Efficient conversion of solar energy to biomass and electricity

Aquatic Biosystems

David Parlevliet¹  Navid Reza Moheimani¹ 

[1] Murdoch University, Murdoch 6150, WA, Australia

关键词: Renewable;    Microalgae;    Photovoltaics;    Biofuel;    Solar energy;   

Others  :  792836
DOI  :  10.1186/2046-9063-10-4

 received in 2013-12-20, accepted in 2014-06-06,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

The Earth receives around 1000 W.m⁻² of power from the Sun and only a fraction of this light energy is able to be converted to biomass (chemical energy) via the process of photosynthesis. Out of all photosynthetic organisms, microalgae, due to their fast growth rates and their ability to grow on non-arable land using saline water, have been identified as potential source of raw material for chemical energy production. Electrical energy can also be produced from this same solar resource via the use of photovoltaic modules. In this work we propose a novel method of combining both of these energy production processes to make full utilisation of the solar spectrum and increase the productivity of light-limited microalgae systems. These two methods of energy production would appear to compete for use of the same energy resource (sunlight) to produce either chemical or electrical energy. However, some groups of microalgae (i.e. Chlorophyta) only require the blue and red portions of the spectrum whereas photovoltaic devices can absorb strongly over the full range of visible light. This suggests that a combination of the two energy production systems would allow for a full utilization of the solar spectrum allowing both the production of chemical and electrical energy from the one facility making efficient use of available land and solar energy. In this work we propose to introduce a filter above the algae culture to modify the spectrum of light received by the algae and redirect parts of the spectrum to generate electricity. The electrical energy generated by this approach can then be directed to running ancillary systems or producing extra illumination for the growth of microalgae. We have modelled an approach whereby the productivity of light-limited microalgae systems can be improved by at least 4% through using an LED array to increase the total amount of illumination on the microalgae culture.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Parlevliet and Moheimani; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Neckel H, Labs D: The solar radiation between 3300 and 12500 Å. Sol Phys 1984, 90:205-258.
• [2]ASTM: Standard Tables for Reference Solar Spectral Irradiances: direct Normal and Hemispherical on 37° Tilted Surface. In Book Standard Tables for Reference Solar Spectral Irradiances: Direct Normal and Hemispherical on 37° Tilted Surface, Volume G 173–03. City: ASTM; 2008.
• [3]Gueymard CA, Myers D, Emery K: Proposed reference irradiance spectra for solar energy systems testing. Sol Energy 2002, 73:443-467.
• [4]Borowitzka MA: Phycology. In eLS. Volume. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2012. doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0000334.pub3
• [5]Moheimani NR, Borowitzka MA: Limits to productivity of the alga Pleurochrysis carterae (Haptophyta) grown in outdoor raceway ponds. Biotechnol Bioeng 2006, 96:27-36.
• [6]Schnitzer I, Yablonovitch E, Caneau C, Gmitter TJ, Scherer A: 30% external quantum efficiency from surface textured, thin-film light-emitting diodes. Appl Phys Lett 1993, 63:2174-2176.
• [7]Fon Sing S, Isdepsky A, Borowitzka M, Moheimani N: Production of biofuels from microalgae. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Chang 2013, 18:47-72.
• [8]Moheimani N, Cord-Ruwisch R, Raes E, Borowitzka M: Non-destructive oil extraction from Botryococcus braunii (Chlorophyta). J Appl Phycol 2013, 25:1653-1661.
• [9]Moheimani NR, Isdepsky A, Lisec J, Raes E, Borowitzka MA: Coccolithophorid algae culture in closed photobioreactors. Biotechnol Bioeng 2011, 9:2078-2087.
• [10]Moheimani NR: Long term outdoor growth and lipid productivity of Tetraselmis suecica, Dunaliella tertiolecta, and Chlorella sp (Chlorophyta) in bag photobioreactors. J Appl Phycol 2012. doi:10.1007/s10811-012-9850-0
• [11]Jeffery SW, Wright SW: Photosynthetic Pigments in the Haptophyta. In Chemical From Microalgae. Edited by Cohen Z. Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis; 1999:111-132.
• [12]Smith VH: Light and nutrient dependence of photosynthesis by algae. J Phycol 1983, 19:306-313.
• [13]Aguirre-Gómez R, Weeks AR, Boxall SR: The identification of phytoplankton pigments from absorption spectra. Int J Remote Sens 2001, 22(2&3):315-338.
• [14]Agusti S, Enr¡quez S, Frost-Christensen H, Sand-Jensen K, Duate CM: Light havesting amoung photosynthetic organisms. Funct Ecol 1994, 8:273-279.
• [15]Boichenko VA: Action spectra and functional antenna sizes of Photosystems I and II in relation to the thylakoid membrane organization and pigment composition. Photosynth Res 1998, 58:163-174.
• [16]Corkish R, Green MA, Puzzer T: Solar energy collection by antennas. Sol Energy 2002, 73:395-401.
• [17]Gardner NF, Muller GO, Shen YC, Chen G, Watanabe S, Gotz W, Krames MR: Blue-emitting InGaN–GaN double-heterostructure light-emitting diodes reaching maximum quantum efficiency above 200 A/cm[sup 2]. Appl Phys Lett 2007, 91:243506.
• [18]Zhu X-G, Long SP, Ort DR: What is the maximum efficiency with which photosynthesis can convert solar energy into biomass? Curr Opin Biotechnol 2008, 19:153-159.
• [19]Moheimani N, Borowitzka M: Increased CO2; and the effect of pH on growth and calcification of Pleurochrysis carterae and Emiliania huxleyi (Haptophyta) in semicontinuous cultures. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2011, 90:1399-1407.
• [20]Frigaard N-U, Larsen KL, Cox RP: Spectrochromatography of photosynthetic pigments as a fingerprinting technique for microbial phototrophs. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 1996, 20:69-77.
• [21]Moheimani NR, Parlevliet D: Sustainable solar energy conversion to chemical and electrical energy. Renew Sust Energ Rev 2013, 27:494-504.
• [22]Wenham SR, Green MA, Watt ME: Applied Photovoltaics. Centre for Photovoltaic Devices and Systems: Sydney; 1994.
• [23]Chapin DM, Fuller CS, Pearson GL: A new silicon p-n junction photocell for converting solar radiation into electrical power. J Appl Phys 1954, 25:676-677.
• [24]Green MA, Emery K, Hishikawa Y, Warta W, Dunlop ED: Solar cell efficiency tables (version 39). Prog Photovolt Res Appl 2012, 20:12-20.
• [25]Beardall J, Stojkovic S, Larsen S: Living in a high CO2 world: impacts of global climate change on marine phytoplankton. Plant Ecol Divers 2009, 2:191-205.
• [26]Singh D, Jennings P: The Outlook for Crystalline Solar Photovoltaic Technology over the Next Decade. AIP Conference Proceedings 2007, 941:98-110.
• [27]Kim S-Y, Jeong W-I, Mayr C, Park Y-S, Kim K-H, Lee J-H, Moon C-K, Brütting W, Kim J-J: Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with 30% External Quantum Efficiency Based on a Horizontally Oriented Emitter. Adv Funct Materials 2013, 23:3896-3900.
• [28]Krames MR, Ochiai-Holcomb M, Hofler GE, Carter-Coman C, Chen EI, Tan I-H, Grillot P, Gardner NF, Chui HC, Huang J-W, Stockman SA, Fish FA, Craford MG, Tan TS, Kocot CP, Hueschen M, Posselt J, Loh B, Sasser G, Collins D: High-power truncated-inverted-pyramid (AlxGa1-x)0.5In0.5P/GaP light-emitting diodes exhibiting > 50% external quantum efficiency. Appl Phys Lett 1999, 75:2365-2367.
• [29]Rosenberg V, Vasiliev M, Alameh K: A Spectrally Selective Panel. In Book A Spectrally Selective Panel. City: WO Patent; 2013. 2,013,003,890
• [30]Sark WGJHM, Barnham KWJ, Slooff LH, Chatten AJ, Büchtemann A, Meyer A, McCormack SJ, Koole R, Farrell DJ, Bose R, Bende EE, Burgers AR, Budel T, Quilitz J, Kennedy M, Meyer T, Donegá CD, Meijerink A, Vanmaekelbergh D: Luminescent Solar Concentrators - a review of recent results. Opt Express 2008, 16:21773-21792.
• [31]Cuevas A, Sinton RA, Kerr M, Macdonald D, Mackel H: A contactless photoconductance technique to evaluate the quantum efficiency of solar cell emitters. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 2002, 71:295-312.
• [32]Meier J, Spitznagel J, Kroll U, Bucher C, Fay S, Moriarty T, Shah A: Potential of Amorphous and Microcrystalline Silicon Solar Cells. Thin Solid Films Symposium D on Thin Film and Nano-Structured Materials for Photovoltaics, proceedings of the E-MRS 2003 Spring Conference, 10–13 June 2003 2004, 451-452. 518–524
• [33]Meier J, Spitznagel J, Kroll U, Bucher C, Faÿ S, Moriarty T, Shah A: Potential of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon solar cells. Thin Solid Films 2004, 451–452:518-524.
• [34]Kupich M, Grunsky D, Kumar P, Schroder B: Preparation of microcrystalline single junction and amorphous-microcrystalline tandem silicon solar cells entirely by hot-wire CVD. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 2004, 81:141-146.
• [35]Droz C, Vallat-Sauvain E, Bailat J, Feitknecht L, Meier J, Niquille X, Shah A: Electrical and microstructural characterisation of microcrystalline silicon layers and solar cells. Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 2003 Proceedings of 3rd World Conference on; 18-18 May 2003 2003, 1544-1547. Vol.1542
• [36]Zhao J, Wang A, Altermatt PP, Wenham SR, Green MA: 24% efficient perl silicon solar cell: recent improvements in high efficiency silicon cell research. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 1996, 41–42:87-99.
• [37]Messenger RA, Ventre J: Photovoltaic Systems Engineering. 3rd edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2010.
• [38]Ruther R, Kleiss G, Reiche K: Spectral effects on amorphous silicon solar module fill factors. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 2002, 71:375-385.
• [39]Ritchie RJ: Modelling photosynthetic photon flux density and maximum potential gross photosynthesis. Photosynthetica 2010, 48:596-609.