Page 2 - Solar Power in Building Design The Engineer's Complete Design Resource

Endorsements for Solar Power in Building Design

Dr. Peter Gevorkian’s Solar Power in Building Design is the third book in a sequence of compre-
hensive surveys in the field of modern solar energy theory and practice. The technical title does little
to betray to the reader (including the lay reader) the wonderful and uniquely entertaining immersion
into the world of solar energy.
It is apparent to the reader, from the very first page, that the author is a master of the field and is weav-
ing a story with a carefully designed plot. The author is a great storyteller and begins the book with a
romantic yet rigorous historical perspective that includes the contribution of modern physics. A
description of Einstein’s photoelectric effect, which forms one of the foundations of current photo-
voltaic devices, sets the tone. We are then invited to witness the tense dialogue (the ac versus dc debate)
between two giants in the field of electric energy, Edison and Tesla. The issues, though a century old,
seem astonishingly fresh and relevant.
In the smoothest possible way Dr. Gevorkian escorts us in a well-rehearsed manner through a fascinat-
ing tour of the field of solar energy making stops to discuss the basic physics of the technology, manu-
facturing process, and detailed system design. Occasionally there is a delightful excursion into subjects
such as energy conservation, building codes, and the practical side of project implementation.

All this would have been more than enough to satisfy the versed and unversed in the field of renew-
able energy. But as all masters, Dr. Gevorkian wraps up his textbook in relevance by including a thor-
ough discussion of the current solar initiatives (California being a prototype) and the spectrum of
programs and financial incentives that are being created.
Solar Power in Building Design has the seductive quality of being at once an overview and course
in solar energy for anyone with or without a technical background. I suspect that this book will likely
become a standard reference for all who engage in the emerging renewable energy field.

DR. DANNY PETRASEK, M.D., PH.D.
California Institute of Technology

Dr. Gevorkian’s Solar Power in Building Design is a great read. If you are able to envision a relatively
arcane subject such as solar energy and photovoltaic applications as a compelling, page-turning read,
this is your book.
Dr. Gevorkian is a very lucid writer. A dedicated grammarian as well as a master of a multiplicity of
scientific disciplines, Dr. Gevorkian has crafted a text that broadens even the most jaded reader’s per-
spective on the subject of solar power. He ranges from storytelling, as with his brief characterization
of the controversy between early innovators Nikolai Tesla and Thomas Edison in the pioneering
years of the modern Energy Age, to a full-blown historical tracing of the rapid advances of the expan-
sive diversification of energy applications within the past 50 years.
Throughout the book, Dr. Gevorkian espouses a didactic approach that is thoroughly inductive.
A wide swath of information, integral to the exposition of the text, is presented in survey fashion.
Many questions are both asked and answered, which provides any level of audience with a great deal
of satisfaction as they pour over the wide variety of data needed to complete this intriguing story.
Very little of this complex domain is left to speculation. The layperson drawn to this subject matter
should be appreciative, as Dr. Gevorkian prepares any reader to be able to intelligently communicate
with a consultant hired to install a solar power system, or to even install a system themselves.
Myriad examples of the range of installations, replete with visual support in the form of graphs, charts,
renderings, and color photographs, serve to provide even the most technically inept audience with the