Solar energy

The physics and engineering of photovoltaic conversion, technologies and

systems
 Solar energy
The physics and engineering of photovoltaic conversion, technologies and
systems
Arno HM Smets
Klaus Jäger
Olindo Isabella
René ACMM van Swaaij
Miro Zeman
Contents

Foreword
Dean’s message
Preface
About this Book
Nomenclature
I Introduction
1 Energy
1.1 Some definitions
1.2 Human energy consumption
1.3 Methods of energy conversion
1.4 Exercises
2 Status and prospects of PV technology
3 The working principle of a solar cell
II PV fundamentals
4 Electrodynamic basics
4.1 The electromagnetic theory
4.2 Electromagnetic waves
4.3 Optics of flat interfaces
4.4 Optics in absorptive media
4.5 Continuity and Poisson equations
4.6 Exercises
5 Solar radiation
5.1 The Sun
5.2 Radiometric properties
5.3 Blackbody radiation
 5.4 Wave-particle duality
5.5 Solar spectra
5.6 Exercises
6 Basic semiconductor physics
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Atomic structure
6.3 Doping
6.4 Carrier concentrations
6.5 Transport properties
6.6 Exercises
7 Generation and recombination of electron-hole pairs
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Bandgap-to-bandgap processes
7.3 Shockley–Read–Hall recombination
7.4 Auger recombination
7.5 Surface recombination
7.6 Carrier concentration in non-equilibrium
7.7 Exercises
8 Semiconductor junctions
8.1 p-n homojunctions
8.2 Heterojunctions
8.3 Metal-semiconductor junctions
8.4 Exercises
9 Solar cell parameters and equivalent circuit
9.1 External solar cell parameters
9.2 The external quantum efficiency
9.3 The equivalent circuit
9.4 Exercises