Photovoltaic Laboratory

"""This book helps fill a shortage in modern support material for technical education and training for the rapidly growing photovoltaics systems industry. It is particularly appropriate for the very active US market, since aspects such as regulation and roof structure are regionally specific and some units of measurement in the book are used only in the US and a few other locations, but there is much here to learn for trainee technical staff all over the world. The style is appropriately informal and anecdotal for the technical education levels at which it is directed. The pedagogical concern and experience of the author is evident, for example, in a focus on understanding the principles through simpler tools than the excellent SunEye, for shading analysis."" —Richard Corkish, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia ""The approach [of this book] is good. Making sure the students know enough math and electrical theory is essential if they are to understand the subsequent material. The emphasis on safety is very important and putting it up front makes that point. I like the fact that the book provides material for other important photovoltaic (PV) activity, since if a system is not sold, then it will not be installed."" —Roger Messenger, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA ""The material is written in easy-to-understand layman’s terms while focusing on multiple career areas. I believe this allows instructors the ability to draw from the material what they need in order to provide effective training for the specific career(s) that they may be instructing students for. The materials are written in a simplistic format that should allow students to easily follow the materials while working on the labs. I believe that having the sections on safety and related mathematics is integral to producing successful students. Many of the texts that I have reviewed/used do not have these components and present materials with the assumption that either instructors will automatically cover these materials or that students come to the class with this knowledge already in place. … [This is] a very well-written book that can be integrated into most solar PV training applications. It covers concepts in a well-thought-out manner that follows a logical progression that builds on basics and works upward from there. This logical progression should allow students to easily and successfully progress through the concepts being presented."" —Daniel M. Sherry, Alamo Colleges, St. Philip’s College, San Antonio, Texas, USA ""Overall, this is a good book on the laboratory component of photovoltaics. It contains safety, handling, and measurement procedures for photovoltaic (PV) experiments. ... The exercises and PV content are good and well described. Several simulation programs are included."" —Tapas Kumar Mallick, Environment & Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, UK ""This book is interesting and useful, as it covers aspects of solar cells work that is not usually covered in other textbooks. The information provided is very practical and would be useful for a wide range of personnel involved in solar cells installation and design."" —Yeng Ming Lam, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore ""This is a practical book on understanding and installing photovoltaic (PV) systems for residential applications. It clearly explains how to install rooftop PV systems, and provides a well-balanced blend of practice and theory with explanations on how a PV cell works, how the system operates, cell physics, and the details of mechanical and electrical integration…Anyone interested in learning about the practical aspects of PV arrays, and what is needed to install them, will be able to make use of this book to help guide them on proper installation and making good choices when designing a PV system. Others who may also find this book useful include system designers, marketing and sales people, and even those involved in issuing permits for PV systems."" —John Shea, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, May/June 2017 Issue ""This book helps fill a shortage in modern support material for technical education and training for the rapidly growing photovoltaics systems industry. It is particularly appropriate for the very active US market, since aspects such as regulation and roof structure are regionally specific and some units of measurement in the book are used only in the US and a few other locations, but there is much here to learn for trainee technical staff all over the world. The style is appropriately informal and anecdotal for the technical education levels at which it is directed. The pedagogical concern and experience of the author is evident, for example, in a focus on understanding the principles through simpler tools than the excellent SunEye, for shading analysis."" —Richard Corkish, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia ""The approach [of this book] is good. Making sure the students know enough math and electrical theory is essential if they are to understand the subsequent material. The emphasis on safety is very important and putting it up front makes that point. I like the fact that the book provides material for other important photovoltaic (PV) activity, since if a system is not sold, then it will not be installed."" —Roger Messenger, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA ""The material is written in easy-to-understand layman’s terms while focusing on multiple career areas. I believe this allows instructors the ability to draw from the material what they need in order to provide effective training for the specific career(s) that they may be instructing students for. The materials are written in a simplistic format that should allow students to easily follow the materials while working on the labs. I believe that having the sections on safety and related mathematics is integral to producing successful students. Many of the texts that I have reviewed/used do not have these components and present materials with the assumption that either instructors will automatically cover these materials or that students come to the class with this knowledge already in place. … [This is] a very well-written book that can be integrated into most solar PV training applications. It covers concepts in a well-thought-out manner that follows a logical progression that builds on basics and works upward from there. This logical progression should allow students to easily and successfully progress through the concepts being presented."" —Daniel M. Sherry, Alamo Colleges, St. Philip’s College, San Antonio, Texas, USA ""Overall, this is a good book on the laboratory component of photovoltaics. It contains safety, handling, and measurement procedures for photovoltaic (PV) experiments. ... The exercises and PV content are good and well described. Several simulation programs are included."" —Tapas Kumar Mallick, Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, UK ""This book is interesting and useful, as it covers aspects of solar cells work that is not usually covered in other textbooks. The information provided is very practical and would be useful for a wide range of personnel involved in solar cells installation and design."" —Yeng Ming Lam, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore ""This is a practical book on understanding and installing photovoltaic (PV) systems for residential applications. It clearly explains how to install rooftop PV systems, and provides a well-balanced blend of practice and theory with explanations on how a PV cell works, how the system operates, cell physics, and the details of mechanical and electrical integration…Anyone interested in learning about the practical aspects of PV arrays, and what is needed to install them, will be able to make use of this book to help guide them on proper installation and making good choices when designing a PV system. Others who may also find this book useful include system designers, marketing and sales people, and even those involved in issuing permits for PV systems."" —John Shea, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, May/June 2017 Issue"