Solar Electricity

Photovoltaics, the direct conversion of light to electricity, is set to become one of the established sources of energy for the future. A renewable energy source, solar electricity is both environmentally friendly and economically valuable. This text gives a concise and authoritative account of solar photovoltaics. With strong emphasis given to practical applications, the authors cover solar radiation, solar cells and photovoltaic engineering. The environmental impacts of photovoltaics are analyzed in detail and the book concludes with an introduction to a range of more advanced topics including large PV systems, photovoltaics under concentrated sunlight and alternative storage. This text forms part of the UNESCO Energy Engineering Learning Programme, which has been established to train power engineers to meet today's and tomorrow's challenges in this field.