Materials, Electronics, and Renewable Energy

Synopsis

This interdisciplinary course looks at the physical issues concerning energy generation, storage and use. The style will be varied - making use of simple physical estimates for a wide range of energy problems, but also looking in more detail at materials-based approaches to renewable energy. Only IA-level physics is a prerequisite; those who have experience of solid-state physics will find some parts of the course more straightforward, but the material will be taught and examined in such a way that prior knowledge in this area is not required.

Energy requirements and energy availability:

Back-of-envelope models of energy consumption and production. Current and projected usage, fossil fuel reserves. Alternatives to fossil fuels: nuclear, wind, wave, tide, geothermal, solar.

Moving, storing and transforming energy:

Heat engines, heat pumps. Energy storage systems.

Using and conserving energy:

Transport of people and freight. Heating and insulation.

Solar energy:

Sunlight, the greenhouse effect, biofuels. Theoretical limits to conversion of solar energy.

The hydrogen economy:

Generation and storage of hydrogen. Fuel cells. Batteries.

Electronic structure of molecules and solids:

Tight binding band structure. Interaction with light. Excitons. Electrons and holes. Doping.

Inorganic semiconductor solar cells:

The p-n junction. Photovoltaic operation. Cell design, materials and performance. Beyond the Schockley-Queisser limit; nanostructured materials.

Molecular semiconductors:

Materials and optical properties. Excitons. Photovoltaic devices: multilayers, bulk heterojunctions and dye-sensitised cells.

Biological systems:

Structure and optoelectronic operation: photosynthesis, purple bacteria, vision.

Approximate lecture sequence

Main course textbook:

Sustainable Energy - without the hot air by David MacKay

Further reading on Embodied energy, life-cycle analysis

Michael F Ashby Materials and the Environment - Eco-informed Material Choice Butterworth-Heinemann ISBN 978-1-85617-608-8

(400 pages)

Books for reading about exergy and thermodynamics

M.J. Moran and H.N. Shapiro Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics (Wiley, 1993)

Fairly extensive coverage on exergy, chemical equilibrium, equations of state

Y.A. Cengel and M.A. Boles Thermodynamics, An Engineering Approach (McGraw-Hill, 1989)

Easy to read.

G.F.C. Rogers and Y.R. Mayhew Engineering Thermodynamics, Work and Heat Transfer (Longman)

The classic British engineering thermodynamics text, now almost 50 years old.

K. Denbigh The Principles of Chemical Equilibrium (CUP)

First published in 1954 and possibly out of print but one of the best books on thermodynamics.

P W Atkins Physical Chemistry

Other books

Nelson J The Physics of Solar Cells, (Imperial 2003)

Blankenship R E Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis (Blackwell 2002)

Lectures

Lent term, 2009. Tu, Th, 12.15pm, starting 22nd January

There are 12 lectures.

Partial lecture notes and slideshows will be placed on this page. There's more to a lecture than its notes, however, so please come to the real thing.

• Lecture 1
• Lecture 2 - Wind and Cars - Chapter B (p263-268); Chapter A (p254) - Dimensional analysis
  • Further lecture notes on dimensional analysis, with examples
  • A handout on dimensional analysis (html) / (postscript) | (pdf) |
• Lecture 3 | Solar PV theory (Hopfield and Gollub, 1978)
• Lecture 4
• Lecture 5 - Hydrogen, fuel cells, batteries (pdf)
• Lecture 6 - Semiconductors (pdf)
• Lecture 7 - Inorganic PV (pdf)
• Lecture 8
• Lecture 9 - Advanced PV (pdf)
• Lecture 10 - Molecular Semiconductors (pdf)
• Lecture 11 - Photosynthesis (pdf)
• Lecture 12

Supervisions

Examples sheet (3M pdf) Examples sheet (0.4M postscript)

Supervisions will be given by Dr Gunnar Möller (gm360-at-cam) in weeks 4, 6, and 8. tel: 337 377

Links to old websites for related courses

• Richard Friend's course (2008)
• Part II and Part III Back-of-envelope Physics (2005), focusing on Sustainable Energy

Links to a few back-of-envelope calculations

• Solar:
  • Solar electric
  • Solar thermal

Links to sustainability organizations

• Department of Engineering Centre for Sustainable Development: Prof Peter Guthrie et al