Solar Energy (Energy and the Environment)

Drawing on the authors’ extensive research and project implementation around the globe, Solar Energy: Renewable Energy and the Environment covers solar energy resources, thermal and photovoltaic systems, and the economics involved in using solar energy. It provides background theory on solar energy as well as useful technical information for implementing solar energy applications.

The book details the strengths, weaknesses, and applications of solar power generation technologies. It discusses the design and implementation of often-overlooked solar technologies, such as solar water pumping, distillation, detoxification, refrigeration, and village power. The text also examines photovoltaic power and how it is best suited for remote-site applications with small to moderate power requirements. Examples, real-world case studies, and lessons learned from technical failures illustrate how to best implement solar energy projects.

The time for clean energy solutions is here. Only through energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies can modern civilization extricate itself from the gathering "perfect energy storm." Focusing on one of the keys to lessen the potentially harmful impacts of the storm, this book discusses how to increase energy production from a clean energy source―the sun.

Robert Foster is a program manager in the College of Engineering at the Southwest Region Solar Experiment Station and the Institute for Energy and the Environment at New Mexico State University. He is currently on assignment in Kabul as the deputy chief of party for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Afghanistan Water, Agriculture, and Technology Transfer Program.

Majid Ghassemi is a visiting research scientist in the Institute for Engineering Research and Applications at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech), where he is currently conducting research on energy-efficient wall panels for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Alma Cota is a chemistry professor and solar researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. She previously worked as a photovoltaic research assistant in the Southwest Region Solar Experiment Station at New Mexico State University.