''The Solar Generation: Childhood and Adolescence of Terrestrial Photovoltaics'' is a 2018 book by
Philip R Wolfe published by
John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, i ...
and the
IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...
. It describes the early years of the solar power sector, covering in particular the years between 1973 and 1999.
The author's foreword says
this was a period when solar power was "discounted as an irrelevance", but he "confidently predicts that it will be the world's largest energy source" within his lifetime.
The book covers specifically
solar photovoltaic
A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and co ...
power generation for terrestrial uses. It does not deal with
space applications of solar cells, nor
solar thermal energy
Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors.
Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United ...
including
CSP
CSP may refer to:
Education
* College Student Personnel, an academic discipline
* Commonwealth Supported Place, a category in Australian education
* Concordia University (Saint Paul, Minnesota), US
Organizations
* Caledonian Steam Packet Compa ...
.
Book Volumes and Chapters
The book is presented in three parts:
Part I: A biography of terrestrial photovoltaics
This part tells the story of the period from various perspectives; research and technology, industrial development, applications of solar generation, economics and the geo-political context.
It has chapters entitled:
# Origins of terrestrial solar power;
# What is photovoltaics?;
# Terrestrial solar applications;
# Photovoltaic research;
# PV business and markets;
# Economics of solar generation;
# Solar industry participants;
# Geo-politics of the early solar sector; and
# The next generation
Part II: Encyclopaedia; People, organisations, events
Central to this section is a 'Who's Who' of the leading participants in the early solar sector:
* Profiles of sixty-six leading pioneers of the time. In total over 200 people are mentioned.
* Profiles of forty-two companies active in the early PV sector; together with thirteen leading research institutions; and ten national and international agencies. Nearly 100 others are also mentioned.
Part II also includes compendia enumerating specific records and achievements in research and technology; national and international policies towards the sector; prizes, awards, conferences and expositions.
Part III: Dictionary; References, glossary and indexes
This very comprehensive reference section includes Acknowledgements; Citations; Bibliography; Glossary and Indexes
See also
*
Solar photovoltaics
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially u ...
*
Solar Power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic ef ...
*
Renewable energy commercialization
Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include ...
*
List of books about renewable energy
This is a bibliography of renewable energy.
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished). About 16% of global final energ ...
References
External links
The Solar Generation at Wiley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Generation, The
Books about energy issues
Renewable energy commercialization