PHYS 4400, Principles and Varieties of Solar Energy
Spring 2014, Course Information

Instructor: Randy Ellingson

PHYS 4400 Introduction, Syllabus, and General Information (updated March 13, 2014)

Class Schedule:

Lecture:  Tuesday, Thursday  12:30 - 1:45 pm, in R1 2360.

Late Policy:  Complete the assigned homework on time;  the instructor reserves the right to deduct points for homework submitted late:  10% if late, then 10% additional for each day late.

Final Exam:  Tuesday, April 29, 12:30 - 2:30 pm

Lectures (schedule subject to change):

• January 9, 14:  Energy Introduction

• January 16:  Light and Photons

• January 21:  The Sun (guest lecture, Prof. J.D. Smith, UT Astronomy)

• January 23:  Sunlight

  January 28:  Class Cancelled

  • AM0 Spectrum - complete (ASTM E-490 interpolated at 1 nm intervals:  999,881 points to ~1000 microns) -- Note, file size is very large, ~18 Mb.

  • AM0 Spectrum - abbreviated (ASTM E-490 at 1 nm intervals:  6000 points, to 6118.5 nm)

  • AM1.5G Spectrum (ASTM G-173 at 1 nm intervals, from 280 to 4000 nm)

• January 30:  Integrating the Solar Spectrum

• February 4:  Quiz #1, Energy Flow and Conversion;  Energy and the Environment

• February 6:  Photosynthesis (guest lecture by Prof. Scott Heckathorne, UT Environmental Sciences)

• February 11:  Biomass and Biofuels, Solar Thermal Power

• February 13:  Climate Change (guest lecture by Jiquan Chen, UT Environmental Sciences)

• February 18:  Solar Thermal Power

, Wind Energy

• February 20, 25:  Introduction to Photovoltaics

• February 27:  Introduction to Semiconductor Physics for Photovoltaics

• March 11, 13, 18:  Introduction to Semiconductor Physics for PV (continued)

• March 20:  Heterojunctions, p-n junction (revisited), other junctions, and LCOE Project

• March 25:  PV performance parameters, c-Si PV

• March 27:  PV Performance Parameters, Thin Film Photovoltaics

• April 1:  Nanostructured PV Materials, Concentrated Photovoltaics

• April 3:  Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), PV Policy and Incentives Primer

  • Solar Powering Your Community -- DOE SunShot Workshop, Dayton, OH Sept. 2012

• April 8:  (minimal class discussion -- students at PATC)

• April 10:  Quiz #3 at 11:45 am, then at 12:30 pm -- Solar Project Development (guest lecture, Matt Longthorne of Solscient Energy)

• April 15:  Acquisition, Installation, and Operation of a Residential PV System (guest lecture, Brooks Martner, Lafayette, CO)

• April 17: PV Materials and Device Characterization;  PV Modules and Arrays

• April 22:  LCOE and Policy/Incentive Presentations (meet in usual spot, R1 Rm. 2360)

• April 24:  Life Cycle Analysis -- guest lecture by Prof. Defne Apul, Civil Engineering;  Last day of class - Review

• April 29:  Final Exam, 12:30 - 2:30 pm (same location)

Quizzes

• Quiz #1 - February 4, 2014

• Quiz #2 - February 27, 2014

• Quiz #3 - April 10, 2014