Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes

By William A Beckman, John A. Duffie, William A. Beckman, et al.

Book Overview

The updated, cornerstone engineering resource of solar energy theory and applications. Solar technologies already provide energy for heat, light, hot water, electricity, and cooling for homes, businesses, and industry. Because solar energy only accounts for one-tenth of a percent of primary energy demand, relatively small increases in market penetration can lead to very rapid growth rates in the industrya which is exactly what has been projected for coming years as the world moves away from carbon-based energy production. Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, Third Edition provides the latest thinking and practices for engineering solar technologies and using them in various markets. This Third Edition of the acknowledged leading book on solar engineering features: Complete coverage of basic theory, systems design, and applications Updated material on such cutting-edge topics as photovoltaics and wind power systems New homework problems and exercises

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471698679
• ISBN13: 9780471698678
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 928 Pages
• Weight: 3.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.2" x 1.5" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Great part of you library...

This book should be part of your library. It is more technical then someone would expect but it is a great reference book and study material. Worth money.

A must for the Solar Thermal Engineer

This book is a must for the Solar Thermal Engineer. It is very comprehensive and covers a very wide range of topics. Excellent work by Duffie and Beckman.

The Bible of Solar energy.

This is the best book to have an initial view about solar energy and its aplicattion.

The Bible -- Not Just for Thermal

This is the textbook of fundamentals of solar energy engineering.

An excellent solar energy textbook

The second edition of "Solar Engineering..." is a much expanded and updated version of the original, which was already a decent textbook. It covers almost everything there is to know about engineering of solar energy systems, and the presentation is clear and well organized. The division into "basics" and "applications" sections is a very sensible way to get oriented before plunging into the depth of a specific technology, especially since solar thermal applications tend to cover a wide variety of technologies. The gradual and systematic approach makes this book a very good textbook for beginners. The wide scope makes it also a pretty good reference source for practitioners who are looking for a specific bit of information. The new chapter on photovoltaic cells is a nice touch. While this is not a "thermal process," it is still important for any practitioner of solar thermal to know what's happening in the other corner of the field. A presentation of PV at the level that can be understood by non-physicists is a very welcome addition.My only complaint is that recent significant developments are not well represented (I guess much of this developed after the book was written, so this complaint is not really aimed at the authors). Topics such as non-imaging concentrators, high-temperature thermal receivers for Brayton cycle, and solar chemistry are either briefly mentioned or absent altogether. The more traditional applications such DHW are of course presented in detail, but their significance to the energy market remains negligible. I would prefer to see more on applications that have the potential to make a major impact. Hopefully this will be included in the next edition...