Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual

It's a great primer on all the components and installation considerations. Don't expect any profound mathematics or electrical theory. Has a lot of nice charts, diagrams, appendices and illustrations. Only think is it's a bit dated - came out in 2007 as far as I can tell and the PV industry has continued exploding with new products, materials, approaches etc. which this book does not cover ( how could it - the changes have taken place post-publication). If they print a newer version I'm sure it will be a real 'gem' but this one is still top notch in most respects.

When I was considering careers I had to consider solar power so I read this book. Very interesting, and yet not interesting enough to read all the way through. My shortcoming, not the book. If you are dedicated, this book could probably get you an entry level position.

In many of the "Official Solar" websites, this is "THE" most recommended book on solar, and probably it was "The Book" for years while this science was still pretty new. It is a good book, it has a lot of useful tables and general info, and does offer many good suggestions and recommendations. If you buy this book, and are pretty new in this field, this will be helpful to you. Though all the above is true, this book is quite over priced for what you get, but as with nearly all text books and manuals for use type of stuff, you do tend to get ripped on cost a bit. It should be no more than a $25 book.....however that may be.... This book is probably still going to be the "standard" upon which most other non-engineering level books are measured by for some time. Though overpriced (IMHO), you will not regret having used this book. I have read it through more than twice, and the author has a good way of expressing the info so nearly anyone can understand it: good man! enjoy.

I have been in the renewable energy field for some time now and have used many products for instructional purposes, but this is the best. It has all the material needed to get people here in the IBEW up and running for the installation and design of solar systems. I have used this book since taking the train the trainer course using the same book and feel it does more to explain the things you run into everyday in the field.

good book, short read for being a installation manual, read from front to back in 9 hours. I did like the layout, but this is a base application book assuming you have no knowledge in almost any electronics. I am a computer science expert so DC current is easy for me, what gets me is this is a book assuming you are going to buy all the individual components and put them together as per individual manuals...I wanted a book with a break down of how to make my own components, ie. Lightning arrestors, charge controllers, or water heater collectors...this has none of that, this assumes you will buy the better quality components from somewhere else, and does not tell you the best ones to buy, for some lawsuit things.... anyway a good read, very on target... worth 30$$$ will

I am interested in designing and installing a DIY solar panel system for our home, so I purchased this book hoping that it would be packed with useful information for realizing such a project. Unfortunately I found it to be rather "lite" (if you have done any type of electrical wiring beforehand) and not quite up to date. 80 whole pages are wasted with "insolation" tables and "sun charts" covering sample locations around the world .. from Alabama to Afghanistan .. an immense waste of space and trees. Otherwise, it is a well organized basic textbook with many worksheets, examples and diagrams. To improve the value of this textbook I recommend that the publisher 1) simply includes a link to the "insolation" tables available elsewhere on the Web, 2) incldues additional and current data on the available component alternatives and a means for evaluating these alternatives in the design process, and 3) raises the assumed level of the audience addressed by this textbook.

This book got me thru the design and installation of a complete off-grid system for my lake cottage. The process of site evaluation, system component selection, wiring, etc. is complex, but with a lot of study and this book, I ended up very happy with the results. Everything you need to know is here. I recommend it for anyone who is starting with little PV knowledge and wants to end up with a whole house system.

I received the yellow colored cover, ISBN 0-86571-520-3, which I believe is an older version of the blue colored cover pictured in this listing. The table of contents is very similar across both versions, not sure what the differences are between these. After some research I found that the current/latest version of this book is called Solar Electric Handbook, ISBN-10: 1256918164, ISBN-13: 978-1256918165, and based on the info available on the SEI website (solarenergy.org), the table of contents is different from the yellow and blue Photovoltaics Design and Installation Manual versions. In addition to covering the topics in the Photovoltaics manuals, the Handbook has units on: Safely Installing, Commissioning, and Decommissioning Grid-Direct Systems; Battery-Based Systems; Solar Business and Finance It looks like there may be more detail in the Handbook on a lot of the sections covered in the Manuals, and the Handbook may be geared to those that already have a basic understanding of PV whereas the Manuals seem more introductory. This is just based on looking at what little info is available quickly online.

A fantastic read and easy to follow design book. You are taken through basic principles to more sophisticated design examples highly rate this book

God of all books on solar energy

Great to read and very helpful to get a quick and easy overview. Examples and calculations are amazingly helpful. As an engineer an easy and nice read ;)

Good read

Covers it all fairly comprehensively