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Welcome to the Delftx course "Solar Energy".
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My name is Arno Smets, and I will be your
lecturer for the coming 8 weeks.
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This course is a general introduction into
the variety of technologies which harvest
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the energy in solar light and convert it
into electricity, heat or fuels.
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In this first block, I would like to give you
a short overview of the course.
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The course can be divided in three major parts.
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The first part, week 1 up to 3, covers the
fundamental physical principles on which the
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solar energy technologies are based.
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The second part, week 4, 5 and 6,
discusses all solar energy technologies.
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The third and last part, week 7 and 8,
discusses the solar energy systems.
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At the end you are expected to be able to
design your own solar system.
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The lectures are given in short video clips
of around ten minutes, like this one.
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Between all video clips,

you will find many exercises.

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In addition we have included more general
questions, which can act as discussion
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material for the students on the course blog.
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At the end of each of the three parts we will
have a short exam, which covers the material
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discussed in that part of the course.
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This means you can do an exam at the end of
week 3, 6 and 8.
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Now I will give a more detailed overview of
the course content for each week.
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In week 1, I will give you a general
introduction into solar energy.
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I will discuss the variety of technologies
for energy conversion we are using today
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for our energy needs.
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I will try to put the role of solar energy
in perspective
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in reference to other energy sources.
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I will teach you the difference between
photovoltaic and solar heat.
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You will be introduced to the concept of

photovoltaics and its related technologies.
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The current status and prospects of solar
energy will be discussed.
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In addition, I will give a quick overview
of the history of solar technology.
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Finally, I will finish this week by discussing
some important physical properties of the
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energy source itself: sun light.
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Week two is the most fundamental week
of the course.
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I will introduce you to semiconductor physics
and how we use semiconductor materials in
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devices to directly convert
solar light into electricity.
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Don't be afraid if physics is not your thing.
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I am using many animations to explain the
physical principles of semiconductor
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materials and photovoltaic devices.
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In week 3 we will discuss how we determine
the performance of solar cells using the external
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parameters, like open circuit voltage, short
circuit current density, fill factor,

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maximum power point and
conversion efficiency.
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In addition, I will discuss the general
design rules for solar cells.
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The basics you learn in the first three weeks
form an excellent toolbox to understand the
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various solar technologies and solar systems
we introduce in the last five weeks.
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After week 3, you will have your first small
exam based on part 1.
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In week 4 we will discuss the most dominant
solar cell technology,
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which is based on c-Si wafers.
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We will discuss the processing methods,
the various different device concepts and
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the challenges of the c-Si PV technology
for the future.
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In week 5 we will discuss the other PV
technologies based on thin films.
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Thin film PV technology uses less materials
and is produced by cheaper processing methods
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to further reduce the cost-price
of solar energy.
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In addition we discuss the concentrator
multijunction solar cells, which have up to
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date the highest conversion efficiencies
among all PV technologies.
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In week 6 the future generation concepts are
discussed which are supposed to beat the
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Shockley Queisser efficiency limit
of a single junction solar cell.
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Secondly, I will introduce you to the solar
heat and concentrated solar power technology.
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Finally, we will talk about the solar fuel technology.
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Photoelectrochemical approaches will be discussed.
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After week 6 we will have the second
exam moment, covering weeks 4, 5 and 6.
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In week 7, we start to discuss the PV system.
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We will introduce you to other components
of PV systems, such as batteries, invertors,
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maximum power point trackers, charge controllers.
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In week 8, we will discuss the most popular
system topologies, like off-grid systems and
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grid connected systems.
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We will provide you the tools to be able to
design any PV system on paper for any application.
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After week 8, you will have your last exam.
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So, after this introduction, let's get started.
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Solar energy technology is based on the
conversion of the energy of light into
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electricity, heat and solar fuels.
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It means we are talking about energy conversion.
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We will discuss that in great detail in the
next block.