Templating Synthesis of Natural Cotton-based Hierarchically Structured Carbon Hollow Microfibers for High-performance Solar Vapor Generation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shijun Lei ◽  
Dali Huang ◽  
Shuhao Liu ◽  
Mingfeng Chen ◽  
Rong Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Vapor Generation ◽  
Grand Challenges ◽  
Thermal Desalination ◽  
Templating Synthesis

Solar-thermal desalination by interfacial evaporation that leverages abundant solar energy to convert saline water into clean freshwater has promised an exciting alternative to meet the grand challenges of water scarcity....

Efficient Co-Harvesting of Solar Energy and Low-Grade Heat by Molecular Photoswitches for High Energy Density, Long-Term Stable Solar Thermal Battery

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao-Yang Zhang ◽  
Tao LI
Keyword(s):  
Energy Density ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
High Performance ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Thermal Battery ◽  
Low Grade Heat

Solar energy and ambient heat are two inexhaustible energy sources for addressing the global challenge of energy and sustainability. Solar thermal battery based on molecular switches that can store solar energy and release it as heat has recently attracted great interest, but its development is severely limited by both low energy density and short storage stability. On the other hand, the efficient recovery and upgrading of low-grade heat, especially that of the ambient heat, has been a great challenge. Here we report that solar energy and ambient heat can be simultaneously harvested and stored, which is enabled by room-temperature photochemical crystal-to-liquid transitions of small-molecule photoswitches. The two forms of energy are released together to produce high-temperature heat during the reverse photochemical phase change. This strategy, combined with molecular design, provides high energy density of 320-370 J/g and long-term storage stability (half-life of about 3 months). On this basis, we fabricate high-performance, flexible film devices of solar thermal battery, which can be readily recharged at room temperature with good cycling ability, show fast rate of heat release, and produce high-temperature heat that is >20<sup> o</sup>C higher than the ambient temperature. Our work opens up a new avenue to harvest ambient heat, and demonstrate a feasible strategy to develop high-performance solar thermal battery.

Efficient Co-Harvesting of Solar Energy and Low-Grade Heat by Molecular Photoswitches for High Energy Density, Long-Term Stable Solar Thermal Battery

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao-Yang Zhang ◽  
Tao LI
Keyword(s):  
Energy Density ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
High Performance ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Thermal Battery ◽  
Low Grade Heat

Solar energy and ambient heat are two inexhaustible energy sources for addressing the global challenge of energy and sustainability. Solar thermal battery based on molecular switches that can store solar energy and release it as heat has recently attracted great interest, but its development is severely limited by both low energy density and short storage stability. On the other hand, the efficient recovery and upgrading of low-grade heat, especially that of the ambient heat, has been a great challenge. Here we report that solar energy and ambient heat can be simultaneously harvested and stored, which is enabled by room-temperature photochemical crystal-to-liquid transitions of small-molecule photoswitches. The two forms of energy are released together to produce high-temperature heat during the reverse photochemical phase change. This strategy, combined with molecular design, provides high energy density of 320-370 J/g and long-term storage stability (half-life of about 3 months). On this basis, we fabricate high-performance, flexible film devices of solar thermal battery, which can be readily recharged at room temperature with good cycling ability, show fast rate of heat release, and produce high-temperature heat that is >20<sup> o</sup>C higher than the ambient temperature. Our work opens up a new avenue to harvest ambient heat, and demonstrate a feasible strategy to develop high-performance solar thermal battery.

On the Overall Energy Efficiency of a High-Performance Solar Energy Residential Building

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. Wong ◽  
Jorge E. Gonza´lez ◽  
Sergio Escobar ◽  
Mark Aschheim
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Hvac System ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Pv Array

This paper describes the energy performance of a solar house over its first year of monitoring. The 2007 Solar Decathlon house currently sits on Santa Clara University’s campus at 60.4 m2. The house is powered entirely by solar PV and solar thermal off the grid. This solar energy house is heavily instrumented with more than 100 sensors to measure temperatures, humidity, power consumption of electric appliances, lighting, water, and performance of a 7.2 kW solar PV array and a sophisticated HVAC system. The instrumentation includes a full weather station. The house is divided into two interconnected modules, and constructed with high thermal insulation and sustainable materials. The instrumentation also allows quantifying energy performance of individual components as well as the overall energy performance of the house. The paper focuses on the complete energy balance of the house as a function of weather conditions, and of the performance of individual components. Of particular interest is the performance of the solar PV and solar thermal systems. The solar thermal system includes an absorption air conditioning unit, integrated with a thermal storage tank to provide all energy needs for water consumption and heating. The I-V curves of the full PV array are reported, demonstrating peak, off-peak, and seasonal performance and deviations from manufacturers’ conditions. Similarly, the overall COP of the solar-driven HVAC system is reported for both cooling and heating modes. Finally, it is shown how data can be used to demonstrate improvement of simulation tools for solar building energy performance. Although data has been collected since March 2009, this paper focuses on performance during summer 2009.

Theoretical Analysis of Solar Thermal Desalination Performance Limitation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanjie Zheng ◽  
Kelsey B. Hatzell ◽  
Rodrigo Caceres Gonzalez ◽  
Marta C. Hatzell
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Solar Collector ◽  
Concentration Ratio ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Water Salinity ◽  
Recovery Ratio ◽  
Water Production ◽  
Thermal Desalination ◽  
Performance Limitation

Abstract Solar thermal desalination systems utilize concentrated or non-concentrated sunlight to produce heat to drive a phase change separation process and produce freshwater. It could be an effective solution for increasingly scarce freshwater resources and energy shortages across the globe. In order to explore the performance limits and operating parameters that affect specific water production (SWP), this paper proposes a thermodynamic model of the ideal solar-driven thermal desalination process. The model compares two different heating configurations of solar collector system and considers surface temperature of solar collector, concentration ratio, recovery ratio and inlet saline water salinity to find maximum specific water production. The results show that under reversible condition, a flat plate collector with inlet saline water salinity of 35 g/kg will experience an increase in SWP from 29.9 gs−1m−2 to 52.7 gs−1m−2 if the recovery ratio decrease from 70% to 10%. For a system with concentration ratio of 10, when the surface temperature of solar collector is 507K, the maximum specific water production can reach 166.3 gs−1m−2 as the recovery ratio approaches zero. Reduction in incoming fluid salinity can further increase these performance limitations. The work fundamentally demonstrates the thermodynamic process of solar thermal desalination, and proposes a method to evaluate the performance limitation.

scholarly journals Recent Developments in Solar Thermal Desalination Technologies: A Review

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ihsan Ullah ◽  
Mohammad Rasul
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Cost Comparison ◽  
Grid Infrastructure ◽  
The World ◽  
Thermal Desalination ◽  
Recent Developments

Fresh water resources are depleting rapidly as the water demand around the world continues to increase. Fresh water resources are also not equally distributed geographically worldwide. The best way to tackle this situation is to use solar energy for desalination to not only cater for the water needs of humanity, but also to offset some detrimental environmental effects of desalination. A comprehensive review of the latest literature on various desalination technologies utilizing solar energy is presented here. This paper also highlights the environmental impacts of desalination technologies along with an economic analysis and cost comparison of conventional desalination methods with different solar energy based technologies. This review is part of an investigation into integration of solar thermal desalination into existing grid infrastructure in the Australian context.

Omnidirectional and effective salt-rejecting absorber with rationally designed nanoarchitecture for efficient and durable solar vapour generation

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (45) ◽  
pp. 22976-22986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoying Song ◽  
Hucheng Song ◽  
Ning Xu ◽  
Huafeng Yang ◽  
Lin Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
Vapour Generation

Harvesting solar energy as heat has shown fascinating applications for the purification of polluted or saline water to address the water scarcity issue globally.

scholarly journals Pathways and challenges for efficient solar-thermal desalination

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. eaax0763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhangxin Wang ◽  
Thomas Horseman ◽  
Anthony P. Straub ◽  
Ngai Yin Yip ◽  
Deyu Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Performance Enhancement ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Vapor Generation ◽  
Performance Limit ◽  
Thermal Desalination ◽  
Efficient Recovery ◽  
System Designs

Solar-thermal desalination (STD) is a potentially low-cost, sustainable approach for providing high-quality fresh water in the absence of water and energy infrastructures. Despite recent efforts to advance STD by improving heat-absorbing materials and system designs, the best strategies for maximizing STD performance remain uncertain. To address this problem, we identify three major steps in distillation-based STD: (i) light-to-heat energy conversion, (ii) thermal vapor generation, and (iii) conversion of vapor to water via condensation. Using specific water productivity as a quantitative metric for energy efficiency, we show that efficient recovery of the latent heat of condensation is critical for STD performance enhancement, because solar vapor generation has already been pushed toward its performance limit. We also demonstrate that STD cannot compete with photovoltaic reverse osmosis desalination in energy efficiency. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of factors other than energy efficiency, including cost, ease of maintenance, and applicability to hypersaline waters.

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