Who the Book is for
The sun lands on us with incredible power. Yet we often find ourselves without sufficient power for our needs. This book is for anyone looking for inspiration and capability with small-scale solar power in order to meet their needs. We focus on small-scale, but the learnings in this book can be applied to large-scale micro-grids or even larger solar farms. That said, our focus will be mostly on off-grid systems that are 1 kW or smaller. Some specific examples include:
- A small home in a financially rich country
- A few homes in a financially poor country
- School rooms and community spaces
- Isolated loads like electric gates, pumps, and telecommunications equipment
- A tiny home or van life
- Glamping and backpacking equipment
- Emergency supply, e.g., powering an oxygen machine during a power outage
- Zombie-apocalypse equipment
- Laptop and cellphone chargers
- Solar entrepreneurship devices
To Catch the Sun emphasizes adaptability and iteration to meet your needs. It is one of the few photovoltaic books to cover very small systems with and without batteries, in a global context, for everyday designers everywhere.
This book can also be utilized in curriculum so that students have context for learning about electricity, power and energy, photovoltaics, spreadsheets, and basic math concepts.
There are many resources and professionals out there to help in building larger systems. This book will mostly focus on the small-scale, distributed, resilient systems that you can build yourself. In addition, this book is meant to be a deep knowledge starting point. Ultimately, you might find a video online that is exactly what you want to build. This book can help you determine what to build, what to avoid, and assess if the video is accurate. Building a deeper and broader understanding will help you leverage the most current research, resources, blogs, YouTube videos, etc., so that you can adapt to your, and your community’s, specific needs.
This book is for anyone looking to build solar projects and knowledge:
- Students and teachers. Especially high school and undergraduate university levels in science, math, engineering, environmental and social justice, and technical fields.
- Community organizers and builders looking to build solar projects.
- Entrepreneurs and inventors looking to build solar products.
- Families looking to learn together!
Problem Sets
Some problem sets which might contribute to your understanding of solar panels and therefore "To Catch the Sun"
Problem Set 1:
A 5 kW solar panel system is installed on a rooftop. Assuming an average of 1200 hours of sunlight per year, how much energy will the system produce annually? Calculate the annual energy production of a solar panel system.
Hint to answer: You might want to use this formula; Energy (kWh)=Power (kW)×Sunlight Hours (h)
Answer: The 5 kW solar panel system will produce 6000 kWh of energy annually, assuming 1200 hours of sunlight per year. Great job!
Problem Set 2:
Research a technology used to improve the efficiency of solar panels and explain how it impacts energy production costs. You can refer to "To Catch the Sun", or write answers on your own!!
Hint to answer: You might want to approach to this question considering these aspects; Identify the problems, research solutions and then explain the impact.
Answer: One solution to increase solar panel efficiency is the use of monocrystalline cells, which have a higher energy conversion rate and require less space. Another is solar tracking systems, which adjust panel angles to follow the sun, boosting energy output by up to 30% despite higher upfront costs. Additionally, anti-reflective coatings and automated cleaning systems improve absorption and maintain consistent performance by reducing light loss and dirt accumulation. Great job you did it!!
Projects
Please share your projects with us. The best way is by creating a page here on Appropedia sharing your project with the world. Also, feel free to reach out to us on social media to share your stories, photos, or thoughts! Links listed below at #About the Authors.
Please share your projects with us. The best way is by creating a page here on Appropedia sharing your project with the world. Also, feel free to reach out to us on social media to share your stories, photos, or thoughts! Links listed below at #About the Authors.
Here are some projects that used this book (some of them when the book was still in its 1.5 year beta!):
