What are engineering challenges to develop solar energy for comfort/home uses?

01 May 2009

1 May, 2009 solar energy

What are engineering challenges to develop solar energy for comfort/home uses?

Solar is an old technology now and is fairly developed. Cost is a bit of a barrier but that is coming down quickly. Production scale could also be considered a barrier, as the industry can’t yet make enough solar panels to satisfy demand. The panels themselves are limited in how much energy they can take out of the sun’s rays, but they are getting better at this. Materials are a big thing now, mostly in trying out different materials and structures in the cells to bring down the cost and boost the efficiency.

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2 Responses

Kelly L
2009 May 01 1

I'm really not following your question. But currently there are no "engineering" challenges to photovoltaic, wind or passive solar energy. What challenges there are is cost, efficiency and application knowledge.
You can email me for specifics.
References :
thenumberq2
2009 May 01 2

Solar is an old technology now and is fairly developed. Cost is a bit of a barrier but that is coming down quickly. Production scale could also be considered a barrier, as the industry can’t yet make enough solar panels to satisfy demand. The panels themselves are limited in how much energy they can take out of the sun’s rays, but they are getting better at this. Materials are a big thing now, mostly in trying out different materials and structures in the cells to bring down the cost and boost the efficiency.
References :

Solar Energy