This book provides a concise overview of the physical basics of different forms of renewable energy (water, waves, wind, solar, thermal, geothermal, biofuels), focusing on the physical limits for the efficiency and energy densities of different current technologies. It also discusses relevant aspects of materials science, physical chemistry, and biophysics. The book is based on the lecture notes of a course taught at TU München to undergraduate and graduate students of Applied Physics and related engineering disciplines. It provides material that can be taught in a one-semester course with 4 hours per week and includes a self-test section to enable students to check their understanding.
Author(s): Martin Stutzmann, Christoph Csoklich
Series: Graduate Texts in Physics
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 198
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
Acronyms
1 Energy—A Brief Introduction
1.1 Energy and Work
1.2 Potential and Kinetic Energy
1.3 Noether Theorem and Energy Conservation
1.4 Inner Energy
1.5 Quantifying Energy
2 Forms of Energy and Their Density
2.1 Mechanical Potential Energy
2.2 Kinetic Energy
2.3 Wave Energy
2.3.1 Mechanical Waves
2.3.2 Electromagnetic Waves
2.4 Electrostatic and Magnetostatic Energy
2.5 Latent Heat
2.6 Chemical and Electrochemical Energy
2.7 Nuclear Energy
2.7.1 Fission
2.7.2 Fusion
3 The Sun–Earth System
3.1 The Sun
3.1.1 General Properties
3.1.2 Details of Proton Fusion
3.1.3 Shell Model
3.2 The Earth
3.2.1 General Properties
3.3 A Possible Energy Scenario Until 2050
4 Energy from Waves, Tides and Osmosis
4.1 Wave Energy
4.1.1 Deep Water Waves
4.1.2 Shallow Water Waves
4.2 Tidal Energy
4.2.1 Solar Tides
4.2.2 Lunar Tides
4.3 Osmosis Power
5 Wind Energy
5.1 General Considerations
5.2 Energy Content of Wind
5.3 Efficiency of Wind Turbines
5.4 Types of Rotors
5.4.1 Drag-Type Rotors
5.4.2 Lift-Type Rotors
5.4.3 New Types of Wind Engines
5.5 Optimization of Wind Turbines
5.5.1 Optimized Radial Profile of a Lift-Type Blade
5.5.2 Losses
5.6 Some Practical Aspects of Wind Engines
6 Thermal Energy
6.1 Geothermal Energy
6.1.1 Contributions to Geothermal Energy
6.1.2 Use of Geothermal Energy
6.2 Solar Thermal Energy
7 Photosynthesis
7.1 General Considerations of Biomass Usage
7.2 Biophysical Principles of Photosynthesis
7.3 Basic Biomolecular Processes of Photosynthesis
7.4 Details of Photon Absorption and Energy Transfer …
7.5 Technical Use of Biomass
7.6 Artificial Photosynthesis
8 Photovoltaics
8.1 General Considerations
8.2 Basic Processes in Photovoltaics
8.2.1 Photons
8.2.2 Photon Density of States (DOS)
8.2.3 Absorption, Reflection, Emission
8.2.4 Thermalization
8.2.5 Recombination
8.2.6 Separation and Extraction
8.3 Types of Solar Cells
8.3.1 Crystalline Si p/n Diffusion Cell
8.3.2 Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor (MIS)-Schottky Contact Cell
8.3.3 Amorphous Si Thin Film Drift Solar Cells
8.3.4 CdTe and Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Compound Thin Film Solar Cells
8.3.5 Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC)
8.3.6 Organic Bulk Heterojunction Cell
8.3.7 Perovskite Thin Film Solar Cells
8.4 I-U-Characteristics of Solar Cells
8.4.1 Ideal Diodes
8.4.2 Real Diodes
8.5 Efficiency Limits of Single Junction Solar Cells
8.6 Increasing Solar Cell Efficiencies
8.6.1 Down Conversion
8.6.2 Tandem Cells
8.6.3 Impurity-Band Photovoltaics (Optical Up-Conversion)
8.6.4 Impact Ionization (Carrier Multiplication)
8.7 Energy Payback Times of Solar Cells
9 Thermoelectrics
9.1 Basic Physics of Thermoelectricity
9.2 Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs)
Knowledge Check
Index
