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  • 1
    Publication Date: 2016-08-01
    Description: The aim of this work was to couple physical-chemical approaches with photocatalysis to reduce by a simple, inexpensive way the organic load of olive mill wastewater (OMW), mandatorily prior to the final discharge. Before irradiation, different sorbents were tested to remove part of the organic fraction, monitored by measuring chemical oxygen demand (COD) and polyphenols (PP). Different low-cost, safe materials were tested, that is, Y zeolite (ZY), montmorillonite, and sepiolite. Considerable decrease of organic load was obtained, with the highest abatement (40%) provided by ZY (10 g L−1 in 1 : 10 OMW). Use of the three sorbents, in particular ZY, was convenient compared to commercial activated carbons. UV light photocatalytic tests, performed using P25 TiO2 on ZY-treated OMW, yielded quantitative remediation (ca. 90%). Also solar light provided significative results, PP being lowered by 74% and COD by 56%. Sol-gel anatase TiO2 and N-doped anatase TiO2 were also tested, obtaining good results, around 80% PP and 40% COD. Finally, an integrated approach was experimented by ZY-supported anatase TiO2 (TiO2@ZY). This photoreactive sorbent allowed one-pot treatment of OMW significative abatements of PP (77%) and COD (39%) with only 1 g L−1 material, under solar light.
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2016-08-03
    Description: Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are widely used as rear electrodes in copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells. The challenge in Mo deposition by magnetron sputtering lies in simultaneously achieving good adhesion to the substrates while retaining the electrical and optical properties. Bilayer Mo films, comprising five different thickness ratios of a high pressure (HP) deposited bottom layer and a low pressure (LP) deposited top layer, were deposited on 40 cm × 30 cm soda-lime glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. We focus on understanding the effects of the individual layer properties on the resulting bilayer Mo films, such as microstructure, surface morphology, and surface oxidation. We show that the thickness of the bottom HP Mo layer plays a major role in determining the micromechanical and physical properties of the bilayer Mo stack. Our studies reveal that a thicker HP Mo bottom layer not only improves the adhesion of the bilayer Mo, but also helps to improve the film crystallinity along the preferred [] direction. However, the surface roughness and the porosity of the bilayer Mo films are found to increase with increasing bottom layer thickness, which leads to lower optical reflectance and a higher probability for oxidation at the Mo surface.
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2016-08-01
    Description: Three hydrocalumite-like compounds in a Ca/Al ratio of 2 containing nitrate and acetate anions in the interlaminar region were prepared by a simple, economic, and environmentally friendly method. The solids were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, nitrogen adsorption-desorption at −196°C, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV-Vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS). The catalytic activity of the calcined solids at 700°C was tested in the photodegradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) where 57% degradation of 2,4-D (40 ppm) and a mineralization percentage of 60% were accomplished within 150 minutes. The photocatalytic properties were attributed to mayenite hydration, since the oxide ions in the cages are capable of reacting with water to form hydroxide anions capable of breaking down the 2,4-D molecules.
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  • 4
    Publication Date: 2016-06-21
    Description: Photovoltaic (PV) energy is one of the most important energy sources since it is clean and inexhaustible. It is important to operate PV energy conversion systems in the maximum power point (MPP) to maximize the output energy of PV arrays. An MPPT control is necessary to extract maximum power from the PV arrays. In recent years, a large number of techniques have been proposed for tracking the maximum power point. This paper presents a comparison of different MPPT methods and proposes one which used a power estimator and also analyses their suitability for systems which experience a wide range of operating conditions. The classic analysed methods, the incremental conductance (IncCond), perturbation and observation (P&O), ripple correlation (RC) algorithms, are suitable and practical. Simulation results of a single phase NPC grid connected PV system operating with the aforementioned methods are presented to confirm effectiveness of the scheme and algorithms. Simulation results verify the correct operation of the different MPPT and the proposed algorithm.
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  • 5
    Publication Date: 2016-06-21
    Description: Concentrated sunlight that is transmitted by fiber optics has been used for generating electricity, heat, and daylight. On the other hand, multijunction photovoltaic cells provide high efficiency for generating electricity from highly concentrated sunlight. This study deals with designing and simulating a high-efficiency coupler, employing a mathematical model to connect sunlight with fiber optics for multiple applications. The coupler concentrates and distributes irradiated light from a primary concentrator. In this study, a parabolic dish was used as the primary concentrator, a coupler that contains nine components called a compound truncated pyramid and a cone (CTPC), all of which were mounted on a plate. The material of both the CTPC and the plate was BK7 optical glass. Fiber optics cables and multijunction photovoltaic cells were connected to the cylindrical part of the CTPC. The fibers would transmit the light to the building to provide heat and daylight, whereas multijunction photovoltaic cells generate electricity. Theoretical and simulation results showed high performance of the designed coupler. The efficiency of the coupler was as high as , whereas the rim angle of the dish increased to an optimum angle. Distributed sunlight in the coupler increased the flexibility and simplicity of the design, resulting in a system that provided concentrated electricity, heat, and lighting for residential buildings.
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  • 6
    Publication Date: 2016-06-21
    Description: Water-soluble graphitic hollow carbon nanorods (wsCNRs) are exploited for their light-driven photochemical activities under outdoor sunlight. wsCNRs were synthesized by a simple pyrolysis method from castor seed oil, without using any metal catalyst or template. wsCNRs exhibited the light-induced photochemical degradation of methylene blue used as a model pollutant by the generation of singlet oxygen species. Herein, we described a possible degradation mechanism of methylene blue under the irradiation of visible photons via the singlet oxygen-superoxide anion pathway.
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  • 7
    Publication Date: 2016-06-22
    Description: Solar panels have become attractive in order to generate and supply electricity in commercial and residential applications. Their increased module efficiencies have caused not only a massive production but also a sensible drop on sale prices. Methods of characterization, instrumentation for in situ measurements, defect monitoring, process control, and performance are required. A temperature characterization method by means of thermograph analysis is exposed in this paper. The method was applied to multicrystalline modules, and the characterization was made with respect to two different variables, first a thermal transient and second a characterization with respect to the current. The method is useful in order to detect hot spots caused by mismatch conditions in electrical parameters. The description, results, and limitations of the proposed method are discussed.
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  • 8
    Publication Date: 2016-06-24
    Description: Fe-doped TiO2 (Fe/TiO2) film photocatalyst was prepared by sol-gel and dip-coating process to extend its photoresponsivity to the visible spectrum. To promote the CO2 reduction performance with the photocatalyst, some types of base materials used for coating Fe/TiO2, which were netlike glass fiber and Cu disc, were investigated. The characterization of prepared Fe/TiO2 film coated on netlike glass fiber and Cu disc was analyzed by SEM and EPMA. In addition, the CO2 reduction performance of Fe/TiO2 film coated on netlike glass disc, Cu disc, and their overlap was tested under a Xe lamp with or without ultraviolet (UV) light, respectively. The results show that the concentration of produced CO increases by Fe doping irrespective of base material used under the illumination condition with UV light as well as that without UV light. Since the electron transfer between two overlapped photocatalysts is promoted, the peak concentration of CO for the Fe/TiO2 double overlapping is approximately 1.5 times as large as the Fe/TiO2 single overlapping under the illumination condition with UV light, while the promotion ratio is approximately 1.1 times under that without UV light.
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  • 9
    Publication Date: 2016-05-27
    Description: The internal impedances of different dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) models were analyzed by electrochemical impedance spectrometer (EIS) with an equivalent circuit model. The Nyquist plot was built to simulate the redox reaction of internal device at the heterojunction. It was useful to analyze the component structure and promote photovoltaic conversion efficiency of DSSC. The impedance of DSSC was investigated and the externally connected module assembly was constructed utilizing single cells on the scaled-up module. According to the experiment results, the impedance was increased with increasing cells connected in series. On the contrary, the impedance was decreased with increasing cells connected in parallel.
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  • 10
    Publication Date: 2016-07-26
    Description: This paper identifies the partial shading problem of a PV module using the one-diode model and simulating the characteristics exhibiting multiple-peak power output condition that is similar to a PV array. A modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm based on the suggested search-agent deployment, retracking condition, and multicore operation is proposed in order to continuously locate the global maximum power point for the PV system. Partial shading simulation results for up to 16 modules in series/parallel formats are presented. A distributed PV system consisting of up to 8 a-silicon thin film PV panels and also having a dedicated DC/DC buck converter on each of the modules is tested. The converter reaches its steady state voltage output in 10 ms. However for MPPT operation, voltage, and current measurement interval is set to 20 ms to avoid unnecessary noise from the entire electric circuit. Based on the simulation and experiment results, each core of the proposed PSO operation should control no more than 4 PV modules in order to have the maximum tracking accuracy and minimum overall tracking time. Tracking for the global maximum power point of a distributed PV system under various partial shading conditions can be done within 1.3 seconds.
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  • 11
    Publication Date: 2016-07-29
    Description: This paper discusses the utilisation of PV systems for electric vehicles charging for transportation requirements of smart cities. The gap between PV power output and vehicles charging demand is highly variable. Therefore, there is a need for additional support from a public distribution grid or a storage device in order to handle the residual power. Long term measurement data retrieved from a charging station for 15 vehicles equipped with a PV system were used in the research. Low and high irradiation seasons influenced the PV output. The charging demand of electric vehicles varied over the course of a year and was correlated to weather conditions. Therefore, the sizing and performance of a supportive storage device should be evaluated in a statistical manner using long period observations.
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  • 12
    Publication Date: 2016-03-25
    Description: The performance of a solar assisted heat pump dryer integrated with biomass furnace has been designed and evaluated for drying red chillies, and drying kinetics of red chillies were evaluated. The red chillies were dried from 22 kg with moisture content of 4.26 db to moisture content of 0.08 db which needed 11 hours, with the average drying chamber temperature, drying chamber relative humidity, and an air mass flow rate of 70.5°C, 10.1%, and 0.124 kg/s, respectively, while the open sun drying needed 62 hours. Compared to open sun drying, this dryer yielded 82% saving in drying time. The drying rate, the specific moisture extraction rate, and thermal efficiency of the dryer were estimated in average to be about 1.57 kg/h, 0.14 kg/kWh, and 9.03%, respectively. Three mathematical models, the Newton, Henderson-Pabis, and Page models, were fitted to the experimental data on red chillies dried by solar assisted heat pump dryer integrated with biomass furnace and open sun drying. The performance of these models was evaluated by comparing the coefficient of determination (), mean bias error (MBE), and root mean-square error (RMSE). The Page model gave the best results for representing drying kinetics of red chillies.
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  • 13
    Publication Date: 2016-04-04
    Description: A novel modeling tool for calculation of central receiver concentrated flux distributions is presented, which takes into account drift effects. This tool is based on a drift model that includes different geometrical error sources in a rigorous manner and on a simple analytic approximation for the individual flux distribution of a heliostat. The model is applied to a group of heliostats of a real field to obtain the resulting flux distribution and its variation along the day. The distributions differ strongly from those obtained assuming the ideal case without drift or a case with a Gaussian tracking error function. The time evolution of peak flux is also calculated to demonstrate the capabilities of the model. The evolution of this parameter also shows strong differences in comparison to the case without drift.
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  • 14
    Publication Date: 2016-04-08
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  • 15
    Publication Date: 2016-02-09
    Description: Design, construction, and evaluation of a cylindrical-trough solar concentrator with 1.3 m aperture, 2.15 m length, and 0.54 m focal length, with heat-pipe or vacuum tube receiver and one axis tracking system, are presented. Design performance was tested under ASHRAE standard 93-1986 (RA 91). The concentrator system is lightweight and inexpensive since it was made of polymeric membranes and was pneumatically inflated to acquire its cylindrical shape achieving good optical quality. Further implementation of a flat and a cylindrical extension of the concentrating mirror as secondary mirrors was incorporated into the concentrator design in order to compensate for seasonal variations of collected radiation. Total initial investment of $163.30 or $58.5/m2 and efficiencies ranging from 33 to 25% for 25 up to 65°C show an excellent cost-performance ratio. Construction, costs, and efficiencies obtained by us and developed by other groups are compared to emphasize the high cost/benefit ratio and efficiencies of this approach.
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  • 16
    Publication Date: 2016-01-05
    Description: The biggest problems of our time are environmental pollution and the reduction of fossil fuel resources. In recent years, photovoltaic (PV) has started to be used efficiently in order to produce electrical energy from solar energy throughout the world. In this study, a wheat mover machine taking its energy with PV technology transformation from the sun was designed supported by smart sensors. The designed vehicle was tested in two wheat fields in Sivas in Turkey. It was seen that daily average sunshine rates were not lower than 700 Watt/m2 during the testing dates and time. The amounts of electrical charge used to mow 5 m2 and 50 m2 areas are obtained as 500 mAh and 3395 mAh, respectively. Also maximum power is calculated from used PV panel as 26.15 Watt during the day of the experiments. The range of solar radiation intensity is found 4.5 kWh/m2/day at the studied kWh which was 0.140 USD on the date of November 2015. This system is 94.5% more economic than conventional mowers over an area of 1000 m2.
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  • 17
    Publication Date: 2016-01-06
    Description: The mean cost price of electricity in Burkina Faso at the end of the last quarter of 2012 was 158 FCFA/kWh for a country where more than 46% of the population lives below the national poverty threshold. To look for solution to that problem, the resort to photovoltaic solar energy is justified for that country. The purpose of this study is to promote the integration of both technical and economical surveys in solar energy preliminary projects in Ouagadougou. To reach that, investigations were carried out in some households and attention was paid from the calibration of the domestic electric meters. Energy demands collected within each household allow us to design a corresponding solar kit through optimization rules. An estimate was edited and financial viability study for each household was also carried out thereafter. In this study, only households using the national electricity network calibration meter on their disadvantage favorably answered to all financial indicators and appear as the only one that could profit from such project. This work is helpful to note that photovoltaic solar energy still stays at a primitive level of competitiveness compared to conventional energy resources for small systems in Ouagadougou.
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  • 18
    Publication Date: 2016-01-12
    Description: Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were modified by acids (H2SO4 : HNO3) for generating active groups on the nanotube surface. Unmodified- and modified-carbon nanotubes were coated on the conductive glass and conductive plastic substrates by a slurry paste method, and they were used as the counter electrodes (CEs) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Scanning electron microscopy reveals that carbon nanotubes are evenly deposited on the conductive glass. The efficiency of the glass based DSSCs of unmodified- and modified-carbon nanotubes and Pt CEs is ~4.73%, ~5.66%, and ~6.08%, respectively. The efficiency of the plastic based DSSCs of the unmodified- and modified-carbon nanotubes CEs is ~0.80% and ~2.11%, respectively. The voltammogram and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results suggest that the superior performance of the modified-carbon nanotubes DSSCs is attributable to the high electrocatalytic activity and the low charge-transfer resistance of the modified-carbon nanotubes film over the unmodified-carbon nanotubes film.
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  • 19
    Publication Date: 2016-06-28
    Description: Currently, standard semitransparent photovoltaic (PV) modules can largely replace architectural glass installed in the windows, skylights, and facade of a building. Their main features are power generation and transparency, as well as possessing a heat insulating effect. Through heat insulation solar glass (HISG) encapsulation technology, this study improved the structure of a typical semitransparent PV module and explored the use of three types of high-reflectivity heat insulation films to form the HISG building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) systems. Subsequently, the authors analyzed the influence of HISG structures on the optical, thermal, and power generation performance of the original semitransparent PV module and the degree to which enhanced performance is possible. The experimental results indicated that the heat insulation performance and power generation of HISGs were both improved. Selecting an appropriate heat insulation film so that a larger amount of reflective solar radiation is absorbed by the back side of the HISG can yield greater enhancement of power generation. The numerical results conducted in this study also indicated that HISG BIPV system not only provides the passive energy needed for power loading in a building, but also decreases the energy consumption of the HVAC system in subtropical and temperate regions.
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  • 20
    Publication Date: 2016-06-28
    Description: Photovoltaic (PV) generators suffer from fluctuating output power due to the highly fluctuating primary energy source. With significant PV penetration, these fluctuations can lead to power system instability and power quality problems. The use of energy storage systems as fluctuation compensators has been proposed as means to mitigate these problems. In this paper, the behavior of PV power fluctuations in Northern European climatic conditions and requirements for sizing the energy storage systems to compensate them have been investigated and compared to similar studies done in Southern European climate. These investigations have been performed through simulations that utilize measurements from the Tampere University of Technology solar PV power station research plant in Finland. An enhanced energy storage charging control strategy has been developed and tested. Energy storage capacity, power, and cycling requirements have been derived for different PV generator sizes and power ramp rate requirements. The developed control strategy leads to lesser performance requirements for the energy storage systems compared to the methods presented earlier. Further, some differences on the operation of PV generators in Northern and Southern European climates have been detected.
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  • 21
    Publication Date: 2016-07-05
    Description: Recent research and development of clean energy have become essential due to the global climate change problem, which is caused largely by fossil fuels burning. Therefore, biodiesel, a renewable and ecofriendly biofuel with less environmental impact than diesel, continues expanding worldwide. The process for biodiesel production involves a significant energy demand, specifically in the methanol recovery stage through a flash separator and a distillation column. Traditionally, the energy required for this process is supplied by fossil fuels. It represents an opportunity for the application of renewable energy. Hence, the current study presents a system of thermal energy storage modeled in TRNSYS® and supported by simulations performed in ASPEN PLUS®. The aim of this research was to supply solar energy for a methanol recovery stage in a biodiesel production process. The results highlighted that it is feasible to meet 91% of the energy demand with an array of 9 parabolic trough collectors. The array obtained from the simulation was 3 in series and 3 in parallel, with a total area of 118.8 m2. It represents an energy saving of 70 MWh per year.
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  • 22
    Publication Date: 2016-08-15
    Description: Solar energy conversion is an object of continuous research, focusing on improving the energy efficiency as well as the structure of photovoltaic cells. With efficiencies continuously increasing, state-of-the-art PV cells offer a good solution to harvest solar energy. However, they are still lacking the flexibility and conformability to be integrated into common objects or clothing. Moreover, many sun-exposed surface areas are textile-based such as garments, tents, truck coverings, boat sails, and home or outdoor textiles. Here, we present a new textile-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) which takes advantage from the properties inherent to fabrics: flexibility, low weight, and mechanical robustness. Due to the necessary thermostability during manufacturing, our DSC design is based on heat-resistant glass-fiber fabrics. After applying all needed layers, the overall structure was covered by a transparent and simultaneously conductive protective film. The light and still flexible large-area devices (up to 6 cm2 per individual unit) are working with efficiencies up to 1.8% at 1/5 of the sun. Stability tests assure no loss of photovoltaic activity over a period of at least seven weeks. Therefore, our technology has paved the way for a new generation of flexible photovoltaic devices, which can be used for the generation of power in the mentioned applications as well as in modern textile architecture.
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  • 23
    Publication Date: 2016-08-22
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  • 24
    Publication Date: 2016-06-30
    Description: Shunting is one of the key issues in industrial silicon solar cells which degrade cell performance. This paper presents an approach for investigation of the performance degradation caused by the presence of ohmic extended shunts at various locations in industrial silicon solar cells. Location, nature, and area of the shunts existing in solar cells have been examined by lock-in infrared thermography (LIT). Based on LIT images and experimental dark I-V curves of solar cell, shunted cell has been modeled, from which loss in fill factor and efficiency due to the specific shunt has been obtained. Distributed diode modeling approach of solar cell has been exploited for obtaining simulation results which were supported by experimental measurements. The presented approach is useful to estimate performance reduction due to specific shunts and to quantify losses, which can help in improving the efficiency of solar cell during production by tackling the shunt related problems based on the level of severity and tolerance.
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  • 25
    Publication Date: 2016-07-01
    Description: Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy sources are rapidly gaining potential growth and popularity compared to conventional fossil fuel sources. As the merging of PV systems with existing power sources increases, reliable and accurate PV system identification is essential, to address the highly nonlinear change in PV system dynamic and operational characteristics. This paper deals with the identification of a PV system characteristic with a switch-mode power converter. Measured input-output data are collected from a real PV panel to be used for the identification. The data are divided into estimation and validation sets. The identification methodology is discussed. A Hammerstein-Wiener model is identified and selected due to its suitability to best capture the PV system dynamics, and results and discussion are provided to demonstrate the accuracy of the selected model structure.
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  • 26
    Publication Date: 2016-07-04
    Description: An atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (AP-CVD) system has been newly developed for boron silicate glass (BSG) film deposition dedicating to solar cell manufacturing. Using the system, thermal boron diffusion from the BSG film is investigated and confirmed in terms of process stability for surface property before BSG deposition and BSG thickness. No degradation in carrier lifetime is also confirmed. A boron diffusion simulator has been newly developed and demonstrated for optimization of this process. Then, the boron thermal diffusion from AP-CVD BSG is considered to be the suitable method for N-type silicon solar cell manufacturing.
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  • 27
    Publication Date: 2016-07-05
    Description: Energy supply together with the data management is one of the key challenges of our century. Specifically, to decrease the climate change effects as energy requirement increases day by day poses a serious dilemma. It can be adequately reconciled with innovative data management in (renewable) energy technologies. The new environmental-friendly planning methods and investments that are discussed by researchers, governments, NGOs, and companies will give the basic and most important variables in shaping the future. We use modern data mining methods (SOM and -Means) and official governmental statistics for clustering cities according to their consumption similarities, the level of welfare, and growth rate and compare them with their potential of renewable resources with the help of Rapid Miner 5.1 and MATLAB software. The data mining was chosen to make the possible secret relations visible within the variables that can be unpredictable at first sight. Here, we aim to see the success level of the chosen algorithms in validation process simultaneously with the utilized software. Additionally, we aim to improve innovative approach for decision-makers and stakeholders about which renewable resource is the most suitable for an exact region by taking care of different variables at the same time.
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  • 28
    Publication Date: 2016-08-09
    Description: To quickly and precisely extract the parameters for solar cell models, inspired by simplified bird mating optimizer (SBMO), a new optimization technology referred to as population classification evolution (PCE) is proposed. PCE divides the population into two groups, elite and ordinary, to reach a better compromise between exploitation and exploration. For the evolution of elite individuals, we adopt the idea of parthenogenesis in nature to afford a fast exploitation. For the evolution of ordinary individuals, we adopt an effective differential evolution strategy and a random movement of small probability is added to strengthen the ability to jump out of a local optimum, which affords a fast exploration. The proposed PCE is first estimated on 13 classic benchmark functions. The experimental results demonstrate that PCE yields the best results on 11 functions by comparing it with six evolutional algorithms. Then, PCE is applied to extract the parameters for solar cell models, that is, the single diode and the double diode. The experimental analyses demonstrate that the proposed PCE is superior when comparing it with other optimization algorithms for parameter identification. Moreover, PCE is tested using three different sources of data with good accuracy.
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  • 29
    Publication Date: 2016-08-09
    Description: We have studied the p-type hydrogenated silicon oxide (:H) films prepared in the amorphous-to-microcrystalline transition region as a window layer in a-Si:H/a-:H multijunction solar cells. By increasing the -to- flow ratio () from 10 to 167, the :H(p) films remained amorphous and exhibited an increased hydrogen content from 10.2% to 12.2%. Compared to the amorphous :H(p) film prepared at low , the :H(p) film deposited at of 167 exhibited a higher bandgap of 2.04 eV and a higher conductivity of 1.15 × 10−5 S/cm. With the employment of :H(p) films prepared by increasing from 10 to 167 in a-Si:H single-junction cell, the FF improved from 65% to 70% and the efficiency increased from 7.4% to 8.7%, owing to the enhanced optoelectrical properties of :H(p) and the improved p/i interface. However, the cell that employed :H(p) film with over 175 degraded the p/i interface and degraded the cell performance, which were arising from the onset of crystallization in the window layer. Compared to the cell using standard a-:H(p), the a-Si:H/a-:H tandem cells employing :H(p) deposited with of 167 showed an improved efficiency from 9.3% to 10.3%, with of 1.60 V, of 9.3 mA/cm2, and FF of 68.9%.
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  • 30
    Publication Date: 2016-08-09
    Description: Subpicosecond transient absorption spectroscopy is a powerful tool used to clarify the exciton and carrier dynamics within the organic solar cells (OSCs). In this review article, we introduce a method to determine the absolute numbers of the excitons and carriers against delay time (t) only from the photoinduced absorption (PIA) and electrochemically induced absorption (EIA) spectra. Application of this method to rr-P3HT-, PTB7-, and SMDPPEH-based OSCs revealed common aspects of the carrier formation dynamics. First, the temporal evolution of the numbers of the excitons and carriers indicates that the late decay component of exciton does not contribute to the carrier formation process. This is probably because the late component has not enough excess energy to separate into the electron and hole across the donor/acceptor (D/A) interface. Secondly, the spectroscopy revealed that the exciton-to-carrier conversion process is insensitive to temperature. This observation, together with the fast carrier formation time in OSCs, is consistent with the hot exciton picture.
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  • 31
    Publication Date: 2016-06-08
    Description: Here we report a facile, efficient, and catalyst-free method to realize C-C cross-coupling of aryl chlorides and inert arenes under UV light irradiation. The aryl radical upon homolytic cleavage of C-Cl bond initiated the nucleophilic substitution reaction with inert arenes to give biaryl products. This mild reaction mode can also be applied to other synthetic reactions, such as the construction of C-N bonds and trifluoromethylated compounds.
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  • 32
    Publication Date: 2016-06-10
    Description: Al doped SnO2 microspheres were prepared through hydrothermal method. As-prepared SnO2 microspheres were applied as photoanode materials in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The properties of the assembled DSCs were significantly improved, especially the open-circuit voltage. The reason for the enhancement was explored through the investigation of dark current curves and electrochemistry impedance spectra. These results showed that the Al doping significantly increased the reaction resistance of recombination reactions and restrained the dark current. The efficient lifetime of photoexcited electrons was also obviously lengthened.
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  • 33
    Publication Date: 2016-06-16
    Description: We have explored the effective approach to fabricate GZO/ZnO films that can make the pyramidal surface structures of GZO films for effective light scattering by employing a low temperature ZnO buffer layer prior to high temperature GZO film growth. The GZO thin films exhibit the typical preferred growth orientations along the (002) crystallographic direction at deposition temperature of 400°C and SEM showed that column-like granule structure with planar surface was formed. In contrast, GZO films with a pyramidal texture surface were successfully developed by the control of (110) preferred orientation. We found that the light diffuse transmittance of the film with a GZO (800 nm)/ZnO (766 nm) exhibited 13% increase at 420 nm wavelength due to the formed large grain size of the pyramidal texture surface. Thus, the obtained GZO films deposited over ZnO buffer layer have high potential for use as front TCO layers in Si-based thin film solar cells. These results could develop the potential way to fabricate TCO based ZnO thin film using MOCVD or sputtering techniques by depositing a low temperature ZnO layer to serve as a template for high temperature GZO film growth. The GZO films exhibited satisfactory optoelectric properties.
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  • 34
    Publication Date: 2016-06-01
    Description: The work presents results of studies on 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) degradation in aqueous solutions using photochemically initiated processes by simulated and natural sunlight. A number of possible substrate photodegradation routes were investigated, by both direct photolysis and photosensitized oxidation process. The major role of singlet oxygen in 2,4-DCP photodegradation was proved. Rose Bengal and derivatives of porphine and phthalocyanine were used as sensitizers. The influences of various process parameters on the reaction rate were investigated. On the basis of experimental data reaction rate constants of 2,4-DCP photosensitized oxidation were determined. The possibility of using natural sunlight to degrade 2,4-DCP in water in the middle latitudes was stated. The acute toxicity bioassay was conducted with the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri as a bioluminescent indicator. The obtained results encourage further research on this process.
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  • 35
    Publication Date: 2016-06-06
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  • 36
    Publication Date: 2016-06-08
    Description: Medium-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems using cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters have a capability to perform individual maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for each PV panel or each small group of panels, resulting in minimization of both power losses from panel mismatch and effect of partial shading. They also provide high power quality, modularity, and possibility of eliminating dc-dc boost stage and line-frequency transformer. However, each PV panel in the system is subjected to a double-line-frequency voltage ripple at the dc-link which reduces the MPPT efficiency. This paper proposes a dc-link voltage ripple reduction by third-harmonic zero-sequence voltage injection for improving the MPPT efficiency. Moreover, a control method to achieve individual MPPT control of each inverter cell is also presented. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed methods were verified by computer simulation.
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  • 37
    Publication Date: 2016-02-03
    Description: Free radicals formed by UV irradiation of the two magistral formulas applied on the skin, salicylic acid and urea, were examined by X-band (9.3 GHz) EPR spectroscopy. The influence of the time of UVA (315–400 nm) irradiation on free radical properties and concentrations in the drug samples was determined. The nonirradiated magistral formula did not contain free radicals. Amplitudes () and linewidths () of EPR spectra were analysed. Fast spin-lattice relaxation process existed in the tested drugs. UV irradiation did not change spin-lattice interactions in the tested magistral formula. Concentrations of free radicals formed by UV irradiation in salicylic acid and urea were ~1017–1018 spins/g. The strongest formation of free radicals under UV irradiation was observed for salicylic acid than for urea. Free radical concentration in salicylic acid increased with the increase of UV irradiation time from 15 minutes to 30 minutes, and after its value remained unchanged. The increase of free radical concentration in urea with UV irradiation time was stated. Salicylic acid is characterized with higher photosensitivity than urea. Salicylic acid, urea, and the skin treated by them should not be stored on UV exposure. The usefulness of EPR spectroscopy to optimize storage conditions of recipe drugs was conformed.
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  • 38
    Publication Date: 2016-02-26
    Description: We investigated the antireflective (AR) effect of hydrogenated nanocrystalline cubic silicon carbide (nc-3C-SiC:H) emitter and its application in the triple layer AR design for the front side of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell. We found that the nc-3C-SiC:H emitter can serve both as an emitter and antireflective coating for SHJ solar cell, which enables us to realize the triple AR design by adding one additional dielectric layer to normally used SHJ structure with a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and an emitter layer. The optimized SHJ structure with the triple layer AR coating (LiF/ITO/nc-3C-SiC:H) exhibit a short circuit current density () of 38.65 mA/cm2 and lower reflectivity of about 3.42% at wavelength range of 300 nm–1000 nm.
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  • 39
    Publication Date: 2016-02-24
    Description: The objective of this work is to investigate the performance of chlorophyll sensitized solar cells (CSSCs) with gel electrolyte based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with single iodide salt (potassium iodide (KI)) and double salt (KI and tetrapropylammonium iodide (TPAI)). Chlorophyll was extracted from the bryophyte Hyophila involuta. The CSSC with electrolyte containing only KI salt produced a short circuit current density () of 4.59 mA cm−2, open circuit voltage () of 0.61 V, fill factor (FF) of 0.64, and efficiency () of 1.77%. However, the CSSC with double salt electrolyte exhibited of 5.96 mA cm−2, of 0.58 V, fill factor FF of 0.58, and of 2.00%. Since CSSC with double salt electrolyte showed better efficiency, other cells fabricated will use the double salt electrolyte. On addition of 0.7 M tetrabutyl pyridine (TBP) to the double salt electrolyte, the cell’s efficiency increased to 2.17%,  mA cm−2,  V, and FF = 0.73. With 5 mM chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) added to the chlorophyll, the light to electricity efficiency increased to 2.62% with of 8.44 mA cm−2, of 0.54 V, and FF of 0.58.
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  • 40
    Publication Date: 2016-02-26
    Description: In this paper, the effects that photovoltaic (PV) panels have on the rooftop temperature in the EnergyPlus simulation environment were investigated for the following cases: with and without PV panels, with and without exposure to sunlight, and using roof materials with different thermal conductivities and for different climatic zones. The results demonstrate that heat transfer by convection, radiation, and conduction in the air gaps between PV panels and the building envelope can be simulated in the EnergyPlus environment when these air gaps are in the “air conditioning zone.” Nevertheless, in most cases, particularly on the rooftop, the air gaps between the PV panels and the building envelope cannot be set as the “air conditioning zone.” Therefore, in this case, none of the EnergyPlus models are appropriate to simulate the effect that PV panels have on the rooftop temperature. However, all the terms of the Heat Balance Model, including the absorbed direct and diffuse solar radiation, net long-wave radiation with the air and surroundings, convective exchange with the outside air, and conduction flux in or out of the surface, can still be used to calculate the temperature and heat flux within the BIPV’s air gap.
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  • 41
    Publication Date: 2016-02-29
    Description: Photobiomodulation at a wavelength of 670 nm has been shown to be effective in preventing photoreceptor cell death in the retina. We treated Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with varying doses of 670 nm light (9; 18; 36; 90 J/cm2) before exposing them to different intensities of damaging white light (750; 1000; 1500 lux). 670 nm light exhibited a biphasic response in its amelioration of cell death in light-induced degeneration in vivo. Lower light damage intensities required lower doses of 670 nm light to reduce TUNEL cell death. At higher damage intensities, the highest dose of 670 nm light showed protection. In vitro, the Seahorse XFe96 Extracellular Flux Analyzer revealed that 670 nm light directly influences mitochondrial metabolism by increasing the spare respiratory capacity of mitochondria in 661 W photoreceptor-like cells in light damaged conditions. Our findings further support the use of 670 nm light as an effective treatment against retinal degeneration as well as shedding light on the mechanism of protection through the increase of the mitochondrial spare respiratory capacity.
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  • 42
    Publication Date: 2016-03-03
    Description: TiO2 has been widely used as a key catalyst in photocatalytic reactions; it also shows good catalytic activity for esterification reactions. Different sulfated M-TiO2 nanoparticles (M = Ag, Au, Rh, and Pt) were prepared by photodeposition and ultrasonic methods. The results show that the noble metal nanoparticles, which were loaded onto a TiO2 surface, slightly affected the crystal phase and particle size of TiO2. Among all the catalysts, /Au-TiO2 exhibited the best catalytic activity in the esterification reaction for the synthesis of citric acid n-butyl acetate and in the decomposition of methyl orange, as confirmed by a high conversion rate of up to 98.2% and 100% degradation rate, respectively. This can be attributed to an increase in the Lewis acidity of the catalyst and increased separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs. This superior catalyst has great potential applications in esterification reactions and wastewater treatments.
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  • 43
    Publication Date: 2016-02-25
    Description: Perfluorinated chemicals have attracted worldwide concern owing to their wide occurrence and resistance to most conventional treatment processes. In this work, a novel photocatalyst was fabricated by modifying TiO2 nanotube arrays with molecularly imprinted polymers. The molecularly imprinted polymer-modified TiO2 nanotubes (MIP-TiO2 NTs) were characterized and tested for the selective removal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from water. The amount of PFOA adsorbed by the MIP-TiO2 NTs was as high as 0.8125 μg/cm2. PFOA decomposition and defluorination by the MIP-TiO2 NTs reached 84% and 30.2% after 8 h reaction, respectively. The Freundlich model and pseudo-first-order kinetics were used to describe the observed adsorption and decomposition of PFOA, respectively. Compared with TiO2 NTs and nonmolecularly imprinted polymer-modified TiO2 NTs, the MIP-TiO2 NTs exhibited not only a higher PFOA degradation rate but also enhanced selectivity for target chemicals. The MIP-TiO2 NTs could also selectively and rapidly remove PFOA from secondary effluent, exhibiting a decomposition of 81.1%, almost as high as that observed in pure water. Investigation of the effects of scavengers on the photocatalytic reaction indicated that photogenerated holes were the main oxidant for PFOA decomposition, and the PFOA degradation mechanism and pathway were proposed.
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  • 44
    Publication Date: 2016-03-01
    Description: A series of CdS/ nanocomposites with different Cd to Ti molar ratio were synthesized from P25- nanopowder using microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The as-produced powders were characterized by XRD, electron microscopy, EDX, and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The adsorption capacity and photocatalytic activity of the samples were investigated using methylene blue as a model pollutant. Sorption tests revealed that the adsorption of MB onto the samples obeys the Freundlich-Langmuir isotherm model. The sorption capacity decreased as follows: . The results of the photocatalytic tests under high-intensity discharge (HID) lamp revealed that CdS/ powders with low Cd to Ti molar ratios exhibited much higher activities than P25-. The CdS/ sample with 20% CdS/(TCd2) showed the most activity among all these samples. The results also show that the Cd to Ti molar ratio of the nanocomposite has a significant effect on the photodegradation of MB and the enhanced activities exhibited by the nanocomposites are because of the low rate of electron-hole recombination.
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  • 45
    Publication Date: 2016-01-27
    Description: The computational thermodynamic modeling of the terbium oxide based two-step solar thermochemical water splitting (Tb-WS) cycle is reported. The 1st step of the Tb-WS cycle involves thermal reduction of TbO2 into Tb and O2, whereas the 2nd step corresponds to the production of H2 through Tb oxidation by water splitting reaction. Equilibrium compositions associated with the thermal reduction and water splitting steps were determined via HSC simulations. Influence of oxygen partial pressure in the inert gas on thermal reduction of TbO2 and effect of water splitting temperature () on Gibbs free energy related to the H2 production step were examined in detail. The cycle () and solar-to-fuel energy conversion () efficiency of the Tb-WS cycle were determined by performing the second-law thermodynamic analysis. Results obtained indicate that and increase with the decrease in oxygen partial pressure in the inert flushing gas and thermal reduction temperature (). It was also realized that the recuperation of the heat released by the water splitting reactor and quench unit further enhances the solar reactor efficiency. At  K, by applying 60% heat recuperation, maximum of 39.0% and of 47.1% for the Tb-WS cycle can be attained.
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  • 46
    Publication Date: 2016-01-19
    Description: Eight coumarin derivative dyes were studied by varying the π-bridge size with different thiophene and thiazole units for their potential use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Geometry optimization, the energy levels and electron density of the Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital and the Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital, and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra were calculated by Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent-DFT. All molecular properties were analyzed to decide which dye was the most efficient. Furthermore, chemical reactivity parameters, such as chemical hardness, electrophilicity index, and electroaccepting power, were obtained and analyzed, whose values predicted the properties of the dyes in addition to the rest of the studied molecular properties. Our calculations allow us to qualitatively study dye molecules and choose the best for use in a DSSC. The effects of π-bridges based on thiophenes, thiazoles, and combinations of the two were reviewed; dyes with three units mainly of thiazole were chosen as the best photosensitizers for DSSC.
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  • 47
    Publication Date: 2016-02-03
    Description: PV power plants have been recently installed in very large scale. So the effects of the solar eclipse are of big importance especially for grid connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. There was a partial solar eclipse in Prague on 20th March 2015. We have evaluated the data from our facility in order to monitor the impact of this natural phenomenon on the behavior of PV system, and these results are presented in the paper. The behavior of PV system corresponds with the theoretical assumption. The power decrease of the PV array corresponds with the relative size of the solar eclipse. - characteristics of the PV panel correspond to the theoretical model presented in our previous work.
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  • 48
    Publication Date: 2016-04-29
    Description: Photocatalytic degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in seawater was successfully achieved at laboratory level with UV light and at pilot-plant scale under natural solar radiation using carbon-modified titanium oxide (CM-n-TiO2) nanoparticles. The photocatalytic performance of CM-n-TiO2 was comparatively evaluated with reference n-TiO2 under identical conditions. As a result of carbon incorporation, significant enhancement of photodegradation efficiency using CM-n-TiO2 was clearly observed. To optimize the operating parameters, the effects of catalyst loading and pH of the solution on the photodegradation rate of PCBs were investigated. The best degradation rate was obtained at pH 5 and CM-n-TiO2 loading of 0.5 g L−1. The photodegradation results fitted the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model and obeyed pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics.
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  • 49
    Publication Date: 2016-05-23
    Description: Nanostructured materials (NSMs) of silver (Ag@TiO2) and copper (TiO2-Cu2+) doped titanium dioxide were synthesized, fully characterized, and evaluated for their antimicrobial efficiency and effects on Arabidopsis thaliana. The NSMs were prepared using an environmentally benign route. The physicochemical properties of the materials were determined with analytical techniques. These materials are active under visible light, exhibit a small size (10–12 nm), are crystalline (anatase), and liberate metal ions (Ag+ and Cu2+) in solution. Microbicide activity was observed in E. coli C600 and S. cerevisiae W303 strains treated with several concentrations of Ag@TiO2 and TiO2-Cu2+, radiated and nonradiated, and after different times. Higher inactivation was achieved with Ag@TiO2 in E. coli, with value of log inactivation of 2.2 with 0.5 mg/mL after 4 h, than in S. cerevisiae, with a log inactivation of 2.6 with 10 mg/mL after 24 h. The impact of these NSMs in plants was evaluated in Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 strain exposed to such materials at different conditions and concentrations, and physical and biochemical effects were analyzed. Seeds exposed to NSMs did not show effects on germination and growth. However, seedlings treated with these materials modified their growth and their total chlorophyll content.
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  • 50
    Publication Date: 2016-05-25
    Description: The present paper reports on the facile formation of ZnO nanorod photocatalyst electrodeposited on Zn foil in the production of hydrogen gas via water photoelectrolysis. Based on the results, ZnO nanorod films were successfully grown via electrochemical deposition in an optimum electrolyte set of 0.5 mM zinc chloride and 0.1 M potassium chloride at pH level of 5-6 and electrochemical deposition temperature of around 70°C. The study was also conducted at a very low stirring rate with different applied potentials. Applied potential was one of the crucial aspects in the formation of self-organized ZnO nanorod film via control of the field-assisted dissolution and field-assisted deposition rates during the electrochemical deposition process. Interestingly, low applied potentials of 1 V during electrochemical deposition produced a high aspect ratio and density of self-organized ZnO nanorod distribution on the Zn substrate with an average diameter and length of ~37.9 nm and ~249.5 nm, respectively. Therefore, it exhibited a high photocurrent density that reached 17.8 mA/cm2 under ultraviolet illumination and 12.94 mA/cm2 under visible illumination. This behaviour was attributed to the faster transport of photogenerated electron/hole pairs in the nanorod’s one-dimensional wall surface, which prevented backward reactions and further reduced the number of recombination centres.
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  • 51
    Publication Date: 2016-04-27
    Description: Zinc oxide has been the focus of material research due to its potential applications in a variety of novel fields. The material exhibits anisotropic growth in the form of single crystal rods/wires of length in microns and thickness in several tens of nanometers through a facile and low temperature hydrothermal route wherein size, morphology, orientation, and growth rate are strongly dependent on a number of synthesis parameters. In this review article we intend to present/discuss the effects of important growth parameters of zinc oxide that have been reported in the literature. These parameters include concentration of the precursor solution, growth time, role of hexamine, synthesis temperature, pH of the precursor, and seeding layer deposited on a substrate.
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  • 52
    Publication Date: 2016-03-16
    Description: Inverted PTB7/PC71BM polymer solar cells are prepared on solution-processed Al:ZnO transparent contacts on PET substrates. Al:ZnO is deposited by a low temperature chemical bath deposition route (T 〈 100°C at any step) to comply with the temperature sensitive substrate. A maximum conversion efficiency of 6.4% and 6.9% is achieved for the indium-free solar cells on PET and glass substrates, respectively. The devices are relatively stable in air whereby an initial efficiency loss in the order of 15% after storage for 15 days can be fully recovered by light soaking.
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  • 53
    Publication Date: 2016-03-11
    Description: Deposition of poly(4-vinyl phenol) insulator layer is carried out by applying the spin coating technique onto p-type GaAs substrate so as to create Al/poly(4-vinyl phenol)/p-GaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structure. Temperature was set to 80–320 K while the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the structure were examined in the study. Ideality factor (n) and barrier height () values found in the experiment ranged from 3.13 and 0.616 eV (320 K) to 11.56 and 0.147 eV (80 K). Comparing the thermionic field emission theory and thermionic emission theory, the temperature dependent ideality factor behavior displayed that thermionic field emission theory is more valid than the latter. The calculated tunneling energy was 96 meV.
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  • 54
    Publication Date: 2016-03-11
    Description: TiO2 immobilized on polyethylene (PET) nonwoven sheet was used in the solar photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB). TiO2 Evonik Aeroxide P25 was used in this study. The amount of loaded TiO2 on PET was approximately 24%. Immobilization of TiO2 on PET was conducted by dip coating process followed by exposing to mild heat and pressure. TiO2/PET sheets were wrapped on removable Teflon rods inside home-made bench-scale recirculating flow Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) photoreactor prototype (platform 0.7 × 0.2 × 0.4 m3). CPC photoreactor is made up of seven low iron borosilicate glass tubes connected in series. CPC reflectors are made of stainless steel 304. The prototype was mounted on a platform tilted at 30°N local latitude in Cairo. A centrifugal pump was used to circulate water containing methylene blue (MB) dye inside the glass tubes. Efficient photocatalytic degradation of MB using TiO2/PET was achieved upon the exposure to direct sunlight. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) analyses reveal the complete mineralization of MB. Durability of TiO2/PET composite was also tested under sunlight irradiation. Results indicate only 6% reduction in the amount of TiO2 after seven cycles. No significant change was observed for the physicochemical characteristics of TiO2/PET after the successive irradiation processes.
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  • 55
    Publication Date: 2016-03-16
    Description: It was intended to reveal the time dependent power generation under different loads for two different solar panels under the conditions of Bursa province in between August 19 and 25, 2014. The testing sets include solar panels, inverter, multimeter, accumulator, regulator, pyranometer, pyrheliometer, temperature sensor, and datalogger. The efficiency of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels was calculated depending on the climatic data’s measurements. As the result of the study, the average performances of monocrystalline and polycrystalline panels are 42.06 and 39.80 Wh, respectively. It was seen that 87.14 W instantaneous power could be obtained from monocrystalline solar panel and that 80.17 W instantaneous power could be obtained from polycrystalline solar panel under maximum total radiation (1001.13 W/m2). Within this frame, it was determined that monocrystalline solar panel is able to operate more efficiently under the conditions of Bursa compared to polycrystalline solar panel. When the multivariate correlations coefficients were examined statistically, a significant relationship in positive direction was detected between total and direct radiation and ambient temperature on energy generation from monocrystalline and polycrystalline panel.
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  • 56
    Publication Date: 2016-03-16
    Description: This study presents a new cost-effective metal-free counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). CE was prepared by doctor blading a hydrophilic carbon (HC) particle on a fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate. Thereafter, HC CE was characterized using X-ray diffraction, profilometry, four-point probe testing, and cyclic voltammetry. A 2 µm thick HC CE revealed a comparable catalytic activity to that of the Pt electrode under the same experimental conditions. DSSC based on HC CE was analyzed and showed of 6.87 mA/cm2 close to that of DSSC with Pt CE (7.0 mA/cm2). More importantly, DSSC based on HC CE yielded a power conversion efficiency () of 2.93% under AM 1.5 irradiation (100 mW/cm2), which was comparable to that of DSSC based on standard Pt CE. These findings suggest that HC CE could be a promising CE for low-cost DSSCs.
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  • 57
    Publication Date: 2016-03-18
    Description: Hierarchical flower-like Bi2WO6 was successfully synthesized by facile hydrothermal method at low pH. And Ag/AgCl was loaded by photoreduction on its surface. As-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by various techniques. Bi2WO6 was successfully synthesized at a size of 2-3 μm. Depositing Ag/AgCl did not destroy the crystal structure, and both Ag+ and metallic Ag0 were found. The band gap of the composite was 2.57 eV, which indicates that visible light could be the activating irradiation. In the photocatalytic activity test, the composite with 10 wt% Ag/AgCl boasted the highest removal efficiency (almost 100%) in 45 min. The significant enhancement can be attributed to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect and the establishment of heterostructures between Ag/AgCl and Bi2WO6. A possible mechanism of photocatalytic oxidation in the presence of Ag/AgCl-Bi2WO6 was proposed. This work sheds light on the potential applications of plasmonic metals in photocatalysis to enhance their activities.
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  • 58
    Publication Date: 2016-03-21
    Description: We carried out transient global simulations of heating, melting, growing, annealing, and cooling stages for an industrial directional solidification (DS) process for silicon ingots. The crucible thermal conductivity is varied in a reasonable range to investigate its influence on the global heat transfer and silicon crystal growth. It is found that the crucible plays an important role in heat transfer, and therefore its thermal conductivity can influence the crystal growth significantly in the entire DS process. Increasing the crucible thermal conductivity can shorten the time for melting of silicon feedstock and growing of silicon crystal significantly, and therefore large thermal conductivity is helpful in saving both production time and power energy. However, the high temperature gradient in the silicon ingots and the locally concave melt-crystal interface shape for large crucible thermal conductivity indicate that high thermal stress and dislocation propagation are likely to occur during both growing and annealing stages. Based on the numerical simulations, some discussions on designing and choosing the crucible thermal conductivity are presented.
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  • 59
    Publication Date: 2016-03-16
    Description: This paper focuses on computations technique within the framework of the TD-DFT theory for studying the relationship between structure-properties of reversible conversion of photochromic materials. Specifically, we report on 1′,3′-dihydro-8-methoxy-1′,3′,3′-trimethyl-6-nitrospiro[2H-1-benzopyran-2,2′-(2H)-indole] (SP) and its isomers. TD-DFT calculated UV-Vis electronic spectra of the closed and open isomers of this photochromic material are in excellent agreement with the experimental results. Moreover, this paper reports on the results of theoretical investigations of reactivity indices that may govern the conversion between spiropyrans and its isomers. In addition, the solvent and rigidity of the medium significantly control the thermal bleaching of the photogenerated colored isomers and hence the switch ability pattern of the photochromic material. The effect of molecular structure computed by DFT in gas-phase and solvents on bond length has been shown to correlate with photochromic properties. For this compound, DFT optimized geometry could be used to predict photochromism. Furthermore, in an attempt to predict the driving force for MC → SP, this work explores, for the first time, profitable exploitation of the calculated and visualized mapped electrostatic potential energy surfaces (ESP map). Interestingly, it seems that the electrostatic potential forces over the molecular fragments govern spirobond rupture/closure reactions. Thermodynamically, all-trans-colored isomer (CTT) is the most stable merocyanine-like form.
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  • 60
    Publication Date: 2016-05-18
    Description: Photostability studies of drugs and drug products are an integral part of the product development process in the pharmaceutical industry. These studies are carried out to ensure quality, efficacy, and safety of the formulated products during manufacture, storage, and use. This review deals with the concept of photostability and related aspects and the literature available in the field. It highlights the role of the photochemistry in the photostability studies, describes the functional groups important for the photoreactivity of drugs, explains photophysical processes, and deals with the kinetics of photochemical reactions. The various modes of photodegradation of drugs with examples of selected compounds are presented. The biological consequences of the effect of light on the drug degradation are described. The photostability testing of drugs and drug products and the requirements under ICH guideline are discussed. Some information on the packaging requirements for the formulated products is provided. The various methods used for the photostabilization of solid and liquid dosage forms are also discussed.
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  • 61
    Publication Date: 2016-04-29
    Description: Understanding the removal nature of the indoor volatile organic compounds under realistic environment conditions would give clear guidance for the development of air purification devices. The study investigated the removal of indoor acetaldehyde using visible-light-responsive N-doped TiO2 (N-TiO2) photocatalyst under visible-light irradiation (light) and in the absence of light (dark). The adsorption kinetics of acetaldehyde onto N-TiO2 followed a pseudo-second-order model. The magnitude of acetaldehyde adsorption is proportional to temperature, and the results were fitted to the Langmuir isotherm model. Moreover, the effect of initial acetaldehyde concentration and visible-light intensity on the photooxidation of acetaldehyde was well described by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. Results show that the mesoporous N-TiO2 catalyst had a high ability to absorb acetaldehyde in the dark condition, and then acetaldehyde was subsequently photooxidized under visible-light irradiation. The adsorption capacity was found to increase with decreasing temperature. The negative value of ° and the positive value of ° indicate that the adsorption of acetaldehyde onto N-TiO2 was a spontaneous process. Finally, a reaction scheme for removal process of indoor acetaldehyde by N-TiO2 was proposed.
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  • 62
    Publication Date: 2016-05-04
    Description: This paper reports numerical investigation, using SCAPS-1D program, of the influence of Cu2ZnSnS4 (the so-called CZTS) material features such as thickness, holes, and defects densities on the performances of ZnO:Al/i-ZnO/CdS/CZTS/Mo solar cells structure. We found that the electrical parameters are seriously affected, when the absorber thickness is lower than 600 nm, mainly due to recombination at CZTS/Molybdenum interface that causes the short-circuit current density loss of 3.6 mA/cm2. An additional source of recombination, inside the absorber layer, affects the short-circuit current density and produces a loss of about 2.1 mA/cm2 above this range of absorber thickness. The characteristic shows that the performance of the device is also limited by a double diode behavior. This effect is reduced when the absorber layer is skinny. Our investigations showed that, for solar cells having a CZTS absorber layer of thin thickness and high-quality materials (defects density ~1015 cm−3), doping less than 1016 cm−3 is especially beneficial. Such CZTS based solar cell devices could lead to conversion efficiencies higher than 15% and to improvement of about 100 mV on the open-circuit voltage value. Our results are in conformity with experimental reports existing in the literature.
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  • 63
    Publication Date: 2016-05-06
    Description: In order to extract the maximum power from PV system, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technology has always been applied in PV system. At present, various MPPT control methods have been presented. The perturb and observe (P&O) and conductance increment methods are the most popular and widely used under the constant irradiance. However, these methods exhibit fluctuations among the maximum power point (MPP). In addition, the changes of the environmental parameters, such as cloud cover, plant shelter, and the building block, will lead to the radiation change and then have a direct effect on the location of MPP. In this paper, a feasible MPPT method is proposed to adapt to the variation of the irradiance. This work applies the glowworm swarm optimization (GSO) algorithm to determine the optimal value of a reference voltage in the PV system. The performance of the proposed GSO algorithm is evaluated by comparing it with the conventional P&O method in terms of tracking speed and accuracy by utilizing MATLAB/SIMULINK. The simulation results demonstrate that the tracking capability of the GSO algorithm is superior to that of the traditional P&O algorithm, particularly under low radiance and sudden mutation irradiance conditions.
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  • 64
    Publication Date: 2016-03-30
    Description: Dye Solar Cell (DSC) has started to gain interest in the recent years for practical application because of its ecofriendly, low cost, and easy fabrication. However, its efficiency is still not as competitive as the conventional silicon based solar cell. One of the research efforts to improve the efficiency of DSC is to use the passivation layer in between the photoelectrode material and the conductive oxide substrate. Thus, the objective of this simulation study is to investigate the effect of passivation layer on the performance of DSC. Properties from literatures which are based on physical work were captured as the input for the simulation using process, ATHENA, and device, ATLAS, simulator. Results have shown that the addition of two-20 nm TiO2 passivation layers on DSC can enhance the efficiency by 11% as the result of less recombination, higher electron mobility, and longer electron lifetime.
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  • 65
    Publication Date: 2016-04-13
    Description: Carbon spheres (CSs) can be synthesized easily by hydrothermal method using various solutions and a lot of mechanisms have been employed to explain their formation. In our work, some special phenomena such as the uniform size and surface corruption have been found as the reaction time increased. However, less attention has been focused on the detailed evolution phenomena of CSs. In order to understand these special phenomena well, classical nucleation theory was employed to study the reaction dynamics of CSs during the evolution processes. This work not only deeply reveals the evolution mechanism of CSs, but also opens a possible way for the control of size and morphologies of CSs through hydrothermal methods.
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  • 66
    Publication Date: 2016-04-15
    Description: Polish energy sector is (almost from its origin) dominated by fossil fuel feed power. This situation results from an abundance of relatively cheap coal (hard and lignite). Brown coal due to its nature is the cheapest energy source in Poland. However, hard coal which fuels 60% of polish power plants is picking up on prices and is susceptible to the coal imported from neighboring countries. Forced by the European Union (EU) regulations, Poland is struggling at achieving its goal of reaching 15% of energy consumption from renewable energy sources (RES) by 2020. Over the year 2015, RES covered 11.3% of gross energy consumption but this generation was dominated by solid biomass (over 80%). The aim of this paper was to answer the following research questions: What is the relation of irradiation values to the power load on a yearly and daily basis? and how should photovoltaics (PV) be integrated in the polish power system? Conducted analysis allowed us to state that there exists a negative correlation between power demand and irradiation values on a yearly basis, but this is likely to change in the future. Secondly, on average, daily values of irradiation tend to follow power load curve over the first hours of the day.
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  • 67
    Publication Date: 2016-04-18
    Description: Mineralogical basalt fibers as a complementary adsorbent were introduced to improve the adsorption of CO2 over the surfaces of photocatalysts. TiO2 photocatalysts (M-TiO2) incorporated with 5.0 mol.% 3d-transition metals (Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) were prepared using a solvothermal method and mixed with basalt fibers for applications to CO2 photoreduction. The resulting 5.0 mol.% M-TiO2 powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence, Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller surface area, and CO2-temperature-programmed desorption. A paste composed of two materials was coated and fixed on a Pyrex plate by a thermal treatment. The 5.0 mol.% M-TiO2/basalt fiber films increased the adsorption of CO2 significantly, indicating superior photocatalytic behavior compared to pure TiO2 and basalt fiber films, and produced 158~360 μmol  L−1 CH4 gases after an 8 h reaction. In particular, the best performance was observed over the 5.0 mol.% Co-TiO2/basalt fiber film. These results were attributed to the effective CO2 gas adsorption and inhibition of photogenerated electron-hole pair recombination.
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  • 68
    Publication Date: 2016-04-21
    Description: The present work aims to synthesize nanoscale well dispersed TiO2/SiO2 and TiO2/Al2O3 nanoparticle photocatalysts via an impregnation method for the removal of methyl orange, which was used as a model compound of organic pollutant in wastewater, from an aqueous medium. Also within this frame work, La and Ce metals were loaded onto the surfaces of TiO2/SiO2 and TiO2/Al2O3 by an impregnation method to enhance the photocatalytic activity of the nanoparticles; the activities and physicochemical properties of the photocatalysts were compared before and after loading of metallic La and Ce. The oxide system was characterized by different techniques, including XRD, UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM, and EDX spectroscopy. Finally, the optimal conditions to complete the photocatalytic oxidation of methyl orange dye were studied. This work holds promise for the efficient photodegradation of pollutants by nanoparticle photocatalysts.
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  • 69
    Publication Date: 2016-02-17
    Description: Parabolic trough systems are the most used concentrated solar power technology. The operating performance and optical efficiency of the parabolic trough solar collectors (PTCs) are different in different regions and different seasons. To determine the optimum design and operation of the parabolic trough solar collector throughout the year, an accurate estimation of the daily performance is needed. In this study, a mathematical model for the optical efficiency of the parabolic trough solar collector was established and three typical regions of solar thermal utilization in China were selected. The performance characteristics of cosine effect, shadowing effect, end loss effect, and optical efficiency were calculated and simulated during a whole year in these three areas by using the mathematical model. The simulation results show that the optical efficiency of PTCs changes from 0.4 to 0.8 in a whole year. The highest optical efficiency of PTCs is in June and the lowest is in December. The optical efficiency of PTCs is mainly influenced by the solar incidence angle. The model is validated by comparing the test results in parabolic trough power plant, with relative error range of 1% to about 5%.
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  • 70
    Publication Date: 2016-08-08
    Description: This paper presents a new method developed to significantly reduce the necessary time for the ageing tests for different types of photovoltaic cells. Two ageing factors have been applied to the photovoltaic cells: the concentrated light and the temperature. The maximum power of the photovoltaic cells was monitored during the ageing process. The electrical dc and ac parameters of the photovoltaic cells were measured and analyzed at 1 sun irradiance, before and after the test stress. During the test, two photovoltaic cells are kept at maximum power point and the other two are kept at open circuit voltage point. The method is validated through the results obtained for the monocrystalline silicon solar cell.
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  • 71
    Publication Date: 2016-08-08
    Description: Nonencapsulated CIGSSe solar cells, with a silver grid, were exposed to different temperatures for various periods in order to measure the effect of the heat exposure in CIGSSe modules. The heat treatment time and temperature were varied during the experiments, which were executed at atmospheric conditions. In all the cases, after reaching a temperature of about 300°C, the IV measurement showed a reduction of 2-3% in terms of and . This is confirmed, respectively, by Raman and EQE measurements as well. The efficiency drop was −7%, −29%, and −48%, respectively, for 30 seconds, 300 seconds, and 600 seconds of exposure time. With temperatures larger than 225°C, the series resistance starts to increase exponentially and a secondary barrier becomes visible in the IV curve. This barrier prevents the extraction of electrons and consequently reducing the solar cells efficiency. Lock-in thermography demonstrated the formation of shunts on the mechanical scribes only for 300 and 600 seconds exposure times. The shunt resistance reduction is in the range of 5% for all time periods.
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  • 72
    Publication Date: 2016-08-25
    Description: The enhancement of optical absorption of silicon thin-film solar cells by the p- and n-type μc-SiOx:H as doped and functional layers was presented. The effects of deposition conditions and oxygen content on optical, electrical, and structural properties of μc-SiOx:H films were also discussed. Regarding the doped μc-SiOx:H films, the wide optical band gap () of 2.33 eV while maintaining a high conductivity of 0.2 S/cm could be obtained with oxygen incorporation of 20 at.%. Compared to the conventional μc-Si:H(p) as window layer in μc-Si:H single-junction solar cells, the application of μc-SiOx:H(p) increased the and led to a significant enhancement in the short-wavelength spectral response. Meanwhile, the employment of μc-SiOx:H(n) instead of conventional ITO as back reflecting layer (BRL) enhanced the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of μc-Si:H single-junction cell in the long-wavelength region, leading to a relative efficiency gain of 10%. Compared to the reference cell, the optimized a-Si:H/μc-Si:H tandem cell by applying p- and n-type μc-SiOx:H films achieved a of 1.37 V, of 10.55 mA/cm2, FF of 73.67%, and efficiency of 10.51%, which was a relative enhancement of 16%.
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  • 73
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: The influences of surface orientation and slope of solar collectors on solar radiation collection of balcony split type solar water heaters for six cities in China were analyzed by employing software TRNSYS. The surface azimuth had greater effect on solar radiation collection in high latitude regions. For deviation of the surface slope angle within ±20° around the optimized angle, the variation of the total annual collecting solar radiation was less than 5%. However, with deviation of 70° to 90°, the variation was up to 20%. The effects of water cycle mode, reverse slope placement of solar collector, and water tank installation height on system efficiency were experimentally studied. The thermal efficiencies of solar water heater with single row horizontal arrangement all-glass evacuated tubular collector were higher than those with vertical arrangement at the fixed surface slope angle of 90°. Compared with solar water heaters with flat-plate collector under natural circulation, the system thermal efficiency was raised up to 63% under forced circulation. For collector at reverse slope placement, the temperature-based water stratification in water tank deteriorated, and thus the thermal efficiency became low. For improving the system efficiency, an appropriate installation height of the water tank was suggested.
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  • 74
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: A novel regression model is developed to estimate the monthly global solar irradiance in Malaysia. The model is developed based on different available meteorological parameters, including temperature, cloud cover, rain precipitate, relative humidity, wind speed, pressure, and gust speed, by implementing regression analysis. This paper reports on the details of the analysis of the effect of each prediction parameter to identify the parameters that are relevant to estimating global solar irradiance. In addition, the proposed model is compared in terms of the root mean square error (RMSE), mean bias error (MBE), and the coefficient of determination () with other models available from literature studies. Seven models based on single parameters (PM1 to PM7) and five multiple-parameter models (PM7 to PM12) are proposed. The new models perform well, with RMSE ranging from 0.429% to 1.774%, ranging from 0.942 to 0.992, and MBE ranging from −0.1571% to 0.6025%. In general, cloud cover significantly affects the estimation of global solar irradiance. However, cloud cover in Malaysia lacks sufficient influence when included into multiple-parameter models although it performs fairly well in single-parameter prediction models.
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  • 75
    Publication Date: 2016-01-14
    Description: This paper investigated a novel loop-heat-pipe based solar thermal heat-pump system for small scale hot water production for household purposes. The effective use of solar energy is hindered by the intermittent nature of its availability, limiting its use and effectiveness in domestic and industrial applications especially in water heating. The easiest and the most used method is the conversion of solar energy into thermal energy. We developed a prototype solar water heating system for experimental test. We reported the investigation of solar thermal conversion efficiency in different seasons which is 29.24% in summer, 14.75% in winter, and 15.53% in rainy season. This paper also discusses the DC heater for backup system and the current by using thermoelectric generator which are 3.20 V in summer, 2.120 V in winter, and 1.843 V in rainy season. This solar water heating system is mostly suited for its ease of operation and simple maintenance. It is expected that such novel solar thermal technology would further contribute to the development of the renewable energy (solar) driven heating/hot water service and therefore lead to significant environmental benefits.
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  • 76
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: A Bi2WO6photocatalyst modified with graphene was synthesized in a two-step template-free hydrothermal process. The prepared samples were characterized to explore their properties. The photocatalytic activities of the prepared samples were investigated by degrading dye model, Rhodamine B (RhB), under visible light irradiation. This showed that the modified Bi2WO6photocatalyst with 1.2 wt% of graphene greatly improved photocatalytic activity during the degradation of dye pollutants, compared to pure Bi2WO6. The enhancement can be interpreted as the integrated effects of ultrahigh charge carriers’ mobility and high adsorption of RhB on graphene. Additionally, effects including catalysts dosage amount, pH of RhB solution, and temperature of reactor on the photocatalytically degrading RhB were also studied and discussed.
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  • 77
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: At present, the improvement in performance and the reduction of cost for crystalline silicon solar cells are a key for photovoltaic industry. Passivated emitter and rear cells are the most promising technology for next-generation commercial solar cells. The efficiency gains of passivated emitter and rear cells obtained on monocrystalline silicon wafer and multicrystalline silicon wafer are different. People are puzzled as to how to develop next-generation industrial cells. In this paper, both monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon solar cells for commercial applications with passivated emitter and rear cells structure were fabricated by using cost-effective process. It was found that passivated emitter and rear cells are more effective for monocrystalline silicon solar cells than for multicrystalline silicon solar cells. This study gives some hints about the industrial-scale mass production of passivated emitter and rear cells process.
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  • 78
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: In order to extract the maximum power from PV system, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technology has always been applied in PV system. At present, various MPPT control methods have been presented. The perturb and observe (P&O) and conductance increment methods are the most popular and widely used under the constant irradiance. However, these methods exhibit fluctuations among the maximum power point (MPP). In addition, the changes of the environmental parameters, such as cloud cover, plant shelter, and the building block, will lead to the radiation change and then have a direct effect on the location of MPP. In this paper, a feasible MPPT method is proposed to adapt to the variation of the irradiance. This work applies the glowworm swarm optimization (GSO) algorithm to determine the optimal value of a reference voltage in the PV system. The performance of the proposed GSO algorithm is evaluated by comparing it with the conventional P&O method in terms of tracking speed and accuracy by utilizing MATLAB/SIMULINK. The simulation results demonstrate that the tracking capability of the GSO algorithm is superior to that of the traditional P&O algorithm, particularly under low radiance and sudden mutation irradiance conditions.
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  • 79
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: The maximum power point tracking (MPPT) problem has attracted the attention of many researchers, because it is convenient to obtain the maximum power of a photovoltaic module regardless of the weather conditions and the load. In this paper, a novel control for a boost DC/DC converter has been introduced. It is based on a sliding mode controller (SMC) that takes a current signal as reference instead of a voltage, which is generated by a neuronal reference current generator. That reference current indicates the current (IMPP) at the maximum power point (MPP) for given weather conditions. In order to test the designed control system, a photovoltaic module model based on a second artificial neuronal network (ANN) has been obtained from experimental data gathered during 18 months in the Faculty of Engineering Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain). We have analyzed the performance of such model and we found that it is very accurate (MSE = 0.062 A andR= 0.991 with test dataset). We also have tested the performance of the overall SMC design with both simulated and real tests, concluding that it guarantees that the power in the output of the converter is very close to the power of the photovoltaic module output.
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  • 80
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: TiO2immobilized on polyethylene (PET) nonwoven sheet was used in the solar photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB). TiO2Evonik Aeroxide P25 was used in this study. The amount of loaded TiO2on PET was approximately 24%. Immobilization of TiO2on PET was conducted by dip coating process followed by exposing to mild heat and pressure. TiO2/PET sheets were wrapped on removable Teflon rods inside home-made bench-scale recirculating flow Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) photoreactor prototype (platform 0.7 × 0.2 × 0.4 m3). CPC photoreactor is made up of seven low iron borosilicate glass tubes connected in series. CPC reflectors are made of stainless steel 304. The prototype was mounted on a platform tilted at 30°N local latitude in Cairo. A centrifugal pump was used to circulate water containing methylene blue (MB) dye inside the glass tubes. Efficient photocatalytic degradation of MB using TiO2/PET was achieved upon the exposure to direct sunlight. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) analyses reveal the complete mineralization of MB. Durability of TiO2/PET composite was also tested under sunlight irradiation. Results indicate only 6% reduction in the amount of TiO2after seven cycles. No significant change was observed for the physicochemical characteristics of TiO2/PET after the successive irradiation processes.
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  • 81
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: We report on the prototyping and development of a highly reflective dielectric back reflector for application in thin-film solar cells. The back reflector is fabricated by Snow Globe Coating (SGC), an innovative, simple, and cheap process to deposit a uniform layer of TiO2particles which shows remarkably high reflectance over a broad spectrum (average reflectance of 99% from 500 nm to 1100 nm). We apply the highly reflective back reflector to tandem thin-film silicon solar cells and compare its performance with conventional ZnO:Al/Ag reflector. By using SGC back reflector, an enhancement of 0.5 mA/cm2in external quantum efficiency of the bottom solar cell and an absolute value of 0.2% enhancement in overall power conversion efficiency are achieved. We also show that the increase in power conversion efficiency is due to the reduction of parasitic absorption at the back contact; that is, the use of the dielectric reflector avoids plasmonic losses at the reference ZnO:Al/Ag back reflector. The Snow Globe Coating process is compatible with other types of solar cells such as crystalline silicon, III–V, and organic photovoltaics. Due to its cost effectiveness, stability, and excellent reflectivity above a wavelength of 400 nm, it has high potential to be applied in industry.
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  • 82
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: The enhancement of optical absorption of silicon thin-film solar cells by the p- and n-typeμc-SiOx:H as doped and functional layers was presented. The effects of deposition conditions and oxygen content on optical, electrical, and structural properties ofμc-SiOx:H films were also discussed. Regarding the dopedμc-SiOx:H films, the wide optical band gap (E04) of 2.33 eV while maintaining a high conductivity of 0.2 S/cm could be obtained with oxygen incorporation of 20 at.%. Compared to the conventionalμc-Si:H(p) as window layer inμc-Si:H single-junction solar cells, the application ofμc-SiOx:H(p) increased theVOCand led to a significant enhancement in the short-wavelength spectral response. Meanwhile, the employment ofμc-SiOx:H(n) instead of conventional ITO as back reflecting layer (BRL) enhanced the external quantum efficiency (EQE) ofμc-Si:H single-junction cell in the long-wavelength region, leading to a relative efficiency gain of 10%. Compared to the reference cell, the optimized a-Si:H/μc-Si:H tandem cell by applying p- and n-typeμc-SiOx:H films achieved aVOCof 1.37 V,JSCof 10.55 mA/cm2, FF of 73.67%, and efficiency of 10.51%, which was a relative enhancement of 16%.
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  • 83
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
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  • 84
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: This paper presents a new method developed to significantly reduce the necessary time for the ageing tests for different types of photovoltaic cells. Two ageing factors have been applied to the photovoltaic cells: the concentrated light and the temperature. The maximum power of the photovoltaic cells was monitored during the ageing process. The electrical dc and ac parameters of the photovoltaic cells were measured and analyzed at 1 sun irradiance, before and after the test stress. During the test, two photovoltaic cells are kept at maximum power point and the other two are kept at open circuit voltage point. The method is validated through the results obtained for the monocrystalline silicon solar cell.
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  • 85
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are widely used as rear electrodes in copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells. The challenge in Mo deposition by magnetron sputtering lies in simultaneously achieving good adhesion to the substrates while retaining the electrical and optical properties. Bilayer Mo films, comprising five different thickness ratios of a high pressure (HP) deposited bottom layer and a low pressure (LP) deposited top layer, were deposited on 40 cm × 30 cm soda-lime glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. We focus on understanding the effects of the individual layer properties on the resulting bilayer Mo films, such as microstructure, surface morphology, and surface oxidation. We show that the thickness of the bottom HP Mo layer plays a major role in determining the micromechanical and physical properties of the bilayer Mo stack. Our studies reveal that a thicker HP Mo bottom layer not only improves the adhesion of the bilayer Mo, but also helps to improve the film crystallinity along the preferred [110] direction. However, the surface roughness and the porosity of the bilayer Mo films are found to increase with increasing bottom layer thickness, which leads to lower optical reflectance and a higher probability for oxidation at the Mo surface.
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  • 86
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Three hydrocalumite-like compounds in a Ca/Al ratio of 2 containing nitrate and acetate anions in the interlaminar region were prepared by a simple, economic, and environmentally friendly method. The solids were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, nitrogen adsorption-desorption at −196°C, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV-Vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS). The catalytic activity of the calcined solids at 700°C was tested in the photodegradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) where 57% degradation of 2,4-D (40 ppm) and a mineralization percentage of 60% were accomplished within 150 minutes. The photocatalytic properties were attributed to mayenite hydration, since the oxide ions in the cages are capable of reacting with water to form hydroxide anions capable of breaking down the 2,4-D molecules.
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  • 87
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Subpicosecond transient absorption spectroscopy is a powerful tool used to clarify the exciton and carrier dynamics within the organic solar cells (OSCs). In this review article, we introduce a method to determine the absolute numbers of the excitons and carriers against delay time (t) only from the photoinduced absorption (PIA) and electrochemically induced absorption (EIA) spectra. Application of this method to rr-P3HT-, PTB7-, and SMDPPEH-based OSCs revealed common aspects of the carrier formation dynamics. First, the temporal evolution of the numbers of the excitons and carriers indicates that the late decay component of exciton does not contribute to the carrier formation process. This is probably because the late component has not enough excess energy to separate into the electron and hole across the donor/acceptor (D/A) interface. Secondly, the spectroscopy revealed that the exciton-to-carrier conversion process is insensitive to temperature. This observation, together with the fast carrier formation time in OSCs, is consistent with the hot exciton picture.
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  • 88
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Recent research and development of clean energy have become essential due to the global climate change problem, which is caused largely by fossil fuels burning. Therefore, biodiesel, a renewable and ecofriendly biofuel with less environmental impact than diesel, continues expanding worldwide. The process for biodiesel production involves a significant energy demand, specifically in the methanol recovery stage through a flash separator and a distillation column. Traditionally, the energy required for this process is supplied by fossil fuels. It represents an opportunity for the application of renewable energy. Hence, the current study presents a system of thermal energy storage modeled in TRNSYS® and supported by simulations performed in ASPEN PLUS®. The aim of this research was to supply solar energy for a methanol recovery stage in a biodiesel production process. The results highlighted that it is feasible to meet 91% of the energy demand with an array of 9 parabolic trough collectors. The array obtained from the simulation was 3 in series and 3 in parallel, with a total area of 118.8 m2. It represents an energy saving of 70 MWh per year.
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  • 89
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: This paper identifies the partial shading problem of a PV module using the one-diode model and simulating the characteristics exhibiting multiple-peak power output condition that is similar to a PV array. A modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm based on the suggested search-agent deployment, retracking condition, and multicore operation is proposed in order to continuously locate the global maximum power point for the PV system. Partial shading simulation results for up to 16 modules in series/parallel formats are presented. A distributed PV system consisting of up to 8 a-silicon thin film PV panels and also having a dedicated DC/DC buck converter on each of the modules is tested. The converter reaches its steady state voltage output in 10 ms. However for MPPT operation, voltage, and current measurement interval is set to 20 ms to avoid unnecessary noise from the entire electric circuit. Based on the simulation and experiment results, each core of the proposed PSO operation should control no more than 4 PV modules in order to have the maximum tracking accuracy and minimum overall tracking time. Tracking for the global maximum power point of a distributed PV system under various partial shading conditions can be done within 1.3 seconds.
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  • 90
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Fe-doped TiO2(Fe/TiO2) film photocatalyst was prepared by sol-gel and dip-coating process to extend its photoresponsivity to the visible spectrum. To promote the CO2reduction performance with the photocatalyst, some types of base materials used for coating Fe/TiO2, which were netlike glass fiber and Cu disc, were investigated. The characterization of prepared Fe/TiO2film coated on netlike glass fiber and Cu disc was analyzed by SEM and EPMA. In addition, the CO2reduction performance of Fe/TiO2film coated on netlike glass disc, Cu disc, and their overlap was tested under a Xe lamp with or without ultraviolet (UV) light, respectively. The results show that the concentration of produced CO increases by Fe doping irrespective of base material used under the illumination condition with UV light as well as that without UV light. Since the electron transfer between two overlapped photocatalysts is promoted, the peak concentration of CO for the Fe/TiO2double overlapping is approximately 1.5 times as large as the Fe/TiO2single overlapping under the illumination condition with UV light, while the promotion ratio is approximately 1.1 times under that without UV light.
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  • 91
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy sources are rapidly gaining potential growth and popularity compared to conventional fossil fuel sources. As the merging of PV systems with existing power sources increases, reliable and accurate PV system identification is essential, to address the highly nonlinear change in PV system dynamic and operational characteristics. This paper deals with the identification of a PV system characteristic with a switch-mode power converter. Measured input-output data are collected from a real PV panel to be used for the identification. The data are divided into estimation and validation sets. The identification methodology is discussed. A Hammerstein-Wiener model is identified and selected due to its suitability to best capture the PV system dynamics, and results and discussion are provided to demonstrate the accuracy of the selected model structure.
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  • 92
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Concentrated sunlight that is transmitted by fiber optics has been used for generating electricity, heat, and daylight. On the other hand, multijunction photovoltaic cells provide high efficiency for generating electricity from highly concentrated sunlight. This study deals with designing and simulating a high-efficiency coupler, employing a mathematical model to connect sunlight with fiber optics for multiple applications. The coupler concentrates and distributes irradiated light from a primary concentrator. In this study, a parabolic dish was used as the primary concentrator, a coupler that contains nine components called a compound truncated pyramid and a cone (CTPC), all of which were mounted on a plate. The material of both the CTPC and the plate was BK7 optical glass. Fiber optics cables and multijunction photovoltaic cells were connected to the cylindrical part of the CTPC. The fibers would transmit the light to the building to provide heat and daylight, whereas multijunction photovoltaic cells generate electricity. Theoretical and simulation results showed high performance of the designed coupler. The efficiency of the coupler was as high as92%, whereas the rim angle of the dish increased to an optimum angle. Distributed sunlight in the coupler increased the flexibility and simplicity of the design, resulting in a system that provided concentrated electricity, heat, and lighting for residential buildings.
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  • 93
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Here we report a facile, efficient, and catalyst-free method to realize C-C cross-coupling of aryl chlorides and inert arenes under UV light irradiation. The aryl radical upon homolytic cleavage of C-Cl bond initiated the nucleophilic substitution reaction with inert arenes to give biaryl products. This mild reaction mode can also be applied to other synthetic reactions, such as the construction of C-N bonds and trifluoromethylated compounds.
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  • 94
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Water-soluble graphitic hollow carbon nanorods (wsCNRs) are exploited for their light-driven photochemical activities under outdoor sunlight. wsCNRs were synthesized by a simple pyrolysis method from castor seed oil, without using any metal catalyst or template. wsCNRs exhibited the light-induced photochemical degradation of methylene blue used as a model pollutant by the generation of singlet oxygen species. Herein, we described a possible degradation mechanism of methylene blue under the irradiation of visible photons via the singlet oxygen-superoxide anion pathway.
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  • 95
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Solar panels have become attractive in order to generate and supply electricity in commercial and residential applications. Their increased module efficiencies have caused not only a massive production but also a sensible drop on sale prices. Methods of characterization, instrumentation for in situ measurements, defect monitoring, process control, and performance are required. A temperature characterization method by means of thermograph analysis is exposed in this paper. The method was applied to multicrystalline modules, and the characterization was made with respect to two different variables, first a thermal transient and second a characterization with respect to the current. The method is useful in order to detect hot spots caused by mismatch conditions in electrical parameters. The description, results, and limitations of the proposed method are discussed.
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  • 96
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Medium-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems using cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters have a capability to perform individual maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for each PV panel or each small group of panels, resulting in minimization of both power losses from panel mismatch and effect of partial shading. They also provide high power quality, modularity, and possibility of eliminating dc-dc boost stage and line-frequency transformer. However, each PV panel in the system is subjected to a double-line-frequency voltage ripple at the dc-link which reduces the MPPT efficiency. This paper proposes a dc-link voltage ripple reduction by third-harmonic zero-sequence voltage injection for improving the MPPT efficiency. Moreover, a control method to achieve individual MPPT control of each inverter cell is also presented. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed methods were verified by computer simulation.
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  • 97
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: This paper reports numerical investigation, using SCAPS-1D program, of the influence of Cu2ZnSnS4(the so-called CZTS) material features such as thickness, holes, and defects densities on the performances of ZnO:Al/i-ZnO/CdS/CZTS/Mo solar cells structure. We found that the electrical parameters are seriously affected, when the absorber thickness is lower than 600 nm, mainly due to recombination at CZTS/Molybdenum interface that causes the short-circuit current density loss of 3.6 mA/cm2. An additional source of recombination, inside the absorber layer, affects the short-circuit current density and produces a loss of about 2.1 mA/cm2above this range of absorber thickness. TheJ-Vcharacteristic shows that the performance of the device is also limited by a double diode behavior. This effect is reduced when the absorber layer is skinny. Our investigations showed that, for solar cells having a CZTS absorber layer of thin thickness and high-quality materials (defects density ~1015 cm−3), doping less than 1016 cm−3is especially beneficial. Such CZTS based solar cell devices could lead to conversion efficiencies higher than 15% and to improvement of about 100 mV on the open-circuit voltage value. Our results are in conformity with experimental reports existing in the literature.
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  • 98
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Zinc oxide has been the focus of material research due to its potential applications in a variety of novel fields. The material exhibits anisotropic growth in the form of single crystal rods/wires of length in microns and thickness in several tens of nanometers through a facile and low temperature hydrothermal route wherein size, morphology, orientation, and growth rate are strongly dependent on a number of synthesis parameters. In this review article we intend to present/discuss the effects of important growth parameters of zinc oxide that have been reported in the literature. These parameters include concentration of the precursor solution, growth time, role of hexamine, synthesis temperature, pH of the precursor, and seeding layer deposited on a substrate.
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  • 99
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: Polish energy sector is (almost from its origin) dominated by fossil fuel feed power. This situation results from an abundance of relatively cheap coal (hard and lignite). Brown coal due to its nature is the cheapest energy source in Poland. However, hard coal which fuels 60% of polish power plants is picking up on prices and is susceptible to the coal imported from neighboring countries. Forced by the European Union (EU) regulations, Poland is struggling at achieving its goal of reaching 15% of energy consumption from renewable energy sources (RES) by 2020. Over the year 2015, RES covered 11.3% of gross energy consumption but this generation was dominated by solid biomass (over 80%). The aim of this paper was to answer the following research questions: What is the relation of irradiation values to the power load on a yearly and daily basis? and how should photovoltaics (PV) be integrated in the polish power system? Conducted analysis allowed us to state that there exists a negative correlation between power demand and irradiation values on a yearly basis, but this is likely to change in the future. Secondly, on average, daily values of irradiation tend to follow power load curve over the first hours of the day.
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  • 100
    Publication Date: 2016-01-01
    Description: The biggest problems of our time are environmental pollution and the reduction of fossil fuel resources. In recent years, photovoltaic (PV) has started to be used efficiently in order to produce electrical energy from solar energy throughout the world. In this study, a wheat mover machine taking its energy with PV technology transformation from the sun was designed supported by smart sensors. The designed vehicle was tested in two wheat fields in Sivas in Turkey. It was seen that daily average sunshine rates were not lower than 700 Watt/m2during the testing dates and time. The amounts of electrical charge used to mow 5 m2and 50 m2areas are obtained as 500 mAh and 3395 mAh, respectively. Also maximum power is calculated from used PV panel as 26.15 Watt during the day of the experiments. The range of solar radiation intensity is found 4.5 kWh/m2/day at the studied kWh which was$0.140 USD on the date of November 2015. This system is 94.5% more economic than conventional mowers over an area of 1000 m2.
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