PHYSICS OF Solar Energy Science/Physics/Energy The definitive guide to the science of solar energy You hold in your hands the first, and only, truly comprehensive guide to the most abundant and most promising source of alternative energy—solar power. In recent years, all major countries in the world have been calling for an energy revolution. The renewable energy industry will drive a vigorous expansion of the global economy and create more “green” jobs. The use of fossil fuels to power our way of living is moving toward an inevitable end, with sources of coal, petroleum, and natural gas being fiercely depleted. Solar energy offers a ubiquitous, inexhaustible, clean, and highly efficient way of meeting the energy needs of the twenty-first century. This book is designed to give the reader a solid footing in the general and basic physics of solar energy, which will be the basis of research and development in new solar engineering technologies in the years to come. As solar technologies like solar cells, solar thermal power generators, solar water heaters, solar photochemistry applications, and solar space heating-cooling systems become more and more prominent, it has become essential that the next generation of energy experts—both in academia and industry—have a one-stop resource for learning the basics behind the science, applications, and technologies afforded by solar energy. This book fills that need by laying the groundwork for the projected rapid expansion of future solar projects.

The main objective of writing the three volume 'Advances in Solar Energy Technology' is to consolidate all the relevant latest information available in the field of solar energy (applied and theoretical in nature) and to as sist both the students ( i. e. undergraduate, postgraduate, research scholars etc.) and the professionals (i.e. consulting, design and contracting firms). I have discussed each and every topic in depth rather than a cursory overview. All the material required on a particular topic is included in the chapter and I have wherever possible given useful relationships in equation, graphical and tabular form. It is hoped that this completed Solar Energy Technol ogy will serve the best source material in this field. The first chapter deals with the evacuated tubular col lecors suitable to operate at a temperature of about 150°C with a daily energy collector efficiency in excess of 40 per cent. These collectors thus would be useful for efficient operation of Solar Airconditioning System, Power Generation and Process Heat System. Various advanced features like vacuum insulation, selective black coating, anti-reflective coating, heat pipe, cusp reflector, etc., used in designing this advanced type of collector are discussed separately in this chapter. Transient mathematical model for its perfor mance prediction and different designs of evacuated tubular collectors commercially produced in different countries of the world are described in brief to give the reader a good picture about their scopr and working.