Electricity from Sunlight

Book excerpt: Praised for its visual appeal, conversational style and clear explanation of complex ideas with minimal mathematics, Electricity from Sunlight has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect advances in the global PV market, economics and installed capacity. Key features of the 2nd edition include: A timely update of the advances of photovoltaics (PV), with major new material on grid-connected systems. More in-depth treatment of PV scientific principles, solar cells, modules, and systems. Up-to-date coverage of the PV market including conversion efficiencies and the expansion of grid-friendly power plants. End-of-chapter problems with solutions manual available to instructors via companion website. Additional end-of-chapter questions and answers to support students through guided self-study. New chapters on manufacturing processes and on materials and other resources availability. New large-scale PV section covering the growth of global capacity, utility-scale PV and affordable solutions for intermittency. Systems analysis of new applications empowered by low-cost PV, such as energy storage and water desalination. Significantly expanded economics and environmental section explaining leveled cost of electricity versus upfront costs, energy return on investments, and lifecycle analysis. Electricity from Sunlight: Photovoltaics Systems Integration and Sustainability, Second Edition is an essential primer for new entrants to the PV industry, needing a basic appreciation of complete PV systems, and to students on undergraduate and graduate courses on renewable energy and photovoltaics. It also offers a unique treatise of the sustainability of emerging transformative technologies, which makes it useful to both system analysts and energy policy strategists. Co-author, Vasilis Fthenakis, is Recipient of the 2018 William R. Cherry Award The Cherry Award recognizes an individual engineer or scientist who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the science and technology of photovoltaic energy conversion, with dissemination by substantial publications and presentations. Fthenakis was honored for his pioneering research at the interface of energy and the environment that catalyzed photovoltaic technology advancement and deployment world-wide.