Photovoltaics from Milliwatts to Gigawatts. Tim Bruton
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From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.
Psalm 113 v3 (NIV)
Photovoltaics from Milliwatts to Gigawatts
Understanding Market and Technology Drivers toward Terawatts
Tim Bruton
TMB Consulting
Woking, UK
This edition first published 2021
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Bruton, Tim, 1946– author.
Title: Photovoltaics from milliwatts to gigawatts : understanding market and technology drivers toward terawatts / Tim Bruton.
Description: Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020030557 (print) | LCCN 2020030558 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119130048 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119130055 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119130062 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Silicon solar cells. | Photovoltaic power generation–History. | Photovoltaic power systems. | Solar energy industries.
Classification: LCC TK2963.S55 B78 2021 (print) | LCC TK2963.S55 (ebook) | DDC 621.31/244–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020030557 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020030558
Cover design: Wiley
Cover image: © alexsl / Getty Images
For my grandchildren: Bethan, Benjamin, Carys, Daniel, Isaac, Jemima, Joseph, Joshua, Samuel
Preface
Harnessing the power of the sun has been a challenge to the human race for thousands of years. In the last quarter of the twentieth century and into the twenty‐first, the deployment of photovoltaic solar energy conversion assumed great importance. In its early years, it promised security of energy supply and price stability for many countries, and today it is a reliable route to carbon‐free energy production, a vital tool in the fight to halt manmade climate change. I have been highly privileged in being able to see this dramatic story evolve. I joined the embryonic BP Solar research team in August 1983 when the world market was a mere 20 megawatts and the future uncertain. In the subsequent 37 years, I have seen the technology grow from those early days when many applications were at the milliwatt scale to now, when single photovoltaic power stations of over 1 GWp are in operation. That this has happened is due to the interactions of many actors from the fields of science, manufacturing, and politics.
My ambition in this book is to relate how solar cells transitioned from a high‐cost, small‐volume,