Physics of Solar Energy and Energy Storage

List of Figures xiii List of Tables xix Preface to the Second Edition xxi Preface to the First Edition xxiii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Shaping a More Livable World 1 1.2 Solar Energy 9 1.3 Solar Photovoltaics 12 1.4 A Rechargeable Battery Primer 16 1.5 Other Renewable Energy Resources 21 Chapter 2: Nature of Solar Radiation 37 2.1 Light as Electromagnetic Waves 37 2.2 Interface Phenomena 43 2.3 Blackbody Radiation 51 2.4 Photoelectric Effect and Concept of Photons 58 2.5 Einstein's Derivation of Blackbody Formula 63 Chapter 3: Origin of Solar Energy 67 3.1 Basic Parameters of the Sun 68 3.2 Kelvin-Helmholtz Time Scale 70 3.3 Energy Source of the Sun 72 Chapter 4: Tracking Sunlight 77 4.1 Rotation of Earth: Latitude and Longitude 77 4.2 Celestial Sphere 78 4.3 Treatment in Solar Time 84 4.4 Treatment in Standard Time 94 Chapter 5: Interaction of Sunlight with Earth 105 5.1 Interaction of Radiation with Matter 105 5.2 Interaction of Sunlight with Atmosphere 108 5.3 Penetration of Solar Energy into Earth 111 Chapter 6: Thermodynamics of Solar Energy 117 6.1 Definitions 117 6.2 First Law of Thermodynamics 118 6.3 Second Law of Thermodynamics 121 6.4 Thermodynamic Functions 125 6.5 Ideal Gas 127 6.6 Ground Source Heat Pump and Air Conditioning 131 Chapter 7: A Quantum Mechanics Primer 139 7.1 The Static Schrödinger Equation 140 7.2 Many-Electron Systems 163 7.3 The Chemical Bond 169 7.4 The Solid State 174 7.5 The Dynamic Schrödinger Equation 181 Chapter 8: pn-Junctions 189 8.1 Semiconductors 189 8.2 Formation of a pn-Junction 194 8.3 Analysis of pn-Junctions 198 8.4 Light-Emitting Diodes for Illumination 202 Chapter 9: Semiconductor Solar Cells 211 9.1 Basic Concepts 211 9.2 The Shockley-Queisser Limit 217 9.3 Nonradiative Recombination Processes 225 9.4 Antireflection Coatings 228 9.5 Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells 234 9.6 Thin-Film Solar Cells 238 9.7 Tandem Solar Cells 241 Chapter 10: Solar Photochemistry 245 10.1 Physics of Photosynthesis 245 10.2 Artificial

C. Julian Chen is an adjunct professor and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia University since 2007. Prior to his time as an academic, he spent fifteen years in IBM's TJ Watson Research Center, where he performed research on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). To continue STM research, he served as a Professor of Physics at Hamburg University for three years.