Development and Deployment
Trends in Solar and Portable Power:
An
Industrial Perspective
Heath Naquin
The University of Texas at Austin
07/11/2014

Welcome

Agenda
• Overview of US and International Solar
Markets
• Core Solar Technologies on the Market
• Peripherals
• Efficiency vs. Cost (Industrial vs. Academic
Perspective)
• Portable Power Implications
• Question and Answers

Who is the Talking Head?
• Heath Naquin, MSTC, BBA, PMP
• Managing Director UT Austin NSF Center for
Next Generation Photovoltaics
• Extensive government work
• Technology Transfer and
Commercialization experience
in 22 Countries

Public View of Solar Technologies
• Easy Clean Energy
• Very Green Technology
• Super Cost Effective to Deploy
• Good for Going off the Grid

Industry View of Solar
• Marketing Platform
• Pain mandated by Government
• Money Pit
• Unproven Technology

Military View of Solar
• Energy Independence enabling mission
readiness 24/7
• Remote Operating Base Enabler
• Cost Savings Mechanism
• Others???

My View of Solar

Solar Adoption Curve US
• 13,000 MW of installed PV/Solar capacity in
the US as of 2014.
• More than 445,000 PV systems in operations
in the US today.
• Average Cost per Watt (Installed) $2.59/W (at
Utility Scale
• Utility Scale Power Installations lead the
Charge

Examples from the Field
• Agua Caliente Solar Project
– First Solar in Arizona ($2.10/Watt)
– 250MW (AC)
– 5,200,000 modules
– Power for nearly 100,000 homes
– 2,400 acres for site

Trends in Solar Adoption US

Solar Adoption in the US Military
• Part of 2025 Goal of Military to have 25% of
energy used be from renewable sources (3
GW)
• 130 MW currently installed at Military Bases
• PV slated to account for 58% of the 1.9 GW of
renewable energy to be installed by 2017
• Deployed in a variety of instances in MENA
and Pacific Theater

Fort Huachaca: Army
• 18-megawatt solar installation planned at Fort
Huachuca in Arizona
• Headquarters: U.S. Army Intelligence Center and
the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology
Command (NETCOM)/9th Army Signal Command
• Largest in US Military History
• 68 acres for the site
• Installation will deliver ¼ of base electricity needs

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
• 57,000 solar panels
• 170 acres
• 16.4 MW—enough to power 3,000 homes
• 35 percent of base energy needs met with
solar power
• $500,000 in annual energy savings

Navy Specific Solar Examples
• Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
(SPAWAR) complex San Diego: 1.3 Megawatts
• Norfolk Naval Station: 8600 panels, 2.1 MW of
production (only 2% of energy needs)

Keys to Military Solar Installations
• Public Private Partnership with many players
• Military usually provides land for solar installs for
“free”
• Incentives and long term generation estimates
cover financing from third parties
• Military usually retains priority in “emergency
situations for production”
• Consistent with with typical fossil fuel
arrangements
• Incentives still drive total cost for installs

How Big of a Market?
• Global Market for PV in total is estimated at
$38 Billion annually.
• Estimated to grow to roughly $47 Billion by
2017
• Largest areas will be portable power solutions
and consumer gadgets powered by solar.

Energy Mix for Solar US

Country Comparison

Types of Solar Energy/Technology
• Photovoltaic Systems
– Producing electricity directly from sunlight.
• Solar Hot Water
– Heating water with solar energy.
• Solar Electricity
– Using the sun's heat to produce electricity.
• Passive Solar Heating and Daylighting
– Using solar energy to heat and light buildings.
• Solar Process Space Heating and Cooling
– Industrial and commercial uses of the sun's heat.

The Gold Standard?

Types of PV Panels
• Crystalline Silicon (c-Si)
– 95% of all panels are typical Crystalline Silicon
– Mono (expensive) Poly (cheaper)
– Average Efficiency about 15%
• Thin-Film Solar Cells (TFSC)
– Amorphous silicon (a-Si)
– Cadmium telluride (CdTe)
– Copper indium gallium selenide (CIS/CIGS)

New Solar Technology Trends

Lets talk about efficiency…
• Big Confusion on this…
• Solar efficiency refers to the amount of
ambient light that can be converted into
usable electricity
• Academics love talking about efficiency
– Sunpower best with about 26% efficiency
– Thin Film record of around 17%
– Theoretical Max of around 44%

Computation of Efficiency
• Efficiency is defined as the ratio of energy
output from the solar cell to input energy
from the sun.
• This is calculated by dividing a cell's power
output (in watts) at its maximum power point
(Pm) by the input light (E, in W/m2) and the
surface area of the solar cell (Ac in m2).

Efficiency in Practice
• Solar Panel with 20% Calculated Efficiency and
area of 1m2
• Under test condition, AKA “simulated high
noon” will product 200W
• In Colorado (higher sun exposure and quality
of sunlight) system will produce 440kWh/year
• In Michigan (lower sun exposure and quality)
same system will produce 280 kWh/year

In reality…
• Efficiency less important matter, rather cost
per watt of production.
• Energy is a commodity
• Consider
– Nat Gas costs about $.06/W
– Solar, needs to achieve sub $1/Watt installed to be
competitive over 25 years to fossil fuel.

Lets talk about Balance of Systems
• Balance of Systems (BOS) costs refer to the
total cost to deploy a solar solution
– Best in US in Austin at $3/W installed
– Worst is NYC at $7/W installed

Illustration of BOS

Solar Peripherals to be Aware of
• Micro Invertor/Convertor
• Concentrators
• Trackers
• Rackers
• Scrubbers
• Etc…

Typical Issues with Solar
• Lifecycle of Use
• Efficiency Degradation
• Upkeep and maintenance costs
• Land Costs
• Storage, Storage, Storage…

Business Case for Solar

Calculating Benefit of Solar
• Consider the following
– Efficiency of Panel
– Cost to Purchase
– Cost to Install
– Estimated Production over 25 years
– Estimated Cost to Maintain over 25 years
– Average Amount of SunLight per position

Portable Power

Enabling Technology for Portable
Power
• Thin Film and Amorphous Silicon Lead the way
• Alternative Substances
• Cost, Weight, Flexibility and durability more
important than Efficiency
• ITAR is a big issue

Questions

Contact Information
• Heath Naquin
• The University of Texas at Austin
• hnaquin@ic2.utexas.edu
• 512-294-1405