Abstract
The heavy reliance on fossil fuels, given their inevitable depletion and serious negative impact on the environment, has led to intensive scientific research to produce solutions which will ensure sustainable supply of energy based on renewable sources. Solar radiation is one of the major sources of clean and renewable energy with the potential to provide ample power for the growing human population in the long term. The current energy crisis is aggravated by the escalating concerns over the water quality especially in developing countries. There is great potential for utilisation of solar energy through solar photovoltaic systems throughout the world for electricity generation as well as water and wastewater treatment. Innovations in this area have opened new prospects to improve the quality of life for people as a whole. Hence, the focus of this review paper is to provide the reader with a brief history of solar photovoltaic systems, the various types of solar photovoltaic materials available and the solar cell efficiencies attained with the current solar photovoltaic technologies. Furthermore, applications of photovoltaic systems are discussed in terms of their societal economic and environmental effects.
About the authors
Farihahusnah Hussin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Technology MARA (Malaysia) and a Master of Engineering Science from the University of Malaya (Malaysia). Currently, she is a PhD candidate at the University of Malaya (Malaysia). Her research interests include separation processes (adsorption), water/wastewater treatment, electrochemical processes and solar photovoltaics.
Gulnaziya Issabayeva initially worked in a plant biotechnology laboratory; she participated in projects on development of hybrid sorts of wheat and their genetic modification. Later she studied environmental science, in particular the degradation of phenol compounds in anaerobic degradation of municipal wastes. Her research interests include removal and recovery of heavy metals from wastewater through adsorption and electrochemical processes.
Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua is a senior professor at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya (Malaysia). He is also the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Head of Center for Separation Science and Technology (CSST). His research interests include CO2 capture, membrane processes, electrochemical processes using activated carbon, biodiesel production and conversion of bioglycerol to value-added chemicals. He has published more than 183 papers in ISI-ranked journals with more than 4500 citations, and his h-index is 32.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful for financial support provided by the University of Malaya Scholarship Scheme which made this research possible. They also appreciate the financial support provided by High Impact Research Grant UM.C/HIR/MOHE/ENG/43.
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