What do you think?
Rate this book
Practical Photovoltaics: Electricity from Solar Cells
Book by Komp, Richard J.
- GenresScience
196 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1984
3 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 13, 2017
Richard J. Komp’s Practical Photovoltaics became a comprehensive look inside the fundamentals of solar panel technology. Topics in this treatise included the history of photovoltaics, manufacturing processes, components, and applications. Discussions within each subject describe the standards, variations, and future direction of this technology. Komp had a productive and respectable career with some the solar panel industry’s most influential players. First hand accounts of experiments as well as sufficient background information compel an understanding of practical limitations and capabilities. Photovoltaic solar panel technology first appeared in the late 1800’s, and Komp’s book illustrated the differences and similarities amongst today’s solar panels and the original Becquerel photovoltaic cell. Particular developments, based on Komp’s observations, had occurred in cell substrate, junction composition, and manufacturing technology for production of today’s photovoltaic solar panels. Advancements in electrochemistry lead battery composition from lead acid to nickel based and now lithium ion batteries for a trend of improved lifetimes and storage capacities. Climate change and geopolitics forced alternative and renewable energy into the mainstream demand, and the parallel increase in silicon processing technologies created an economical incubator. Eco-friendliness, technological capacity, and industrial feasibility encouraged scientists and engineers like Komp for genuine solutions to Earth’s energy constraints.
The Sun, at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, becomes the largest source of energy within this solar system. Radiation energy travels from the sun to Earth and produces the electro-magnetic spectrum. Komp describes the photosensitive properties of photovoltaic substrates such as selenium, silicon, and gallium. Energy from the sun excites electrons across band gaps that produce positive holes as a consequence of the missing electron and current as the missing electrons aggregate and travel from the holes. Holes and current then create a voltage potential where the holes are positive and the electrons negative, and hence 32 photovoltaic cells operate about equivalent to a 12 V dc battery. Current solar panel technology can convert sunlight into electricity at 0.07-0.10 $/kWh. Efficiency in these electrochemical systems peaks at 15-18% with the remainder accounted for as heat loss. No harmful chemical byproducts result though the heat can accumulate, and solar panel designers factor in methods of convection for the accumulated heat. Global demand for energy exceeds 17 billion kW or 17 TW, yet the sun exposes Earth to over 3500 times that much! Irradiation absorbed in a few hundred Saharan square meters can meet the entire world’s energy demands.
Technological advancements in solar cell substrates, junctions, contacts, and frames have become available for increased production efficiency and longevity of solar panels. Solar cells combine into the solar modules that compose a solar panel. Series arrangements of solar cells increase voltage while parallel arrangements create current. The first solar cells with selenium anodes, after the advent of Becquerel’s photovoltaic cell, now dwindle in existence because of the discoveries for silicon based semiconductors. Silicon’s electronegativity is less than that of selenium, and silicon exists in abundance. Gallium presents increased energy conversion in comparison with silicon, yet the processes for silicon wafer production cost much less than those for gallium. Crystal growth and silicon wafer production require standardized silicon gas chambers and inner diameter circular saws. Komp outlines several products for improved solar performance: dopants for hetero-junctions, concentrators, quality solders, tracking and adjustment axes, and cooling. Basic silicon wafers need a metal contact with palladium/silver fingers that penetrate into the wafer for conduction of the current from the wafer. Current through a shunt can prevent over amping a battery. Blocking diodes mitigate heat damage to the solar modules. A tier 1 solar panel has an expected lifetime in excess of 20 years.
Proliferation of the solar panel industry becomes reliant on viable and practical applications. The energy gathered in a solar panel comes in during the day, and no sunlight at night means no energy for harvest at night. A solution is energy storage. Batteries appear as the most obvious solution, and battery research has produced batteries with 30 year lifespans for use with solar panels. Komp explains the evolution of batteries from nickel cadmium to present day lithium ion. Proponents like Komp or Yi Cui, who works at Stanford University, promise opportunities for improved energy storage such as boron carbide flywheels or increased charge density. Six times as much energy storage for boron carbide flywheel in a vacuum can occur in comparison to a standard graphite based lithium ion battery, yet Komp reveals mechanical obstacles. Development into shock absorbers flywheel stability in vehicles serves as one example. Cui claims that silicon based lithium ion batteries can carry 30% more charge within the same volume as the graphite based batteries, yet synthesis of the silicon substrate requires advanced techniques. Payoff periods come within 10 years for residential applications and perhaps even less time for large scale industrial applications based on economies of scale.
Komp’s Practical Photovoltaics shall become a comprehensive collection of fundamental solar panel knowledge. Mechanisms within its content such as concentrators, batteries, conductive fingers, and substrates will serve as focal points for developmental work. Concentrator lens systems could decrease in cost and increase in magnification power for increased energy collection with denser photon flow per unit area of each solar cell. Heat may not escape with a concentrators above the solar panels, so passive and active cooling techniques should help prevent heat damage to the contacts. Tracking systems coupled with the concentrators can adjust the solar panel and concentrators positions relative to the sun’s positions as it changes intraday and interday. Improved contacts such as palladium silver lattice structures instead of fingers may increase pervasiveness and current conduction to the contacts. Increased solar exposure would result in increased energy retrieval, so improved battery technology should complement the solar panel improvements. Voltage variant battery volumes would require compliant mechanical housing. Thermal management and the above mentioned improvements may mitigate geographical effects such as location dependent temperature variations for required power = [AmpsHours_consumed*SafetyFactor*LocationCoefficient] and required storage = [AmpHours_consumed*9.2*rated_temperature/actual_temperature]. Electrochemical and electromechanical should enable a future with efficient solar energy conversion and energy storage.
The Sun, at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, becomes the largest source of energy within this solar system. Radiation energy travels from the sun to Earth and produces the electro-magnetic spectrum. Komp describes the photosensitive properties of photovoltaic substrates such as selenium, silicon, and gallium. Energy from the sun excites electrons across band gaps that produce positive holes as a consequence of the missing electron and current as the missing electrons aggregate and travel from the holes. Holes and current then create a voltage potential where the holes are positive and the electrons negative, and hence 32 photovoltaic cells operate about equivalent to a 12 V dc battery. Current solar panel technology can convert sunlight into electricity at 0.07-0.10 $/kWh. Efficiency in these electrochemical systems peaks at 15-18% with the remainder accounted for as heat loss. No harmful chemical byproducts result though the heat can accumulate, and solar panel designers factor in methods of convection for the accumulated heat. Global demand for energy exceeds 17 billion kW or 17 TW, yet the sun exposes Earth to over 3500 times that much! Irradiation absorbed in a few hundred Saharan square meters can meet the entire world’s energy demands.
Technological advancements in solar cell substrates, junctions, contacts, and frames have become available for increased production efficiency and longevity of solar panels. Solar cells combine into the solar modules that compose a solar panel. Series arrangements of solar cells increase voltage while parallel arrangements create current. The first solar cells with selenium anodes, after the advent of Becquerel’s photovoltaic cell, now dwindle in existence because of the discoveries for silicon based semiconductors. Silicon’s electronegativity is less than that of selenium, and silicon exists in abundance. Gallium presents increased energy conversion in comparison with silicon, yet the processes for silicon wafer production cost much less than those for gallium. Crystal growth and silicon wafer production require standardized silicon gas chambers and inner diameter circular saws. Komp outlines several products for improved solar performance: dopants for hetero-junctions, concentrators, quality solders, tracking and adjustment axes, and cooling. Basic silicon wafers need a metal contact with palladium/silver fingers that penetrate into the wafer for conduction of the current from the wafer. Current through a shunt can prevent over amping a battery. Blocking diodes mitigate heat damage to the solar modules. A tier 1 solar panel has an expected lifetime in excess of 20 years.
Proliferation of the solar panel industry becomes reliant on viable and practical applications. The energy gathered in a solar panel comes in during the day, and no sunlight at night means no energy for harvest at night. A solution is energy storage. Batteries appear as the most obvious solution, and battery research has produced batteries with 30 year lifespans for use with solar panels. Komp explains the evolution of batteries from nickel cadmium to present day lithium ion. Proponents like Komp or Yi Cui, who works at Stanford University, promise opportunities for improved energy storage such as boron carbide flywheels or increased charge density. Six times as much energy storage for boron carbide flywheel in a vacuum can occur in comparison to a standard graphite based lithium ion battery, yet Komp reveals mechanical obstacles. Development into shock absorbers flywheel stability in vehicles serves as one example. Cui claims that silicon based lithium ion batteries can carry 30% more charge within the same volume as the graphite based batteries, yet synthesis of the silicon substrate requires advanced techniques. Payoff periods come within 10 years for residential applications and perhaps even less time for large scale industrial applications based on economies of scale.
Komp’s Practical Photovoltaics shall become a comprehensive collection of fundamental solar panel knowledge. Mechanisms within its content such as concentrators, batteries, conductive fingers, and substrates will serve as focal points for developmental work. Concentrator lens systems could decrease in cost and increase in magnification power for increased energy collection with denser photon flow per unit area of each solar cell. Heat may not escape with a concentrators above the solar panels, so passive and active cooling techniques should help prevent heat damage to the contacts. Tracking systems coupled with the concentrators can adjust the solar panel and concentrators positions relative to the sun’s positions as it changes intraday and interday. Improved contacts such as palladium silver lattice structures instead of fingers may increase pervasiveness and current conduction to the contacts. Increased solar exposure would result in increased energy retrieval, so improved battery technology should complement the solar panel improvements. Voltage variant battery volumes would require compliant mechanical housing. Thermal management and the above mentioned improvements may mitigate geographical effects such as location dependent temperature variations for required power = [AmpsHours_consumed*SafetyFactor*LocationCoefficient] and required storage = [AmpHours_consumed*9.2*rated_temperature/actual_temperature]. Electrochemical and electromechanical should enable a future with efficient solar energy conversion and energy storage.
January 11, 2009
well, for what it is, you really couldn't ask for more. i am very glad i put my highly abstract and equation-intensive solar book (Physics of Solar Cells) on hold to read this. chapter one lays out the underlying physics with almost no equations but with lots of good graphs and diagrams and no skimping on concepts. the rest of the book has tons of good stuff about the different candidate materials and their properties, as well as manufacturing methods and very practical info on how an actual, real solar cell is put together and what causes them to fail and where you need to put a diode and what kind of solder to use, etc.
only two problems. first, the book is certainly dated. the first ed was published 1981 (and unfortunately this may be what your local library has). 3rd ed was 1995, and this is the "3rd revised", 2001. but frankly i think there was not much revision, and a lot of the references are from the 70's. basically, this is 10+ years old, which is a long time if you want up-to-date knowledge.
second, the author has spent a lot of time in industry, and there is a lot of useless filler stuff about this company buying some other company and trying to build a factory but then going bankrupt blah blah blah. or his personal commentary about government funding of research and the politics of getting utility companies to buy excess electricity from residential rooftop systems. absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with "practical photovoltaics". but this stuff becomes easy to spot and skim over.
but as a first introduction, it gets a very strong recommendation.
only two problems. first, the book is certainly dated. the first ed was published 1981 (and unfortunately this may be what your local library has). 3rd ed was 1995, and this is the "3rd revised", 2001. but frankly i think there was not much revision, and a lot of the references are from the 70's. basically, this is 10+ years old, which is a long time if you want up-to-date knowledge.
second, the author has spent a lot of time in industry, and there is a lot of useless filler stuff about this company buying some other company and trying to build a factory but then going bankrupt blah blah blah. or his personal commentary about government funding of research and the politics of getting utility companies to buy excess electricity from residential rooftop systems. absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with "practical photovoltaics". but this stuff becomes easy to spot and skim over.
but as a first introduction, it gets a very strong recommendation.
June 25, 2008
Only for those really interested in photovoltaic cells. Since I'm not an engineer or scientist, the first chapter was a bit too technical. But the rest of the book was easier to comprehend. The book gives you insight into how PV cells work, the applications as well as the limitations. This 3rd revision is a few years old, so there have been other advances since then. However, it does lay a good foundation into understanding PV cells. One big revelation I came away with is the fact that hydrogen, for all the hype going around, is a storage mechanism for energy (electricity). It is not and will never be a primary fuel source like fossil fuels. It will take another energy source (like solar) to make hydrogen. Though the process of converting solar to hydrogen is highly inefficient right now. Hopefully, this will change with well funded research.
June 6, 2018
This is a technical book that gives Photovoltaic manufacturing concepts and then moves into practical uses and applications. You need to push through the technical to get to the practical.
Content is a bit dated but mostly relevant.
Content is a bit dated but mostly relevant.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews