Customer Reviews

The Physics of Solar Cells (Properties of Semiconductor Materials)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I feel this is a very good book for advanced undergraduates
and graduate students interested in the physics of solar cells. It
is not a beginner book, as some background is expected.

Solid state physics is difficult and complicated. There are a lot
of different things going on at the same time, and I feel it's good to
get explanations from several different authors viewpoints. I have
several books now on the subject, but I find myself looking at
this one more than the others. I think the author fills in a lot of
details missing in other texts.

This is a great book for senior undergrads and graduate students. It focuses on other solar cell materials besides Silicon. It was a great reference for teaching material and I referenced it in my PhD thesis. I recommend this book in addition to Martin Green's Solar Cell book (standard undergrad solar cell reference book.)

This book provides a well thought out introduction to the physics of photovoltaic cells and systems. The treatment provides mathematical details at a level that will be accessible to science and engineering graduates and upper class undergraduates. Some derivations are not as well explained as others. However, the working relationships are worth knowing and can serve as a lead into other references. The book is well worth its relatively modest cost.

This book is very approachable, reasonably comprehensive, and connected to some of the most recent research topics. Of the three books I have read on the subject of solar cells, this is my favorite. The book contains discussions on solar cell behavior from a thermodynamic and electrical engineering perspective, which I liked. I also found it to discuss the topic from a more fundamental perspective. Rather than just skim the surface of the major results of solar cell theory, it builds up the framework in an manner which is reasonably straightforward.

I am a newcomer to the field of photovoltaics and was looking for a book simple to understand but robust in content that would convey the fundamental concepts effectively. So far I am halfway through the book, reading during my coffee breaks and before bedtime and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I came to choose this book not by anyone's recommendation or referral but by the affordability and judging the table of content and few sample pages. Most of the other books in this area are so expensive, you have to sort of gamble a hefty amount of money to gain a very little perspective on the nature and scope of the field of photovoltaics. This book so far seems to be very good except there are some countable number of typos that sort of distract during the reading.

This book is an introductory textbook on photovoltaic devices and the underlying physics. Prerequisites are not mentioned by the author. In my opinion, the book is not self-contained, as it requires prior exposure to solid state physics and mathematics (e.g. Bloch's theorem, bra-ket notation, partial differential equations). Although there is a section on band theory, I would recommend other condensed matter textbooks for a rigorous derivation. In terms of device physics, it would be helpful if the reader already has some knowledge at the level of, say, "Solid State Electronic Devices" by Streetman and Banerjee. In terms of quantum physics, the level of "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" by Griffiths and some understanding of the Shockley-Queisser detailed balance theory should suffice.

This is NOT a book on the manufacturing of solar cell modules with all the industrial optimization processes, or thin film deposition techniques. It focuses on the phenomenological behavior of photovoltaic devices, from conventional single crystal silicon to thin film solar cells, and their pros and cons. It concludes with the final chapter on modern research ideas for higher efficiency, leaving the detailed discussion to further reading.

To be really picky, some of the figures look as if they were drawn in Paint (e.g. shaky curves), and there are a few typographical errors. Nonetheless, these imperfections do not impair comprehension.

It is good enough for my reference and giving me a helpful hand for completion of work assign by Professor.

Good book if you are interested in Solar Energy.
Kind of hard material to understand I thought.