Photovoltaic Power Systems: A Brief Introduction

Energy substitution is not a recent innovation. In the 5th century B.C., the ancient Greeks burned charcoal for cooking and space heating. They eventually recognized the ongoing deforestation and consequent charcoal shortage and they were exhorted by no less a personage than Socrates to use passive solar energy. Fortunately, many heeded his advice. Today there is widespread belief that the realization and commercialization of solar energy is inevitable. However, solar energy utilization is a very complex problem for many reasons: the population, and therefore, the needs of the world have increased vastly; our expectations about the quality of life have continued to rise; and our complex societies and their structures have become intricately integrated. We also have many more choices about utilizing solar energy because we are no longer limited to the passive methods of the ancient Greeks who, by the way, were not the only ones employing them. We have at our disposal several forms of active solar energy, but while our choices are greater, our constraints today are more numerous. They include not only consideration of technological performance, but also evaluation of the economic factors and financing, sociological expectations and public acceptance, environmental issues and, last but not least, institutional/legal traditions. Clearly the widespread adoption of solar energy requires a multidimensional, interdisciplinary approach. One of the main uses of solar energy is through Photovoltaic (PV) Power Systems.