Time to Shine E-Book

Michael Grupp

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 120

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

The perfect primer for the engineer, scientist, and layperson alike to learn about the practical applications of solar energy technology and how it is being used today, all over the world. Solar energy heats our homes, lights our city streets, and provides power worldwide. As solar energy becomes increasingly more important in all of our lives, it becomes increasingly more important to learn how it works and how it can be implemented. Solar energy has been the "new" energy for a long time. As this technology becomes a larger and larger piece of the energy spectrum, it is increasingly important for engineers, scientists, managers, and other decision-makers to understand solar energy technology and its applications. This book, written in easy-to-understand language, with plentiful color photos and illustrations, is the perfect primer on solar energy for anyone working in the energy industry or anyone who wants to learn more about solar energy technology. With a focus on its current uses, including developing countries, this book shows examples of actual and potential uses of solar energy. It presents an original view of solar energy technology, as well as tools for the understanding of consequences of energy-related decisions. Parts of this book draw to a large extent on the work of the Synopsis Institute in Lodève, France, a leading research and development firm in the area of solar energy technology and its practical uses in our everyday lives.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Half Title page

Title page

Copyright page

Summary

About this book

Terminology

Introduction: Solar Energy

Chapter 1: The Incoming Solar Radiation

The Availability and Power Density Issue – Fossil vs. Solar Energy

The Need for Tracking

Chapter 2: The Basic Solar Energy Heat Transfers

Heat Transfer – Experiment and Simulation

Solar Energy Heat Transfer Modes

Chapter 3: Solar Thermal Energy Product Requirements

Chapter 4: Selected Solar Thermal Applications

Solar Water Heaters (SWH)

Solar Space Heating

Active and Passive Solar Energy

Purely Active Solar Heating

Large-Scale Glazed Solar Thermal Plants

Solar High Temperature Applications

Cookers

Autoclave Sterilizers

Direct UV Pasteurizers

Solar Driers

Solar Thermal Energy – The “Software”

Chapter 5: Solar PV

PV – Basic Characteristics

Shading

The Temperature Effect

Electricity and Grids

PV Applications

Chapter 6: Conclusions Beyond Solar

Case Studies

Time to Shine

Scrivener Publishing

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Beverly, MA 01915-6106

Scrivener Publishing Collections Editors

James E. R. Couper

Ken Dragoon

Richard Erdlac

Rafiq Islam

Norman Lieberman

Peter Martin

W. Kent Muhlbauer

Andrew Y. C. Nee

S. A. Sherif

James G. Speight

Publishers at Scrivener

Martin Scrivener ([email protected])

Phillip Carmical ([email protected])

Copyright © 2012 by Scrivener Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

Co-published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey, and Scrivener Publishing LLC, Salem, Massachusetts.Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN 978-1-118-01621-3

Summary

Starting from the incoming solar radiation, a subjective overview of the status quo of solar energy use is presented, including the relevant energy transformation processes, solar materials, components, performance and durability requirements. Selected historical, available, and not yet available products are shown, as well as recent and historica examples of solar technology, in particular architecture.

Technical and general development aspects are discussed, including test and monitoring methods, use rate metering, and market introduction experiences.

Outlooks are presented on solar energy in a crowded world, evolving grids, and energy planning aspects.

Reflections in a concentrating solar cooker

(Photo: Chris Butters).

About this Book

This book presents an original view of solar energy technology, as well as tools for the understanding of energy-related decisions taken by present and future stakeholders. Particular attention is paid to background phenomena that are not easily found in traditional textbooks. To avoid reader somnolence (falling asleep), questions, smart and naïve, are asked by a sometimes annoying character called the “alert reader” who shares them with a twinkle in the eye. Information concerning the alert reader is set infat italics.

This book can be used as a source of technical information, it can also be read like a coffee table book, by looking at the pictures, reading the figure captions, and skipping over the technical parts. Where no reference is shown, the source is work – published or unpublished – by Synopsis (see http://www.synopsis.org/index1024/eng/indexeng.html, 1997–2006).

Terminology

The term solar thermal energy (sometimes also labeled direct use of solar energy) denotes:

The transformation and use of the thermal energy of the sun’s incoming rays, by any means of heat transfer (e.g., transmission, reflection, absorption, emission, conduction, convection, phase change, heat storage…)

The use for any application, be it thermal or electric.

It can be somewhat confusing to find the generation of electricity by thermal techniques (such as thermodynamic cycles in power plants) listed under solar thermal energy, whereas the term solar electricity denotes only PV electricity generation. However, this terminology, as they say, avoids fastidious cross-referencing, and is therefore adopted here.

Also, thealert reader(you will meet her or him quite regularly in the following pages) might notice that isolated parts of text are set infat italics, indicating that the corresponding text is a personal opinion and should be taken, as my father said (and the Romans before him), “cum grano salis,” with a grain of salt.