Have you ever noticed more and more houses with solar panels on their roofs? Maybe you’ve seen the vast sprawl of solar farms sprouting around the world? Have you ever wondered just how these came to be and want to know more about the science of turning sunlight into electricity?
This course will take you on an exciting journey covering over 6,000 years of human science and technological development. We will look at how humanity has used the Sun since times of antiquity and developed technologies to heat our homes and buildings. How the energy can be captured and used in various ways. We will uncover how photovoltaic (PV) cells convert solar energy into electrical energy and investigate the various different kinds of photovoltaic technologies — their advantages and limitations, how are they made, and how can we make them more efficient. We will learn and explore the basic principles behind the physics of solar photovoltaics and delve into the rapid spread of solar PV all over the world. A glimpse of the possible future of solar energy will be showcased.
Learning outcomes
- An overview of the various photovoltaic technologies, the working principles behind them, and their various advantages and limitations;
- A deeper understanding of the various solar module architectures, manufacturing and processing methods and characterisation techniques will be given;
- An appreciation of the development of the expansion of solar photovoltaics around the world and its future prospects in the renewable energy landscape.
