The world's insatiable consumption of energy must be met with new technologies that offer alternative, environmentally conscious sources of light and power. The relatively young field of nonimaging optics is an ideal tool for designing optimized solar energy collectors and illumination optics and holds great promise in the development of solid stat

Introduction to Nonimaging Optics covers the theoretical foundations and design methods of nonimaging optics, as well as key concepts from related fields. This fully updated, revised, and expanded Second Edition: Features a new and intuitive introduction with a basic description of the advantages of nonimaging optics Adds new chapters on wavefronts for a prescribed output (irradiance or intensity), infinitesimal étendue optics (generalization of the aplanatic optics), and Köhler optics and color mixing Incorporates new material on the simultaneous multiple surface (SMS) design method in 3-D, integral invariants, and étendue 2-D Contains 21 chapters, 24 fully worked and several other examples, and 1,000+ illustrations, including photos of real devices Addresses applications ranging from solar energy concentration to illumination engineering Introduction to Nonimaging Optics, Second Edition invites newcomers to explore the growing field of nonimaging optics, while providing seasoned veterans with an extensive reference book.

This book brings together experts in the field who present material on a number of important and growing topics including lighting, displays, solar concentrators. The first chapter provides an overview of the field of nonimagin and illumination optics. Included in this chapter are terminology, units, definitions, and descriptions of the optical components used in illumination systems. The next two chapters provide material within the theoretical domain, including etendue, etendue squeezing, and the skew invariant. The remaining chapters focus on growing applications. This entire field of nonimaging optics is an evolving field, and the editor plans to update the technological progress every two to three years. The editor, John Koshel, is one of the most prominent leading experts in this field, and he is the right expert to perform the task.

This book provides a comprehensive look at the science, methods, designs, and limitations of nonimaging optics. It begins with an in-depth discussion on thermodynamically efficient optical designs and how they improve the performance and cost effectiveness of solar concentrating and illumination systems. It then moves into limits to concentration, imaging devices and their limitations, and the theory of furnaces and its applications to optical design. Numerous design methods are discussed in detail followed by chapters of estimating the performance of a nonimaging design and pushing their limits of concentration. Exercises and worked examples are included throughout.

This introductory text is a reader friendly treatment of geometrical and physical optics emphasizing problems and solved examples with detailed analysis and helpful commentary. The authors are seasoned educators with decades of experience teaching optics. Their approach is to gradually present mathematics explaining the physical concepts. It covers ray tracing to the wave nature of light, and introduces Maxwell’s equations in an organic fashion. The text then moves on to explains how to analyze simple optical systems such as spectacles for improving vision, microscopes, and telescopes, while also being exposed to contemporary research topics. Ajawad I. Haija is a professor of physics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. M. Z. Numan is professor and chair of the department of physics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. W. Larry Freeman is Emeritus Professor of Physics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Publisher Description

Nonimaging optics is a subdiscipline of optics whose development over the last 35–40 years was led by scientists from the University of Chicago and other cooperating individuals and institutions. The approach provides a formalism that allows the design of optical devices that approach the maximum physically attainable geometric concentration for a given set of optical tolerances. This means that it has the potential to revolutionize the design of solar concentrators. In this monograph, the basic practical applications of the techniques of nonimaging optics to solar energy collection and concentration are developed and explained. The formalism for designing a wide variety of concentrator types, such as the compound parabolic concentrator and its many embodiments and variations, is presented. Both advantages and limitations of the approach are reviewed. Practical and economic aspects of concentrator design for both thermal and photovoltaic applications are discussed as well. The whole range of concentrator applications from simple low-concentration nontracking designs to ultrahigh-concentration multistage configurations is covered. Table of Contents: Introduction / CPCs / Practical Design of CPC Thermal Collectors / Practical Design of CPC PV Concentrators / Two-Stage Nonimaging Concentrators for Solar Thermal Applications / Two-Stage Nonimaging Concentrators for Solar PV Applications / Selected Demonstrations of Nonimaging Concentrator Performance / The Importance of Economic Factors in Effective Solar Concentrator Design / Ultrahigh Concentration / Bibliography