About Solar Design

"Why should I buy this book?" Solar Design was written by a solar engineer who has worked in the field for 40 years. The author has been involved in all aspects of solar energy, from research to installing systems. Over the 40 years he has developed many tools to assist in the design of solar systems. The SolarSizer program is the third such program he has written. The book lays out step by step procedures for designing solar systems, including detailed examples. If you are serious about learning how to design solar systems, this is the book for you. Solar Design includes sizing the solar array and picking equipment such as inverters, batteries, water pumps, water tanks, and charge controllers. It also shows how to sizes conductors and breakers. Chapters on how solar cells work and how modules are made are included.

The book includes 84 illustrations, 63 in color.

Software is included

Solar Design covers the following topics:

• Instructions for the included software
• Step by step approach to system design
• How to sizing the array
• How to handle multiple roof surfaces
• Tracking and fixed panels
• One-axis and two-axis tracking
• Flat plate and concentrator
• How to calculate energy requirements yearly or monthly
• How to account for shadowing on modules
• Generating a battery recovery chart
• Calculating shadows on parallel set of panels
• Calculating water tank size and pump size
• Calculating pump efficiency and generating performance charts
• Calculating battery size and battery bank capacity
• Weather and insolation data for 291 sites