Annotation The Photovoltaics (PV) Program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is part of The US Dept. of Energy's National Photovoltaics Program. These proceedings of the 12th NREL PV Program Review Meeting, comprise presentations by invited speakers from private industry, universities, federal laboratories, and representatives of other countries, on such topics as material growth and characterization; single and multijunction devices; cell processing; PV manufacturing; module reliability and field testing; system engineering and applications; and markets and user perspectives. No subject index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

This proceedings volume compiles 123 papers that were presented orally or as posters at the National Center for Photovoltaics (NCPV) Program Review Meeting, held in Denver, Colorado, on September 8-11, 1998. The purpose of this meeting was to highlight the advances made in various areas of photovoltaics by and through the NCPV during the period of December 1997 to September 1998. Topics covered ranged from research in crystalline silicon and thin-film technologies, to manufacturing of photovoltaic modules, to applications of and markets for photovoltaic products.

Research and development of photovoltaic solar cells is playing an ever larger practical role in energy supply and ecological conservation all over the world. Many materials science problems are encountered in understanding existing solar cells and the development of more efficient, less costly, and more stable cells. This important and timely book provides a historical overview, but concentrates primarily on exciting developments in the last decade. It describes the properties of the materials that play an important role in photovoltaic applications, the solar cell structures in which they are used, and the experimental and theoretical developments that have led to the most promising contenders./a

This is the second volume of a 3-volume history of solar power generating systems covering the approximately 50 years of research and development surrounding the energy crisis of 1973. Volume 1 covered solar-thermal systems. The present volume covers photovoltaic systems in the 20th century. Volume 3 will cover photovoltaic developments from the start of the 21st century. The history is based upon keynote lectures given by international specialists at the Sede Boqer Symposia on Solar Electric Power Production, a series that commenced in 1986. The lectures document many technical details that have become hard to find, including some pertaining to technologies that were successfully demonstrated but subsequently discontinued owing to their not having been deemed to be cost-effective at the time. However, in the event that different economic considerations may ensue, these volumes can provide a valuable starting point, including references, for the re-investigation of some of those once abandoned ideas.