SOLAR ENERGY is safe for environment. It can produced while the sun shines. Use of solar radiation for heat and electricity production is possible throughout Ukraine. Use of solar radiation is possible throughout Ukraine and is appropriate for: heat or electricity production. The territory of Ukraine can be divided into four zones depending on intensity of solar radiation.

POTENTIAL FOR USE IN UKRAINE

CURRENT SITUATION

Experience of EU and North America countries shows that solar energy can be used on an industrial scale, even at night. In Spain and the US, there are enterprises that generate electricity at night time from heat accumulated during the day.

Technical Solutions (technical specification, equipment, features of installation and operation, producers, advantages and disadvantages)

Stations operating on solar energy (heliostations) are absolutely noise-free. A significant drawback is that such stations occupy large areas. Each 1 MW of solar power station (SPS) capacity requires allocation of almost 2 hectares of land. The disadvantage is also that energy output is unstable. SPSs currently account for about 4% of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the world. Conversion of solar energy into electricity takes place through use of the photovoltaic cells.

In private homes, solar collectors (SC) can be used for heat production in the hot water supply system. Solar collectors can heat water up to 70°C. During day time, SC converts solar energy into heat which warms the water that is accumulated in the insulated containers (storage tanks). From the storage tanks, water is supplied to the hot water supply system (HWSS). SCs are installed on the roofs, and the accumulating  tank and auxiliary equipment are installed in the technical premises.

Solar energy can provide the private sector residents with electricity (in parallel with operation of the electric grid). For this, photovoltaic cells located on the roof are used.

The optimal angle of the collector placement is 45° from the horizon, with the south orientation. Other placement of the collector reduces the system efficiency and increases the cost of equipment. Number of solar collectors and storage tank capacity are calculated based on the load of HWS system. For productivity increase, vacuum collectors can be used.

Types of solar collectors: 

А	B

А – flat

B – vacuum with direct heat transfer to water

Operating cost for HWS system on the basis of solar collectors is minimal, because solar energy is consumed only for circulation pump operation. For example, if the need of a public institution is 650 l/day of hot water, annual heat output of flat solar collectors is 8.7 MW (7.5 Gcal/h). Thus, electricity for the circulation pump consumes about 180 kW·h.

Conversion of solar energy into electricity takes place through use of the photovoltaic cells. Independent power supply for the consumers with parallel operation of the power grid may be organized this way. For low-capacity power stations, roofs can be used for their installation, upon the condition of improvement of their carrying capacity. Construction of large solar power plants requires large land plots (approximately, 1.5 hectares for a 1 MW plant).

Photocells are also widely used for autonomous lighting. The demand for them is increasing every year due to technology development and reduction of equipment cost.