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The Sun Our Future Energy Source David K McDaniels 9780471082132 Books

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The Sun Our Future Energy Source David K McDaniels 9780471082132 Books

This book was used for a class that I took at my university, which was an intro class to solar energy. I will say that the theory has not changed and the basic concepts are listed in the book. However, the questions at the end of the chapter are not the greatest.


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The Sun Our Future Energy Source David K McDaniels 9780471082132 Books Reviews

I got this book on the discount table. What a find!

This book should be updated, but even dated as it is, it is still more valuable than most books I have seen on the subject.

Unlike modern books, this older book does a thorough examination of passive solar heating, passive solar cooling and thermodynamics. A modern book would treat these extremely important topics more peripherally and instead focus on the gee-whiz photovoltaic developments.

But photovoltaics are still a very expensive way of heating, cooling and moving air. Thermodynamic methods (and insulation) are better for HVAC.

I recommend this book for anyone who is still convinced that nuclear power is needed and even an environmentally-preferred method of energy generation. If contractors, architects and designers would simply study this book, new homes could cut their HVAC energy expenditures by at least 30%, which -- on a large enough scale -- would eliminate the need for nuclear energy and allow us to focus on sustainable sources.

Remember, HVAC currently accounts for nearly 50% of the world's energy budget. This book will set any good designer down the right path and insure the fundamentals.
David McDaniels has most likely written the most accessible book on solar energy for those interested in renewable energy and science in general. This book could easily serve as an introductory text for advanced high school students, or as a required text for a lower and/or upper division class on renewable energy.
Like many books on solar and renewable energy, it begins by explaining the need for alternative energy sources. However, it goes way beyond trite statements about dependence on foreign oil and 'solar/renewable energy is good, fossil fuels are bad' to present to the reader the key concepts, issues, and challenges surrounding solar energy. McDaniels contextualizes solar energy not only with fossil fuels and other renewable energy sources, but also within the global social, political and economic framework. McDaniels also does an excellent job of explaining complex ideas in very a simple, straightforward manner, and his use of copious examples, analogy and allegory serve to reinforce his points. He also does a first-rate job of explaining what energy is, and devotes a separate chapter to the examination of all non-solar energy resources, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each. McDaniels also gives a very detailed history of solar energy, and follows the development of solar technology from the passive architecture of ancient Rome and Greece, onward to the development of solar engines, cookers, and boilers over the last three hundred years, to the more recent developments of solar homes, photovoltaics, and solar space heating.
For the more technically inclined, he devotes one chapter each to the sun, solar radiation, passive solar applications and the methods of capturing solar energy. He also adds brief but highly readable chapters on active solar space and water heating, solar thermal power, and photovoltaic conversion. Although the book's main focus is the conversion of solar energy to heat energy, the reader learns in concise language the basic concepts and principles behing solar energy conversion technologies. However, do not allow the sparse equations and Greek letters scattered throughout each chapter to scare you off- McDaniels graciously gives the less mathematically inclined among us brief, easily understandable explanations of all the math involved.
The book also has a few (but unfortunately not enough) example problems in some chapters, study problems and references for further reading at the end of each chapter and plenty of diagrams, charts and pictures of a variety of solar power machines. However, all of the pictures and diagrams are in black and white, and a revised edition may be necessary to discuss advances in photovoltaics. Furthermore, since most of the research in the solar energy area took place in the mid seventies and mid-eighties, more recent examples of research work and ongoing demonstration projects, as well as more contemporary references should also be included in the revised edition.
In addition, this book is most likely the least imposing and intimidating textbook on solar energy and its applications circulating on the market today. It is also a very readable, even-handed, and informative text. Finally, the ultimate strength of this book is its accessibility to many types of people, from high school and college students to practicing engineers and scientists, as well as inquisitive lay people. If you have access to McDaniels' text, then you truly have a literary and scientific gem in the palm of your hand.
This book was used for a class that I took at my university, which was an intro class to solar energy. I will say that the theory has not changed and the basic concepts are listed in the book. However, the questions at the end of the chapter are not the greatest.