The Physics of Solar Cells; Third Generation Photovoltaics: Advanced Solar Energy Conversion
DOI: 10.1063/1.1878345
As events in Iraq remind us, securing energy supplies in a safe, environmentally sound, and economically viable fashion is one of the great challenges facing science and technology. The Physics of Solar Cells by Jenny Nelson and Third Generation Photovoltaics: Advanced Solar Energy Conversion by Martin A. Green address the significant problems of photovoltaic energy conversion—and both books are useful.
The two books focus on theory and modeling. Nelson’s book contains substantially more detail (it is twice as long), and most of the topics are explained quite clearly. Green’s book is unified and challenging; it focuses particularly on different schemes for establishing and optimizing the efficiency of cells and largely follows Green’s own research work.
The books have substantial positive similarities. For example, both provide solutions to exercises in the text and both offer a useful overview of the current state of photovoltaic conversion. The books also enjoy the unity that comes from having a single author, which is very rare in the field. Most publications about photovoltaics tend to be edited conference proceedings and thus offer different notations and different approaches; the unified format is much more useful and readable.
But Nelson’s and Green’s books also share some failings. Neither was carefully proofread, so errors abound in each. In particular, equations are often referred to by the incorrect number, which makes it quite difficult for the nonexpert to follow the discussions. The books also contain errors in figure references, and each book uses incorrect symbols in several equations. All of the errors just mentioned could have been avoided by better proofreading. Both texts are published by distinguished presses, and I was distressed by such unnecessary hindrances in what are really very fine books. Another issue is that the books do not cover in detail two currently important themes in photovoltaics: The use of molecular species (as in the Graetzel solar cells, for example) and quantum dots.
The great strengths of the Green book are its sharp focus on efficiencies of different processes, its unified mathematical notation, its extensive cross-referencing between chapters, and its delving into some very advanced concepts that are still largely unexplored. The Nelson book is more encyclopedic, with clear figures and broad scope. It also does a better job of clarifying the fundamental issues and is a less advanced text. It is, therefore, probably more approachable and more useful to the general reader.
Nelson’s introductory text and Green’s more focused and advanced book complement each other nicely. Together, they provide a nice overview (with a gap or two) of the current state of photovoltaics for energy conversion.
More about the Authors
Mark Ratner. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, US .
