For a book with a first edition 1975 copyright, this is a well-written and fairly extensive discourse of the science of photovoltaics and the art of converting sun power into electricity, still used in most present-day solar photovoltaic panel and module applications. The performance of non-silicon materials is also covered.
The economic numbers and other topics covered in Chapter One are perhaps a bit dated but the basic science is still there, as the photovoltaic effect, discovered in 1839 by French teenage physicist Edmond Becquerel, has been used in U.S. space technology for well over a half a century. This chapter discusses types of non-fossil-fuel energy generation, much of which in principle applies today. This is done in the context of supply and demand and total primary energy landscape. There is no decided "green for the sake of green" message, if I recall correctly.
Today there is a wide range of solar energy solutions, many of them unique and innovative. But since economic drivers forge a distinct direction of present-day solar manufacturing, the emergence of different materials used on satellite solar panels, with different drivers, and chosen for lightness, immunity to space radiation, and performance, is equally interesting. However some newer cost and development gains in solar MODULE manufacture for example in peripheral non-Balance-of-System aspects, like module glass, encapsulation, focusing framing, etc., may be absent.
This book is an excellent reference for those involved in the study of solar panel technology, taken to the sub-module or solar CELL level. It's also good for researchers and manufacturers of solar and other photonics devices and systems.
Chapter 3 is 26-page treatise on photovoltaic principles, with a basic physics textbook "feel" and light, explanatory, high-school-level math, with no formula derivations or calculations. The presentation on energy bands is good, touching on band gaps, photon energy, absorbance, reflectance, spectral considerations, efficiencies, temperature. The use of multi-junction PV in "tuning" the band gap -- old technology -- is covered. Efficiency improvement methods are covered.
Please be aware the pages are non-glossy and the font is old-school Courier, with good but non-color graphs and illustrations. The footnotes references and bibliography reflect the age of this book, with sources mostly from the 1950s through early 1970s, but are good enough to make up for the very short 3-page index.
This is essentially a reference book masquerading in paperback. It is well worth the price.
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