Product Description
From the Publisher
From the Author
When I first started investigating and using solar power, I looked for a book to help get me started - a solar power book that would teach me the fundaments of the technology: to explain how it worked and help me avoid the mistakes that others had made.
To my surprise, no such book existed. Books were often ten or fifteen years out of date, or simply explained how to fit the various system components together without explaining the reasons behind the configuration.
I read what books were available and I gained experience by using photovoltaics on a number of different projects. I made mistakes along the way and learnt from other professionals. As I became more experienced, I designed some unique photovoltaic installations that had been rejected by others as impossible and learnt how to get the very best out of solar photovoltaics - even in difficult environments with high levels of shade.
I reached the stage where I could design and implement solar photovoltaic systems more reliably and more effectively than many other professionals. I found that my design methods ensured I could predict the power generation of a system before it was built with a greater level of accuracy than most other people and guaranteed the project would be successful.
I was being asked more and more to explain how solar power systems worked and to pass on my knowledge to other people. I looked again to see what books and other resources were available to help other people, and I was shocked to find that many of the books and resources that were out of date seven years ago are the same books and resources available today.
Solar power is a fast moving technology. Reading a book written ten or twenty years ago on the subject may be extremely good at explaining twenty year old technology - and to be fair at a very superficial level, much of the technology is similar, but has huge limitations when planning a new system today.
Many of the newer books still adhered to the "monkey see, monkey do" principle for designing simple solar photovoltaic systems -but without explaining the fundaments of the technology that allows someone to understand what they are doing. Learning how to screw together a PV panel, a controller and a battery may be a useful instruction manual for fitting a simple solar photovoltaic system together, but achieves nothing in terms of teaching you how to properly design a system: considering why you should do things in a certain way, teaching you how to fine tune and improve your system, or allowing you to use your new-found knowledge to build better and more ambitious solar photovoltaic systems in the future.
So many solar photovoltaic systems fail because the project was not properly analysed or because the photovoltaic system was badly designed and set up. Simply following a fixed set of instructions does not provide the necessary level of expertise required to make a success of a photovoltaic project.
So when I decided to write The Solar Electricity Handbook, I decided to set the record straight. I started by explaining the fundaments of the technology - the how and why of solar photovoltaic systems. Guiding the reader through the fundaments, I then go on to specific examples of solar power systems, explaining how they are designed and what makes the chosen design successful.
I explain how to identify whether your project is suitable for a solar photovoltaic system, and suggest alternatives for when photovoltaics is not the answer.
I explain the seven steps from setting the project scope, through the analysis and design stages and through to implementation that every successful solar photovoltaic installation must go through. Finally I explain how to fine tune a solar photovoltaic system and how to identify and resolve common photovoltaic faults.
Because solar photovoltaics is such a fast moving industry, I update the Solar Electricity Handbook every year - making sure the information is always up-to-date and fit for purpose: providing information that is two or three years out of date is simply not an option in such a fast moving industry.
I have tried to write a book that was suitable for both enthusiastic DIYers wanting to use solar for their own projects and for professional architects and builders who, more and more, are being asked to advise on renewable energy. I also wanted to write a book that was suitable for someone considering their first steps on the ladder on a career in solar photovoltaics.
Whilst these may seem three very different target audiences, the information that is important when considering solar photovoltaic systems is relevant to all three groups. I spent a lot of time, and had a huge amount of assistance from my editorial team, ensuring that the book is easy to read, presenting the facts in a clear and concise manner.
To go with the book, my publishers have commissioned a web site that provides completely up-to-date information and useful online solar calculators to help people with their analysis and design phases of their solar photovoltaic system. The web site also includes a questions and answers facility to enable people to easily get in touch with me and ask questions about their solar requirements. Today, that web site provides some of the best solar analysis tools available on the web and is being constantly updated and improved.
My aim with The Solar Electricity Handbook is to encourage people to investigate how solar photovoltaic systems can help them and to help people to design and implement better solar power systems that work reliably throughout the year. If I succeed in doing that, I will have achieved my goals.
From the Back Cover
Generating electricity from sunlight alone is a powerful resource, with applications and benefits throughout the world. But how does it work? What is it suitable for? How much does it cost? How do I install it?
The best selling internet-linked book answers all these questions and shows you how to use the power of the sun to generate electricity yourself.
The website that accompanies this book includes online solar calculators and tools to simplify your solar electricity installation, to ensure that building your solar energy system is as straightforward and successful as possible.
About the Author
Specialising in off grid electric applications, Michael has designed photovoltaic electric systems for projects as diverse as powering on-street vending machines to charging electric vehicles.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Directly or indirectly, our sun provides all the power we need to exist and supports all life forms. The sun drives our climate and our weather. Without it, our world would be a frozen wasteland of ice-covered rock.
Solar electricity is a wonderful concept. Taking power from the sun and using it to power electrical equipment is a terrific idea. There are no ongoing electricity bills, no reliance on a power socket: free energy that does not harm the planet!
Of course, the reality is a little different from that. Yet generating electricity from sunlight alone is a powerful resource with applications and benefits throughout the world.
But how does it work? For what is it suitable? What are the limitations? How much does it cost? How do you install it? This book answers all these questions and shows you how to use the power of the sun to generate electricity yourself.
Along the way, I will also expose a few myths about some of the wilder claims made about solar energy and I will show you where solar power may only be part of the solution. Although undoubtedly there are some significant environmental benefits of solar electricity, I will also be talking about where its environmental credentials have been oversold.
If you simply want to gain an understanding about how solar electricity works then this handbook will provide you with everything you need to know.
If you are planning to install your own solar power system, this handbook is a comprehensive source of information that will help you understand solar and guide you in the design and installation of your own solar electric system.
If you are planning your own solar installation, it will help if you have some basic DIY skills. Whilst I include a chapter that explains the basics of electricity, a familiarity with wiring is also of benefit for smaller projects and essential if you are planning a larger project such as powering a house with solar.
I will keep the descriptions as straightforward as possible. There is some mathematics and science involved. This is essential to allow you to plan a solar electric installation successfully. However, none of it is complicated and there are plenty of short cuts to keep things simple.
The book includes a number of example projects that are useful to show how you can use solar electricity. Some of these are very straightforward, such as providing electrical light for a shed or garage, for example, or fitting a solar panel to the roof of a caravan or boat. Others are more complicated, such as installing photovoltaic solar panels to a house.
I also show some rather more unusual examples, such as discussing the possibilities for solar electric motorbikes and cars. These are examples of what can be achieved using solar power alone, along with a little ingenuity and determination.
I have used one main example throughout the book: providing solar generated electricity for a holiday home, which does not have access to grid electricity (sometimes referred to as mains electricity). I have created this example to show the issues and pitfalls that you may encounter along the way, based on real life issues and practical experience.
A web site accompanies this book. It has lots of useful information, along with lists of suppliers and a suite of on-line solar energy calculators that will simplify the cost analysis and design processes.The rapidly changing world of solar energy
I wrote the first edition of this book early in 2009. It is not a long time ago. Yet this 2011 issue of my book is the fourth edition. In every edition, I have had to rewrite significant sections of the book and significantly update the web site in order to keep up with the rapid pace of change.
The rapid improvement in the technology and the freefall in costs since early 2009 have transformed the industry. Systems that were completely unaffordable or impractical just two years ago are now cost effective.
Solar panels available today are smaller, more robust and better value for money than ever before. For many more applications, solar is the most cost effective way to generate electricity.
Over the coming years, all the signs are that the technology and the industry will continue to evolve at a similar pace. In the next three years, solar will become the cheapest form of electricity generator, undercutting traditionally low cost electricity generators such as coal-fired power stations. We are likely to see solar energy incorporated into more everyday objects such as laptop computers, mobile phones, backpacks and clothing. Meanwhile, solar energy is going to cause a revolution for large areas of Asia and Africa where entire communities currently have no access to electricity.
As an easy to use and low carbon energy generator, solar is without equal. Its potential for changing the way we think about energy in the future is huge.
Solar electricity and solar heating
Solar electricity is produced from sunlight shining on photovoltaic solar panels. This is different to solar hot water or solar heating systems where the power of the sun is used to heat water or air.
Solar heating systems are beyond the remit of this book. That said, there is some useful information on surveying and positioning your solar panels later on that is relevant to both solar photovoltaics and solar heating systems.
If you are planning to use solar power to generate heat, solar heating systems are far more efficient than solar electricity, requiring far smaller panels to generate the same amount of energy.
