Solar Energy: Fundamentals, Design, Modeling And Applications

SOLAR ENERGY – Fundamentals, Design, Modelling & Applications by Tiwari, GN ; Narosa Publishing House Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, pp 525, price Rs. 350

G N Tiwari is a Professor in Department of Energy, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. Author has to his credit eight books on Solar Energy, Renewable Energy Resources and Greenhouse Technology for Controlled Environment etc, along with number of papers & publications.
In India the energy problem is very serious. One of the promising options is to make more extensive use of renewable sources of energy derived from the sun. Accordingly extensive research & academic work is being under taken in the field of solar energy. The literature on the subject of solar energy is already large & is expanding at a fast pace. Present edition is a step forward in the same direction.
Solar Energy: Fundamentals, Design, Modelling, and Applications offers a comprehensive but accessible treatment of solar energy, from its basic principles and applications to its economics aspects. Beginning with an overview of the sun's structure, the properties of its radiation, and the rudiments of heat transfer, the author presents in-depth discussions on the design, construction, and performance of solar thermal devices and photovoltaic systems. Author explores numerous applications including air and water heating systems, crop drying, water distillation, and biogas digestion. Because the ultimate success or failure of a solar device or application will often hinge on financial considerations, the author also devotes an entire chapter to economic analysis, covering topics such as cash flow diagrams, cost comparisons, and the effects of depreciation. Appendices provide conversion units, radiation tables, properties of materials, vapor pressure tables, heating values of combustibles, and an extensive bibliography.

The salient features of this book are:

• Reflects many of the developments that have taken place in solar technologies & devices in the last decade
• Incorporate a chapter on economic analysis of solar thermal systems
• Provides a brief but comprehensive treatment of other methods like photovoltaic conversion, wind tower, etc.
• About three hundred thirty figures, one hundred eighty solved examples with fifty-five tables. Large number of problems with hints.
• Appendix & complete list of references for deeper analysis & further studies

The book is well structured. The contents of book are spread out in fourteen closely integrated chapters. Chapter I describes the basic correlation between sun’s radiation, atmosphere & earth angles etc. In this chapter on Introduction, the author mentions about instruments for measuring solar radiation, but has not given any figures/photographs for Pyranometer & Sunshine Recorder. It would have been added advantage if the solar radiation maps were added.
Chapters II describe the basic knowledge of various solar devices. Chapter III & IV discussed in detail about design & performance of flat plate collector & evacuated tabular collector respectively. A steady state thermal model of solar water heating system, heat exchanger & its application for space heating has been discussed in chapter V. Solar air heater & crop drying system have been covered in chapter VI & VII respectively. Solar concentrators & its applications have been discussed in chapter VIII. Purification of brackish/saline water by solar distillation has been discussed in chapter IX. Various space heating/cooling concepts & their steady state analysis have been described in chapter X. Other applications of solar energy (Solar cooker, solar refrigeration, swimming pool heating & solar fraction etc.) & thermal energy storage have been dealt in chapter XI & XII. Chapter XIII has been used to discuss about the basic of photovoltaic system with examples.
Last chapter deals with economics of solar thermal systems with & without depreciation, effect of tax has also been considered.
The book is helpful & provides a suitable text for teaching the subject to engineering & science students, as well as a reference book for practicing professionals. It seems that material is based on author’s research experience & his experience of teaching the subject for a number of years to postgraduate & final year undergraduate students. In this book author has focused in detail on collection & storage of solar energy for thermal applications. The book gives comprehensive analysis of development of solar energy technologies that actually exist throughout the world & worth reading.

SOLAR ENERGY – Fundamentals, Design, Modelling & Applications by Tiwari, GN ; Narosa Publishing House Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, pp 525, price Rs. 350

G N Tiwari is a Professor in Department of Energy, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. Author has to his credit eight books on Solar Energy, Renewable Energy Resources and Greenhouse Technology for Controlled Environment etc, along with number of papers & publications.
In India the energy problem is very serious. One of the promising options is to make more extensive use of renewable sources of energy derived from the sun. Accordingly extensive research & academic work is being under taken in the field of solar energy. The literature on the subject of solar energy is already large & is expanding at a fast pace. Present edition is a step forward in the same direction.
Solar Energy: Fundamentals, Design, Modelling, and Applications offers a comprehensive but accessible treatment of solar energy, from its basic principles and applications to its economics aspects. Beginning with an overview of the sun's structure, the properties of its radiation, and the rudiments of heat transfer, the author presents in-depth discussions on the design, construction, and performance of solar thermal devices and photovoltaic systems. Author explores numerous applications including air and water heating systems, crop drying, water distillation, and biogas digestion. Because the ultimate success or failure of a solar device or application will often hinge on financial considerations, the author also devotes an entire chapter to economic analysis, covering topics such as cash flow diagrams, cost comparisons, and the effects of depreciation. Appendices provide conversion units, radiation tables, properties of materials, vapor pressure tables, heating values of combustibles, and an extensive bibliography.

The salient features of this book are:

• Reflects many of the developments that have taken place in solar technologies & devices in the last decade
• Incorporate a chapter on economic analysis of solar thermal systems
• Provides a brief but comprehensive treatment of other methods like photovoltaic conversion, wind tower, etc.
• About three hundred thirty figures, one hundred eighty solved examples with fifty-five tables. Large number of problems with hints.
• Appendix & complete list of references for deeper analysis & further studies

The book is well structured. The contents of book are spread out in fourteen closely integrated chapters. Chapter I describes the basic correlation between sun’s radiation, atmosphere & earth angles etc. In this chapter on Introduction, the author mentions about instruments for measuring solar radiation, but has not given any figures/photographs for Pyranometer & Sunshine Recorder. It would have been added advantage if the solar radiation maps were added.
Chapters II describe the basic knowledge of various solar devices. Chapter III & IV discussed in detail about design & performance of flat plate collector & evacuated tabular collector respectively. A steady state thermal model of solar water heating system, heat exchanger & its application for space heating has been discussed in chapter V. Solar air heater & crop drying system have been covered in chapter VI & VII respectively. Solar concentrators & its applications have been discussed in chapter VIII. Purification of brackish/saline water by solar distillation has been discussed in chapter IX. Various space heating/cooling concepts & their steady state analysis have been described in chapter X. Other applications of solar energy (Solar cooker, solar refrigeration, swimming pool heating & solar fraction etc.) & thermal energy storage have been dealt in chapter XI & XII. Chapter XIII has been used to discuss about the basic of photovoltaic system with examples.
Last chapter deals with economics of solar thermal systems with & without depreciation, effect of tax has also been considered.
The book is helpful & provides a suitable text for teaching the subject to engineering & science students, as well as a reference book for practicing professionals. It seems that material is based on author’s research experience & his experience of teaching the subject for a number of years to postgraduate & final year undergraduate students. In this book author has focused in detail on collection & storage of solar energy for thermal applications. The book gives comprehensive analysis of development of solar energy technologies that actually exist throughout the world & worth reading.