scholarly journals A Tool to Characterize the Electrical Influence of the Thermal and Mechanical Behaviors of Materials of Optics for CPV applications

MRS Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (53) ◽  
pp. 3123-3128
Author(s):  
Arnaud Ritou ◽  
Olivier Raccurt ◽  
Philippe Voarino ◽  
Pierre Besson ◽  
Mathieu Baudrit
Keyword(s):  
Test Bench ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Electrical Performance ◽  
Optical Parameters ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Mechanical Behaviors ◽  
Cell Temperature ◽  
Optical Efficiency ◽  
Test Conditions

ABSTRACTConcentrating Photovoltaics (CPV) field aims to integrate expensive high efficiency multi-junction cells into modules with low cost concentrating optics. The choice of the optics depends on different factors: easiness of fabrication and integration process, added costs, optical efficiency and the profile of the spot uniformity reaching the cell. Indeed, previous work has shown a dependence between electrical performance and spectral and spatial uniformities of the light on the cell. To analyze it, a solar CPV test bench is developed at CEA-INES facilities. Lens and cell temperature can be applied separately, in order to evaluate independently different test conditions, while electrical or optical parameters are recorded. The present work shows how temperature and mechanical variations on first stage concentrating optic affects module performances. Several optics and materials are compared, in order to present the tool capabilities.

Optical Parameters in High-Efficiency Optical Receivers With a Parabolic Reflector Before and After Coating With Ag Film

2013 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung Jui Lee ◽  
Jen Fin Lin
Keyword(s):  
High Efficiency ◽  
Film Coating ◽  
Fresnel Lens ◽  
Optical Parameters ◽  
Optical Receivers ◽  
Profile Error ◽  
Optical Efficiency ◽  
Aspheric Lens ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Ag Film

High-efficiency optical receivers before and after the coating of Ag film are composed of a parabolic reflector, a solid parabolic second optical element (SOE), and a Fresnel/aspheric concentrating lens. The optical receivers before the Ag-film coating are fabricated on a high-precision machine tool based on an optimum design attained from ray tracing software simulations. The real profiles of the reflector before and after coating the Ag film are found to be the average of the two orthogonal parabolic profiles. They are then compared to the perfect profile (without profile error and surface roughness) in order to investigate the influence of the profile error and the Ag film on optical performances. The optical parameters, including the total flux, the optical efficiency, and the maximum, minimum, and mean irradiances are evaluated for ray projection simulations in the ASTM G173-03 spectrum. Experiments for the same ray source are also carried out to compare with the simulation results. It is determined that Ag-film coating can improve the profile error and surface roughness of the reflector, thus resulting in all optical parameters being either equal to or higher than those of the reflector without Ag coating. The total flux and optical efficiency obtained from the module with the Fresnel lens has values relatively higher than those of the aspheric lens. The irradiance uniformity for the Fresnel lens is also determined to be better than that of the aspheric lens. The irradiance intensity of the reflector after coating the Ag film has a magnitude at various wavelengths higher than that of the reflector without the Ag-film coating. Due to the coating of the Ag film, the optical receiver shows an almost constant rise in optical efficiency for the two types of concentrating lenses. This characteristic is shown to be valid for both the simulation and experimental results.

scholarly journals Miniature planar telescopes for efficient, wide-angle, high-precision beam steering

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziqian He ◽  
Kun Yin ◽  
Shin-Tson Wu
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Optical Tweezers ◽  
High Precision ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Beam Steering ◽  
Large Angle ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Optical Elements ◽  
Optical Efficiency

AbstractNon-mechanical beam steerers with lightweight, compact, high-efficiency, high-precision, and/or large-angle are pivotal for light detection and ranging (LiDAR) of autonomous vehicles, eye-tracking for near-eye displays, microscopy, optical tweezers, and high-precision three-dimensional (3D) printing. However, even the most matured optical phased array can only provide quasi-continuous, efficient beam steering within a small angle range. A telescope module with an angle magnification function can be coupled to enlarge the steering range or precision. But obtaining a compact, low-cost, lightweight, high-quality telescope module with conventional optics remains challenging. Patterned liquid crystal-based planar optical elements offer great design freedom for manipulating the phase profile of light in 2D space. Owing to the advantages of high efficiency, thinness, low cost, easy processing, flexibility, and response to environmental stimuli, a plethora of high-quality optical devices have been demonstrated. Here, a miniature planar telescope mediated by liquid crystal polymers is proposed to offer angle magnification independent of incident spatial location. It consists of two cascaded liquid crystal planar optical elements, each performing a predefined mathematical transformation. By this concept, planar optical elements are fabricated using a new exposure method and assembled into planar telescopes with different magnification factors. Within the incident field range, over 84.6% optical efficiency is achieved with small wavefront distortion. Such a miniature planar telescope shows the potential of cascaded liquid crystal planar optical elements for realizing functionalities that cannot be fulfilled by single optical elements, and enables lightweight, low loss, passive optical transmitters for widespread applications.

Optically transparent graphene nanoplatelet inks as low cost electrocatalysts for liquid dye sensitised solar cells

2014 ◽  
Vol 1667 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Baker ◽  
T.M. Watson ◽  
D. Jones ◽  
D. Deganello ◽  
D.T. Gethin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Active Material ◽  
Charge Transfer Resistance ◽  
High Specific Surface Area ◽  
Light Conditions ◽  
Transfer Resistance ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
A Charge

ABSTRACTGraphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) functionalised with platinum were explored as the active material in a high specific surface area ink. The ink had a transmission at 550nm (T550) = 85% and a charge transfer resistance (Rct) of 6Ω/cm2. Although the Rct is higher than required for laboratory cells having a Jsc of 20mA/cm2 under 1 sun test conditions it is sufficient for industrially produced reverse devices, especially when utilised for indoor applications where light conditions will be lower than 100W/m2. This was demonstrated by reverse illuminated DSC efficiencies with flexible cathodes which were equivalent to cells with sputtered platinum catalysts when subjected to 300W/m2 lighting or less. A modification to the ink, suitable for catalysing a Co2+/3+ electrolyte having an Rct of 2Ω/cm2 and T550= 85% was undertaken. This demonstrates potential for use in high efficiency cobalt mediated DSCs. The work shows that printed graphene catalysts are a versatile low cost replacement to sputtered platinum in reverse illuminated DSCs for dye sensitised solar cells.

scholarly journals Improvement of Optical Performances Using the Hybrid CPV

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-245
Author(s):  
Sarah El Himer ◽  
◽  
Ali Ahaitouf ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Silicon Solar Cell ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Diffuse Radiation ◽  
Fresnel Lens ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Optical Efficiency ◽  
Direct Radiation ◽  
Simulation Results

Hybrid Concentrated Photovoltaics (HCPVs) are systems in which additional low-cost silicone solar cells are added to take advantage of the power generated by the diffuse radiation lost when using only multi-junction cells that work only with direct radiation. The work has been tested by simulating the performance of a hybrid CPV system composed of a Fresnel lens associated with a pyramid, multi junction cell as well as additional silicon solar cells. This proposal is compared with an ordinary CPV system and a system based on only silicon solar cells. The simulation results show that the CPV makes it possible to have a high optical efficiency of 94% at the pyramid exit for direct radiation, but this high efficiency rapidly decreases to 0% for diffuse radiation. In this case, the silicon solar cell comes into the scene to converts these diffused or non-concentrated rays into electricity, with an optical efficiency of 85%. It was also found that the Hybrid CPV system was able to increase the power by 21% compared to the CPV system.

Influence of MBE Growth Conditions on Dislocation Densities of GaAs/Ge Epilayers Grown on Silicon Substrates

1985 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 364-365
Author(s):  
K.M. Hones ◽  
P. Sheldon ◽  
B.G. Yacobi ◽  
A. Mason
Keyword(s):  
High Efficiency ◽  
Lattice Mismatch ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Nonradiative Recombination ◽  
Device Structure ◽  
Si Substrates ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Dislocation Densities ◽  
Dislocation Type

There is increasing interest in growing epitaxial GaAs on Si substrates. Such a device structure would allow low-cost substrates to be used for high-efficiency cascade- junction solar cells. However, high-defect densities may result from the large lattice mismatch (∼4%) between the GaAs epilayer and the silicon substrate. These defects can act as nonradiative recombination centers that can degrade the optical and electrical properties of the epitaxially grown GaAs. For this reason, it is important to optimize epilayer growth conditions in order to minimize resulting dislocation densities. The purpose of this paper is to provide an indication of the quality of the epitaxially grown GaAs layers by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to examine dislocation type and density as a function of various growth conditions. In this study an intermediate Ge layer was used to avoid nucleation difficulties observed for GaAs growth directly on Si substrates. GaAs/Ge epilayers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on Si substrates in a manner similar to that described previously.

Improvement of Ti/RuO2–IrO2 Anode Lifetime and Electrocatalytical Properties by Using an Eco-Friendly Thermal Decomposition Method Using Polyvinyl Alcohol as Solvent

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlys Bezerra ◽  
Géssica Santos ◽  
Marilia Pupo ◽  
Maria Gomes ◽  
Ronaldo Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Decomposition ◽  
Polyvinyl Alcohol ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Electrochemical Impedance ◽  
Pechini Method ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Charge Transfer Resistance ◽  
Transfer Resistance ◽  
Calcination Temperatures ◽  
Service Lifetime

<p>Electrochemical oxidation processes are promising solutions for wastewater treatment due to their high efficiency, easy control and versatility. Mixed metal oxides (MMO) anodes are particularly attractive due to their low cost and specific catalytic properties. Here, we propose an innovative thermal decomposition methodology using <a>polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)</a> as a solvent to prepare Ti/RuO<sub>2</sub>–IrO<sub>2</sub> anodes. Comparative anodes were prepared by conventional method employing a polymeric precursor solvent (Pechini method). The calcination temperatures studied were 300, 400 and 500 °C. The physical characterisation of all materials was performed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy, while electrochemical characterisation was done by cyclic voltammetry, accelerated service lifetime and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Both RuO<sub>2</sub> and IrO<sub>2</sub> have rutile-type structures for all anodes. Rougher and more compact surfaces are formed for the anodes prepared using PVA. Amongst temperatures studied, 300 °C using PVA as solvent is the most suitable one to produce anodes with expressive increase in voltammetric charge (250%) and accelerated service lifetime (4.3 times longer) besides reducing charge-transfer resistance (8 times lower). Moreover, the electrocatalytic activity of the anodes synthesised with PVA toward the Reactive Blue 21 dye removal in chloride medium (100 % in 30 min) is higher than that prepared by Pechini method (60 min). Additionally, the removal total organic carbon point out improved mineralisation potential of PVA anodes. Finally, this study reports a novel methodology using PVA as solvent to synthesise Ti/RuO<sub>2</sub>–IrO<sub>2</sub> anodes with improved properties that can be further extended to synthesise other MMO compositions.</p>

Contradiction Analysis and Solution in the R&D of High-Power Solar LED Street Lamp Controller

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Zhengwang Xu ◽  
Wei Mei ◽  
Jiaqi Yu ◽  
Jiarui Zhang ◽  
Yuchun Yi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Supply ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Solar Panel ◽  
Battery Voltage ◽  
Supply Circuit ◽  
Led Light ◽  
Power Supply Circuit ◽  
Side Mode ◽  
Dual Power

As being restricted by factors such as cost, efficiency and size, the development of high-power solar LED street light controller is faced with plenty of difficulties. In case that a structure of two independent DC/DC is applied as the main circuit, it has to face problems such as large size and high cost; in case of applying the bidirectional BUCK/BOOST circuit, it requires change-over switches to control the solar panel and LED light. As being restricted by withstanding voltage, on-resistance and cost, a PMOS device cannot be used as the change-over switch of solar panel and LED light. However, when being used as a change-over switch, an NMOS device must apply the low-side mode under which the negative ends of the mentioned three parts are cut off. In the condition of applying the low-side mode, a differential circuit must be used to detect the voltage of the solar panel. Furthermore, in order to make sure batteries can still be regularly charged after wearing out in daylight, the controller must be supplied with power through a dual power supply circuit that can obtain power from both the solar panel and the battery. The demander has a requirement on extremely low standby power consumption of the product, and thus it is necessary to minimize the circuit that is live while working in standby mode. Methods: The bidirectional BUCK/BOOST circuit structure is applied to the main circuit to realize a higher change-over efficiency while giving considerations to both cost and size. The NMOS device, model IRFB4410ZPBF, with a price of about three yuan, is used as the switching device, and the low-side mode is applied, that is the switches inserted in between negative end of the solar panel or LED light and that of the DC/DC circuit. The low-cost rail-to-rail operational amplifier LM358 is used to form a differential amplification circuit for detecting the voltage of the solar panel. A XL1509-12E1 chip that only costs 0.88 yuan/pc is selected as the main change-over chip for the power supply, which has realized the highly-efficient and low-cost change-over of the power supply. A dual power supply circuit and a step-down protective circuit are designed for the XL1509-12E1 change-over chip. By comparing solar panel voltage with battery voltage, the solar panel booting circuit is realized. Only when solar panel voltage is higher than battery voltage, does the system program start to power it up for running, so that the outage of most of the circuits of the system under standby mode does not consume energy. Furthermore, the solar panel voltage detecting circuit, the solar panel booting circuit and several return difference functions are corrected during system debugging. Results: The circuit board of the entire controller features small size, low cost and high efficiency. It measures about 100*62*18mm in size, costs about 60 yuan, and the charge/discharge change-over efficiency reaches up to over 95%. The controller has many functions: it is capable of operating within a large scope, in which, solar panel voltage is subject to 15~50V, LED light voltage is subject to 15~60V, battery voltage is subject to 10~35V and battery-end charge/discharge current is 10A; it is capable of adapting to monocrystalline silicon/multicrystalline silicon/thin-film and many other kinds of solar panels, as well as lithium/lead-acid and many other kinds of batteries; it is capable of detecting the conversion of day and night, automatically controlling charging and discharging and automatically making adaptive adjustment according to seasonal variations; the current to be consumed during standby will be maintained below 3mA, and thus the power consumption is extremely low. Conclusion: By selecting the bidirectional BUCK/BOOST circuit structure, applying low-side mode for switching of solar panel and LED light, using a differential circuit to detect solar panel voltage, using a low-cost DC/DC chip to realize power supply change-over, designing a dual power supply circuit, introducing solar panel booting circuit and other hardware design, as well as MPPT algorithm, state recognition and control, return difference control and other software design, a solar LED street light control product featuring small size, low cost, high efficiency and multiple functions is successfully developed.

scholarly journals Chemical Modification of Combusted Coal Gangue for U(VI) Adsorption: Towards a Waste Control by Waste Strategy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8421
Author(s):  
Yuan Gao ◽  
Jiandong Huang ◽  
Meng Li ◽  
Zhongran Dai ◽  
Rongli Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Chemical Activation ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Coal Gangue ◽  
Order Kinetic ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Detailed Structural Analysis ◽  
Alkaline Conditions

Uranium mining waste causes serious radiation-related health and environmental problems. This has encouraged efforts toward U(VI) removal with low cost and high efficiency. Typical uranium adsorbents, such as polymers, geopolymers, zeolites, and MOFs, and their associated high costs limit their practical applications. In this regard, this work found that the natural combusted coal gangue (CCG) could be a potential precursor of cheap sorbents to eliminate U(VI). The removal efficiency was modulated by chemical activation under acid and alkaline conditions, obtaining HCG (CCG activated with HCl) and KCG (CCG activated with KOH), respectively. The detailed structural analysis uncovered that those natural mineral substances, including quartz and kaolinite, were the main components in CCG and HCG. One of the key findings was that kalsilite formed in KCG under a mild synthetic condition can conspicuous enhance the affinity towards U(VI). The best equilibrium adsorption capacity with KCG was observed to be 140 mg/g under pH 6 within 120 min, following a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. To understand the improved adsorption performance, an adsorption mechanism was proposed by evaluating the pH of uranyl solutions, adsorbent dosage, as well as contact time. Combining with the structural analysis, this revealed that the uranyl adsorption process was mainly governed by chemisorption. This study gave rise to a utilization approach for CCG to obtain cost-effective adsorbents and paved a novel way towards eliminating uranium by a waste control by waste strategy.

scholarly journals A Multi-Loop Vehicle-Counting Method under Gray Mode and RGB Mode

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6831
Author(s):  
Yue Chen ◽  
Jian Lu
Keyword(s):  
Intelligent Transportation Systems ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Intelligent Transportation ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Counting Method ◽  
Moving Vehicle ◽  
Available Information

With the rapid development of road traffic, real-time vehicle counting is very important in the construction of intelligent transportation systems (ITSs). Compared with traditional technologies, the video-based method for vehicle counting shows great importance and huge advantages in its low cost, high efficiency, and flexibility. However, many methods find difficulty in balancing the accuracy and complexity of the algorithm. For example, compared with traditional and simple methods, deep learning methods may achieve higher precision, but they also greatly increase the complexity of the algorithm. In addition to that, most of the methods only work under one mode of color, which is a waste of available information. Considering the above, a multi-loop vehicle-counting method under gray mode and RGB mode was proposed in this paper. Under gray and RGB modes, the moving vehicle can be detected more completely; with the help of multiple loops, vehicle counting could better deal with different influencing factors, such as driving behavior, traffic environment, shooting angle, etc. The experimental results show that the proposed method is able to count vehicles with more than 98.5% accuracy while dealing with different road scenes.

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