After successful completion of the module students should be able to:

·         understand, describe and compare major technologies for solar energy use: solar thermal and
          photovoltaic systems

·         analyse various system components and their interconnections within a solar energy system.

·         critically appraise and assess various technologies for solar energy use and components
          involved in such solar systems.

·         size and evaluate the performance of solar systems as a function of their operation
          conditions, components and system layout

-       critically evaluate non-technical impact and side effects when implementing renewable
        energy supply systems

This module gives an overview on solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies. Main focus hereby are the scientific principles of components and their technical description as well as first suitable system performance assessment methods.

Photovoltaics (Lecture: 90 h workload)

Physics of PV:

·         Basic and most important properties of solar radiation related to photovoltaics

·         PV cells basics: Fundamental physical processes in photovoltaic materials

·         Characterization and basic modelling of solar cells

·         Component Description: PV generator; Charge controller; Inverter; Balance of system
          components; System Description

·         Grid Connected System

·         Stand Alone System

Solar Thermal Energy (Seminar & Exercises: 90 h workload)

·         Assessment of solar thermal ambient parameters: regional global, diffuse, reflected solar
         radiation on horizontal and on tilted plane, ambient temperature

·         Solar thermal system components: collectors; heat exchangers; thermal storage; thermally
         driven compression chillers

·         Solar cooling systems and components

·         Characterization of solar thermal systems, their operation and performance

-        F-Chart and Utilizability methods as main methods for assessing system performance

Solar Energy PV

·         Green, Martin A., 1981: Solar cells : operating principles, technology and system applications,
          Prentice Hall.

·         Green, M.A., 2007: Third Generation Photovoltaics, Advanced Solar Energy Conversion,
          Springer Series in Photonics

·         Markvart, Tom and Castaner, Luis, 2003: Practical Handbook of Photovoltaics, Fundamentals
          and Applications, Elsevier Science

·         Nelson, Jenny, 2003: The Physics of Solar Cells (Properties of Semiconductor Materials),
          Imperial College Press.

·         Stuart R. Wenham, Martin A. Green, Muriel E. Watt& Richard Corkish (Edit.), 2007: Applied
          Photovoltaics, Earthscan Publications Ltd.;

·         Twidell, John & Weir, Toni, 2005: Renewable Energy Resources Taylor & Francis.

                Solar Thermal

·         DGS, (2010) Planning and installing solar thermal systems, a guide for installers, architects
          and engineers, 2nd ed.

·         Duffie JA, Beckman WA (2013) Solar engineering of thermal processes: Wiley.

·         Henning H-M. 2007. Solar assisted air conditioning of buildings - an overview. Applied
          Thermal Engineering 27(10):1734-1749; DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2006.07.021