The document discusses challenges facing solar energy and proposes strategic recommendations. It notes that while solar potential is large, it currently provides a small share of global electricity. Manufacturing relies heavily on fossil fuels and produces toxic waste. The document recommends learning from nature through closed-loop systems that sustain themselves like living systems, and supporting Earth's life-giving processes through holistic designs that value ecosystems. R&D examples developing solar fuels and algae-based solutions are provided.

1. Turning Photons Into Fuel
George Cook
MCAD Sustainable Design
Fall 2015

2. Solar Potential
Earth receives 2X more
energy from the sun
than all non-renewables
combined
Unrealized potential:
Only 1% of worldwide
electricity generated by
solar

3. Solar Growth Trajectory
U.S. Energy Information
Administration estimates
growth from 13% to 18%
by 2040
All renewables combined
Solar continues to be
minority share of
renewable mix

4. IPCC Targets
EIA’s Estimates:
Trajectory between
“maintain” &
“migrate”
Nowhere near the
IPCC target
EIA

5. Current Challenges

6. Most panels are made in China
Chinese share is expected to rise to 70% by 2017

7. Solar PV manufacturing
requires lots of electricity

8. 73% of China’s electricity came
from coal last year
Photo: Beijing Air Pollution by Kentaro Iemoto

9. Sludge & contaminated water
California, produced 46.5 million pounds of sludge and contaminated water from 2007 through 2011.

10. Silicon production health risks
Silicosis in miners

11. Toxic chemicals in
manufacturing and end-of-life
Silicon tetrachloride, hydrofluoric acid, cadmium telluride, cadmium sulfide, gallium arsenide…

12. Resource scarcity
Silicon tetrachloride, hydrofluoric acid, cadmium telluride, cadmium sulfide, gallium arsenide…

13. Incremental Solutions
Reduce impacts from
toxic substances
Improve efficiencies,
lower costs
Power as a service
Practice Extended
Producer Responsibility

14. Strategic Recommendations

15. Support Earth Systems
Move beyond
incremental change
Instill net-positive values
and culture
Stay in planetary
boundaries

16. Learn from Living Systems
Physical, chemical &
biological processes
Self-sustaining
Balancing growth &
decay

17. Real world examples
Aquagy: Carbon-
negative wastewater
treatment
ARDEC Algae-based
demilitarization
Boeing biofuels from
halophytes + recycling
aquaculture waste Photo: Clean Technica

18. Real world R&D, prototypes
Hydrogen from algae:
Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory
Bioreactors for buildings:
BIQ prototype,
Grow Energy, Inc.
“Bionic Leaf” research:
Harvard’s Wyss Institute

19. Real world R&D (continued)
Hematite based artificial
photosynthesis research:
Boston College
Mimicking nature to split
water:
Max Planck Institute
Thin layer manganese oxide
to improve efficiency and
cost:
Florida State University

20. Conclusions
Solar PV: Continue to iterate,
improve and innovate.
Continue to grow share.
Design solutions to replace
chemical energy that close
the carbon loop.
Use an Earth systems
perspective: Holistic designs
that value ecosystems
services on an equal footing.

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