SOLAR POWER RESEARCH - A SCIENTOMETRIC STUDY OF WORLD LITERATURE

An analysis of the output of the literature scanned in Engineering Index during 1970-84 on solar power research indicates that the growth of the literature had been vigorous after the energy crisis in 1973 till 1982. The number of papers at conferences are quite close to the number of references in journals. The area of solar collectors and solar cells has received maximum attention. Publication output of literature by different countries follows the trend in basic sciences with USA being the major producer. The research activity became global after the energy crisis. Performance of the developed countries is low in some fields of solar power.