With concerns about worldwide environmental security, global warming, and climate change due to emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels, it is desirable to have a wide range of energy technologies in a nation`s portfolio. Photovoltaics, or solar cells, have already proven themselves a viable option as a nonpolluting renewable energy source, as well as viable business that will grow stronger in the global economy of the 21st century. This text is designed to be an overview of photovoltaic solar cells for those in the fields of optics and optical engineering, as well as those who are interested in energy policy, economics, and the requirements for efficient photo to electric energy conversion. This special low-priced edition is for sale in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka only. About the AuthorGreg P. Smestad received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne under the guidance of Drs. Michael Gratzel and Harald Ries. He received his M.S. in Materials Science in 1985 from Stanford University and his B.S. in Biology in 1983 from the University of Santa Clara, California. He currently works in the optoelectronics industry. From 1985 to 1990, Dr. Smestad was employed by the Hewlett-Packard Company, first as a materials engineer, and later as an optics design engineer. From 1990 to 1992, he created and managed the optics lab at the Hahn-Meitner Institute of Solar Energy Group in Berlin, Germany, and conducted research on iron pyrite photoelectrochemical solar cells. In 1992, he became part of the Solar Chemistry group of the Energy and Process Technology department at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland. In 1994, he was employed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as an electrochemist and researcher on the topic of electrochromic windows. From 1995 to 2002, he was a professor, first as a chemist at the California State University, Monterey Bay, and then as an energy science-policy specialist at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. From 1996 to 1999, he served as a consultant for Prof. Gratzel at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and from 1990 onward he has served as Assistant Editor for the Elsevier journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. Dr. Smestad has also served as a conference chair at international conferences, authored more than 15 scientific papers in technology and materials science, and holds three U.S. patents. He enjoys combining his interests to solve practical problems in chemistry, solar and renewable energy, and energy policy.Table of ContentsIntroduction to Solar Cells Absorbing Solar Energy Solar Cell Equations Photoelectrochemistry Generalized Model of a Solar Converter Concentrators of Light Economics of Photovoltaic Cells and Systems