Principles of Solar Engineering, Fourth Edition addresses the need for solar resource assessment and highlights improvements and advancements involving photovoltaics and solar thermal technologies, grid power, and energy storage.

With updates made to every chapter, this edition discusses new technologies in photovoltaics, such as organic, dye-sensitized, and perovskite solar cells, and the design of solar systems and power plants. It also features battery energy storage for distributed and bulk storage and electrical integration with the main solar systems. In addition, the book includes the latest advancements in concentrating solar power plants, such as supercritical CO2 cycle. Readers will benefit from discussions of the economics of the solar energy systems, which apply to all the systems covered in the subsequent chapters.

Nine Appendices are available for download by all readers.

Features:

Discusses new forecasting models in solar radiation that are important to the economics and bankability of large solar energy systems, such as power plants.

Includes expanded coverage of high temperature thermal storage for Concentrating Solar Thermal Power (CSP), including thermal energy transport using heat exchangers.

Features a new chapter on solar seawater desalination.

Includes new and additional end-of-chapter example problems and exercises.

A Solutions Manual will be available for instructors.

The book is intended for senior undergraduate and graduate engineering students taking Energy Engineering and Solar Energy courses.