(Ebook) A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems: With Special Focus on Photovoltaic Systems by Trevor M. Letcher, Vasilis M. Fthenakis ISBN 9780128114797, 0128114797

(Ebook) A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems: With Special Focus on Photovoltaic Systems by Trevor M. Letcher, Vasilis M. Fthenakis ISBN 9780128114797, 0128114797

Our book gives an all-round view of solar energy with a special focus on technical issues surrounding photovoltaic cells. The 25 chapters are divided into the following six sections: Introduction; Solar Energy Resource and Worldwide Development; Thermal Solar Energy Technology; Photovoltaic Solar Energy—Generation of Electricity; Environmental Impacts of Solar Energy; Economics, Financial Modeling, and Investment in PVs, Growth Trends, and the Future of Solar Energy. In more detail, the book includes chapters on the following areas:• Scientific aspects (basic theory of photovoltaic solar energy, global potential for producing electricity from the sun’s energy);• Wind energy in China, Europe, Africa, and the USA, to give a flavor of developments in very different countries but all with the same aim of reducing global warming while providing affordable, abundant, and sustainable energy;• Thermal solar power in solar heaters, concentrated solar systems.• Photovoltaics in all its different forms—crystalline silicon cells, cadmium telluride cells, perovskite cells, and organic cells;• Large scale PV Integrated technologies (buildings);• Integration into national grids;• Small scale PV systems;• Storing energy from PVs;• Environmental issues and comparisons;• Materials’ abundance, purification, and energy cost for Si, CdTe, and CIGS photovoltaics;• Life Cycle Analysis and Energy Return on Investment;• Growth trends and the future of solar power;• Minimizing the cost of resolving variability and energy storage.It is hoped that the book will act as a springboard for new developments and perhaps lead to synergistic advances by linking ideas from different chapters.