Comparison on the use of silicon and flexible organic solar cells as replacements for fossil fuel energy source of electricity in the UK and Kurdistan, Iraq

Abstract

The majority of businesses use electricity derived from non-renewable fossil fuels. These will run out and are causing substantial environmental damage threatening the future generations. Previously, we considered the energy utilization in a small business. If SME’s could use solar energy then crucially damage to the environment can be prevented. Solar cells involve harnessing the energy from the sun to generate electricity. In this study a comparison of the use of silicon solar cells to flexible organic photovoltaic solar cells (OPV) is made considering the electricity energy requirements of a model
micro-business business in the UK and Kurdistan, Iraq. The comparison shows it is more feasible to replace the existing non-renewable fossil fuel sources with flexible organic solar cells in Iraq due to greater solar radiation striking the earth’s surface. Our research suggests that flexible solar cells can replace a significant amount of the energy requirements even in the UK and a much larger proportion in Kurdistan, Iraq. Using existing 20% efficient silicon solar cells we can replace 28% and 88% of the energy requirements of the microbusiness in UK and Kurdistan, Iraq respectively. However, with 20% efficient flexible organic solar cells placed on windows then this can replace 78% and 235% of the energy requirements in the UK and Kurdistan, Iraq respectively due to the larger areas being available.