounts of heat or electricity to cover the non-generating periods [47], or else keep fossil-fuel or nuclear plants as a backup [17,45,48]. It is in the local-to-transnational scaling up process that technical difficulties, costs and time-scales amplify [18].…”

Section: Alternative Energy Mixes and The "Silver Buckshot"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Silver Buckshot or Bullet: Is a Future “Energy Mix” Necessary?

Brook

Blees²,

Wigley

et al. 2018

Sustainability

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Abstract:To displace fossil fuels and achieve the global greenhouse-gas emissions reductions required to meet the Paris Agreement on climate change, the prevalent argument is that a mix of different low-carbon energy sources will need to be deployed. Here we seek to challenge that viewpoint. We argue that a completely decarbonized, energy-rich and sustainable future could be achieved with a dominant deployment of next-generation nuclear fission and associated technologies for synthesizing liquid fuels and recycling waste. By contrast, non-dispatchable energy sources like wind and solar energy are arguably superfluous, other than for niche applications, and run the risk of diverting resources away from viable and holistic solutions. For instance, the pairing of variable renewables with natural-gas backup fails to address many of the entrenched problems we seek to solve. Our conclusion is that, given the urgent time frame and massive extent of the energy-replacement challenge, half-measures that distract from or stymie effective policy and infrastructure investment should be avoided.

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“…Using simple assumptions, it was projected that just maintaining the 2015 PV deployment rate would result in reaching 1 TW deployment well before 20130. 3 An annual growth rate of the PV market of 25% would result in reaching 5 -10 TW by 2030, which still would supply less than 10% of the world's energy needs. In order to supply by PV just 1/3 of the world's energy needs of about 50 TW expected for 2050, about 70 TW of PV will need to be installed -at good locations, with 2000hrs of sunshine annually.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%