Physics of Solar Energy

C. JULIAN CHEN is an Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia University. His research interests include scanning tunneling microscopy, mathematical models of the human voice, and utilization of solar energy. Before going into academia, he spent fifteen years in IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he authored Introduction to Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and invented a widely used algorithm for Chinese language speech recognition.

Preface xv List of Figures xix List of Tables xxv Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Solar Energy 1 1.2 Go beyond Petroleum 5 1.3 Other Renewable Energy Resources 8 1.4 Solar Photovoltaics Primer 22 1.5 Above Physics 26 Problems 40 Chapter 2: Nature of Solar Radiation 41 2.1 Light as Electromagnetic Waves 41 2.2 Optics of Thin Films 47 2.3 Blackbody Radiation 52 2.4 Photoelectric Effect and Concept of Photons 58 2.5 Einstein s Derivation of Blackbody Formula 63 Problems 65 Chapter 3: Origin of Solar Energy 67 3.1 Basic Parameters of the Sun 68 3.2 Kelvin Helmholtz Time Scale 70 3.3 Energy Source of the Sun 72 Problems 74 Chapter 4: Tracking Sunlight 77 4.1 Rotation of Earth: Latitude and Longitude 77 4.2 Celestial Sphere 78 4.3 Treatment in Solar Time 84 4.4 Treatment in Standard Time 95 Problems 103 Chapter 5: Interaction of Sunlight with Earth 105 5.1 Interaction of Radiation with Matter 105 5.2 Interaction of Sunlight with Atmosphere 108 5.3 Penetration of Solar Energy into Earth 114 Problems 117 Chapter 6: Thermodynamics of Solar Energy 119 6.1 Definitions 119 6.2 First Law of Thermodynamics 121 6.3 Second Law of Thermodynamics 123 6.4 Thermodynamic Functions 127 6.5 Ideal Gas 130 6.6 Ground Source Heat Pump and Air Conditioning 133 Problems 142 Chapter 7: Quantum Transitions 143 7.1 Basic Concepts of Quantum Mechanics 143 7.2 Many-Electron Systems 150 7.3 The Golden Rule 154 7.4 Interactions with Photons 159 Problems 160 Chapter 8: pn -Junctions 161 8.1 Semiconductors 161 8.2 Formation of a pn -Junction 166 8.3 Analysis of pn -Junctions 170 Problems 176 Chapter 9: Semiconductor Solar Cells 177 9.1 Basic Concepts 177 9.2 The Shockley Queisser Limit 183 9.3 Nonradiative Recombination Processes 191 9.4 Antireflection Coatings 194 9.5 Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells 200 9.6 Thin-Film Solar Cells 204 9.7 Tandem Solar Cells 207 Problems 209 Chapter 10: Solar Electrochemistry 211 10.1 Physics of Photosynthesis 211 10.2 Artificial Photosynthesis 219 10.3 Genetically Engineered Algae 219 10.4 Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells 219 10.5 Bilayer Organic Solar Cells 222 Problems 224 Chapter 11: Solar Thermal Energy 225 11.1 Early Solar Thermal Applications 225 11.2 Solar Heat Collectors 228 11.3 Solar Water Heaters 240 11.4 Solar Thermal Power Systems 242 Problems 250 Chapter 12: Energy Storage 253 12.1 Sensible Heat Energy Storage 253 12.2 Phase Transition Thermal Storage 257 12.3 Rechargeable Batteries 262 12.4 Solar Energy and Electric Vehicles 269 Problems 272 Chapter 13: Building with Sunshine 273 13.1 Early Solar Architecture 274 13.2 Building Materials 275 13.3 Example of Holistic Design 280 13.4 Land Usage of Solar Communities 283 Problems 286 Appendix A: Energy Unit Conversion 287 Appendix B: Spherical Trigonometry 289 B.1 Spherical Triangle 289 B.2 Cosine Formula 290 B.3 Sine Formula 291 B.4 Formula C 292 Problems 294 Appendix C: Quantum Mechanics Primer 295 C.1 Harmonic Oscillator 295 C.2 Angular Momentum 297 C.3 Hydrogen Atom 300 Appendix D: Statistics of Particles 303 D.1 Maxwell Boltzmann Statistics 304 D.2 Fermi Dirac Statistics 306 Appendix E: AM1.5 Reference Solar Spectrum 307 List of Symbols 313 Bibliography 315 Index 321