This text seeks to illuminate, mainly for the electrical power engineers
of the future, the topic of large scale solar flux gathering schemes,
which arguably represent the major source of renewable power available.
The aim of the content is to impart, from an electromagnetic
perspective, a deep and sound understanding of the topic of solar flux
collection, ranging from the characteristics of light to the properties
of antennas. To do this five chapters are employed to provide a thorough
grounding in relevant aspects of electromagnetism and electromagnetic
waves including optics, electromagnetic radiation and reception,
aperture antennas and array antennas and the quantum electrodynamics
aspects of optical absorption, as it relates to photovoltaic techniques.
The principles developed in these chapters are then used to underpin and
elucidate the main chapters on photovoltaic collectors, concentrated
solar power collectors, satellite based collection systems and optical
nantennas. To establish the novel and transformative renewable
technologies, which civilisation will soon require, in order to achieve
sustainability quickly and effectively, the availability of professional
engineers and scientists with a thorough and commanding grasp of the
fundamental science is an absolutely essential prerequisite. This book
provides this for solar power generating systems.