Peter F. Varadi
Summary
The meteoric expansion of the solar (PV) industry resulted from an incredible reduction in the prices of PV systems—first described in the author’s earlier book Sun above the Horizon. It began early in the new century and continued in the following decade with an extraordinary upswing. As a result, by the end of 2016, the worldwide PV operational power capacity grew to some 300 GW. Most of this increased capacity, 250 GW, was installed during the years 2010–2016. Suddenly PV started to affect the traditional generation of electricity and helped reduce carbon emissions and other environmental impacts. This book describes how this happened. Three practically unlimited new PV markets—residential, commercial, and utility scale –materialized, along with the new PV-oriented financial systems needed to provide the required gargantuan-scale capital. This book also highlights the increasing demand for and the corresponding increased supply of PV cells and modules on four continents and the impact of this PV breakthrough on our lives and future. To present this unparalleled story of societal transformation, the author was helped by the contributions of top experts Wolfgang Palz, Michael Eckhart, Allan Hoffman, Paula Mints, Bill Rever, and John Wohlgemuth.
Sun Above the Horizon: Meteoric Rise of the Solar Industry
Peter F. Varadi
Summary
The meteoric rise of the photovoltaic (PV) industry is an incredible story. In 2013, Google’s investments in PV systems totaled about half a billion dollars and Warren Buffet, one of the famous investors, invested $2.5 billion in the world’s largest PV system in California. These gigantic investments by major financial players were made only 40 years after the first two terrestrial PV companies, Solarex and Solar Power Corporation, were formed in the USA. Back in 1973, the two companies employed 20 people and produced only 500 watts of PV power. Now, just 40 years later, over a million people work in the PV industry. The worldwide capacity of operating PV electric generators equals the capacity of about 25 nuclear power plants. The PV industry is growing at an annual rate of 30 percent, equivalent to about five new nuclear power plants per year. Today, solar electricity is a significant supplier of electricity needs, to the extent that PV is forcing the restructuring of 100-year-old electric power utilities. This book describes how this happened and what lies ahead for PV power generation.
The U.S. Government and Renewable Energy: A Winding Road
Allan Hoffman
Summary
This is a book on how the U.S. and other governments have changed their thinking about energy issues over the past four decades, a change triggered by increasing concern about the role of fossil fuels in global warming and climate change, greater awareness of the risks of nuclear power, and the emergence of viable renewable energy sources. It will help understanding of how this change came about in the United States from the unique perspective of a well-placed participant and observer. It will enhance understanding of the global energy transition that is finally getting underway in the second decade of the 21st century at an accelerating, even dizzying, pace. The book’s main purpose is to illustrate how the U.S. government moved along its winding path to where it is today in getting ready for a renewable energy future. Target audiences are the young people who will inherit the transition and shape its future, those in government who currently shape our public policies, and those colleagues, friends, and family members who lived through many of the times and events discussed in the book.
Biomass Power for the World
Wim P. M. van Swaaij, Sascha R. A. Kersten, Wolfgang Palz
Summary
Energy from solar radiation, fixated by self-assembling plant structures, creates biomass that is converted to energy carriers fit for application in today’s and tomorrow’s energy-generating equipment. The central theme of this book is the development of the current largest renewable energy source for efficient applications in modern and developing society—biomass. The book is presented in an easy-to-understand manner for non-experts, nevertheless revealing the true challenges of this extremely broad area. Through this book, passionate pioneers and (ex-)EU officials tell the interesting history of the use of biomass by mankind in general and how the future of its modern use was shaped by active support of the European Union. The book mainly emphasizes specific technologies, both biological and thermo-chemical, from simple to extremely complex. Recognized experts explain these technologies in a clear way along with their future prospects. Climb on the shoulders of all 35 authors of the book and look into the close and distant future where interaction with other renewable sources will occur, and discover a renewable energy future in which an important role will be played by the oldest one—bioenergy.
Wind Power for the World: The Rise of Modern Wind Energy
Preben Maegaard, Anna Krenz, Wolfgang Palz
Summary
This book sheds light on how the modern 3-bladed wind turbine came into being, and who, how and what in the proceeding period caused the success. It looks back over three decades to find the roots of this exciting development, a long cavalcade of developers, inventors, and manufacturers including the Danish authors who themselves were part of the breakthrough. Written for non-specialists, the book covers minimal science, emphasizing the story of how wind power became a worldwide 30-billion-euro business employing nearly one million people.
Wind Power for the World: International Reviews and Developments
Preben Maegaard, Anna Krenz, Wolfgang Palz
Summary
In part 2 of Wind Power for the World, the editors have collected reports and overviews of wind power status and history in various countries, several written by individuals who have made valuable contributions to the successful emergence of wind power. The chapters cover the uphill struggle; wind energy strategies and policies that paved the way; and the creative persons in politics, agencies, institutes, and the industry. It also examines the world societies at large and how solutions to the challenges were found in different countries.
Solar Power for the World: What You Wanted to Know about Photovoltaics
Wolfgang Palz
Summary
The book describes the industrial revolution associated with the implementation of electric power generation by photovoltaics (PV). The book’s editor and contributing authors are among the leading pioneers in PV from its industrial birth in 1954 all the way up to the stormy developments during the first decade of the new century. The book describes the dramatic events in industry between 2009 and 2013 and puts all this into perspective. It concludes that solar power is yet to strengthen its role in technology and in mainstream of the world’s economy.
