Solar Photovoltaics

Harnessing the energy of the sun is a very attractive approach to meeting our energy needs. There are a range of converter technologies such as solar collectors (for hot water), solar concentrators (for thermal electricity generation) and photovoltaics (PV). PV is an elegant solution, a converter with no moving parts, which is has a long lifetime (25 years + for mono-crystalline silicon) and minimal maintenance burden (dc side of a system). PV may be applied as either a grid connected or off-grid, standalone system. Standalone systems are usually employed in developing countries to provide lighting, refrigeration or power for communication systems. PV is competing with diesel generators in these applications which have high maintenance, fuel and supply costs. Grid connected PV offers the potential for energy generation at the point of use in urban environments or large scale solar plants in solar resource rich locations such as southern Spain and California. In terms of microgeneration in the built environment, the potential energy yield from PV is perhaps the easiest to predict. Roofs and facades offer large areas at suitable inclinations / orientations.

News item: 4th Africa Mini Grids Summit , 21-22 March, Nairobi, Kenya
16th March, 2018

In Sub Saharan Africa around 600 million are without electricity. It is well recognised that mini grids are critical in addressing such electricity shortages providing access resulting in development and growth. Several countries such as Kenya and Uganda have large sections of their populations unconnected to the national grid. In order to provide needed access […]

News item: e4D update – SERG researchers return to Uganda and Kenya
21st December, 2017

SERG researchers Maj and Nicolas have just finished the last for 2017 SERG visit to Africa. The last two weeks they visited old Energy for Development (e4D) projects in Kenya and Uganda. As demand has grown in recent days, they discussed the opportunity for new projects and extension of the existing ones with REA (Rural […]

Research update: e4D – ‘Development and Mini-Grids in Rural Africa’ – Conference Report

‘Development and Mini-Grid in Rural Africa’ was the Energy for Development’s (e4D) first dissemination conference successfully held 11 – 12 May 2015, in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference was well attended with over 130 registrants including academics, project developers, governmental officials, private sector contractors, students, project financiers as well as other stakeholders operating in the field of […]

Research update: Potential of developing rooftop PV systems on SCC non-domestic buildings

This app shows the results of modelling roof panel PV generation for non-domestic Southampton City Council properties in Southampton, UK. Click on the ‘Large Map’ button to see the full interaction version hosted by ESRI/ArcGIS. The three buttons on the top right corner of the map can be used to “Search”, “Filter”, and “Change basemap”. Results […]

News item: RENKEI Spring School – University of Southampton Southampton, UK, 22-29 March 2015
17th December, 2014

Theme: ‘District Energy Supply within Cities’ Date: 22-29 March 2015 Venue: University of Southampton

Research update: Two New Villages set for Electrification

The villages of Bambouti in Cameroon and Oloika in Kenya’s rift valley are set for electrification through PV array’s by the E4D team and partners. Baseline data has been collected and the villages will undergo installation in the coming months. Oloika, Kenya On a recent trip to Kenya, the E4D team, along with members of […]

Research update: Assessment of Urban Microgeneration Solutions

The group’s research is looking at existing housing developments from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s to determine the scope and potential impact of microgeneration technologies and energy efficiency measures on the residential scale. Microgeneration options assessed include: Photovoltaics Micro wind power Solar thermal systems for domestic hot water CHP (combined heat and power) at […]

Research update: Flexible Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells

Acheiving low cost, non-toxic, high efficiency, high throughput solar cells is the ultimate challenge for the solar energy industry. Traditional glass laminate crystalline silicon solar cells offer relatively high efficiency (up to 20%) but are an expensive product. At SERG research and development of low cost sputtered amorphous silicon solar cells on flexible substrates is […]

Research update: Photovoltaics in Residential Applications

Residential grid connected PV systems are relatively simple to design with easy to predict annual yields. However, the headline economics of residential PV in the UK are at present unattractive. A typical small residential PV system (1 to 3 kWp) as shown in the top figure would cost in the year 2000 around £4,500 per […]

Research update: Solar PV Systems at Highfield Campus, Southampton

The University of Southampton has three permanently grid connected PV systems on its Highfield Campus designed and serviced by the Sustainable Energy Research Group. The installed capacity of these three facilities is about 20 kWp: (a) George Thomas Building – 12.2 kWp atrium (b) Building 2 – 7.2 kWp vertical façade (c) Eustice Building – […]