Harvesting Solar Energy (eBook)

This book deals with existing technologies of solar energy conversion as well as novel  methods under consideration in academic and commercial R&D sites. The experimental results presented in the work are well crafted by both analytical and first-principle numerical simulations. The book highlights the real potential for economically justified use of solar energy at every household and/or commercial solar farms. The ever-improving methods of thin-film epitaxial growth combined with a better understanding of the sun light absorption and antireflection are highlighted.  While there was a period when the material quality was considered to be cornerstone of the conversion efficiency followed by substantial efforts to optimize multiple-cell architecture, it became clear that many old ideas such as variable band gap, multi-junction intrinsic region, as well as solar tracking mechanisms offer new possibilities for improved harvesting of energy. Amplifying the importance of materials selection efficient design of the photo-voltaic elements various aspects of the production cost and the impact on the environment are discussed. In addition, the eligibility of the proposed production technologies in the current photovoltaic market are evaluated and confirmed.

Dr. Sam Milshtein is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Massachusetts at Lowell since 1987.  From 1990 he is the director of the Advanced Electronic Technology Center of UMass.  During 1998-1999 he served as Assistant Dean of Engineering for Research, UMass, Lowell, MA. He received his M. Sc. Degree in Semiconductors from State University of Odessa (Ukraine), and Ph. D. from University of Jerusalem (Israel).  Dr. Mil'shtein worked for semiconductor companies in Russia and the USA, was teaching at Russian, Israeli and US Colleges, served as research fellow in Russian Academy of Sciences and at AT&T Bell Laboratories.  At age 23 he was the youngest professor of Semiconductor Electronics Department at Polytechnic College of Kherson (Ukraine).  Working as a member of the research staff in the Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Science, he received in 1971 the First Prize of ISSP of the Russian Academy of Science for the discovery of dislocation based p-n junctions in Si and Ge.  In May 2015, for achievements in research, Prof. S. Mil'shtein was elected to be a member (Academician) of Academy of Science, Republic of Kazakhstan. Prof. S. Mil'shtein served as member of organizing committees at numerous international conferences on microelectronics and nanotechnology. His publication list carries over 300 publications, patents, and conference presentations.  His current research work covers high speed quantum electronics, design of solar sell systems, imaging systems for biometrics and medical engineering applications.