| | |  | Solar Power | Home » » Photovoltaic Solar Energy Generation (Springer Series in Optical Sciences) | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | This comprehensive description and discussion of photovoltaics (PV) is presented at a level that makes it accessible to the interested academic. Starting with an historical overview, the text outlines the relevance of photovoltaics today and in the future. Then follows an introduction to the physical background of solar cells and the most important materials and technologies, with particular emphasis placed on future developments and prospects. The book goes beyond technology by also describing the path from the cell to the module to the system, proceeding to important applications such as grid-connected and stand-alone systems. The composition and development of the markets and the role of PV in future energy systems are also considered. Finally, the discussion turns to the future structure of energy supplies, expected to comprise more distributed generation, and addresses synergies and competition from other carbon-free energy sources. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Adolf Goetzberger | | Hardcover:
| 244 pages | | Publisher:
| Springer | | Publication Date:
| May 31, 2005 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 3540236767 | | Product Length:
| 9.46 inches | | Product Width:
| 6.36 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.74 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.07 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.4 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.9 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.85 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 1 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
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14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Very useful overviewAug 19, 2006
By A. J. Sutter
This book is a very useful overview of all levels of PV electricity generation. Topics range from device physics to installation and economics of PV systems to government incentives for promoting solar power. While the book isn't cheap in an absolute sense, it's hard to find such a comprehensive review elsewhere for the price.
Given the book's broad scope and short length, it's no surprise the coverage is a bit thin in places. The device physics discussion is rather brief; you may want to refer to J. Nelson's book "The Physics of Solar Cells" or a comparable work to fill in details. OTOH, there is a very decent survey of materials and manufacturing techniques for inorganic cells. (Organics only merit a couple of pages in this book.) A discussion of the chief reasons that solar modules fail (in Ch. 10) was also quite useful.
Some drawbacks: The writing style tends to be very dull and fact-laden. (The authors are Germans writing in English.) So much information is shoved at you that very few people will be able to recall it perfectly after one reading; but almost none of the topics I found most interesting were in the woefully inadequate index. Also, while Amazon shows a 2006 publication date, the book's copyright page says 2005, and there aren't any references with dates past 2004 (and relatively few past 2002, in fact). A howling factual error in the first sentence of the first chapter (PV effect wasn't discovered by Henri, but rather by Edmond, Becquerel) is an unfortunate blemish. And while this isn't necessarily a drawback, the book definitely has a European point of view, with less information about the North American market and none about the Asian market outside Japan.
If you want to set up a solar power system for your home, this book isn't for you. It's also nearly useless if you want to learn in detail about how solar cells work. However, it could be interesting for engineers and scientists who want to understand the manufacturing, application and business contexts for PVs and solar power. The best audience is probably businesspeople (the proverbial "managers" of so many other book titles), especially VCs, investors and business development types who need a quick overview at slightly deeper than a "Scientific American" level of technical detail.
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