Environmental Issues

In year 1876 William Grylls contributed greatly to the coining of the term photovoltaic effect. And through this effect was borne solar energy. Actually in photovoltaic effect, light ignites an electric current (the flow of electrons) through a semi-conductor material-as opposed to a pure conductor such as copper as is the case with other conventional forms of energy. The most efficient semi-conductor in use today in PV system is silicon which has since replaced the inefficient selenium.
The process of solar energy production is quite simple. When sunlight strikes the cell, photons from the light are absorbed by the semiconductor atoms infused with boron and phosphorus-one layer is positive while the other layer is negative for flow of electrons from one charge to the other- which then unleash electrons. These electrons flow in one direction and are thus described as direct current (DC). It is a device known as inverter that is responsible for the ultimate conversion of this form of current to alternating current (AC) that is easily used at home
 Solar energy, as alluded to above, is thus produced in a configuration of individual cells that are laminated between transparent supersrtsrate and an encapsulating substrate that provides mechanical integrity. This configuration of individual cells is known as modules.  A panel is a combination of modules.
A typical module has a lot of efficiencies. Modules need no high temperatures, they do not need combustion of raw materials and hence their clean energy infrastructure, they require no moving parts, and they have no emissions of any kind. For that matter solar energy happens to be one of the cleanest and most reliable alternative energy sources. These efficiencies have significance on the implications of PV systems growth in the United States of America. As a result of these efficiencies PV system is going to experience tremendous growth in the coming years More so because of its safety to the environment.
However, modules are not as effective as they are safe to the environment. In fact it is impossible to attain 100 efficiency due to the very configuration of the module itself, and other factors. Therefore theoretical limitations to 100 efficient module include the fact that solar module can only convert about 22 of the energy to electricity, that our utility transmission was designed based on central-station distribution of power along transmission systems, and that we are yet to develop large capacity storage systems like batteries and fuel cells so that we can convert excess PV created during the day for use at night.
There are a lot of factors and drivers that encourage the growth of photovoltaic system in the US today. The factors in most cases are environmental while the drivers are by and large government initiatives. The high dependency on fossil fuels that is not only declining in volume but also creating a climate crisis that is global warming was a major boost for countries such as Germany and Japan to go the PV system way. And so is the case with the US.Other factors include blackouts and grid instability, state incentives, carbon taxes, constant sunshine availability and many others. However, it has to be noted that Americans would only consider a type of energy source viable if there are resourceful ways of obtaining it.
Four pillars are of extreme importance if we are to achieve anything with PV system. And there definition is as well imperative. These pillars include incentives, interconnection standards, net metering standards and utility rates and revenue policies. Incentives is the policy that involves the provision of niceties to users of PV energy or mitigation assistance to heavily subsidies kWh by the government in particular. This has been the main force behind Californias improved PV system.
An interconnection standard is the process of interconnecting the PV system to grid. There are two types of PV system connection, a stand-alone in which the system is not tied to any grid and grid-tier connection in which the PV is connected to a grid controlled by a utility. The utilities should make the latter painless and standardized across utility boundaries. At my home we have utilized this pillar and it is beneficial as we have hardly experienced blackouts.
Net metering is another pillar and it means that one can sell excess power back to the utility company. Utilities must also offer rate that support PV and value its distributed nature and ability to shave off peak use. This is known as utility rates revenue policies and is the pillar number four.
If this pillars are well taken into account we can achieve a  PV efficiency of 30 as is in 10 years time as is projected.