Solar Energy Engineering & Commercialization

To find articles in journals and papers presented at conferences, use one or more of the following indexing services.

Engineering Village (Compendex and Inspec)

ABI/Inform

Covers scholarly business journals, trade journals, newspapers, newswires, conference papers, dissertations and theses. Best used for finding industry news.

IEEE Xplore

Covers all IEEE publications and some from other publishers. ASU Library subscribes to the full text of IEEE journals, conference proceedings, books (1989-2013) and issued standards (but not draft standards). Best used for the electrical engineering and related technology of solar energy.

Google Scholar

Covers whatever scholarly material the publishers make available to Google. Focuses primarily on articles from scholarly journals, however, as these articles' references are included, you may also discover other types of documentation such as books, patents, technical reports, etc. Indexes not only the authors, titles and abstracts of articles but also searches the full text of documents.Best used for interdisciplinary topics and/or for information that is usually found within the full text rather than title or abstract.

Scopus

If The ASU Library does not have a copy of the journal article you need, request the article via our Interlibrary Loan service.  The service is free and most articles are scanned and put in your account within 48 hours.  For the fastest "turn-around" time, be sure to include the journal's ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) on the request.

Many professional associations have information available on their websites. Most carry free short news items and summaries of reports but detailed market information, industry reports and statistics are usually only available to association members or have to be purchased.  Associations vary as to what they carry and how up-to-date their publications are (some obviously are not doing well keeping their websites maintained.) 

Some solar-related associations are listed below with the types of information available at each. 

ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy) 
"... dedicated to building a secure and prosperous America with clean, renewable energy."  Items of note: 

• Outlook for Renewable Energy in America (March 2014)
• Renewable Energy in the 50 States: Western Region (September 2014)
• Renewable Energy at Scale in the U.S. and Europe(November 2014)
   

ASES (American Solar Energy Society)
"Established in 1954, the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nation’s leading association of solar professionals & advocates. ASES is the US Section of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES).  Our mission is to inspire an era of energy innovation and speed the transition to a sustainable energy economy."  Items of note: 

• Solar Home Basics 
  Very basic introduction to residential solar energy.
   

AEE (Association of Energy Engineers)
"... info & networking in the dynamic fields of energy engineering, energy management, renewables, power generation, energy services, sustainability, and related areas." 
 

EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industries Association)
"EPIA’s Mission is to shape the regulatory environment to promote the growing market opportunity for solar in Europe."  Items of note: 

• Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics 2014-2018 (June 2014)
• Fact Sheets (all are pre-2014)
   

International Solar Energy Society  
"... works to achieve 100% renewable energy for all, used efficiently and wisely, by providing the global renewable energy community with a collective, scientifically credible voice and up-to-date information gathered and synthesized by its talented members. " 
 

NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practioniers)
Items of note:

• Resources section with links to some free resources and as well as a listing of major reference sources.  
   

REEP (Renewable Energy and Efficiency Partnership)
Items of note: 

• Compendium of U.S. Best Practices (2010)
  "This Compendium of Best Practices is the result of extensive outreach, data gathering, and analysis conducted to identify leading state and local-level best practices in energy efficiency and renewable energy in the United States. The report describes more than 20 practices and includes examples of their effective implementation in states or cities."
   

SEPA (Solar Electric Power Assocation)
"The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) is an educational non-profit organization dedicated to helping utilities integrate solar energy into their portfolio." Has a "Discover Resources" section that has many items and most are free although some look dated. 
 

Solar Energy Industries Association 
Home page has press releases and there are separate sections for news and research/resources.   Items of note: 

• National Solar Database (Free information is limited) 
• Major Solar Projects List

Dictionaries:

• Glossary of Energy Related Terms
• Glossary of Solar Radiation Resource Terms
  
  

Encyclopedias and Books: 

To Find Books in the ASU Library:

• Use the ASU Library's One Search
  
  As the name implies, "Library One Search" locates items from across the ASU Library's collections and includes not just books but also articles from scholarly journals, trade magazines and newspapers, chapters from reference books, dissertations/theses, maps, data sets, photographs,  government documents and much more.   New material is being added almost every day. 
  
  Search titles, keywords or authors in the single search box; an advanced search feature is also available.  When the results list is displayed, use the Content Type option in left column to limit the results to books/e-books.  
   
  • If the book is available in print, clicking on the title will take you to the ASU Library Catalog where you'll in which library the book is located, it's call number and whether it is checked out.   Use the Request on the catalog record to recall a book that is checked out or to have a book shipped to the ASU Library of your choice. 
     
  • If the book is available online, clicking on the title or on the "Full Text" link will take you directly to the book. 

To Find Books In Other Libraries:   
 

• Use WorldCat.org

If the ASU Library doesn't have the book that you need, request the book via our Interlibrary Loan Service.

Electronic Books (E-Books):

Many e-books can be found through the ASU Library Catalog.

To limit your search to e-books:

• After entering your keywords and viewing the results screen
• Select Full Text Online from the availability subheading on the right hand side and then select Books from the Resource Type heading.

Results will include a link to access the book.

*Many of our electronic books are listed in the catalog however, we also have several e-book collection in which you can use the native search engine for these collections:

ebrary

Books from major publishers in all subject areas.

e-books on EBSCOhost

​Books from major publishers in all subject areas.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

A  collection of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

IEEEXplore

Full text of many books published by IEEE in addition to journal and conference articles and standards

Knovel
Over 2,000 science and engineering handbooks in which you can find facts, formula and property data.

MyiLibrary

Books from major publishers, organizations and government agencies in all subject areas.

Safari Books Online

Primarily books related to computer programming and other information technology areas.

SpringerLink

Full-text of selected journals, books, book series, and reference works and the Online Archives Collection from science publisher Springer.

Synthesis Digital Library
Innovative online information service for the research, development and educational communities in engineering and computer science.

Government agencies frequently produce publications although they vary in level of content and usefulness.  The U.S. Government in particular is one of the most prolific producers of information and has substantial documentation for solar energy. Government documents may be covered in some of the artilce databases and you'll see them in reference lists at the end of articles and book chapters.   To find government publications, usually the best way is to search the websites of the agencies most likely to work on that topic and to also use special databases that retrieve documents from multiple agencies.  

Search engines for government publications:

• FDsys

  Provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the U.S. Government. Includes: 
  *Database Coverage
  *Online tutorials
• USA.gov

  Find U.S. documents and information by agency and/or topic. USA.gov searches across all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government websites.

Government agencies related to solar energy:

United States 

• EIA (Energy Information Administration)  
  Great source for statistics.
  • Monthly Energy Reviews (with Chapter 10: Renewables expanded)
  • Renewable and Alternative Fuels section 
     
• FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)
  An independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil, and electricity.  FERC does not regulation retail electricity sales to consumers.  
  
   
• NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
  • Photovolatics Research
  • Publications Database
  • Renewable Resource Data Center
    • National Solar Radiation Database 
    • Solar Resources Information 
    • Solar Maps

International

• IEA (International Energy Agency) 
  Although there are a few free IEA publications available on this website, see the OECDiLibrary below for more. 
   
• IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency)  
  "The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, ..."   Includes a Country Information section containing: 
  • Renewable Energy Country Profiles
  • Renewable Energy Policies and Measures Database
  • Renewable Energy Potential: Solar
    
     
• OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development)
  OECD "works with governments to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change; measures productivity and global flows of trade and investment; analyses and compares data to predict future trends, and sets international standards on a wide range of things."
   
  Be sure to enter the OECD via the OECDiLibrary link below in order to have access to the full text of publications and the data. 
   
  • OECDiLibrary
    The online library of the OECD covering its books,  papers and statistics and is the gateway to OECD’s analysis and data.  Click on "Statistics" in the blue navigation bar to get to the data and analysis area; you can also browse the data by theme (aka energy) or by country.  The database also contains content published by the IEA (International Energy Agency)

A patent is a government grant bestowing certain property rights on the inventor; these rights usually permit the inventor to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention.

For more information about patents and finding/research patents please see the ASU Library's

Patents Research Guide

For more detailed assistance you may consider consulting the Arizona State Library's 

Patent and Trademark Resource Center

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)  
CFR annual edition is the official compliation of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the units of the federal (U.S.) Government.  

The CFR is divided into 50 "titles" covering broad subject areas. Titles are divided into chapters, which usually indicate the issuing agency. Chapters are further subdivided into parts that cover specific regulatory areas.   Each title is updated annual as follows: 

• Titles 1-16. January 1
• Titles 17-27, April 1
• Titles 28-41, July 1
• Titles 42-50, October 1

Note: The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) is a regularly updated compilation of CFR material and Federal Register amendments but it is not considered an official, legal version of the CFR. 

Federal Register
The daily journal of the U.S. Government.  The Federal Register contains notices, proposed rules (aka regulations rules), final rules, and presidential documents.   

ProQuest Regulatory Insight 
Regulatory Histories for Public Laws enacted from 1981-2015; includes Federal Register documents for 1977-present and Code of Federal Regulations from 1991-current.

Regulations.gov  
Find and comment on proposed regulations and related documents published by the U.S. Federal government. This site includes final regulations, notices, scientific and technical findings, guidance, adjudications, and submitted comments.  Does NOT include Public Laws, Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) nor regulations from state, local and tribal governments. 

For more detailed information about standards at the ASU Library, please see the Standards Guide

some standards resources:

ANSI (American National Standards Institute) 

ASTM Compass (ASTM Digital Library including standards journals and other publications)

Everyspec (Military Standards and Specifications)

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Full text of IEEE standards available in IEEEXplore

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 

SEMI (semi.org; "global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chain for the micro- and nano-electronics industries")

Search Engines for Standards

IHS Global Engineering

ANSI Search (formerly NSSN)

Tech Street

Codes

US Local Codes (MAD CAD)
Links to online codes for all 50 states plus US Territories; within each state links are provided to websites of county, city, town and jurisdiction agencies and to their respective codes when available online.

Solar Energy Statistical Information:

EIA (Energy Information Administration)  
Great source for U.S. statistics.

• Monthly Energy Reviews (with Chapter 10: Renewables expanded)
• Renewable and Alternative Fuels section  

OECDiLibrary
The online library of the OECD covering its books,  papers and statistics and is the gateway to OECD’s analysis and data.  Click on "Statistics" in the blue navigation bar to get to the data and analysis area; you can also browse the data by theme (aka energy) or by country.  The database also contains content published by the IEA (International Energy Agency)

General Statistical Information:

• Statistical Abstract of the United States
  "Comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States."
   
• Pew Research Center
  "Numbers, facts and trends shaping your world."  Includes information on the following:
  • Polls on Politics, Policy and Media
  • Religion and Public Life
  • Research and Analysis on News Media
  • Internet and Information Technology Trends
  • Latino Trends and Attitudes
  • State Policy and Political News
  • International Opinion Polls
  • Social and Demographic Trends
     
• Proquest Statistical Insight
  Indexes statistical information produced by the U.S. government, state governments, & selected private organizations (1971-). Includes access to the American Statistics Index (1973-), Statistical Reference Index (1980-), and Index to International Statistics (from 1983-).
   
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIRPI)
  Data on international relations and security; data for armed forces, arms production, military expenditure, population, education, housing and water supply, economics, labor, security, armed conflicts, and human rights.
   
• ZipWho
  Not associated with the U.S. Census Bureau; database contains U.S. Census data and is searchable by zip code or demographic variable.

To identify what technical reports exist on a particular topic, use:

• National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
  Contains over 2 million research citations from 1964 to the present. In addition to technical reports, also covers some computer products, software, video and audio material. Covers all subject areas of U.S. federally sponsored research and select foreign governments.
   
• Department of Defense (DoD):
  • DTIC Search
     
• Department of Energy (DOE):
  • Science Accelerator
    Searches all of the following databases from one search interface:
    • DOE Patents
    • SciTech Connect
    • DOE Pages
    • R&D Accomplishments

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • NSCEP/NEPIS - EPA's Gateway to Publications

• Geological Survey (USGS)
  • Publications Warehouse
     
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
  • NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
     
• Science.gov
  Searches over 36 scientific databases and 200 million pages of science information with just one query, and is a gateway to 1,850+ scientific Websites.   Covers all types of government publications in addition to technical reports. 
   
• Worldwide Science
  A single search interface for freely available English-language documents on the web; participating databases include those from: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States (science.gov).

To find the full text of a specific report:

• Some technical reports are freely available on the Web at the sponsoring agency's website, try:
  • Using Google or another Internet search engine to find the report either by title, author, or report number
  • Go to the sponsoring agency's website and browse/search the site
     
• TRAIL (Technical Report Archive and Image Library) 
  An ongoing project to digitize technical reports issued prior to 1975.  As of September 2008, mostly NBS (National Bureau of Standards) and some AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) reports were available.  U.S. Bureau of Mines may appear soon. 
   
• The ASU Library have some technical reports in the collections of Noble Library (Tempe Campus) and in our Government Documents Department (3rd floor, Hayden Library, Tempe Campus) in either print, microfiche, and/or CD. If the document(s) you need is not on the Web, check for availability by calling either Gov Docs (480-965-3390) or Noble Library (480-965-2600) or using our Ask a Librarian's service at http://lib.asu.edu/ask-a-librarian.
   
• If the document(s) you need is not available in the ASU Library, ASU faculty/students may submit an Interlibrary Loan request