Physics Of Solar Energy

This book covers the fundamental physics of the most abundant energy resource available to human society—solar energy. Similar to other technologies, the first step to achieving success is to have a firm understanding of the basic science of solar energy and its use. The subject matter of this text is designed to give the reader this solid footing, which will be the basis of research and the development of new solar engineering technologies. Homework problems and exercises to reinforce the contents along with a solutions manual for instructors.

C. JULIAN CHEN is an Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia University. His research interests include scanning tunneling microscopy, mathematical models of the human voice, and utilization of solar energy. Before going into academia, he spent fifteen years in IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he authored Introduction to Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and invented a widely used algorithm for Chinese language speech recognition.

Preface.

Gallery.

Chapter 1. Introduction.

1.1 Solar energy.

1.2 Go beyond petroleum.

1.3 Other renewable energy resources.

1.4 A solar photovoltaics primer.

1.5 Above physics.

Chapter 2. Nature of Solar Radiation.

2.1 Light as electromagnetic waves.

2.2 Optics of thin films.

2.3 Black-body radiation.

2.4 Photoelectric effect and the concept of photons.

2.5 Einstein’s derivation of black-body formula.

Chapter 3. Origin of Solar Energy.

3.1 Basic parameters of the Sun.

3.2 The Kelvin-Helmholtz time scale.

3.3 Energy source of the Sun.

Chapter 4. Tracking Sunlight.

4.1 Rotation of the Earth: latitude and longitude.

4.2 The Celestial sphere.

4.3 Treatment in solar time.

4.4 Treatment in standard time.

Chapter 5. Interaction of sunlight with Earth.

5.1 Interaction of radiation with matter.

5.2 Interaction of sunlight with atmosphere.

5.3 Penetration of solar energy into the Earth.

Chapter 6. Thermodynamics of Solar Energy.

6.1 Definitions.

6.2 The first law of thermodynamics.

6.3 The second law of thermodynamics.

6.4 The thermodynamic functions.

6.5 The ideal gas.

6.6 Ground-source heat pump and air conditioning.

Chapter 7. Quantum Transitions.

7.1 Basics of quantum mechanics.

7.2 Many-electron systems.

7.3 The Golden Rule.

7.4 Interactions with photons.

Chapter 8. pn-Junctions.

8.1 Semiconductors.

8.2 Formation of a pn-junction.

8.3 Analysis of pn-junctions.

Chapter 9. Semiconductor Solar Cells.

9.1 Basic concepts.

9.2 The Shockley-Queisser limit.

9.3 Nonradiative recombination processes.

9.4 Anti-reflection coatings.

9.5 Crystalline silicon solar cells.

9.6 Thin-film solar cells.

9.7 Tandem solar cells.

Chapter 10. Solar Electrochemistry.

10.1 Physics of Photosynthesis.

10.2 Artificial photosynthesis.

10.3 Genetically engineered algae.

10.4 Dye-sensitized solar cells.

10.5 Bilayer organic solar cells.

Chapter 11. Solar Thermal Energy.

11.1 Early solar thermal applications.

11.2 Solar Heat Collectors.

11.3 Solar water heaters.

11.4 Solar thermal power systems.

Chapter 12. Energy Storage.

12.1 Sensible heat energy storage.

12.2 Phase transition thermal storage.

12.3 Rechargeable batteries.

12.4 Solar energy and electric vehicles.

Chapter 13. Building with Sunshine.

13.1 Early solar architecture.

13.2 Building materials.

13.3 An example of holistic design.

13.4 Land usage of solar communities.

Appendix A. Energy Unit Conversion.

Appendix B. Spherical Trigonometry.

Appendix C. Algebraic Approach of Quantum Mechanics.

Appendix D. Statistics of particles.