Photovoltaic Science and Technology

Solar photovoltaics (SPV) forms an integral part of renewable energy systems that are crucial for combating global warming. Written to serve as an ideal text for students, researchers and industrial personnel, it discusses the principles of operation of photovoltaic devices, their limitations, choice of materials, and maximum efficiencies. It covers in depth discussion of new materials and devices based on organics and perovskites, and a flow-chart of the manufacture of Si, GaAs and CdTe cells, their characterization and testing. It highlights characterization, testing and reliability of solar PV modules, comparison of fixed and tracking SPV systems using concentrator cells. Economical aspects of grid-connected and stand-alone systems and a wide range of applications, from solar pumps, and street lighting to large power plants is covered in the text. Several aspects such as cell and module manufacture, characterization, testing, reliability, and system design are described considering commercial SPV manufacturing plants.

Figures; Tables; Preface; Acknowledgement; 1. Introduction to solar energy and solar photovoltaics; 2. Crystalline silicon cells; 3. Thin film solar cells; 4. III-V compound, concentrator and photoelectrochemical cells; 5. Organic and polymer solar cells; 6. Manufacture of c-Si and III-V based high efficiency solar PV cells; 7. Manufacture of solar PV modules; 8. Characterization, testing, and reliability of solar PV module; 9. Overview of solar PV system technology and design; 10. Design and implementation of off-grid and on-grid SPV systems; Index.

J. N. Roy is Visiting Professor at the Advanced Technology Development Centre (ATDC) and School of Energy Science and Engineering (SESE) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Presently he is teaching two courses related to SPV: 'Renewable Energy Sources' and 'Solar Photo Voltaic Technology and Systems'. He has taught courses including IC fabrication, device modeling, circuit simulation and modeling, analog and mixed signal design at Panjab University, Chandigarh. He has about 90 publications in journals and conferences and co-authored a book titled Introduction of VLSI Design and Technology (2010). He is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Fellow of the Indian Microelectronics Society (IMS) and was elected a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.
D. N. Bose is a leading researcher on Semiconductor Materials and Devices. At the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (1977–1998) his group successfully completed major SPV projects on `Polycrystalline Silicon from rice-husk' and `Study of PEC solar cells using III-V compounds and ternary alloys'. His other major projects were on `Solid electrolytes and rechargeable Lithium batteries', the `Growth of single crystal Indium Phosphide' and 'Semiconductor Lasers', in which InP/ InGaAs Quantum Well lasers were fabricated by MOVPE. He was Visiting Professor at the Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He obtained his M.Sc. in Radiophysics and Electronics from the University of Calcutta in 1959 after which he was awarded an ICI (India) Technical Scholarship for doctoral studies in Semiconductor Physics at the University of Reading (1961–65). After his Ph.D., he joined Pennsylvania State University as Research Associate and worked on semiconductor radiation dosimetry and ferroelectric materials. He was Visiting Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1985–86) and Visiting Scientist at MIT in 2003. He has o