Optimal control of stretching process of flexible solar arrays on spacecraft based on a hybrid optimization strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qijia Yao

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The optimal control of multibody spacecraft during the stretching process of solar arrays is investigated, and a hybrid optimization strategy based on Gauss pseudospectral method (GPM and direct shooting method (DSM is presented. First, the elastic deformation of flexible solar arrays was described approximately by the assumed mode method, and a dynamic model was established by the second Lagrangian equation. Then, the nonholonomic motion planning problem is transformed into a nonlinear programming problem by using GPM. By giving fewer LG points, initial values of the state variables and control variables were obtained. A serial optimization framework was adopted to obtain the approximate optimal solution from a feasible solution. Finally, the control variables were discretized at LG points, and the precise optimal control inputs were obtained by DSM. The optimal trajectory of the system can be obtained through numerical integration. Through numerical simulation, the stretching process of solar arrays is stable with no detours, and the control inputs match the various constraints of actual conditions. The results indicate that the method is effective with good robustness. Keywords: Motion planning, Multibody spacecraft, Optimal control, Gauss pseudospectral method, Direct shooting method

Using simulation to validate and optimize the design of a hybrid solar-GCHP system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kummert, M.; Bernier, M. [Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, PQ (Canada). Dept. de Genie Mecanique; Roy, M. [Martin Roy and Associates, Deux-Montagnes, PQ (Canada)

2006-07-01

A redevelopment project that involves the sustainable construction of 3 buildings with 187 affordable and environmentally sound housing units in a Montreal community was discussed. The HVAC system was part of the integrated design process that focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, potable water use, the production of waste water and the production of solid waste through retrofitting, reuse and waste diversion. Design options were limited by pre-existing equipment and funding opportunities. The design was also influenced by the building's management structure whereby financial benefits from the energy savings go to a non-profit, community-run utility company that will re-invest in new phases of the project. The project involved the installation of a hybrid solar geothermal heat pump system. The design was different from the usual approach because the solar thermal system was sized to provide domestic hot water but not to compensate the annual imbalance in the ground loads. It was noted that the average temperature in the ground will decrease with time, due to the imbalance. This presentation provided the results of detailed TRNSYS simulations that validated and optimized the design of the hybrid ground-coupled heating plant including solar thermal collectors in the 3 multi-unit buildings. The TRNSYS simulation used building loads that were calculated in an earlier stage of the design process with DOE-2. A global heat exchange coefficient for radiators and floor heating was estimated in order to use realistic temperature levels. An analysis of the long-term system performance of this unique design showed that on a yearly basis, 33 per cent of the total heating load can come from renewable energy sources. 18 refs., 2 tabs., 13 figs.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLAR COLLECTORS USING A SOLAR SIMULATOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Norhafana

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Solar water heating systems is one of the applications of solar energy. One of the components of a solar water heating system is a solar collector that consists of an absorber. The performance of the solar water heating system depends on the absorber in the solar collector. In countries with unsuitable weather conditions, the indoor testing of solar collectors with the use of a solar simulator is preferred. Thus, this study is conducted to use a multilayered absorber in the solar collector of a solar water heating system as well as to evaluate the performance of the solar collector in terms of useful heat of the multilayered absorber using the multidirectional ability of a solar simulator at several values of solar radiation. It is operated at three variables of solar radiation of 400 W/m2, 550 W/m2 and 700 W/m2 and using three different positions of angles at 0º, 45º and 90º. The results show that the multilayer absorber in the solar collector is only able to best adapt at 45° of solar simulator with different values of radiation intensity. At this angle the maximum values of useful heat and temperature difference are achieved. KEYWORDS: solar water heating system; solar collector; multilayered absorber; solar simulator; solar radiation 

An optimized metal grid design to improve the solar cell performance under solar concentration using multiobjective computation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djeffal, F.; Bendib, T.; Arar, D.; Dibi, Z.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A new MOGA-based approach to design the solar cell metal grid is proposed. ► The cell parameters have been ascertained including the high illumination effects. ► An improved electrical behavior of the solar cell is found. ► The proposed optimized metal grid design is suitable for photovoltaic applications. -- Abstract: In this paper, a new multiobjective genetic algorithm (MOGA)-based approach is proposed to optimize the metal grid design in order to improve the electrical performance and the conversion efficiency behavior of the solar cells under high intensities of illumination. The proposed approach is applied to investigate the effect of two different metal grid patterns (one with 2 busbars outside the active area (linear grid) and another one with a circular busbar surrounding the active area (circular grid)) on the electrical performance of high efficiency c-Si solar cells under concentrated light (up to 150 suns). The dimensional and electrical parameters of the solar cell have been ascertained, and analytical expressions of the power losses and conversion efficiency, including high illumination effects, have been presented. The presented analytical models are used to formulate different objective functions, which are the prerequisite of the multiobjective optimization. The optimized design can also be incorporated into photovoltaic circuit simulator to study the impact of our approach on the photovoltaic circuit design

Modeling and simulation of photovoltaic solar panel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belarbi, M.; Haddouche, K.; Midoun, A.

2006-01-01

In this article, we present a new approach for estimating the model parameters of a photovoltaic solar panel according to the irradiance and temperature. The parameters of the one diode model are given from the knowledge of three operating points: short-circuit, open circuit, and maximum power. In the first step, the adopted approach concerns the resolution of the system of equations constituting the three operating points to write all the model parameters according to series resistance. Secondly, we make an iterative resolution at the optimal operating point by using the Newton-Raphson method to calculate the series resistance value as well as the model parameters. Once the panel model is identified, we consider other equations for taking into account the irradiance and temperature effect. The simulation results show the convergence speed of the model parameters and the possibility of visualizing the electrical behaviour of the panel according to the irradiance and temperature. Let us note that a sensitivity of the algorithm at the optimal operating point was observed owing to the fact that a small variation of the optimal voltage value leads to a very great variation of the identified parameters values. With the identified model, we can develop algorithms of maximum power point tracking, and make simulations of a solar water pumping system.(Author)

Simulating solar MHD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Schüssler

Full Text Available Two aspects of solar MHD are discussed in relation to the work of the MHD simulation group at KIS. Photospheric magneto-convection, the nonlinear interaction of magnetic field and convection in a strongly stratified, radiating fluid, is a key process of general astrophysical relevance. Comprehensive numerical simulations including radiative transfer have significantly improved our understanding of the processes and have become an important tool for the interpretation of observational data. Examples of field intensification in the solar photosphere ('convective collapse' are shown. The second line of research is concerned with the dynamics of flux tubes in the convection zone, which has far-reaching implications for our understanding of the solar dynamo. Simulations indicate that the field strength in the region where the flux is stored before erupting to form sunspot groups is of the order of 10⁵ G, an order of magnitude larger than previous estimates based on equipartition with the kinetic energy of convective flows.

Key words. Solar physics · astrophysics and astronomy (photosphere and chromosphere; stellar interiors and dynamo theory; numerical simulation studies.

Simulation and parameter analysis of a two-stage desiccant cooing/heating system driven by solar air collectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, H.; Dai, Y.J.; Köhler, M.; Wang, R.Z.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A solar desiccant cooling/heating system is simulation studied. ► The mean deviation is about 10.5% for temperature and 9.6% for humidity ratio. ► The 51.7% of humidity load and 76% of the total cooling can be handled. ► About 49.0% of heating load can be handled by solar energy. ► An optimization of solar air collector has been investigated. - Abstract: To increase the fraction of solar energy might be used in supplying energy for the operation of a building, a solar desiccant cooling and heating system was modeled in Simulink. First, base case performance models were programmed according to the configuration of the installed solar desiccant system and verified by the experimental data. Then, the year-round performance about the system was simulated. Last, design parameters of solar air collectors were optimized that include collector area, air leakage and thermal insulation. Comparison between numerical and experimental results shows good agreement. During the simulation, the humidity load for 63 days (51.7%) can be totally handled by the two-stage desiccant cooling unit. For seasonal total heating load, about 49.0% can be handled by solar energy. Based on optimized results, the thermal energy subsystem functioned to its expected performance in solar energy collection and thermal storage

Genetic algorithm based optimization of advanced solar cell designs modeled in Silvaco AtlasTM

OpenAIRE

Utsler, James

2006-01-01

A genetic algorithm was used to optimize the power output of multi-junction solar cells. Solar cell operation was modeled using the Silvaco ATLASTM software. The output of the ATLASTM simulation runs served as the input to the genetic algorithm. The genetic algorithm was run as a diffusing computation on a network of eighteen dual processor nodes. Results showed that the genetic algorithm produced better power output optimizations when compared with the results obtained using the hill cli...

Optimization of a solar driven absorption refrigerator in the transient regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamed, Mouna; Fellah, Ali; Ben Brahim, Ammar

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Dynamic behavior of a solar absorption refrigerator endoreversible model. ► Using the principles of classical thermodynamics, mass and heat transfers. ► Minimizing heat exchange time to reach maximum performances. ► Major influence of the collector temperature on the model’s characteristics. ► Analogous effects of both the thermal load and the thermal conductance. -- Abstract: This contribution deals with the theoretical study in dynamic mode of an absorption refrigerator endoreversible model. The system is a cold generating station driven by solar energy. The main elements of the cycle are a refrigerated space, an absorption refrigerator and a solar collector form. A mathematical model is developed. It combines the classical thermodynamics and mass and heat transfers principles. The numerical simulation is made for different operating and conceptual conditions. A global minimizing time optimization is performed in view to reach maximum performances. Appropriate dimensionless groups are defined. The results are presented in normalized charts for general applications. The collector temperature presents major influence on the conceptual and functional characteristics compared to the stagnation temperature influence. On the other hand the thermal load in the refrigerated space and the thermal conductance of the walls has analogous effects, therefore important to be considered in actual design. As a result, the model is expected to be a useful tool for simulation, design, and optimization of solar collector based energy systems.

Parameters optimization of CIGS solar cell using 2D physical modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Dabbabi, Samar; Nasr, Tarek Ben; Kamoun-Turki, Najoua

In this study, the CIGS thin film solar cell has been investigated using the two-dimensional device simulator Silvaco-Atlas. Thickness and carrier concentration effects of the cell structure were studied to optimize the solar cell performances. Our results revealed high efficiency for a cell structure of 0.15 μm ZnO:Al, 0.06 μm i-ZnO, 0.04 μm CdS and 3 μm CIGS. The carrier concentration effects of the different layers were also studied revealing a better performance for CIGS doping concentration of 1018 cm-3. The optimized CIGS solar cell characteristics were a current density of short circuit Jsc = 38.75 mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage V0C = 804.03 mV, a fill factor FF = 74.48% and an efficiency η = 23.20%. This result is in good agreement with experimental efficiencies found in literature.

Simulation of a photo-solar generator for an optimal output by a parabolic photovoltaic concentrator of Stirling engine type

Science.gov (United States)

Kaddour, A.; Benyoucef, B.

Solar energy is the source of the most promising energy and the powerful one among renewable energies. Photovoltaic electricity (statement) is obtained by direct transformation of the sunlight into electricity, by means of cells statement. Then, we study the operation of cells statement by the digital simulation with an aim of optimizing the output of the parabolic concentrator of Stirling engine type. The Greenius software makes it possible to carry out the digital simulation in 2D and 3D and to study the influence of the various parameters on the characteristic voltage under illumination of the cell. The results obtained enabled us to determine the extrinsic factors which depend on the environment and the intrinsic factors which result from the properties of materials used.

Design and Simulation of InGaN p-n Junction Solar Cell

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Mesrane

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The tunability of the InGaN band gap energy over a wide range provides a good spectral match to sunlight, making it a suitable material for photovoltaic solar cells. The main objective of this work is to design and simulate the optimal InGaN single-junction solar cell. For more accurate results and best configuration, the optical properties and the physical models such as the Fermi-Dirac statistics, Auger and Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, and the doping and temperature-dependent mobility model were taken into account in simulations. The single-junction In0.622Ga0.378N (Eg = 1.39 eV solar cell is the optimal structure found. It exhibits, under normalized conditions (AM1.5G, 0.1 W/cm2, and 300 K, the following electrical parameters: Jsc=32.6791 mA/cm2, Voc=0.94091 volts, FF = 86.2343%, and η=26.5056%. It was noticed that the minority carrier lifetime and the surface recombination velocity have an important effect on the solar cell performance. Furthermore, the investigation results show that the In0.622Ga0.378N solar cell efficiency was inversely proportional with the temperature.

Optimization of ITO layers for applications in a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pla, J.; Tamasi, M.; Rizzoli, R.; Losurdo, M.; Centurioni, E.; Summonte, C.; Rubinelli, F

2003-02-03

A detailed study of the properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films used as antireflecting front electrodes in a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells is presented. The deposition conditions of ITO layers by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering were optimized for heterojunction solar cells applications. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the deposited films allowed for a correlation between the film composition and the experimental parameters used in the sputtering process. The ITO thickness was optimized considering the thickness of the a-Si emitter layer, its optical characteristics and the heterojunction solar cell spectral response. In our devices, the optimal thickness calculated for the ITO film was in the range 80-95 nm, depending on the solar cell spectral response, and a thickness tolerance of {+-}10 nm was found to be suitable to limit the degradation of the device performance. Finally, device simulation results obtained by the 'Analysis of Microelectronic and Photonic Structures' code are reported.

Solar collectors and heat pump: Market review and preliminary simulation results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tepe, Rainer; Roennelid, Mats

2002-01-01

Heating systems that combine solar collectors and a heat pump available on the market in Sweden have been studied. A majority of the systems found combine the solar collectors with a ground source heat pump. The technology for combining the collectors and the heat pump does however vary considerably. In the most simple systems, the collectors heat the return water from the heat pump, i.e. the collectors are used for raising the temperature in the boreholes for the heat pump. In the advanced systems, the solar heat is used for tap water, space heating and for raising the temperature of the heat pump's evaporator. There exist only very few comparative evaluations of the contributions from solar collectors in heat pump systems, and there is a need for finding the potential for this technique. In the present study, results are reported from preliminary simulations of solar collectors and ground source heat pumps installed in one-family houses. Simulations are made for two heating loads: 8,650 and 16,500 kWh/year resp., and a hot water load of 3,000 kWh/year. The study shows that: the temperature of the borehole decreases when solar collectors are not used (about 1.2 deg C in three years): 8 m 2 glazed solar collectors used for hot water production can reduce the electricity consumption with up to 13%, with best results in the house with low heating load: 50 m 2 unglazed solar collectors coupled to the evaporator or the borehole can give reductions of up to 14%, largest reduction in the house with high heating load, where the heat extraction from the borehole is large: the unglazed collectors have the highest economic potential, and can be cost effective for houses with high heating load: the simulations do not include a thorough system optimization, better results can be expected from continued optimization work

Mathematical models for photovoltaic solar panel simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Jose Airton A. dos; Gnoatto, Estor; Fischborn, Marcos; Kavanagh, Edward [Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana (UTFPR), Medianeira, PR (Brazil)], Emails: airton@utfpr.edu.br, gnoatto@utfpr.edu.br, fisch@utfpr.edu.br, kavanagh@utfpr.edu.br

2008-07-01

A photovoltaic generator is subject to several variations of solar intensity, ambient temperature or load, that change your point of operation. This way, your behavior should be analyzed by such alterations, to optimize your operation. The present work sought to simulate a photovoltaic generator, of polycrystalline silicon, by characteristics supplied by the manufacturer, and to compare the results of two mathematical models with obtained values of field, in the city of Cascavel, for a period of one year. (author)

Optimal Control Design for a Solar Greenhouse

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ooteghem, van R.J.C.

2010-01-01

Abstract: An optimal climate control has been designed for a solar greenhouse to achieve optimal crop production with sustainable instead of fossil energy. The solar greenhouse extends a conventional greenhouse with an improved roof cover, ventilation with heat recovery, a heat pump, a heat

Full space device optimization for solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Baloch, Ahmer A B; Aly, Shahzada P; Hossain, Mohammad I; El-Mellouhi, Fedwa; Tabet, Nouar; Alharbi, Fahhad H

2017-09-20

Advances in computational materials have paved a way to design efficient solar cells by identifying the optimal properties of the device layers. Conventionally, the device optimization has been governed by single or double descriptors for an individual layer; mostly the absorbing layer. However, the performance of the device depends collectively on all the properties of the material and the geometry of each layer in the cell. To address this issue of multi-property optimization and to avoid the paradigm of reoccurring materials in the solar cell field, a full space material-independent optimization approach is developed and presented in this paper. The method is employed to obtain an optimized material data set for maximum efficiency and for targeted functionality for each layer. To ensure the robustness of the method, two cases are studied; namely perovskite solar cells device optimization and cadmium-free CIGS solar cell. The implementation determines the desirable optoelectronic properties of transport mediums and contacts that can maximize the efficiency for both cases. The resulted data sets of material properties can be matched with those in materials databases or by further microscopic material design. Moreover, the presented multi-property optimization framework can be extended to design any solid-state device.

A method for optimizing the cosine response of solar UV diffusers

Science.gov (United States)

Pulli, Tomi; Kärhä, Petri; Ikonen, Erkki

2013-07-01

Instruments measuring global solar ultraviolet (UV) irradiance at the surface of the Earth need to collect radiation from the entire hemisphere. Entrance optics with angular response as close as possible to the ideal cosine response are necessary to perform these measurements accurately. Typically, the cosine response is obtained using a transmitting diffuser. We have developed an efficient method based on a Monte Carlo algorithm to simulate radiation transport in the solar UV diffuser assembly. The algorithm takes into account propagation, absorption, and scattering of the radiation inside the diffuser material. The effects of the inner sidewalls of the diffuser housing, the shadow ring, and the protective weather dome are also accounted for. The software implementation of the algorithm is highly optimized: a simulation of 109 photons takes approximately 10 to 15 min to complete on a typical high-end PC. The results of the simulations agree well with the measured angular responses, indicating that the algorithm can be used to guide the diffuser design process. Cost savings can be obtained when simulations are carried out before diffuser fabrication as compared to a purely trial-and-error-based diffuser optimization. The algorithm was used to optimize two types of detectors, one with a planar diffuser and the other with a spherically shaped diffuser. The integrated cosine errors—which indicate the relative measurement error caused by the nonideal angular response under isotropic sky radiance—of these two detectors were calculated to be f2=1.4% and 0.66%, respectively.

Thermoeconomic optimization of Solar Heating and Cooling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calise, F.; D'Accadia, M. Dentice; Vanoli, L.

2011-01-01

In the paper, the optimal thermoeconomic configuration of Solar Heating and Cooling systems (SHC) is investigated. In particular, a case study is presented, referred to an office building located in Naples (south Italy); for such building, three different SHC configurations were analyzed: the first one is based on the coupling of evacuated solar collectors with a single-stage LiBr-H 2 O absorption chiller equipped with a water-to-water electrical heat pump, to be used in case of insufficient solar radiation; in the second case, a similar layout is considered, but the capacities of the absorption chiller and the solar field are smaller, since they are requested to balance just a fraction of the total cooling load of the building selected for the case study; finally, in the third case, the electric heat pump is replaced by an auxiliary gas-fired heater. A zero-dimensional transient simulation model, developed in TRNSYS, was used to analyze each layout from both thermodynamic and economic points of view. In particular, a cost model was developed in order to assess the owning and operating costs for each plant layout. Furthermore, a mixed heuristic-deterministic optimization algorithm was implemented in order to determine the set of the synthesis/design variables able to maximize the overall thermo-economic performance of the systems under analysis. For this purpose, two different objective functions were selected: the Pay-Back Period and the overall annual cost. Possible public funding, in terms of Capital Cost Contributions and/or feed-in tariff, were also considered. The results are presented on monthly and weekly basis, paying special attention to the energy and monetary flows in the optimal configurations. In particular, the thermoeconomic analysis and optimization showed that a good funding policy for the promotion of such technologies should combine a feed-in tariff with a slight Capital Cost Contribution, allowing to achieve satisfactory Pay-Back Periods.

Solar panel thermal cycling testing by solar simulation and infrared radiation methods

Science.gov (United States)

Nuss, H. E.

1980-01-01

For the solar panels of the European Space Agency (ESA) satellites OTS/MAROTS and ECS/MARECS the thermal cycling tests were performed by using solar simulation methods. The performance data of two different solar simulators used and the thermal test results are described. The solar simulation thermal cycling tests for the ECS/MARECS solar panels were carried out with the aid of a rotatable multipanel test rig by which simultaneous testing of three solar panels was possible. As an alternative thermal test method, the capability of an infrared radiation method was studied and infrared simulation tests for the ultralight panel and the INTELSAT 5 solar panels were performed. The setup and the characteristics of the infrared radiation unit using a quartz lamp array of approx. 15 sq and LN2-cooled shutter and the thermal test results are presented. The irradiation uniformity, the solar panel temperature distribution, temperature changing rates for both test methods are compared. Results indicate the infrared simulation is an effective solar panel thermal testing method.

Simulation study of InGaN intermediate-band solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Kuo-Feng; Hung, Chien-Lun; Tsai, Yao-Lung

2016-01-01

The performances of single-junction InGaN solar cells with various intermediate bands (IBs) have been simulated using the lifetime model of a 1D simulation program called Analysis of Microelectronic and Photonic Structures (AMPS-1D). It has been observed that the maximum efficiencies of the InGaN solar cells with one, two and three intermediate bands are 47.72%, 55.10% and 58.20%, respectively, which outperform the 25.96% efficiency of the conventional single-junction structure by far. This is primarily attributed to the outstanding capability of the light harvesting from the sub-bandgap absorption. At the optimized bandgap of 2.41 eV, two-IB InGaN solar cells with the IB positions located at 0.95–1.1 eV and 0.3–0.75 eV, respectively, may have an opportunity to realize over 50% efficiency. (paper)

Simulation of Hybrid Solar Dryer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yunus, Y M; Al-Kayiem, H H

2013-01-01

The efficient performance of a solar dryer is mainly depending on the good distribution of the thermal and flow field inside the dryer body. This paper presents simulation results of a solar dryer with a biomass burner as backup heater. The flow and thermal fields were simulated by CFD tools under different operational modes. GAMBIT software was used for the model and grid generation while FLUENT software was used to simulate the velocity and temperature distribution inside the dryer body. The CFD simulation procedure was validated by comparing the simulation results with experimental measurement. The simulation results show acceptable agreement with the experimental measurements. The simulations have shown high temperature spot with very low velocity underneath the solar absorber and this is an indication for the poor design. Many other observations have been visualized from the temperature and flow distribution which cannot be captured by experimental measurements.

Stillwater Hybrid Geo-Solar Power Plant Optimization Analyses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wendt, Daniel S.; Mines, Gregory L.; Turchi, Craig S.; Zhu, Guangdong; Cohan, Sander; Angelini, Lorenzo; Bizzarri, Fabrizio; Consoli, Daniele; De Marzo, Alessio

2015-09-02

The Stillwater Power Plant is the first hybrid plant in the world able to bring together a medium-enthalpy geothermal unit with solar thermal and solar photovoltaic systems. Solar field and power plant models have been developed to predict the performance of the Stillwater geothermal / solar-thermal hybrid power plant. The models have been validated using operational data from the Stillwater plant. A preliminary effort to optimize performance of the Stillwater hybrid plant using optical characterization of the solar field has been completed. The Stillwater solar field optical characterization involved measurement of mirror reflectance, mirror slope error, and receiver position error. The measurements indicate that the solar field may generate 9% less energy than the design value if an appropriate tracking offset is not employed. A perfect tracking offset algorithm may be able to boost the solar field performance by about 15%. The validated Stillwater hybrid plant models were used to evaluate hybrid plant operating strategies including turbine IGV position optimization, ACC fan speed and turbine IGV position optimization, turbine inlet entropy control using optimization of multiple process variables, and mixed working fluid substitution. The hybrid plant models predict that each of these operating strategies could increase net power generation relative to the baseline Stillwater hybrid plant operations.

Ray tracing for optimization of compound parabolic concentrators for solar collectors of enclosed design

OpenAIRE

YURCHENKO, VLADIMIR; YURCHENKO, EDUARD; ÇİYDEM, MEHMET; TOTUK, ONAT

2015-01-01

We present our developments in computer simulations and optimization of compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs) for solar heat collectors. Issues of both the optical and thermal optimization of CPC collectors of enclosed design are discussed. Ray tracing results for a CPC with a V-shaped absorber are presented. A range of optimal values for the apex angle of a V-shaped absorber is proposed for a CPC collector of typical design.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLAR COLLECTORS USING A SOLAR SIMULATOR

OpenAIRE

M. Norhafana; Ahmad Faris Ismail; Z. A. A. Majid

2015-01-01

Solar water heating systems is one of the applications of solar energy. One of the components of a solar water heating system is a solar collector that consists of an absorber. The performance of the solar water heating system depends on the absorber in the solar collector. In countries with unsuitable weather conditions, the indoor testing of solar collectors with the use of a solar simulator is preferred. Thus, this study is conducted to use a multilayered absorber in the solar collector of...

The Design and Optimization of GaAs Single Solar Cells Using the Genetic Algorithm and Silvaco ATLAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamal Attari

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Single-junction solar cells are the most available in the market and the most simple in terms of the realization and fabrication comparing to the other solar devices. However, these single-junction solar cells need more development and optimization for higher conversion efficiency. In addition to the doping densities and compromises between different layers and their best thickness value, the choice of the materials is also an important factor on improving the efficiency. In this paper, an efficient single-junction solar cell model of GaAs is presented and optimized. In the first step, an initial model was simulated and then the results were processed by an algorithm code. In this work, the proposed optimization method is a genetic search algorithm implemented in Matlab receiving ATLAS data to generate an optimum output power solar cell. Other performance parameters such as photogeneration rates, external quantum efficiency (EQE, and internal quantum efficiency (EQI are also obtained. The simulation shows that the proposed method provides significant conversion efficiency improvement of 29.7% under AM1.5G illumination. The other results were Jsc = 34.79 mA/cm2, Voc = 1 V, and fill factor (FF = 85%.

Design and Analysis of Solar Smartflower Simulation by Solidwork Program

Science.gov (United States)

Mulyana, Tatang; Sebayang, Darwin; Fajrina, Fildzah; Raihan; Faizal, M.

2018-03-01

The potential of solar energy that is so large in Indonesia can be a driving force for the use of renewable energy as a solution for energy needs. Government with the community can utilize and optimize this technology to increase the electrification ratio up to 100% in all corners of Indonesia. Because of its modular and practical nature, making this technology easy to apply. One of the latest imported products that have started to be offered and sold in Indonesia but not yet widely used for solar power generation is the kind of smartflower. Before using the product, it is of course very important and immediately to undertake an in-depth study of the utilization, use, maintenance, repair, component supply and fabrication. The best way to know the above is through a review of the design and simulation. To meet this need, this paper presents a solar-smartflower design and then simulated using the facilities available in the solidwork program. Solid simulation express is a tool that serves to create power simulation of a design part modelling. With the simulation is very helpful at all to reduce errors in making design. Accurate or not a design created is also influenced by several other factors such as material objects, the silent part of the part, and the load given. The simulation is static simulation and body battery drop test, and based on the results of this simulation is known that the design results have been very satisfactory.

Multi-parameter optimization design of parabolic trough solar receiver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Jiangfeng; Huai, Xiulan

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The optimal condition can be obtained by multi-parameter optimization. • Exergy and thermal efficiencies are employed as objective function. • Exergy efficiency increases at the expense of heat losses. • The heat obtained by working fluid increases as thermal efficiency grows. - Abstract: The design parameters of parabolic trough solar receiver are interrelated and interact with one another, so the optimal performance of solar receiver cannot be obtained by the convectional single-parameter optimization. To overcome the shortcoming of single-parameter optimization, a multi-parameter optimization of parabolic trough solar receiver is employed based on genetic algorithm in the present work. When the thermal efficiency is taken as the objective function, the heat obtained by working fluid increases while the average temperature of working fluid and wall temperatures of solar receiver decrease. The average temperature of working fluid and the wall temperatures of solar receiver increase while the heat obtained by working fluid decreases generally by taking the exergy efficiency as an objective function. Assuming that the solar radiation intensity remains constant, the exergy obtained by working fluid increases by taking exergy efficiency as the objective function, which comes at the expense of heat losses of solar receiver.

Parameters optimization of CIGS solar cell using 2D physical modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samar Dabbabi

Full Text Available In this study, the CIGS thin film solar cell has been investigated using the two-dimensional device simulator Silvaco-Atlas. Thickness and carrier concentration effects of the cell structure were studied to optimize the solar cell performances. Our results revealed high efficiency for a cell structure of 0.15 µm ZnO:Al, 0.06 µm i-ZnO, 0.04 µm CdS and 3 µm CIGS. The carrier concentration effects of the different layers were also studied revealing a better performance for CIGS doping concentration of 1018 cm−3. The optimized CIGS solar cell characteristics were a current density of short circuit Jsc = 38.75 mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage V0C = 804.03 mV, a fill factor FF = 74.48% and an efficiency η = 23.20%. This result is in good agreement with experimental efficiencies found in literature. Keywords: CIGS solar cell, Electrical characteristics, Silvaco-Atlas software

Coupled solar still, solar heater

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davison, R R; Harris, W B; Moor, D H; Delyannis, A; Delyannis, E [eds.

1976-01-01

Computer simulation of combinations of solar stills and solar heaters indicates the probable economic advantage of such an arrangement in many locations if the size of the heater is optimized relative to that of the still. Experience with various low cost solar heaters is discussed.

Systematic optimization of quantum junction colloidal quantum dot solar cells

KAUST Repository

Liu, Huan

2012-01-01

The recently reported quantum junction architecture represents a promising approach to building a rectifying photovoltaic device that employs colloidal quantum dot layers on each side of the p-n junction. Here, we report an optimized quantum junction solar cell that leverages an improved aluminum zinc oxide electrode for a stable contact to the n-side of the quantum junction and silver doping of the p-layer that greatly enhances the photocurrent by expanding the depletion region in the n-side of the device. These improvements result in greater stability and a power conversion efficiency of 6.1 under AM1.5 simulated solar illumination. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.

Computer simulation of the optical properties of high-temperature cermet solar selective coatings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nejati, M. Reza [K.N. Toosi Univ. of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Tehran (Iran); Fathollahi, V.; Asadi, M. Khalaji [AEOI, Center for Renewable Energy Research and Applications (CRERA), Tehran (Iran)

2005-02-01

A computer simulation is developed to calculate the solar absorptance and thermal emittance of various configurations of cermet solar selective coatings. Special attention has been paid to those material combinations, which are commonly used in high-temperature solar thermal applications. Moreover, other material combinations such as two-, three- and four-cermet-layer structures as solar selective coatings have been theoretically analyzed by computer simulation using three distinct physical models of Ping Sheng, Maxwell-Garnett and Bruggeman. The novel case of two-cermet-layer structure with different cermet components has also been investigated. The results were optimized by allowing the program to manipulate the metal volume fraction and thickness of each layer and the results compared to choose the best possible configuration. The calculated results are within the range of 0.91-0.97 for solar absorptance and 0.02-0.07 for thermal emittance at room temperature. (Author)

Optimal wavelength scale diffraction gratings for light trapping in solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chong, Teck Kong; Wilson, Jonathan; Mokkapati, Sudha; Catchpole, Kylie R

2012-01-01

Dielectric gratings are a promising method of achieving light trapping for thin crystalline silicon solar cells. In this paper, we systematically examine the potential performance of thin silicon solar cells with either silicon (Si) or titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) gratings using numerical simulations. The square pyramid structure with silicon nitride coating provides the best light trapping among all the symmetric structures investigated, with 89% of the expected short circuit current density of the Lambertian case. For structures where the grating is at the rear of the cell, we show that the light trapping provided by the square pyramid and the checkerboard structure is almost identical. Introducing asymmetry into the grating structures can further improve their light trapping properties. An optimized Si skewed pyramid grating on the front surface of the solar cell results in a maximum short circuit current density, J sc , of 33.4 mA cm −2 , which is 91% of the J sc expected from an ideal Lambertian scatterer. An optimized Si skewed pyramid grating on the rear performs as well as a rear Lambertian scatterer and an optimized TiO 2 grating on the rear results in 84% of the J sc expected from an optimized Si grating. The results show that submicron symmetric and skewed pyramids of Si or TiO 2 are a highly effective way of achieving light trapping in thin film solar cells. TiO 2 structures would have the additional advantage of not increasing recombination within the cell. (paper)

Optimal year-round operation of a concentrated solar energy plant in the south of Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martín, Lidia; Martín, Mariano

2013-01-01

We present the year-round optimization of the operation of a concentrated solar power facility evaluating the molten salts storage, the power block and cooling. We locate the plant in the south of Europe, Almería (Spain), where high solar radiation is available. The operation of the plant is a function of the solar incidence as well as the climate and atmospheric conditions. The optimization of the system is formulated as a multiperiod Non-linear Programming problem (NLP) that is solved for the optimal production of electricity over a year defining the main operating variables of the thermal and cooling cycles. For a maximum of 25 MW in summer and a minimum of 9.5 MW in winter the annual production cost of electricity is 0.15 €/kWh consuming an average of 2.1 L water /kWh. The investment for the plant is 260 M€. Scale-up studies reveal that the production cost can decrease by half while the investment per unit of power should become competitive with current coal based power plants if solar and coal facilities present similar production capacities. -- Highlights: • Plant design so far relies on process simulation and only partial optimization studies. • We optimize the operation of a concentrated solar power plant. • The facility involves solar field, molten salts, steam and electricity generation and cooling. • The results are promising and validate literature sensitive studies

Development of a solar-powered residential air conditioner: System optimization preliminary specification

Science.gov (United States)

Rousseau, J.; Hwang, K. C.

1975-01-01

Investigations aimed at the optimization of a baseline Rankine cycle solar powered air conditioner and the development of a preliminary system specification were conducted. Efforts encompassed the following: (1) investigations of the use of recuperators/regenerators to enhance the performance of the baseline system, (2) development of an off-design computer program for system performance prediction, (3) optimization of the turbocompressor design to cover a broad range of conditions and permit operation at low heat source water temperatures, (4) generation of parametric data describing system performance (COP and capacity), (5) development and evaluation of candidate system augmentation concepts and selection of the optimum approach, (6) generation of auxiliary power requirement data, (7) development of a complete solar collector-thermal storage-air conditioner computer program, (8) evaluation of the baseline Rankine air conditioner over a five day period simulating the NASA solar house operation, and (9) evaluation of the air conditioner as a heat pump.

Optimization by simulation and development of solar cells with aluminium paste rear emitter and diffusion in conveyor furnace; Otimizacao por simulacao e desenvolvimento de celulas solares com emissor posterior formado por pasta de aluminio e difusao em forno de esteira

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mallmann, Ana Paula

2011-01-15

Photovoltaic solar energy is the direct conversion of solar energy into electricity and it has low impact to the environment during electric energy production. The main device of this technology is the solar cell and silicon is the substrate most used. The solar cells are electrically connected and encapsulated in order to form the photovoltaic module. The aims of this thesis are to optimize, develop and to analyse n{sup +}np{sup +} solar cells processed in n type Si-PV-FZ and with aluminum rear emitter formed in belt furnace. The optimization of solar cells by simulation is an important step before the device development. The software PC-1D and another program developed using Visual Basic language were used. Considering a metal grid formed by evaporation technique in vacuum ambient an efficiency of 16.8 % may be achieved. With screen printed grid, 15.8 % efficient solar cells were obtained. From the simulation results it was found that the screen printing metallization may become more viable than evaporation technique because there is low difference in the efficiency and the screen printing is a simpler technique. The experimental optimization of silicon wafers texture process resulted in reflectance of 12 %. This value is typical for monocrystalline silicon with textured surface. Experimental optimization of phosphorus front surface field shows a sheet resistance of (36 {+-} 4) {omega}/ for this region. This region was formed in a thermal step in a conventional furnace with POCl{sub 3}. It was found that after the phosphorus diffusion occurred gettering to specific temperature and time. It was verified that the minority carrier lifetime in the final of processing is similar to the initial value. The influence of steps sequence of front silver paste firing and rear diffusion/firing aluminium paste, of surface passivation and the influence of dry air flow during the aluminium paste diffusion/firing, of aluminium paste diffusion/firing temperature and of belt speed

Optimization of the occulter for the Solar Orbiter/METIS coronagraph

Science.gov (United States)

Landini, Federico; Vivès, Sébastien; Romoli, Marco; Guillon, Christophe; Pancrazzi, Maurizio; Escolle, Clement; Focardi, Mauro; Antonucci, Ester; Fineschi, Silvano; Naletto, Giampiero; Nicolini, Gianalfredo; Nicolosi, Piergiorgio; Spadaro, Daniele

2012-09-01

METIS (Multi Element Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy investigation), selected to fly aboard the Solar Orbiter ESA/NASA mission, is conceived to perform imaging (in visible, UV and EUV) and spectroscopy (in EUV) of the solar corona, by means of an integrated instrument suite located on a single optical bench and sharing the same aperture on the satellite heat shield. As every coronagraph, METIS is highly demanding in terms of stray light suppression. Coronagraphs history teaches that a particular attention must be dedicated to the occulter optimization. The METIS occulting system is of particular interest due to its innovative concept. In order to meet the strict thermal requirements of Solar Orbiter, METIS optical design has been optimized by moving the entrance pupil at the level of the external occulter on the S/C thermal shield, thus reducing the size of the external aperture. The scheme is based on an inverted external-occulter (IEO). The IEO consists of a circular aperture on the Solar Orbiter thermal shield. A spherical mirror rejects back the disk-light through the IEO. A breadboard of the occulting assembly (BOA) has been manufactured in order to perform stray light tests in front of two solar simulators (in Marseille, France and in Torino, Italy). A first measurement campaign has been carried on at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille. In this paper we describe the BOA design, the laboratory set-up and the preliminary results.

Optimal study of a solar air heating system with pebble bed energy storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, D.L.; Li, Y.; Dai, Y.J.; Wang, R.Z.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Use two kinds of circulation media in the solar collector. → Air heating and pebble bed heat storage are applied with different operating modes. → Design parameters of the system are optimized by simulation program. → It is found that the system can meet 32.8% of the thermal energy demand in heating season. → Annual solar fraction aims to be 53.04%. -- Abstract: The application of solar air collectors for space heating has attracted extensive attention due to its unique advantages. In this study, a solar air heating system was modeled through TRNSYS for a 3319 m 2 building area. This air heating system, which has the potential to be applied for space heating in the heating season (from November to March) and hot water supply all year around in North China, uses pebble bed and water storage tank as heat storage. Five different working modes were designed based on different working conditions: (1) heat storage mode, (2) heating by solar collector, (3) heating by storage bed, (4) heating at night and (5) heating by an auxiliary source. These modes can be operated through the on/off control of fan and auxiliary heater, and through the operation of air dampers manually. The design, optimization and modification of this system are described in this paper. The solar fraction of the system was used as the optimization parameter. Design parameters of the system were optimized by using the TRNSYS program, which include the solar collector area, installation angle of solar collector, mass flow rate through the system, volume of pebble bed, heat transfer coefficient of the insulation layer of the pebble bed and water storage tank, height and volume of the water storage tank. The TRNSYS model has been verified by data from the literature. Results showed that the designed solar system can meet 32.8% of the thermal energy demand in the heating season and 84.6% of the energy consumption in non-heating season, with a yearly average solar fraction of 53.04%.

Design, Analysis and Optimization of a Solar Dish/Stirling System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyyed Danial Nazemi

2016-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a mathematical model by which the thermal and physical behavior of a solar dish/Stirling system was investigated, then the system was designed, analysed and optimized. In this regard, all of heat losses in a dish/Stirling system were calculated, then, the output net-work of the Stirling engine was computed, and accordingly, the system efficiency was worked out. These heat losses include convection and conduction heat losses, radiation heat losses by emission in the cavity receiver, reflection heat losses of solar energy in the parabolic dish, internal and external conduction heat losses, energy dissipation by pressure drops, and energy losses by shuttle effect in displacer piston in the Stirling engine. All of these heat losses in the parabolic dish, cavity receiver and Stirling engine were calculated using mathematical modeling in MatlabTM software. For validation of the proposed model, a 10 kW solar dish/Stirling system was designed and the simulation results were compared with the Eurodish system data with a reasonable degree of agreement. This model is used to investigate the effect of geometric and thermodynamic parameters including the aperture diameter of the parabolic dish and the cavity receiver, and the pressure of the compression space of the Stirling engine, on the system performance. By using the PSO method, which is an intelligent optimization technique, the total design was optimized and the optimal values of decision-making parameters were determined. The optimization has been done in two scenarios. In the first scenario, the optimal value of each designed parameter has been changed when the other parameters are equal to the designed case study parameters. In the second scenario, all of parameters were assumed in their optimal values. By optimization of the modeled dish/Stirling system, the total efficiency of the system improved to 0.60% in the first scenario and it increased from 21.69% to 22.62% in the second

Optimization of a Solar Photovoltaic Applied to Greenhouses

Science.gov (United States)

Nakoul, Z.; Bibi-Triki, N.; Kherrous, A.; Bessenouci, M. Z.; Khelladi, S.

The global energy consumption and in our country is increasing. The bulk of world energy comes from fossil fuels, whose reserves are doomed to exhaustion and are the leading cause of pollution and global warming through the greenhouse effect. This is not the case of renewable energy that are inexhaustible and from natural phenomena. For years, unanimously, solar energy is in the first rank of renewable energies .The study of energetic aspect of a solar power plant is the best way to find the optimum of its performances. The study on land with real dimensions requires a long time and therefore is very costly, and more results are not always generalizable. To avoid these drawbacks we opted for a planned study on computer only, using the software 'Matlab' by modeling different components for a better sizing and simulating all energies to optimize profitability taking into account the cost. The result of our work applied to sites of Tlemcen and Bouzareah led us to conclude that the energy required is a determining factor in the choice of components of a PV solar power plant.

Simulation of a solar collector array consisting of two types of solar collectors, with and without convection barrier

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bava, Federico; Furbo, Simon; Perers, Bengt

2015-01-01

The installed area of solar collectors in solar heating fields is rapidly increasing in Denmark. In this scenario even relatively small performance improvements may lead to a large increase in the overall energy production. Both collectors with and without polymer foil, functioning as convection...... barrier, can be found on the Danish market. Depending on the temperature level at which the two types of collectors operate, one can perform better than the other. This project aimed to study the behavior of a 14 solar collector row made of these two different kinds of collectors, in order to optimize...... the composition of the row. Actual solar collectors available on the Danish market (models HT-SA and HT-A 35-10 manufactured by ARCON Solar A/S) were used for this analysis. To perform the study, a simulation model in TRNSYS was developed based on the Danish solar collector field in Braedstrup. A parametric...

Thermal Field Analysis and Simulation of an Infrared Belt Furnace Used for Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bai Lu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available During solar cell firing, volatile organic compounds (VOC and a small number of metal particles were removed using the gas flow. When the gas flow was disturbed by the thermal field of infrared belt furnace and structure, the metal particles in the discharging gas flow randomly adhered to the surface of solar cell, possibly causing contamination. Meanwhile, the gas flow also affected the thermal uniformity of the solar cell. In this paper, the heating mechanism of the solar cell caused by radiation, convection, and conduction during firing was analyzed. Afterward, four 2-dimensional (2D models of the furnace were proposed. The transient thermal fields with different gas inlets, outlets, and internal structures were simulated. The thermal fields and the temperature of the solar cell could remain stable and uniform when the gas outlets were installed at the ends and in the middle of the furnace, with the gas inlets being distributed evenly. To verify the results, we produced four types of furnaces according to the four simulated results. The experimental results indicated that the thermal distribution of the furnace and the characteristics of the solar cells were consistent with the simulation. These experiments improved the efficiency of the solar cells while optimizing the solar cell manufacturing equipment.

Optimization of systems with the combination of ground-source heat pump and solar collectors in dwellings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjellsson, Elisabeth; Hellström, Göran; Perers, Bengt

2010-01-01

The use of ground-source heat pumps for heating and domestic hot water in dwellings is common in Sweden. The combination with solar collectors has been introduced to reduce the electricity demand in the system. In order to analyze different systems with combinations of solar collectors and ground......-source heat pumps, computer simulations have been carried out with the simulation program TRNSYS. Large differences were found between the system alternatives. The optimal design is when solar heat produces domestic hot water during summertime and recharges the borehole during wintertime. The advantage...... is related to the rate of heat extraction from the borehole as well as the overall design of the system. The demand of electricity may increase with solar recharging, because of the increased operating time of the circulation pumps. Another advantage with solar heat in combination with heat pumps is when...

Performance optimization for a variable throat ejector in a solar refrigeration system

KAUST Repository

Yen, R.H.; Huang, B.J.; Chen, C.Y.; Shiu, T.Y.; Cheng, C.W.; Chen, S.S.; Shestopalov, K.

2013-01-01

In a solar vapor ejector refrigeration system, the solar heat supply may vary because of variations in solar irradiation intensity, making it difficult to maintain a steady generator temperature. To improve ejector performance, this study proposes a variable throat ejector (VTEJ) and analyzes its performance using CFD simulations. The following conclusions can be drawn. An ejector with a greater throat area and larger solar collector allows a wider operating range of generator temperatures, but may be overdesigned and expensive. Conversely, decreasing the throat area limits the operating range of generator temperatures. Thus the ejector with a fixed throat area may be unsuitable to use solar energy as a heat source. For a VTEJ, this study derives a curve-fitting relationship between the optimum throat area ratio and the operating temperatures. Using this relationship to adjust the throat area ratio, the ejector can consistently achieve optimal and stable performances under a varying solar heat supply. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.

Performance optimization for a variable throat ejector in a solar refrigeration system

KAUST Repository

Yen, R.H.

2013-08-01

In a solar vapor ejector refrigeration system, the solar heat supply may vary because of variations in solar irradiation intensity, making it difficult to maintain a steady generator temperature. To improve ejector performance, this study proposes a variable throat ejector (VTEJ) and analyzes its performance using CFD simulations. The following conclusions can be drawn. An ejector with a greater throat area and larger solar collector allows a wider operating range of generator temperatures, but may be overdesigned and expensive. Conversely, decreasing the throat area limits the operating range of generator temperatures. Thus the ejector with a fixed throat area may be unsuitable to use solar energy as a heat source. For a VTEJ, this study derives a curve-fitting relationship between the optimum throat area ratio and the operating temperatures. Using this relationship to adjust the throat area ratio, the ejector can consistently achieve optimal and stable performances under a varying solar heat supply. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.

Optimal nonimaging integrated evacuated solar collector

Science.gov (United States)

Garrison, John D.; Duff, W. S.; O'Gallagher, Joseph J.; Winston, Roland

1993-11-01

A non imaging integrated evacuated solar collector for solar thermal energy collection is discussed which has the lower portion of the tubular glass vacuum enveloped shaped and inside surface mirrored to optimally concentrate sunlight onto an absorber tube in the vacuum. This design uses vacuum to eliminate heat loss from the absorber surface by conduction and convection of air, soda lime glass for the vacuum envelope material to lower cost, optimal non imaging concentration integrated with the glass vacuum envelope to lower cost and improve solar energy collection, and a selective absorber for the absorbing surface which has high absorptance and low emittance to lower heat loss by radiation and improve energy collection efficiency. This leads to a very low heat loss collector with high optical collection efficiency, which can operate at temperatures up to the order of 250 degree(s)C with good efficiency while being lower in cost than current evacuated solar collectors. Cost estimates are presented which indicate a cost for this solar collector system which can be competitive with the cost of fossil fuel heat energy sources when the collector system is produced in sufficient volume. Non imaging concentration, which reduces cost while improving performance, and which allows efficient solar energy collection without tracking the sun, is a key element in this solar collector design.

A Study on a Solar Simulator for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyoung-Jun Lee

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC are emerging low-cost, simple alternatives to conventional solar cells. While there has been considerable study on improving the efficiency of DSSCs, there has not been sufficient research on a photovoltaic power conditioning system adaptable to DSSCs or on a solar simulator for DSSCs. When DSSCs are commercialized in the near future, the DSSC modules must be connected to an adaptable power conditioning system in order to manage the energy produced and provide a suitable interface to the load. In the process of developing a power conditioning system, a solar simulator with the characteristics of DSSCs is essential to show the performance of the maximum power point tracking. In this paper, a virtual DSSC is designed and simulated in PSIM. Irradiation factors, temperature and shadow effects are considered in dynamic link library block in PSIM which is linked to the external C routine. A 100 W converter is built to show the performance of a DSSC as the solar simulator controlled by a digital signal processor.

An economic optimization of evaporator and air collector area in a solar assisted heat pump drying system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, S.M.A.; Saidur, R.; Hawlader, M.N.A.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The optimum combination will provide around 89% of the total load. • The system has a savings during the life cycle with least payback period of 4.37 year. • The optimal system is insensitive to the variation in fuel inflation and discount rate. - Abstract: This paper presents an economic optimization of evaporator and air collector area of a solar assisted heat pump drying system. Economic viability of solar heating systems is usually made by comparing the cost flows recurring throughout the lifetime of the solar and conventional alternative systems. Therefore, identification of optimum variables by using a simulation program and an economic analysis based on payback period of the system are presented in this paper. FORTRAN language is used to run the simulation. Effect of load and different economic variables on payback period is also investigated. Economic analysis reveals that system has sufficient amount of savings during the life cycle with a minimum payback period of about 4 years

Optimal design and control of solar driven air gap membrane distillation desalination systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Yih-Hang; Li, Yu-Wei; Chang, Hsuan

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Air gap membrane distillation unit was used in the desalination plants. ► Aspen Custom Molder was used to simulate each unit of desalination plants. ► Design parameters were investigated to obtain the minimum total annual cost. ► The control structure was proposed to operate desalination plants all day long. -- Abstract: A solar heated membrane distillation desalination system is constructed of solar collectors and membrane distillation devices for increasing pure water productivity. This technically and economically feasible system is designed to use indirect solar heat to drive membrane distillation processes to overcome the unstable supply of solar radiation from sunrise to sunset. The solar heated membrane distillation desalination system in the present study consisted of hot water storage devices, heat exchangers, air gap membrane distillation units, and solar collectors. Aspen Custom Molder (ACM) software was used to model and simulate each unit and establish the cost function of a desalination plant. From Design degree of freedom (DOF) analysis, ten design parameters were investigated to obtain the minimum total annual cost (TAC) with fixed pure water production rate. For a given solar energy density profile of typical summer weather, the minimal TAC per 1 m 3 pure water production can be found at 500 W/m 2 by varying the solar energy intensity. Therefore, we proposed two modes for controlling the optimal design condition of the desalination plant; day and night. In order to widen the operability range of the plant, the sensitivity analysis was used to retrofit the original design point to lower the effluent temperature from the solar collector by increasing the hot water recycled stream. The simulation results show that the pure water production can be maintained at a very stable level whether in sunny or cloudy weather.

Analysis of novel silicon and III-V solar cells by simulation and experiment; Analyse neuartiger Silizium- und III-V-Solarzellen mittels Simulation und Experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hermle, Martin

2008-11-27

This work presents various simulation studies of silicon and III-V solar cells. For standard silicon solar cells, one of the critical parameters to obtain good performance, is the rear side recombination velocity. The optical and electrical differences of the different cell structures were determined. The optical differences and the effective recombination velocity Sback of the different rear side structures for 1 Ohmcm material were extracted. Beside standard silicon solar cells, back junction silicon solar cells were investigated. Especially the influence of the front surface field and the electrical shading due to the rear side, was investigated. In the last two chapters, III-V solar cells were analysed. For the simulation of III-V multi-junction solar cells, the simulation of the tunneldiode is the basic prerequisite. In this work, the numerical calibration of an GaAs tunneldiode was achieved by using an non-local tunnel model. Using this model, it was possible to successfully simulate a III-V tandem solar cell. The last chapter deals with an optimization of the III-V 3-junction cell for space applications. Especially the influence of the GaAs middle cell was investigated. Due to structural changes, the end-of-life efficiency was drastically increased.

Thickness optimization of the ZnO based TCO layer in a CZTSSe solar cell. Evolution of its performance with thickness when external temperature changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Chadel, Meriem; Moustafa Bouzaki, Mohammed; Chadel, Asma; Aillerie, Michel; Benyoucef, Boumediene

2017-07-01

The influence of the thickness of a Zinc Oxide (ZnO) transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer on the performance of the CZTSSe solar cell is shown in detail. In a photovoltaic cell, the thickness of each layer largely influence the performance of the solar cell and optimization of each layer constitutes a complete work. Here, using the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulation (SCAPS) software, we present simulation results obtained in the analyze of the influence of the TCO layer thickness on the performance of a CZTSSe solar cell, starting from performance of a CZTSSe solar cell commercialized in 2014 with an initial efficiency equal to 12.6%. In simulation, the temperature was considered as a functioning parameter and the evolution of tthe performance of the cell for various thickness of the TCO layer when the external temperature changes is simulated and discussed. The best efficiency of the solar cell based in CZTSSe is obtained with a ZnO thickness equal to 50 nm and low temperature. Based on the considered marketed cell, we show a technological possible increase of the global efficiency achieving 13% by optimization of ZnO based TCO layer.

Geometric Design of Scalable Forward Scatterers for Optimally Efficient Solar Transformers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hye-Na; Vahidinia, Sanaz; Holt, Amanda L; Sweeney, Alison M; Yang, Shu

2017-11-01

It will be ideal to deliver equal, optimally efficient "doses" of sunlight to all cells in a photobioreactor system, while simultaneously utilizing the entire solar resource. Backed by the numerical scattering simulation and optimization, here, the design, synthesis, and characterization of the synthetic iridocytes that recapitulated the salient forward-scattering behavior of the Tridacnid clam system are reported, which presents the first geometric solution to allow narrow, precise forward redistribution of flux, utilizing the solar resource at the maximum quantum efficiency possible in living cells. The synthetic iridocytes are composed of silica nanoparticles in microspheres embedded in gelatin, both are low refractive index materials and inexpensive. They show wavelength selectivity, have little loss (the back-scattering intensity is reduced to less than ≈0.01% of the forward-scattered intensity), and narrow forward scattering cone similar to giant clams. Moreover, by comparing experiments and theoretical calculation, it is confirmed that the nonuniformity of the scatter sizes is a "feature not a bug" of the design, allowing for efficient, forward redistribution of solar flux in a micrometer-scaled paradigm. This method is environmentally benign, inexpensive, and scalable to produce optical components that will find uses in efficiency-limited solar conversion technologies, heat sinks, and biofuel production. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Virtual solar field - An opportunity to optimize transient processes in line-focus CSP power plants

Science.gov (United States)

Noureldin, Kareem; Hirsch, Tobias; Pitz-Paal, Robert

2017-06-01

Optimizing solar field operation and control is a key factor to improve the competitiveness of line-focus solar thermal power plants. However, the risks of assessing new and innovative control strategies on operational power plants hinder such optimizations and result in applying more conservative control schemes. In this paper, we describe some applications for a whole solar field transient in-house simulation tool developed at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), the Virtual Solar Field (VSF). The tool offers a virtual platform to simulate real solar fields while coupling the thermal and hydraulic conditions of the field with high computational efficiency. Using the tool, developers and operator can probe their control strategies and assess the potential benefits while avoiding the high risks and costs. In this paper, we study the benefits gained from controlling the loop valves and of using direct normal irradiance maps and forecasts for the field control. Loop valve control is interesting for many solar field operators since it provides a high degree of flexibility to the control of the solar field through regulating the flow rate in each loop. This improves the reaction to transient condition, such as passing clouds and field start-up in the morning. Nevertheless, due to the large number of loops and the sensitivity of the field control to the valve settings, this process needs to be automated and the effect of changing the setting of each valve on the whole field control needs to be taken into account. We used VSF to implement simple control algorithms to control the loop valves and to study the benefits that could be gained from using active loop valve control during transient conditions. Secondly, we study how using short-term highly spatially-resolved DNI forecasts provided by cloud cameras could improve the plant energy yield. Both cases show an improvement in the plant efficiency and outlet temperature stability. This paves the road for further

Economic Optimization of a Concentrating Solar Power Plant with Molten-salt Thermocline Storage

OpenAIRE

Flueckiger, S. M.; Iverson, B. D.; Garimella, S V

2014-01-01

System-level simulation of a molten-salt thermocline tank is undertaken in response to year-long historical weather data and corresponding plant control. Such a simulation is enabled by combining a finite-volume model of the tank that includes a sufficiently faithful representation at low computation cost with a system-level power tower plant model. Annual plant performance of a 100 MWe molten-salt power tower plant is optimized as a function of the thermocline tank size and the plant solar m...

Rapid Optimization of External Quantum Efficiency of Thin Film Solar Cells Using Surrogate Modeling of Absorptivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaya, Mine; Hajimirza, Shima

2018-05-25

This paper uses surrogate modeling for very fast design of thin film solar cells with improved solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency. We demonstrate that the wavelength-specific optical absorptivity of a thin film multi-layered amorphous-silicon-based solar cell can be modeled accurately with Neural Networks and can be efficiently approximated as a function of cell geometry and wavelength. Consequently, the external quantum efficiency can be computed by averaging surrogate absorption and carrier recombination contributions over the entire irradiance spectrum in an efficient way. Using this framework, we optimize a multi-layer structure consisting of ITO front coating, metallic back-reflector and oxide layers for achieving maximum efficiency. Our required computation time for an entire model fitting and optimization is 5 to 20 times less than the best previous optimization results based on direct Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations, therefore proving the value of surrogate modeling. The resulting optimization solution suggests at least 50% improvement in the external quantum efficiency compared to bare silicon, and 25% improvement compared to a random design.

Simulation of a solar assisted combined heat pump – Organic rankine cycle system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schimpf, Stefan; Span, Roland

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Addition of an ORC to a solar thermal and ground source heat pump system. • Reverse operation of the scroll compressor in ORC mode. • Annual simulations for application in a single-family house at three locations. • By introducing the ORC the net electricity demand is reduced by 1–9%. • Over the lifetime of the system savings can cover additional investments. - Abstract: A novel solar thermal and ground source heat pump system that harnesses the excess heat of the collectors during summer by an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is simulated. For the ORC the heat pump process is reversed. In this case the scroll compressor of the heat pump runs as a scroll expander and the working fluid is condensed in the ground heat exchanger. Compared to a conventional solar thermal system the only additional investments for the combined system are a pump, valves and upgraded controls. The goal of the study is to simulate and optimize such a system. A brief overview of the applied models and the evolutionary algorithm for the optimization is given. A system with 12 m 2 of flat plate collectors installed in a single family house is simulated for the locations Ankara, Denver and Bochum. The ORC benefits add up to 20–140 kW h/a, which reduces the net electricity demand of the system by 1–9%. Overall 180–520 € are saved over a period of 20 years, which can be enough to cover the additional investments

Study on optimal configuration of the grid-connected wind-solar-battery hybrid power system

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Gang; Xu, Guchao; Ju, Rong; Wu, Tiantian

2017-08-01

The capacity allocation of each energy unit in the grid-connected wind-solar-battery hybrid power system is a significant segment in system design. In this paper, taking power grid dispatching into account, the research priorities are as follows: (1) We establish the mathematic models of each energy unit in the hybrid power system. (2) Based on dispatching of the power grid, energy surplus rate, system energy volatility and total cost, we establish the evaluation system for the wind-solar-battery power system and use a number of different devices as the constraint condition. (3) Based on an improved Genetic algorithm, we put forward a multi-objective optimisation algorithm to solve the optimal configuration problem in the hybrid power system, so we can achieve the high efficiency and economy of the grid-connected hybrid power system. The simulation result shows that the grid-connected wind-solar-battery hybrid power system has a higher comprehensive performance; the method of optimal configuration in this paper is useful and reasonable.

Dynamic Simulation and Exergo-Economic Optimization of a Hybrid Solar–Geothermal Cogeneration Plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Calise

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a dynamic simulation model and a parametric analysis of a solar-geothermal hybrid cogeneration plant based on an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC powered by a medium-enthalpy geothermal resource and a Parabolic Trough Collector solar field. The fluid temperature supplying heat to the ORC varies continuously as a function of the solar irradiation, affecting both the electrical and thermal energies produced by the system. Thus, a dynamic simulation was performed. The ORC model, developed in Engineering Equation Solver, is based on zero-dimensional energy and mass balances and includes specific algorithms to evaluate the off-design system performance. The overall simulation model of the solar-geothermal cogenerative plant was implemented in the TRNSYS environment. Here, the ORC model is imported, whereas the models of the other components of the system are developed on the basis of literature data. Results are analyzed on different time bases presenting energetic, economic and exergetic performance data. Finally, a rigorous optimization has been performed to determine the set of system design/control parameters minimizing simple payback period and exergy destruction rate. The system is profitable when a significant amount of the heat produced is consumed. The highest irreversibilities are due to the solar field and to the heat exchangers.

Design optimization of a multi-temperature solar thermal heating system for an industrial process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allouhi, A.; Agrouaz, Y.; Benzakour Amine, Mohammed; Rehman, S.; Buker, M.S.; Kousksou, T.; Jamil, A.; Benbassou, A.

2017-01-01

Highlights: •Integration of solar thermal energy into an industrial activity is presented. •Hot water is required at four temperatures and load profiles. •Design optimization based on the LCC method is introduced. •Annual performance of centralized system is discussed. •Sensitivity analysis based on economic variables is investigated. -- Abstract: Presently, great challenges are being faced by the industrial sector in terms of energy management and environmental protection. Utilization of solar energy to meet a portion of heat demand in various industries constitutes tremendous economic opportunities for developing countries such as Morocco. Therefore, this paper introduces an optimization procedure and simulation of a centralized solar heating system providing hot water to four processes with different temperature levels and load profiles. As a case study, a Casablanca based Moroccan milk processing company is evaluated and the life cycle cost method is practiced to select the optimal size of the main design parameters for decision-making. It was found that 400 m 2 of evacuated tube collectors tilted at an angle of 30° and connected to a 2000 l storage tank can lead to a maximum life cycle saving cost of 179 kUSD for a total annual heat demand of 528.23 MWh. In this optimal configuration, the overall annual solar fraction is found to be 41% and the payback period of 12.27 years attained. The system has the potential to reduce around 77.23 tons of CO 2 equivalents of greenhouse gas emissions annually. The economic competitiveness of the solar thermal heating plant can be considerably improved with higher inflation rates and lower initial investments.

ASTRID© - Advanced Solar Tubular ReceIver Design: A powerful tool for receiver design and optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Frantz, Cathy; Fritsch, Andreas; Uhlig, Ralf

2017-06-01

In solar tower power plants the receiver is one of the critical components. It converts the solar radiation into heat and must withstand high heat flux densities and high daily or even hourly gradients (due to passage of clouds). For this reason, the challenge during receiver design is to find a reasonable compromise between receiver efficiency, reliability, lifetime and cost. There is a strong interaction between the heliostat field, the receiver and the heat transfer fluid. Therefore, a proper receiver design needs to consider these components within the receiver optimization. There are several design and optimization tools for receivers, but most of them focus only on the receiver, ignoring the heliostat field and other parts of the plant. During the last years DLR developed the ASTRIDcode for tubular receiver concept simulation. The code comprises both a high and a low-detail model. The low-detail model utilizes a number of simplifications which allow the user to screen a high number of receiver concepts for optimization purposes. The high-detail model uses a FE model and is able to compute local absorber and salt temperatures with high accuracy. One key strength of the ASTRIDcode is its interface to a ray tracing software which simulates a realistic heat flux distributions on the receiver surface. The results generated by the ASTRIDcode have been validated by CFD simulations and measurement data.

Performance optimization of solar driven small-cooled absorption–diffusion chiller working with light hydrocarbons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sayadi, Zouhour [U.R. Thermique et Thermodynamique des Procédés Industriels, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Monastir (ENIM), Av. Ibn Jazzar, 5060 Monastir (Tunisia); Ben Thameur, Nizar, E-mail: nizarbenthameur@yahoo.fr [U.R. Thermique et Thermodynamique des Procédés Industriels, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Monastir (ENIM), Av. Ibn Jazzar, 5060 Monastir (Tunisia); Bourouis, Mahmoud [Mechanical Engineering Department, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007 Tarragona (Spain); Bellagi, Ahmed [U.R. Thermique et Thermodynamique des Procédés Industriels, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Monastir (ENIM), Av. Ibn Jazzar, 5060 Monastir (Tunisia)

2013-10-15

Highlights: • 1 kW{sub cooling} diffusion/absorption machine with light hydrocarbons as working fluids. • Hysys optimization to choose the optimal mixture for a better machine performance. • Cooling loads for a small bed-room (16 m{sup 2}) have been estimated into TRNSYS. • Economic assessment to choose the best combination of solar equipments. • Energy savings, CO{sub 2} avoided and equivalent gasoil and Diesel saved energy. - Abstract: We present in this paper a HYSYS (Aspen One) model and simulation results for 1 kW capacity water-cooled absorption/diffusion machine using different binary mixtures of light hydrocarbons as working fluids (C{sub 3}/n-C{sub 6}, C{sub 3}/c-C{sub 6}, C{sub 3}/c-C{sub 5}, propylene/c-C{sub 5}, propylene/i-C{sub 4}, propylene/i-C{sub 5}) in combination with helium as inert gas. The driving heat is supposed to be provided by an evacuated solar collector field. TRNSYS is used to address the solar aspects of the simulations. For the optimal chiller the driving heat temperature was found to be 121 °C for an evaporator exit temperature of 0 °C. The cooling water flow rate circulating between chiller and cooling tower is 140 l/h. Bubble pump and generator are heated by pressurized water from an insulated tank (70 l/m{sup 2}) maintained at a maximum temperature of 126 °C – with make-up heat when needed – and storing solar heat at an estimated 4.2 kW power. The solar energy cover only 40% for the energy supplied to drive the chiller. It’s found that the necessary collector surface area is about 6 m{sup 2} with annually total costs of 1.60 €/kW h with 20 years lifetime period for the installation. The avoided CO{sub 2} emissions are estimated at 1396 kg. The equivalent saved energy is 521 l of diesel or 604 l of gasoline.

Performance optimization of solar driven small-cooled absorption–diffusion chiller working with light hydrocarbons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayadi, Zouhour; Ben Thameur, Nizar; Bourouis, Mahmoud; Bellagi, Ahmed

2013-01-01

Highlights: • 1 kW cooling diffusion/absorption machine with light hydrocarbons as working fluids. • Hysys optimization to choose the optimal mixture for a better machine performance. • Cooling loads for a small bed-room (16 m 2 ) have been estimated into TRNSYS. • Economic assessment to choose the best combination of solar equipments. • Energy savings, CO 2 avoided and equivalent gasoil and Diesel saved energy. - Abstract: We present in this paper a HYSYS (Aspen One) model and simulation results for 1 kW capacity water-cooled absorption/diffusion machine using different binary mixtures of light hydrocarbons as working fluids (C 3 /n-C 6 , C 3 /c-C 6 , C 3 /c-C 5 , propylene/c-C 5 , propylene/i-C 4 , propylene/i-C 5 ) in combination with helium as inert gas. The driving heat is supposed to be provided by an evacuated solar collector field. TRNSYS is used to address the solar aspects of the simulations. For the optimal chiller the driving heat temperature was found to be 121 °C for an evaporator exit temperature of 0 °C. The cooling water flow rate circulating between chiller and cooling tower is 140 l/h. Bubble pump and generator are heated by pressurized water from an insulated tank (70 l/m 2 ) maintained at a maximum temperature of 126 °C – with make-up heat when needed – and storing solar heat at an estimated 4.2 kW power. The solar energy cover only 40% for the energy supplied to drive the chiller. It’s found that the necessary collector surface area is about 6 m 2 with annually total costs of 1.60 €/kW h with 20 years lifetime period for the installation. The avoided CO 2 emissions are estimated at 1396 kg. The equivalent saved energy is 521 l of diesel or 604 l of gasoline

Theory and Simulations of Solar System Plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Melvyn L.

2011-01-01

"Theory and simulations of solar system plasmas" aims to highlight results from microscopic to global scales, achieved by theoretical investigations and numerical simulations of the plasma dynamics in the solar system. The theoretical approach must allow evidencing the universality of the phenomena being considered, whatever the region is where their role is studied; at the Sun, in the solar corona, in the interplanetary space or in planetary magnetospheres. All possible theoretical issues concerning plasma dynamics are welcome, especially those using numerical models and simulations, since these tools are mandatory whenever analytical treatments fail, in particular when complex nonlinear phenomena are at work. Comparative studies for ongoing missions like Cassini, Cluster, Demeter, Stereo, Wind, SDO, Hinode, as well as those preparing future missions and proposals, like, e.g., MMS and Solar Orbiter, are especially encouraged.

Laboratory Facility for Simulating Solar Wind Sails

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Funaki, Ikkoh; Ueno, Kazuma; Oshio, Yuya; Ayabe, Tomohiro; Horisawa, Hideyuki; Yamakawa, Hiroshi

2008-01-01

Magnetic sail (MagSail) is a deep space propulsion system, in which an artificial magnetic cavity captures the energy of the solar wind to propel a spacecraft in the direction leaving the sun. For a scale-model experiment of the plasma flow of MagSail, we employed a magnetoplasmadynamic arcjet as a solar wind simulator. It is observed that a plasma flow from the solar wind simulator reaches a quasi-steady state of about 0.8 ms duration after a transient phase when initiating the discharge. During this initial phase of the discharge, a blast-wave was observed to develop radially in a vacuum chamber. When a solenoidal coil (MagSail scale model) is immersed into the quasi-steady flow where the velocity is 45 km/s, and the number density is 10 19 m-3, a bow shock as well as a magnetic cavity were formed in front of the coil. As a result of the interaction between the plasma flow and the magnetic cavity, the momentum of the simulated solar wind is decreased, and it is found from the thrust measurement that the solar wind momentum is transferred to the coil simulating MagSail.

Spectral mismatch and solar simulator quality factor in advanced LED solar simulators

Science.gov (United States)

Scherff, Maximilian L. D.; Nutter, Jason; Fuss-Kailuweit, Peter; Suthues, Jörn; Brammer, Torsten

2017-08-01

Solar cell simulators based on light emitting diodes (LED) have the potential to achieve a large potential market share in the next years. As advantages they can provide a short and long time stable spectrum, which fits very well to the global AM1.5g reference spectrum. This guarantees correct measurements during the flashes and throughout the light engines’ life span, respectively. Furthermore, a calibration with a solar cell type of different spectral response (SR) as well as the production of solar cells with varying SR in between two calibrations does not affect the correctness of the measurement result. A high quality 21 channel LED solar cell spectrum is compared to former study comprising a standard modified xenon spectrum light source. It is shown, that the spectrum of the 21-channel-LED light source performs best for all examined cases.

A Solar Sailcraft Simulation Application

Science.gov (United States)

Celeda, Tomáš

2013-01-01

An application was created to encourage students' practical knowledge of gravitational fields, the law of conservation of energy and other phenomena, such as gravitational slingshots. The educational software simulates the flight of a solar sail spacecraft between two planets of the Solar System using the laws of gravity and radiation…

Numerical Procedure for Optimizing Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihai Razvan Mitroi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a numerical procedure consisting of a simplified physical model and a numerical method with the aim of optimizing the performance parameters of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs. We calculate the real rate of absorbed photons (in the dye spectral range Grealx by introducing a factor β<1 in order to simplify the light absorption and reflection on TCO electrode. We consider the electrical transport to be purely diffusive and the recombination process only to occur between electrons from the TiO2 conduction band and anions from the electrolyte. The used numerical method permits solving the system of differential equations resulting from the physical model. We apply the proposed numerical procedure on a classical DSSC based on Ruthenium dye in order to validate it. For this, we simulate the J-V characteristics and calculate the main parameters: short-circuit current density Jsc, open circuit voltage Voc, fill factor FF, and power conversion efficiency η. We analyze the influence of the nature of semiconductor (TiO2 and dye and also the influence of different technological parameters on the performance parameters of DSSCs. The obtained results show that the proposed numerical procedure is suitable for developing a numerical simulation platform for improving the DSSCs performance by choosing the optimal parameters.

Handbook of simulation optimization

CERN Document Server

Fu, Michael C

2014-01-01

The Handbook of Simulation Optimization presents an overview of the state of the art of simulation optimization, providing a survey of the most well-established approaches for optimizing stochastic simulation models and a sampling of recent research advances in theory and methodology. Leading contributors cover such topics as discrete optimization via simulation, ranking and selection, efficient simulation budget allocation, random search methods, response surface methodology, stochastic gradient estimation, stochastic approximation, sample average approximation, stochastic constraints, variance reduction techniques, model-based stochastic search methods and Markov decision processes. This single volume should serve as a reference for those already in the field and as a means for those new to the field for understanding and applying the main approaches. The intended audience includes researchers, practitioners and graduate students in the business/engineering fields of operations research, management science,...

Monte Carlo radiative transfer simulation of a cavity solar reactor for the reduction of cerium oxide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Villafan-Vidales, H.I.; Arancibia-Bulnes, C.A.; Dehesa-Carrasco, U. [Centro de Investigacion en Energia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Privada Xochicalco s/n, Col. Centro, A.P. 34, Temixco, Morelos 62580 (Mexico); Romero-Paredes, H. [Departamento de Ingenieria de Procesos e Hidraulica, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Av. San Rafael Atlixco No.186, Col. Vicentina, A.P. 55-534, Mexico D.F 09340 (Mexico)

2009-01-15

Radiative heat transfer in a solar thermochemical reactor for the thermal reduction of cerium oxide is simulated with the Monte Carlo method. The directional characteristics and the power distribution of the concentrated solar radiation that enters the cavity is obtained by carrying out a Monte Carlo ray tracing of a paraboloidal concentrator. It is considered that the reactor contains a gas/particle suspension directly exposed to concentrated solar radiation. The suspension is treated as a non-isothermal, non-gray, absorbing, emitting, and anisotropically scattering medium. The transport coefficients of the particles are obtained from Mie-scattering theory by using the optical properties of cerium oxide. From the simulations, the aperture radius and the particle concentration were optimized to match the characteristics of the considered concentrator. (author)

Robust optimization of a tandem grating solar thermal absorber

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jongin; Kim, Mingeon; Kang, Kyeonghwan; Lee, Ikjin; Lee, Bong Jae

2018-04-01

Ideal solar thermal absorbers need to have a high value of the spectral absorptance in the broad solar spectrum to utilize the solar radiation effectively. Majority of recent studies about solar thermal absorbers focus on achieving nearly perfect absorption using nanostructures, whose characteristic dimension is smaller than the wavelength of sunlight. However, precise fabrication of such nanostructures is not easy in reality; that is, unavoidable errors always occur to some extent in the dimension of fabricated nanostructures, causing an undesirable deviation of the absorption performance between the designed structure and the actually fabricated one. In order to minimize the variation in the solar absorptance due to the fabrication error, the robust optimization can be performed during the design process. However, the optimization of solar thermal absorber considering all design variables often requires tremendous computational costs to find an optimum combination of design variables with the robustness as well as the high performance. To achieve this goal, we apply the robust optimization using the Kriging method and the genetic algorithm for designing a tandem grating solar absorber. By constructing a surrogate model through the Kriging method, computational cost can be substantially reduced because exact calculation of the performance for every combination of variables is not necessary. Using the surrogate model and the genetic algorithm, we successfully design an effective solar thermal absorber exhibiting a low-level of performance degradation due to the fabrication uncertainty of design variables.

Five-Junction Solar Cell Optimization Using Silvaco Atlas

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

SOLAR CELL OPTIMIZATION USING SILVACO ATLAS by Raymond J. Kilway II September 2017 Thesis Advisor: Sherif Michael Second Reader: Matthew......12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) Multi-junction solar cells have given rise to compact high-efficiency photovoltaic

Simulation-based optimization parametric optimization techniques and reinforcement learning

CERN Document Server

Gosavi, Abhijit

2003-01-01

Simulation-Based Optimization: Parametric Optimization Techniques and Reinforcement Learning introduces the evolving area of simulation-based optimization. The book's objective is two-fold: (1) It examines the mathematical governing principles of simulation-based optimization, thereby providing the reader with the ability to model relevant real-life problems using these techniques. (2) It outlines the computational technology underlying these methods. Taken together these two aspects demonstrate that the mathematical and computational methods discussed in this book do work. Broadly speaking, the book has two parts: (1) parametric (static) optimization and (2) control (dynamic) optimization. Some of the book's special features are: *An accessible introduction to reinforcement learning and parametric-optimization techniques. *A step-by-step description of several algorithms of simulation-based optimization. *A clear and simple introduction to the methodology of neural networks. *A gentle introduction to converg...

Solar sail time-optimal interplanetary transfer trajectory design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gong Shengpin; Gao Yunfeng; Li Junfeng

2011-01-01

The fuel consumption associated with some interplanetary transfer trajectories using chemical propulsion is not affordable. A solar sail is a method of propulsion that does not consume fuel. Transfer time is one of the most pressing problems of solar sail transfer trajectory design. This paper investigates the time-optimal interplanetary transfer trajectories to a circular orbit of given inclination and radius. The optimal control law is derived from the principle of maximization. An indirect method is used to solve the optimal control problem by selecting values for the initial adjoint variables, which are normalized within a unit sphere. The conditions for the existence of the time-optimal transfer are dependent on the lightness number of the sail and the inclination and radius of the target orbit. A numerical method is used to obtain the boundary values for the time-optimal transfer trajectories. For the cases where no time-optimal transfer trajectories exist, first-order necessary conditions of the optimal control are proposed to obtain feasible solutions. The results show that the transfer time decreases as the minimum distance from the Sun decreases during the transfer duration. For a solar sail with a small lightness number, the transfer time may be evaluated analytically for a three-phase transfer trajectory. The analytical results are compared with previous results and the associated numerical results. The transfer time of the numerical result here is smaller than the transfer time from previous results and is larger than the analytical result.

Design, simulation and optimization of a solar dish collector with spiral-coil thermal absorber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlović Saša R.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The efficient conversion of solar radiation into heat at high temperature levels requires the use of concentrating solar collectors. The goal of this paper is to present the optical and the thermal analysis of a parabolic dish concentrator with a spiral coil receiver. The parabolic dish reflector consists of 11 curvilinear trapezoidal reflective petals constructed by PMMA with silvered mirror layer and has a diameter of 3.8 m, while its focal distance is 2.26m. This collector is designed with commercial software SolidWorks and simulated, optically and thermally in its Flow Simulation Studio. The optical analysis proved that the ideal position of the absorber is at 2.1m from the reflector in order to maximize the optical efficiency and to create a relative uniform heat flux over the absorber. In thermal part of the analysis, the energetic efficiency was calculated approximately 65%, while the exergetic efficiency is varied from 4% to 15% according to the water inlet temperature. Moreover, other important parameters as the heat flux and temperature distribution over the absorber are presented. The pressure drop of the absorber coil is calculated at 0.07bar, an acceptable value.

A comprehensive, multi-objective optimization of solar-powered absorption chiller systems for air-conditioning applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirazi, Ali; Taylor, Robert A.; Morrison, Graham L.; White, Stephen D.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Multi-objective optimization of solar single/multi-effect absorption chillers was conducted. • Primary energy consumption and total annual cost were considered as the objectives. • Optimized designs of the alternative configurations were compared. • A detailed sensitivity analysis of the Pareto optimal solutions was investigated. - Abstract: Solar heating and cooling (SHC) systems are currently under rapid development and deployment due to their potential to reduce the use of fossil fuel resources and to alleviate greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector – a sector which is responsible for ∼40% of the world energy use. Absorption chiller technology (traditionally powered by natural gas in large buildings), can easily be retrofitted to run on solar energy. However, numerous non-intuitive design choices must be analyzed to achieve the best techno-economic performance of these systems. To date, there has been little research into the optimal configurations among the long list of potential solar-driven absorption chiller systems. To address this lack of knowledge, this paper presents a systematic simulation-based, multi-objective optimization of three common, commercially available lithium bromide-water absorption chillers – single-effect, double-effect and triple-effect – powered by evacuated tube collectors (ETCs), evacuated flat plate collectors (EFPCs), and concentrating parabolic trough collectors (PTCs), respectively. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that compares the optimized designs of the most promising configurations of solar-assisted absorption chillers against a common set of energy, economic, and environmental metrics from a holistic perspective. A simulation model of these three configurations is developed using TRNSYS 17. A combined energy, economic, and environmental analysis of the modeled systems is conducted to calculate the primary energy use as well as the levelized total

Numerical Optimization of a Bifacial Bi-Glass Thin-Film a-Si:H Solar Cell for Higher Conversion Efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Berrian, Djaber; Fathi, Mohamed; Kechouane, Mohamed

2018-02-01

Bifacial solar cells that maximize the energy output per a square meter have become a new fashion in the field of photovoltaic cells. However, the application of thin-film material on bifacial solar cells, viz., thin-film amorphous hydrogenated silicon ( a- Si:H), is extremely rare. Therefore, this paper presents the optimization and influence of the band gap, thickness and doping on the performance of a glass/glass thin-film a- Si:H ( n- i- p) bifacial solar cell, using a computer-aided simulation tool, Automat for simulation of hetero-structures (AFORS-HET). It is worth mentioning that the thickness and the band gap of the i-layer are the key parameters in achieving higher efficiency and hence it has to be handled carefully during the fabrication process. Furthermore, an efficient thin-film a- Si:H bifacial solar cell requires thinner and heavily doped n and p emitter layers. On the other hand, the band gap of the p-layer showed a dramatic reduction of the efficiency at 2.3 eV. Moreover, a high bifaciality factor of more than 92% is attained, and top efficiency of 10.9% is revealed under p side illumination. These optimizations demonstrate significant enhancements of the recent experimental work on thin-film a- Si:H bifacial solar cells and would also be useful for future experimental investigations on an efficient a- Si:H thin-film bifacial solar cell.

Simulation prototyping of an experimental solar house

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Osborne, A.; Baur, S. [Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 1401 Pine Street, Rolla, MO 65409 (United States); Grantham, K. [Department of Engineering Management, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 600 W. 14th Street, Rolla, MO 65409 (United States)

2010-06-15

This paper presents a comparative analysis between an energy simulation model and an actual solar home. The case study used was the Team Missouri's 2009 Solar Decathlon entry. The home was evaluated using the predicted data developed with the use of Energy-10 Version 1.8. The software simulates the energy use performance of building strategies ranging from building envelope and system efficiency options. The performance data used was collected during the 2009 Solar Decathlon competition. Results comparing energy efficient strategies, consumption and generation are explored with future implications discussed. (authors)

Solar photovoltaic power forecasting using optimized modified extreme learning machine technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manoja Kumar Behera

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Prediction of photovoltaic power is a significant research area using different forecasting techniques mitigating the effects of the uncertainty of the photovoltaic generation. Increasingly high penetration level of photovoltaic (PV generation arises in smart grid and microgrid concept. Solar source is irregular in nature as a result PV power is intermittent and is highly dependent on irradiance, temperature level and other atmospheric parameters. Large scale photovoltaic generation and penetration to the conventional power system introduces the significant challenges to microgrid a smart grid energy management. It is very critical to do exact forecasting of solar power/irradiance in order to secure the economic operation of the microgrid and smart grid. In this paper an extreme learning machine (ELM technique is used for PV power forecasting of a real time model whose location is given in the Table 1. Here the model is associated with the incremental conductance (IC maximum power point tracking (MPPT technique that is based on proportional integral (PI controller which is simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK software. To train single layer feed-forward network (SLFN, ELM algorithm is implemented whose weights are updated by different particle swarm optimization (PSO techniques and their performance are compared with existing models like back propagation (BP forecasting model. Keywords: PV array, Extreme learning machine, Maximum power point tracking, Particle swarm optimization, Craziness particle swarm optimization, Accelerate particle swarm optimization, Single layer feed-forward network

CH(3)NH(3)PbI(3) perovskite / silicon tandem solar cells: characterization based optical simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Filipič, Miha; Löper, Philipp; Niesen, Bjoern; De Wolf, Stefaan; Krč, Janez; Ballif, Christophe; Topič, Marko

2015-04-06

In this study we analyze and discuss the optical properties of various tandem architectures: mechanically stacked (four-terminal) and monolithically integrated (two-terminal) tandem devices, consisting of a methyl ammonium lead triiodide (CH(3)NH(3)PbI(3)) perovskite top solar cell and a crystalline silicon bottom solar cell. We provide layer thickness optimization guidelines and give estimates of the maximum tandem efficiencies based on state-of-the-art sub cells. We use experimental complex refractive index spectra for all involved materials as input data for an in-house developed optical simulator CROWM. Our characterization based simulations forecast that with optimized layer thicknesses the four-terminal configuration enables efficiencies over 30%, well above the current single-junction crystalline silicon cell record of 25.6%. Efficiencies over 30% can also be achieved with a two-terminal monolithic integration of the sub-cells, combined with proper selection of layer thicknesses.

Standard Specification for Solar Simulation for Terrestrial Photovoltaic Testing

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

2010-01-01

1.1 This specification provides means for classifying solar simulators intended for indoor testing of photovoltaic devices (solar cells or modules), according to their spectral match to a reference spectral irradiance, non-uniformity of spatial irradiance, and temporal instability of irradiance. 1.2 Testing of photovoltaic devices may require the use of solar simulators. Test Methods that require specific classification of simulators as defined in this specification include Test Methods E948, E1036, and E1362. 1.3 This standard is applicable to both pulsed and steady state simulators and includes recommended test requirements used for classifying such simulators. 1.4 A solar simulator usually consists of three major components: (1) light source(s) and associated power supply; (2) any optics and filters required to modify the output beam to meet the classification requirements in Section 4; and (3) the necessary controls to operate the simulator, adjust irradiance, etc. 1.5 A light source that does not mee...

Hybrid PV/diesel solar power system design using multi-level factor analysis optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Drake, Joshua P.

Solar power systems represent a large area of interest across a spectrum of organizations at a global level. It was determined that a clear understanding of current state of the art software and design methods, as well as optimization methods, could be used to improve the design methodology. Solar power design literature was researched for an in depth understanding of solar power system design methods and algorithms. Multiple software packages for the design and optimization of solar power systems were analyzed for a critical understanding of their design workflow. In addition, several methods of optimization were studied, including brute force, Pareto analysis, Monte Carlo, linear and nonlinear programming, and multi-way factor analysis. Factor analysis was selected as the most efficient optimization method for engineering design as it applied to solar power system design. The solar power design algorithms, software work flow analysis, and factor analysis optimization were combined to develop a solar power system design optimization software package called FireDrake. This software was used for the design of multiple solar power systems in conjunction with an energy audit case study performed in seven Tibetan refugee camps located in Mainpat, India. A report of solar system designs for the camps, as well as a proposed schedule for future installations was generated. It was determined that there were several improvements that could be made to the state of the art in modern solar power system design, though the complexity of current applications is significant.

Optimization of imprintable nanostructured a-Si solar cells: FDTD study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisker, Christian; Pedersen, Thomas Garm

2013-03-11

We present a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) study of an amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin film solar cell, with nano scale patterns on the substrate surface. The patterns, based on the geometry of anisotropically etched silicon gratings, are optimized with respect to the period and anti-reflection (AR) coating thickness for maximal absorption in the range of the solar spectrum. The structure is shown to increase the cell efficiency by 10.2% compared to a similar flat solar cell with an optimized AR coating thickness. An increased back reflection can be obtained with a 50 nm zinc oxide layer on the back reflector, which gives an additional efficiency increase, leading to a total of 14.9%. In addition, the patterned cells are shown to be up to 3.8% more efficient than an optimized textured reference cell based on the Asahi U-type glass surface. The effects of variations of the optimized solar cell structure due to the manufacturing process are investigated, and shown to be negligible for variations below ±10%.

Simulation of the parabolic trough solar energy generation system with Organic Rankine Cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Ya-Ling; Mei, Dan-Hua; Tao, Wen-Quan; Yang, Wei-Wei; Liu, Huai-Liang

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A parabolic trough solar power generation system with ORC is numerically simulated. ► The effects of key parameters on collector field and system performance are studied. ► Collector heat loss increases with small absorber and glass tube interlayer pressure. ► Heat collecting efficiency increases with initial increase of absorber HTO flow rate. ► Recommended thermal storage system volumes are different in year four typical days. -- Abstract: A model for a typical parabolic trough solar thermal power generation system with Organic Rankine Cycle (PT-SEGS–ORC) was built within the transient energy simulation package TRNSYS, which is formed by integrating several submodels for the trough collector system, the single-tank thermal storage system, the auxiliary power system and the heat-electricity conversion system. With this model, the effects of several key parameters, including the interlayer pressure between the absorber tube and the glass tube (p inter ), the flow rate of high temperature oil in the absorber tube (v), solar radiation intensity (I dn ) and incidence angle (θ), on the performance of the parabolic trough collector field based on the meteorological data of Xi’an city were examined. The study shows that the heat loss of the solar collector (q loss ) increases sharply with the increase in p inter at beginning and then reaches to an approximately constant value. The variation of heat collecting efficiency (η hc ) with v is quite similar to the variation of q loss with p inter . However, I dn and θ exhibit opposite effect on η hc . In addition, it is found that the optimal volume of the thermal storage system is sensitively dependent on the solar radiation intensity. The optimal volumes are 100, 150, 50, and 0 m 3 for spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox and winter solstice, respectively.

Numerical investigation of optimized CZTSSe based solar cell in Wx-Amps environment

Science.gov (United States)

Mohanty, Soumya Priyadarshini; Padhy, Srinibasa; Chowdhury, Joy; Sing, Udai P.

2018-05-01

The CZTSSe is the modified version of CZTS with selenium infusion. It shows maximum efficiency in the band gap from 1 to 1.4 eV. In our present work CZTSSe based solar cell is investigated using Wx-Amps tool. The Mo layer, absorber layer, CdS layer, i-ZnO [4]and Al-ZnO layers with their electrical, optical and material parameters are fitted in the tool. The vital parameters such as carrier density, thickness of the CZTSSe absorber layer, operating temperature, CdS buffer layer thickness and its carrier density on the cell interpretation are calculated. From[4] the simulation results it is apparent that the optimal absorber layer varies from 2.9 µm to 3.7 µm. The temperature variation has a strong influence on the efficiency of the cell. An optimal efficiency of 22% (With Jsc=33 mA/cm2, Voc=0.98 V, and fill factor= 68%) are attained. These results will give some insight for makeing higher efficiency CZTSSe based solar cell.

Simulation of Hybrid Photovoltaic Solar Assisted Loop Heat Pipe/Heat Pump System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nannan Dai

2017-02-01

Full Text Available A hybrid photovoltaic solar assisted loop heat pipe/heat pump (PV-SALHP/HP water heater system has been developed and numerically studied. The system is the combination of loop heat pipe (LHP mode and heat pump (HP mode, and the two modes can be run separately or compositely according to the weather conditions. The performances of independent heat pump (HP mode and hybrid loop heat pipe/heat pump (LHP/HP mode were simulated and compared. Simulation results showed that on typical sunny days in spring or autumn, using LHP/HP mode could save 40.6% power consumption than HP mode. In addition, the optimal switchover from LHP mode to HP mode was analyzed in different weather conditions for energy saving and the all-year round operating performances of the system were also simulated. The simulation results showed that hybrid LHP/HP mode should be utilized to save electricity on sunny days from March to November and the system can rely on LHP mode alone without any power consumption in July and August. When solar radiation and ambient temperature are low in winter, HP mode should be used

Simulation of a high-efficiency silicon-based heterojunction solar cell

Science.gov (United States)

Jian, Liu; Shihua, Huang; Lü, He

2015-04-01

The basic parameters of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells, such as layer thickness, doping concentration, a-Si:H/c-Si interface defect density, and the work functions of the transparent conducting oxide (TCO) and back surface field (BSF) layer, are crucial factors that influence the carrier transport properties and the efficiency of the solar cells. The correlations between the carrier transport properties and these parameters and the performance of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells were investigated using the AFORS-HET program. Through the analysis and optimization of a TCO/n-a-Si:H/i-a-Si:H/p-c-Si/p+-a-Si:H/Ag solar cell, a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 27.07% (VOC) 749 mV, JSC: 42.86 mA/cm2, FF: 84.33%) was obtained through simulation. An in-depth understanding of the transport properties can help to improve the efficiency of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells, and provide useful guidance for actual heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cell manufacturing. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61076055), the Open Project Program of Surface Physics Laboratory (National Key Laboratory) of Fudan University (No. FDS-KL2011-04), the Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Key Innovation Team (No. 2011R50012), and the Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory (No. 2013E10022).

Optimization design of solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou, Zheng; Guan, Zhiqiang; Gurgenci, Hal

2013-01-01

Highlights: • We proposed a cost model for solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower. • We proposed an optimization scheme for this new cooling system. • We optimally designed one for a 50 MW EGS geothermal plant as a demonstration. • Results proved its economic advantages for EGS geothermal application. - Abstract: This paper proposed an optimization scheme for solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower design, in which a detailed cost model was proposed including capital, labour, maintenance and operation costs of each component. Based on the developed cost model, the optimal design option can be identified in terms of the relatively lower annual cost and the relatively higher total extra income over the Solar Enhanced Natural Draft Dry Cooling Tower (SENDDCT) lifetime. As a case study, a SENDDCT was optimally designed to meet the cooling demand for a 50 MW geothermal power plant with Engineered Geothermal System (EGS) technology. The results showed that the optimized SENDDCT not only has better cooling performance during the daytime but also is a cost effective option for EGS geothermal power plants

Performance predictions for solar-chemical convertors by computer simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luttmer, J.D.; Trachtenberg, I.

1985-08-01

A computer model which simulates the operation of Texas Instruments solar-chemical convertor (SCC) was developed. The model allows optimization of SCC processes, material, and configuration by facilitating decisions on tradeoffs among ease of manufacturing, power conversion efficiency, and cost effectiveness. The model includes various algorithms which define the electrical, electrochemical, and resistance parameters and which describ the operation of the discrete components of the SCC. Results of the model which depict the effect of material and geometric changes on various parameters are presented. The computer-calculated operation is compared with experimentall observed hydrobromic acid electrolysis rates.

Studies on the polycrystalline silicon/SiO2 stack as front surface field for IBC solar cells by two-dimensional simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Shuai; Jia Rui; Tao Ke; Hou Caixia; Sun Hengchao; Li Yongtao; Yu Zhiyong

2017-01-01

Interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells can achieve a very high efficiency due to its less optical losses. But IBC solar cells demand for high quality passivation of the front surface. In this paper, a polycrystalline silicon/SiO 2 stack structure as front surface field to passivate the front surface of IBC solar cells is proposed. The passivation quality of this structure is investigated by two dimensional simulations. Polycrystalline silicon layer and SiO 2 layer are optimized to get the best passivation quality of the IBC solar cell. Simulation results indicate that the doping level of polycrystalline silicon should be high enough to allow a very thin polycrystalline silicon layer to ensure an effective passivation and small optical losses at the same time. The thickness of SiO 2 should be neither too thin nor too thick, and the optimal thickness is 1.2 nm. Furthermore, the lateral transport properties of electrons are investigated, and the simulation results indicate that a high doping level and conductivity of polycrystalline silicon can improve the lateral transportation of electrons and then the cell performance. (paper)

Multivariate optimization of a solar water heating system using the Simplex method

CERN Document Server

Michelson, E

1982-01-01

Two Simplex computer library packages for multivariate optimization have been tested on an hour-by-hour simulation of a solar water heating system. The two packages are: MINUITS written at CERN (Geneva) , and the E04CCF routine which is part of the UK Numerical Algorithms Group Library. Technical and economic optima have been derived for three of the following variables simultaneously: collector area, tilt, azimuth, and store volume. The two packages give the same results. The meteorological data used were one (composite) year for Hamburg (Germany) and 1964 for Kew (UK). The Hamburg data were also condensed to form a year consisting of 60 averaged days. The optima derived with the 60-day year were very close to those obtained with the 365-day year. The Simplex method, which is a direct search method, is known to be very robust. It is particularly suited to hour-by-hour simulations of solar heating systems since the function being minimized is not monotonically decreasing towards the minimum in sufficient sign...

Theoretical modelling and optimization of bubble column dehumidifier for a solar driven humidification-dehumidification system

Science.gov (United States)

Ranjitha, P. Raj; Ratheesh, R.; Jayakumar, J. S.; Balakrishnan, Shankar

2018-02-01

Availability and utilization of energy and water are the top most global challenges being faced by the new millennium. At the present state water scarcity has become a global as well as a regional challenge. 40 % of world population faces water shortage. Challenge of water scarcity can be tackled only with increase in water supply beyond what is obtained from hydrological cycle. This can be achieved either by desalinating the sea water or by reusing the waste water. High energy requirement need to be overcome for either of the two processes. Of many desalination technologies, humidification dehumidification (HDH) technology powered by solar energy is widely accepted for small scale production. Detailed optimization studies on system have the potential to effectively utilize the solar energy for brackish water desalination. Dehumidification technology, specifically, require further study because the dehumidifier effectiveness control the energetic performance of the entire HDH system. The reason attributes to the high resistance involved to diffuse dilute vapor through air in a dehumidifier. The present work intends to optimize the design of a bubble column dehumidifier for a solar energy driven desalination process. Optimization is carried out using Matlab simulation. Design process will identify the unique needs of a bubble column dehumidifier in HDH system.

Modeling and simulation of InGaN/GaN quantum dots solar cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aissat, A.; Benyettou, F.; Vilcot, J. P.

2016-01-01

Currently, quantum dots have attracted attention in the field of optoelectronics, and are used to overcome the limits of a conventional solar cell. Here, an In 0.25 Ga 0.75 N/GaN Quantum Dots Solar Cell has been modeled and simulated using Silvaco Atlas. Our results show that the short circuit current increases with the insertion of the InGaN quantum dots inside the intrinsic region of a GaN pin solar cell. In contrary, the open circuit voltage decreases. A relative optimization of the conversion efficiency of 54.77% was achieved comparing a 5-layers In 0.25 Ga 0.75 N/GaN quantum dots with pin solar cell. The conversion efficiency begins to decline beyond 5-layers quantum dots introduced. Indium composition of 10 % improves relatively the efficiency about 42.58% and a temperature of 285 K gives better conversion efficiency of 13.14%.

Modeling and simulation of InGaN/GaN quantum dots solar cell

Science.gov (United States)

Aissat, A.; Benyettou, F.; Vilcot, J. P.

2016-07-01

Currently, quantum dots have attracted attention in the field of optoelectronics, and are used to overcome the limits of a conventional solar cell. Here, an In0.25Ga0.75N/GaN Quantum Dots Solar Cell has been modeled and simulated using Silvaco Atlas. Our results show that the short circuit current increases with the insertion of the InGaN quantum dots inside the intrinsic region of a GaN pin solar cell. In contrary, the open circuit voltage decreases. A relative optimization of the conversion efficiency of 54.77% was achieved comparing a 5-layers In0.25Ga0.75N/GaN quantum dots with pin solar cell. The conversion efficiency begins to decline beyond 5-layers quantum dots introduced. Indium composition of 10 % improves relatively the efficiency about 42.58% and a temperature of 285 K gives better conversion efficiency of 13.14%.

Modelling and simulation of a hybrid solar heating system for greenhouse applications using Matlab/Simulink

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kıyan, Metin; Bingöl, Ekin; Melikoğlu, Mehmet; Albostan, Ayhan

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Matlab/Simulink modelling of a solar hybrid greenhouse. • Estimation of greenhouse gas emission reductions. • Feasibility and cost analysis of the system. - Abstract: Solar energy is a major renewable energy source and hybrid solar systems are gaining increased academic and industrial attention due to the unique advantages they offer. In this paper, a mathematical model has been developed to investigate the thermal behavior of a greenhouse heated by a hybrid solar collector system. This hybrid system contains an evacuated tube solar heat collector unit, an auxiliary fossil fuel heating unit, a hot water storage unit, control and piping units. A Matlab/Simulink based model and software has been developed to predict the storage water temperature, greenhouse indoor temperature and the amount of auxiliary fuel, as a function of various design parameters of the greenhouse such as location, dimensions, and meteorological data of the region. As a case study, a greenhouse located in Şanlıurfa/Turkey has been simulated based on recent meteorological data and aforementioned hybrid system. The results of simulations performed on an annual basis indicate that revising the existing fossil fuel system with the proposed hybrid system, is economically feasible for most cases, however it requires a slightly longer payback period than expected. On the other hand, by reducing the greenhouse gas emissions significantly, it has a considerable positive environmental impact. The developed dynamic simulation method can be further used for designing heating systems for various solar greenhouses and optimizing the solar collector and thermal storage sizes

Enhanced photocurrent density in graphene/Si based solar cell (GSSC) by optimizing active layer thickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosikhin, Ahmad; Hidayat, Aulia Fikri; Syuhada, Ibnu; Winata, Toto

2015-01-01

Thickness dependent photocurrent density in active layer of graphene/Si based solar cell has been investigated via analytical – simulation study. This report is a preliminary comparison of experimental and analytical investigation of graphene/Si based solar cell. Graphene sheet was interfaced with Si thin film forming heterojunction solar cell that was treated as a device model for photocurrent generator. Such current can be enhanced by optimizing active layer thickness and involving metal oxide as supporting layer to shift photons absorption. In this case there are two type of devices model with and without TiO 2 in which the silicon thickness varied at 20 – 100 nm. All of them have examined and also compared with each other to obtain an optimum value. From this calculation it found that generated currents almost linear with thickness but there are saturated conditions that no more enhancements will be achieved. Furthermore TiO 2 layer is effectively increases photon absorption but reducing device stability, maximum current is fluctuates enough. This may caused by the disturbance of excitons diffusion and resistivity inside each layer. Finally by controlling active layer thickness, it is quite useful to estimate optimization in order to develop the next solar cell devices

Enhanced photocurrent density in graphene/Si based solar cell (GSSC) by optimizing active layer thickness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosikhin, Ahmad, E-mail: a.rosikhin86@yahoo.co.id; Hidayat, Aulia Fikri; Syuhada, Ibnu; Winata, Toto, E-mail: toto@fi.itb.ac.id [Department of physics, physics of electronic materials research division Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Jawa Barat – Indonesia (Indonesia)

2015-12-29

Thickness dependent photocurrent density in active layer of graphene/Si based solar cell has been investigated via analytical – simulation study. This report is a preliminary comparison of experimental and analytical investigation of graphene/Si based solar cell. Graphene sheet was interfaced with Si thin film forming heterojunction solar cell that was treated as a device model for photocurrent generator. Such current can be enhanced by optimizing active layer thickness and involving metal oxide as supporting layer to shift photons absorption. In this case there are two type of devices model with and without TiO{sub 2} in which the silicon thickness varied at 20 – 100 nm. All of them have examined and also compared with each other to obtain an optimum value. From this calculation it found that generated currents almost linear with thickness but there are saturated conditions that no more enhancements will be achieved. Furthermore TiO{sub 2} layer is effectively increases photon absorption but reducing device stability, maximum current is fluctuates enough. This may caused by the disturbance of excitons diffusion and resistivity inside each layer. Finally by controlling active layer thickness, it is quite useful to estimate optimization in order to develop the next solar cell devices.

A Monte Carlo method and finite volume method coupled optical simulation method for parabolic trough solar collectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang, Hongbo; Fan, Man; You, Shijun; Zheng, Wandong; Zhang, Huan; Ye, Tianzhen; Zheng, Xuejing

2017-01-01

Highlights: •Four optical models for parabolic trough solar collectors were compared in detail. •Characteristics of Monte Carlo Method and Finite Volume Method were discussed. •A novel method was presented combining advantages of different models. •The method was suited to optical analysis of collectors with different geometries. •A new kind of cavity receiver was simulated depending on the novel method. -- Abstract: The PTC (parabolic trough solar collector) is widely used for space heating, heat-driven refrigeration, solar power, etc. The concentrated solar radiation is the only energy source for a PTC, thus its optical performance significantly affects the collector efficiency. In this study, four different optical models were constructed, validated and compared in detail. On this basis, a novel coupled method was presented by combining advantages of these models, which was suited to carry out a mass of optical simulations of collectors with different geometrical parameters rapidly and accurately. Based on these simulation results, the optimal configuration of a collector with highest efficiency can be determined. Thus, this method was useful for collector optimization and design. In the four models, MCM (Monte Carlo Method) and FVM (Finite Volume Method) were used to initialize photons distribution, as well as CPEM (Change Photon Energy Method) and MCM were adopted to describe the process of reflecting, transmitting and absorbing. For simulating reflection, transmission and absorption, CPEM was more efficient than MCM, so it was utilized in the coupled method. For photons distribution initialization, FVM saved running time and computation effort, whereas it needed suitable grid configuration. MCM only required a total number of rays for simulation, whereas it needed higher computing cost and its results fluctuated in multiple runs. In the novel coupled method, the grid configuration for FVM was optimized according to the “true values” from MCM of

Optimal Control of Solar Heating System

KAUST Repository

Huang, Bin-Juine

2017-02-21

Forced-circulation solar heating system has been widely used in process and domestic heating applications. Additional pumping power is required to circulate the water through the collectors to absorb the solar energy. The present study intends to develop a maximum-power point tracking control (MPPT) to obtain the minimum pumping power consumption at an optimal heat collection. The net heat energy gain Qnet (= Qs − Wp/ηe) was found to be the cost function for MPPT. The step-up-step-down controller was used in the feedback design of MPPT. The field test results show that the pumping power is 89 W at Qs = 13.7 kW and IT = 892 W/m2. A very high electrical COP of the solar heating system (Qs/Wp = 153.8) is obtained.

An Integrated GIS, optimization and simulation framework for optimal PV size and location in campus area environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kucuksari, Sadik; Khaleghi, Amirreza M.; Hamidi, Maryam; Zhang, Ye; Szidarovszky, Ferenc; Bayraksan, Guzin; Son, Young-Jun

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The optimal size and locations for PV units for campus environments are achieved. • The GIS module finds the suitable rooftops and their panel capacity. • The optimization module maximizes the long-term profit of PV installations. • The simulation module evaluates the voltage profile of the distribution network. • The proposed work has been successfully demonstrated for a real university campus. - Abstract: Finding the optimal size and locations for Photovoltaic (PV) units has been a major challenge for distribution system planners and researchers. In this study, a framework is proposed to integrate Geographical Information Systems (GIS), mathematical optimization, and simulation modules to obtain the annual optimal placement and size of PV units for the next two decades in a campus area environment. First, a GIS module is developed to find the suitable rooftops and their panel capacity considering the amount of solar radiation, slope, elevation, and aspect. The optimization module is then used to maximize the long-term net profit of PV installations considering various costs of investment, inverter replacement, operation, and maintenance as well as savings from consuming less conventional energy. A voltage profile of the electricity distribution network is then investigated in the simulation module. In the case of voltage limit violation by intermittent PV generations or load fluctuations, two mitigation strategies, reallocation of the PV units or installation of a local storage unit, are suggested. The proposed framework has been implemented in a real campus area, and the results show that it can effectively be used for long-term installation planning of PV panels considering both the cost and power quality

Modeling and simulation of InGaN/GaN quantum dots solar cell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aissat, A., E-mail: sakre23@yahoo.fr [LATSI Laboratory, Faculty of Technology, University of Blida 1 (Algeria); LASICOMLaboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University of Blida 1 (Algeria); Benyettou, F. [LASICOMLaboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University of Blida 1 (Algeria); Vilcot, J. P. [Institute of Electronics, Micro-Electronics and Nanotechnologies,UMR CNRS 8520, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille1, Avenue Poincaré, CS 60069, 59652 Villeneuve d’Ascq (France)

2016-07-25

Currently, quantum dots have attracted attention in the field of optoelectronics, and are used to overcome the limits of a conventional solar cell. Here, an In{sub 0.25}Ga{sub 0.75}N/GaN Quantum Dots Solar Cell has been modeled and simulated using Silvaco Atlas. Our results show that the short circuit current increases with the insertion of the InGaN quantum dots inside the intrinsic region of a GaN pin solar cell. In contrary, the open circuit voltage decreases. A relative optimization of the conversion efficiency of 54.77% was achieved comparing a 5-layers In{sub 0.25}Ga{sub 0.75}N/GaN quantum dots with pin solar cell. The conversion efficiency begins to decline beyond 5-layers quantum dots introduced. Indium composition of 10 % improves relatively the efficiency about 42.58% and a temperature of 285 K gives better conversion efficiency of 13.14%.

Topology optimization of front metallization patterns for solar cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gupta, D.K.; Langelaar, M.; Barink, M.; Keulen, F. van

2015-01-01

This paper presents the application of topology optimization (TO) for designing the front electrode patterns for solar cells. Improving the front electrode design is one of the approaches to improve the performance of the solar cells. It serves to produce the voltage distribution for the front

Energetic performances of an optimized passive Solar Heating Prototype used for Tunisian buildings air-heating application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehdaoui, Farah; Hazami, Majdi; Naili, Nabiha; Farhat, Abdelhamid

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The study of a Solar Heating Prototype to prevail the buildings air-heating needs. • A parametric study of the system was achieved by means of the TRNSYS program. • The monthly internal temperature during cold months ranges between 22 and 25 °C. • The results shows that the relative humidity inside the monozone room of about 40%. - Abstract: This paper deals with the energetic performances of a Solar Heating Prototype (SHP) conceived in our laboratory to prevail the Tunisian households’ air-heating needs. The conceived SHP mainly consists of a flat-plate solar collector, solar hot water tank and an active layer integrated inside a single room. Firstly, a complete model is formulated taking into account various modes of heat transfer in the SHP by means of the TRNSYS simulation program. To validate the TRNSYS model, experimental tests under local weather conditions were performed for 2 days spread over 2 months (March and April 2013). Predicted results were compared to the measurements in order to determine the accuracy of the simulation program. A parametric study was then achieved by means of the TRNSYS program in order to optimize SHP design parameters (Collector area, collector mass flow rate, floor mass flow rate, storage tank volume and thickness of the active layer). The optimization of all design parameters shows that to achieve a maximum performances from the SHP it is essential to use a solar collector with an area equal to 6 m 2 area, a collector mass flow rate equal to 100 kg h −1 and a hot water storage tank with a capacity equal to 450 l. Concerning the floor heating, the optimal values of mass flow rate and the active layer thickness are 200 kg h −1 and 0.06 m, respectively. The long-term SHP performances were afterward evaluated by means of the Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data relative to Tunis, Tunisia. Results showed that for an annual total solar insolation of about 6493.37 MJ m −2 the average solar fraction

Study on the optimization allocation of wind-solar in power system based on multi-region production simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Zhicheng

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a power supply optimization model is proposed. The model takes the minimum fossil energy consumption as the target, considering the output characteristics of the conventional power supply and the renewable power supply. The optimal capacity ratio of wind-solar in the power supply under various constraints is calculated, and the interrelation between conventional power supply and renewable energy is analyzed in the system of high proportion renewable energy integration. Using the model, we can provide scientific guidance for the coordinated and orderly development of renewable energy and conventional power sources.

Simulation of Solar Radiation Incident on Horizontal and Inclined Surfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MA Basunia

2012-12-01

Full Text Available A computer model was developed to simulate the hourly, daily and monthly average of daily solar radiation on horizontal and inclined surfaces. The measured hourly and daily solar radiation was compared with simulated radiation, and favourable agreement was observed for the measured and predicted values on clear days. The measured and simulated monthly averages of total (diffuse and beam daily solar radiation were compared and a reasonable agreement was observed for a number of stations in Japan. The simulation showed that during the rice harvesting season, September to October, there is a daily average of 14.7 MJ/m2 of solar irradiation on a horizontal surface in Matsuyama, Japan. There is a similar amount of solar radiation on a horizontal surface during the major rice harvesting season, November to December, in Bangladesh. This radiation can be effectively utilized for drying rough rice and other farm crops.

Solar thermal power plants simulation using the TRNSYS software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Popel, O.S.; Frid, S.E.; Shpilrain, E.E. [Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences (IVTAN), Moscow (Russian Federation)

1999-03-01

The paper describes activity directed on the TRNSYS software application for mathematical simulation of solar thermal power plants. First stage of developments has been devoted to simulation and thermodynamic analysis of the Hybrid Solar-Fuel Thermal Power Plants (HSFTPP) with gas turbine installations. Three schemes of HSFTPP, namely: Gas Turbine Regenerative Cycle, Brayton Cycle with Steam Injection and Combined Brayton-Rankine Cycle,- have been assembled and tested under the TRNSYS. For this purpose 18 new models of the schemes components (gas and steam turbines, compressor, heat-exchangers, steam generator, solar receiver, condenser, controllers, etc) have been elaborated and incorporated into the TRNSYS library of 'standard' components. The authors do expect that this initiative and received results will stimulate experts involved in the mathematical simulation of solar thermal power plants to join the described activity to contribute to acceleration of development and expansion of 'Solar Thermal Power Plants' branch of the TRNSYS. The proposed approach could provide an appropriate basis for standardization of analysis, models and assumptions for well-founded comparison of different schemes of advanced solar power plants. (authors)

Optimized dispatch in a first-principles concentrating solar power production model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wagner, Michael J.; Newman, Alexandra M.; Hamilton, William T.; Braun, Robert J.

2017-10-01

Concentrating solar power towers, which include a steam-Rankine cycle with molten salt thermal energy storage, is an emerging technology whose maximum effectiveness relies on an optimal operational and dispatch policy. Given parameters such as start-up and shut-down penalties, expected electricity price profiles, solar availability, and system interoperability requirements, this paper seeks a profit-maximizing solution that determines start-up and shut-down times for the power cycle and solar receiver, and the times at which to dispatch stored and instantaneous quantities of energy over a 48-h horizon at hourly fidelity. The mixed-integer linear program (MIP) is subject to constraints including: (i) minimum and maximum rates of start-up and shut-down, (ii) energy balance, including energetic state of the system as a whole and its components, (iii) logical rules governing the operational modes of the power cycle and solar receiver, and (iv) operational consistency between time periods. The novelty in this work lies in the successful integration of a dispatch optimization model into a detailed techno-economic analysis tool, specifically, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's System Advisor Model (SAM). The MIP produces an optimized operating strategy, historically determined via a heuristic. Using several market electricity pricing profiles, we present comparative results for a system with and without dispatch optimization, indicating that dispatch optimization can improve plant profitability by 5-20% and thereby alter the economics of concentrating solar power technology. While we examine a molten salt power tower system, this analysis is equally applicable to the more mature concentrating solar parabolic trough system with thermal energy storage.

Optimal Capacitor Bank Capacity and Placement in Distribution Systems with High Distributed Solar Power Penetration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hodge, Brian S [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mather, Barry A [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Cho, Gyu-Jung [Sungkyunkwan University, Korea; Oh, Yun-Sik [Sungkyunkwan University, Korea; Kim, Min-Sung [Sungkyunkwan University, Korea; Kim, Ji-Soo [Sungkyunkwan University, Korea; Kim, Chul-Hwan [Sungkyunkwan University, Korea

2018-02-01

Capacitor banks have been generally installed and utilized to support distribution voltage during period of higher load or on longer, higher impedance, feeders. Installations of distributed energy resources in distribution systems are rapidly increasing, and many of these generation resources have variable and uncertain power output. These generators can significantly change the voltage profile across a feeder, and therefore when a new capacitor bank is needed analysis of optimal capacity and location of the capacitor bank is required. In this paper, we model a particular distribution system including essential equipment. An optimization method is adopted to determine the best capacity and location sets of the newly installed capacitor banks, in the presence of distributed solar power generation. Finally we analyze the optimal capacitor banks configuration through the optimization and simulation results.

3D numerical simulation on heat transfer performance of a cylindrical liquid immersion solar receiver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiang Haijun; Wang Yiping; Zhu Li; Han Xinyue; Sun Yong; Zhao Zhengjian

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Establishment of a three-dimensional numerical simulation model of a cylindrical liquid immersion solar receiver. ► Determination of model parameters and validation of the model by using the real-collected data. ► Optimization of liquid flow rate and fin’s structure for better heat transfer performance. - Abstract: Liquid immersion cooling for a cylindrical solar receiver in a dish concentrator photovoltaic system has been experimentally verified to be a promising method of removing surplus heat from densely packed solar cells. In the present study, a three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulation model of the prototype was established for better understanding the mechanism of the direct-contact heat transfer process. With the selection of standard k–ε turbulent model, the detailed simulation results of velocity field and temperature characteristics were obtained. The heat transfer performance of two structural modules (bare module and finned module) under actual weather conditions was simulated. It was found that the predicted temperature distribution of the two structural modules at the axial and lateral direction was in good agreement with the experimental data. Based on the validated simulation model, the influence of liquid flow rate and module geometric parameters on the cell temperature was then investigated. The simulated results indicated that the cell module with fin height of 4 mm and fin number of 11 has the best heat transfer performance and will be used in further works.

Optimizing analysis of W-AlN cermet solar absorbing coatings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Qichu

2001-01-01

The layer thickness and tungsten metal volume fraction of W-AlN cermet solar selective absorbing coatings on a W, Cu or Al infrared reflector with a surface aluminium oxynitride (AlON) or Al 2 O 3 ceramic anti-reflector layer were optimized using physical modelling calculations. Due to limited published data for the refractive index of AlN, and likely oxygen contamination during reactive sputtering of AlN ceramic materials, AlON was used as the ceramic component and the published value of its refractive index was employed. The dielectric function and then the complex refractive index of W-AlON cermet materials were calculated using the Ping Sheng approximation. The downhill simplex method in multi-dimensions was used in the numerical calculation to achieve maximum photo-thermal conversion efficiency at 350 0 C under a concentration factor of 30 for a solar collector tube. Optimization calculation results show that the initial graded (ten-step layers) cermet films all converge to something close to a three-layer film structure, which consists of a low metal volume fraction cermet layer on a high metal volume fraction cermet layer on a metallic infrared reflector with a surface ceramic anti-reflection layer. The optimized three-layer solar coatings have a high solar absorptance of 0.95 for AlON and 0.96 for the Al 2 O 3 anti-reflection layer, and a low hemispherical emittance of 0.073 at 350 deg. C. For the optimized three-layer films the solar radiation is efficiently absorbed internally and by phase interference. Thermal loss is very low for optimized three-layer films due to high reflectance values in the thermal infrared wavelength range and a very sharp edge between low solar reflectance and high thermal infrared reflectance. The high metal volume fraction cermet layer has a metal-like optical behaviour in the thermal infrared wavelength range and makes the largest contribution to the increase of emittance compared with that of the metal infrared reflector

Optimizing analysis of W-AlN cermet solar absorbing coatings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang Qichu [School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW (Australia)

2001-11-07

The layer thickness and tungsten metal volume fraction of W-AlN cermet solar selective absorbing coatings on a W, Cu or Al infrared reflector with a surface aluminium oxynitride (AlON) or Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} ceramic anti-reflector layer were optimized using physical modelling calculations. Due to limited published data for the refractive index of AlN, and likely oxygen contamination during reactive sputtering of AlN ceramic materials, AlON was used as the ceramic component and the published value of its refractive index was employed. The dielectric function and then the complex refractive index of W-AlON cermet materials were calculated using the Ping Sheng approximation. The downhill simplex method in multi-dimensions was used in the numerical calculation to achieve maximum photo-thermal conversion efficiency at 350{sup 0}C under a concentration factor of 30 for a solar collector tube. Optimization calculation results show that the initial graded (ten-step layers) cermet films all converge to something close to a three-layer film structure, which consists of a low metal volume fraction cermet layer on a high metal volume fraction cermet layer on a metallic infrared reflector with a surface ceramic anti-reflection layer. The optimized three-layer solar coatings have a high solar absorptance of 0.95 for AlON and 0.96 for the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} anti-reflection layer, and a low hemispherical emittance of 0.073 at 350 deg. C. For the optimized three-layer films the solar radiation is efficiently absorbed internally and by phase interference. Thermal loss is very low for optimized three-layer films due to high reflectance values in the thermal infrared wavelength range and a very sharp edge between low solar reflectance and high thermal infrared reflectance. The high metal volume fraction cermet layer has a metal-like optical behaviour in the thermal infrared wavelength range and makes the largest contribution to the increase of emittance compared with that of the metal

Optimizing analysis of W-AlN cermet solar absorbing coatings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qi-Chu Zhang [University of Sydney, NSW (Australia). School of Physics

2001-11-07

The layer thickness and tungsten metal volume fraction of W-AlN cermet solar selective absorbing coatings on a W, Cu or Al infrared reflector with a surface aluminium oxynitride (AlON) or Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} ceramic anti-reflector layer were optimized using physical modelling calculations. Due to limited published data for the refractive index of AlN, and likely oxygen contamination during reactive sputtering of AlN ceramic materials, AlON was used as the ceramic component and the published value of its refractive index was employed. The dielectric function and then the complex refractive index of W-AlON cermet materials were calculated using the Ping Sheng approximation. The downhill simplex method in multi-dimensions was used in the numerical calculation to achieve maximum photo-thermal conversion efficiency at 350{sup o}C under a concentration factor of 30 for a solar collector tube. Optimization calculation results show that the initial graded (ten-step layers) cermet films all converge to something close to a three-layer film structure, which consists of a low metal volume fraction cermet layer on a high metal volume fraction cermet layer on a metallic infrared reflector with a surface ceramic anti-reflection layer. The optimized three-layer solar coatings have a high solar absorptance of 0.95 for AlON and 0.96 for the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} anti-reflection layer, and a low hemispherical emittance of 0.073 at 350{sup o}C. For the optimized three-layer films the solar radiation is efficiently absorbed internally and by phase interference. Thermal loss is very low for optimized three-layer films due to high reflectance values in the thermal infrared wavelength range and a very sharp edge between low solar reflectance and high thermal infrared reflectance. The high metal volume fraction cermet layer has a metal-like optical behaviour in the thermal infrared wavelength range and makes the largest contribution to the increase of emittance compared with that of the metal

Graphics interfaces and numerical simulations: Mexican Virtual Solar Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández, L.; González, A.; Salas, G.; Santillán, A.

2007-08-01

Preliminary results associated to the computational development and creation of the Mexican Virtual Solar Observatory (MVSO) are presented. Basically, the MVSO prototype consists of two parts: the first, related to observations that have been made during the past ten years at the Solar Observation Station (EOS) and at the Carl Sagan Observatory (OCS) of the Universidad de Sonora in Mexico. The second part is associated to the creation and manipulation of a database produced by numerical simulations related to solar phenomena, we are using the MHD ZEUS-3D code. The development of this prototype was made using mysql, apache, java and VSO 1.2. based GNU and `open source philosophy'. A graphic user interface (GUI) was created in order to make web-based, remote numerical simulations. For this purpose, Mono was used, because it is provides the necessary software to develop and run .NET client and server applications on Linux. Although this project is still under development, we hope to have access, by means of this portal, to other virtual solar observatories and to be able to count on a database created through numerical simulations or, given the case, perform simulations associated to solar phenomena.

Validation of Solar Sail Simulations for the NASA Solar Sail Demonstration Project

Science.gov (United States)

Braafladt, Alexander C.; Artusio-Glimpse, Alexandra B.; Heaton, Andrew F.

2014-01-01

NASA's Solar Sail Demonstration project partner L'Garde is currently assembling a flight-like sail assembly for a series of ground demonstration tests beginning in 2015. For future missions of this sail that might validate solar sail technology, it is necessary to have an accurate sail thrust model. One of the primary requirements of a proposed potential technology validation mission will be to demonstrate solar sail thrust over a set time period, which for this project is nominally 30 days. This requirement would be met by comparing a L'Garde-developed trajectory simulation to the as-flown trajectory. The current sail simulation baseline for L'Garde is a Systems Tool Kit (STK) plug-in that includes a custom-designed model of the L'Garde sail. The STK simulation has been verified for a flat plate model by comparing it to the NASA-developed Solar Sail Spaceflight Simulation Software (S5). S5 matched STK with a high degree of accuracy and the results of the validation indicate that the L'Garde STK model is accurate enough to meet the potential future mission requirements. Additionally, since the L'Garde sail deviates considerably from a flat plate, a force model for a non-flat sail provided by L'Garde sail was also tested and compared to a flat plate model in S5. This result will be used in the future as a basis of comparison to the non-flat sail model being developed for STK.

Optimization of a computer simulation code to analyse thermal systems for solar energy water heating; Aperfeicoamento de um programa de simulacao computacional para analise de sistemas termicos de aquecimento de agua por energia solar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pozzebon, Felipe Barin

2009-02-15

The potential of solar water heating systems through solar energy in Brazil is excellent due to the climatic features of the country. The performance of these systems is highly influenced also by the materials used to build it and by the dimension of its equipment and components. In face of global warming, solar energy gains more attention, since it is one of the renewable energy that will be largely used to replace some of the existing polluting types of energy. This paper presents the improvement of a software that conducts simulations of water heating systems using solar energy in thermosyphon regime or forced circulation. TermoSim, as it is called, was initiated at the Solar Labs, and is in its version 3.0. The current version is capable of simulating 6 different arrangements' possibilities combined with auxiliary energy: systems with solar collectors with auxiliary energy with gas, electric energy, internal electric energy, electric energy in series with the consumption line, and no auxiliary energy. The software is a tool to aid studies and analysis of solar heating systems, it has a friendly interface that is easy to comprehend and results are simple to use. Besides that, this version also allows simulations that consider heat losses at night, situation in which a reverse circulation can occur and mean efficiency loss, depending on the simulated system type. There were many simulations with the mathematical models used and comparisons were made with the climatic data of the city of Caxias do Sul, in Rio Grande do Sul state, in Brazil, determining the system with the most efficient configuration for the simulated water consume profile. The paper is finalized with simple economic analyses with the intention of foreseeing the time for payback on the investment, taking into account the current prices for electrical energy in the simulated area and the possible monthly economy provided with the use of a solar energy heating system. (author)

Design and simulation of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) system on solar module system using constant voltage (CV) method

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatara, Sevty Satria; Iskandar, Reza Fauzi; Kirom, M. Ramdlan

2016-02-01

Solar energy is one of renewable energy resource where needs a photovoltaic module to convert it into electrical energy. One of the problems on solar energy conversion is the process of battery charging. To improve efficiency of energy conversion, PV system needs another control method on battery charging called maximum power point tracking (MPPT). This paper report the study on charging optimation using constant voltage (CV) method. This method has a function of determining output voltage of the PV system on maximal condition, so PV system will always produce a maximal energy. A model represented a PV system with and without MPPT was developed using Simulink. PV system simulation showed a different outcome energy when different solar radiation and numbers of solar module were applied in the model. On the simulation of solar radiation 1000 W/m2, PV system with MPPT produces 252.66 Watt energy and PV system without MPPT produces 252.66 Watt energy. The larger the solar radiation, the greater the energy of PV modules was produced.

Optimization of thermal performance of a smooth flat-plate solar air heater using teaching–learning-based optimization algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Venkata Rao

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the performance of teaching–learning-based optimization (TLBO algorithm to obtain the optimum set of design and operating parameters for a smooth flat plate solar air heater (SFPSAH. The TLBO algorithm is a recently proposed population-based algorithm, which simulates the teaching–learning process of the classroom. Maximization of thermal efficiency is considered as an objective function for the thermal performance of SFPSAH. The number of glass plates, irradiance, and the Reynolds number are considered as the design parameters and wind velocity, tilt angle, ambient temperature, and emissivity of the plate are considered as the operating parameters to obtain the thermal performance of the SFPSAH using the TLBO algorithm. The computational results have shown that the TLBO algorithm is better or competitive to other optimization algorithms recently reported in the literature for the considered problem.

Simulation of High Efficiency Heterojunction Solar Cells with AFORS-HET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Lisheng; Chen Fengxiang; Ai Yu

2011-01-01

In this paper, the high efficiency TCO/a-Si:H (n)/a-Si:H(i)/c-Si(p)/uc-Si(p + )/Al HIT (heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer) solar cells was analyzed and designed by AFORS-HET software. The influences of emitter, intrinsic layer and back surface field (BSF) on the photovoltaic characteristics of solar cell were discussed. The simulation results show that the key role of the intrinsic layer inserted between the a-Si:H and crystalline silicon substrate is to decrease the interface states density. If the interface states density is lower than 10 10 cm -2 V -1 thinner intrinsic layer is better than thicker one. The increase of the thickness of the emitter will decrease the short-current density and affect the conversion efficiency. Microcrystalline BSF can increase conversion efficiency more than 2 percentage points compared with HIT solar cell with no BSF. But this BSF requires the doping concentration must exceed 10 20 cm -3 . Considered the band mismatch between crystalline silicon and microcrystalline silicon, the optimal band gap of microcrystalline silicon BSF is about 1.4-1.6eV.

Fluid flow distribution optimization for minimizing the peak temperature of a tubular solar receiver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, Min; Fan, Yilin; Luo, Lingai; Flamant, Gilles

2015-01-01

High temperature solar receiver is a core component of solar thermal power plants. However, non-uniform solar irradiation on the receiver walls and flow maldistribution of heat transfer fluid inside the tubes may cause the excessive peak temperature, consequently leading to the reduced lifetime. This paper presents an original CFD (computational fluid dynamics)-based evolutionary algorithm to determine the optimal fluid distribution in a tubular solar receiver for the minimization of its peak temperature. A pressurized-air solar receiver comprising of 45 parallel tubes subjected to a Gaussian-shape net heat flux absorbed by the receiver is used for study. Two optimality criteria are used for the algorithm: identical outlet fluid temperatures and identical temperatures on the centerline of the heated surface. The influences of different filling materials and thermal contact resistances on the optimal fluid distribution and on the peak temperature reduction are also evaluated and discussed. Results show that the fluid distribution optimization using the algorithm could minimize the peak temperature of the receiver under the optimality criterion of identical temperatures on the centerline. Different shapes of optimal fluid distribution are determined for various filling materials. Cheap material with low thermal conductivity can also meet the peak temperature threshold through optimizing the fluid distribution. - Highlights: • A 3D pressurized-air solar receiver based on the tube-in-matrix concept is studied. • An original evolutionary algorithm is developed for fluid distribution optimization. • A new optimality criterion is proposed for minimizing the receiver peak temperature. • Different optimal fluid distributions are determined for various filling materials. • Filling material with high thermal conductivity is more favorable in practical use.

Intra-/inter-laboratory validation study on reactive oxygen species assay for chemical photosafety evaluation using two different solar simulators.

Science.gov (United States)

Onoue, Satomi; Hosoi, Kazuhiro; Toda, Tsuguto; Takagi, Hironori; Osaki, Naoto; Matsumoto, Yasuhiro; Kawakami, Satoru; Wakuri, Shinobu; Iwase, Yumiko; Yamamoto, Toshinobu; Nakamura, Kazuichi; Ohno, Yasuo; Kojima, Hajime

2014-06-01

A previous multi-center validation study demonstrated high transferability and reliability of reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay for photosafety evaluation. The present validation study was undertaken to verify further the applicability of different solar simulators and assay performance. In 7 participating laboratories, 2 standards and 42 coded chemicals, including 23 phototoxins and 19 non-phototoxic drugs/chemicals, were assessed by the ROS assay using two different solar simulators (Atlas Suntest CPS series, 3 labs; and Seric SXL-2500V2, 4 labs). Irradiation conditions could be optimized using quinine and sulisobenzone as positive and negative standards to offer consistent assay outcomes. In both solar simulators, the intra- and inter-day precisions (coefficient of variation; CV) for quinine were found to be below 10%. The inter-laboratory CV for quinine averaged 15.4% (Atlas Suntest CPS) and 13.2% (Seric SXL-2500V2) for singlet oxygen and 17.0% (Atlas Suntest CPS) and 7.1% (Seric SXL-2500V2) for superoxide, suggesting high inter-laboratory reproducibility even though different solar simulators were employed for the ROS assay. In the ROS assay on 42 coded chemicals, some chemicals (ca. 19-29%) were unevaluable because of limited solubility and spectral interference. Although several false positives appeared with positive predictivity of ca. 76-92% (Atlas Suntest CPS) and ca. 75-84% (Seric SXL-2500V2), there were no false negative predictions in both solar simulators. A multi-center validation study on the ROS assay demonstrated satisfactory transferability, accuracy, precision, and predictivity, as well as the availability of other solar simulators. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maximization of primary energy savings of solar heating and cooling systems by transient simulations and computer design of experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calise, F.; Palombo, A.; Vanoli, L.

2010-01-01

In this paper, the simulation of the performance of solar-assisted heating and cooling systems is analyzed. Three different plant layouts are considered: (i) the first one consists of evacuated solar collectors and a single-stage LiBr-H 2 O absorption chiller; here in order to integrate the system in case of insufficient solar radiation, an electric water-cooled chiller is activated; (ii) configuration of the secondly considered system is similar to the first one, but the absorption chiller and the solar collector area are sized for balancing about 30% of the building cooling load only; (iii) the layout of the thirdly considered system differs from the first one since the auxiliary electric chiller is replaced by a gas-fired heater. Such system configurations also include: circulation pumps, storage tanks, feedback controllers, mixers, diverters and on/off hysteresis controllers. All such devices are modelled for maximizing the system energy efficiency. In order to simulate the systems' performance for dynamic heating/cooling loads, a single-lumped capacitance building is also modelled and implemented in the computer code. A cost model is also developed in order to calculate the systems' operating and capital costs. All the models and the relative simulations are carried out by TRNSYS. A design of experiment procedure is also included. By such tool the effects of the system operating parameters' variation on the relative energy efficiency are analyzed. In addition, the set of synthesis/design variables maximizing the system's energetic performance can be also identified. The annual primary energy saving is chosen as the optimization objective function, whereas collector slope, pump flows, set-point temperatures and tank volume are selected as optimizing system design variables. A case study was developed for an office building located in South Italy. Here, the energetic and the economic analysis for all the three considered system layouts are carried out. The

A systematic approach of bottom-up assessment methodology for an optimal design of hybrid solar/wind energy resources – Case study at middle east region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ifaei, Pouya; Karbassi, Abdolreza; Jacome, Gabriel; Yoo, ChangKyoo

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Proposing DaSOSaCa flowchart as a novel hybrid solar/wind assessment approach. • Calculating four key parameters to generate synthetic wind hourly data for Iran. • Proposing technical and economic hybrid solar/wind GIS maps of Iran. • Revising renewable energies management plans of Iran by macroeconomic evaluation. - Abstract: In the current study, an algorithm-based data processing, sizing, optimization, sensitivity analysis and clustering approach (DaSOSaCa) is proposed as an efficient simultaneous solar/wind assessment methodology. Accordingly, data processing is performed to obtain reliable high quality meteorological data among various datasets, which are used for hybrid photovoltaic/wind turbine/storage/converter system optimal design for consequent sites in a large region. The optimal hybrid systems are consequently simulated to meet hourly power demand in various sites. The solar/wind fraction and net present cost of the systems are then used as the technical and economic clustering variables, respectively. The clustering results are finally used as input to obtain novel hybrid solar/wind GIS maps. Iran is selected as the case study to validate the proposed methodology and detail its applicability. Ten minute annual global horizontal radiation, wind speed, and temperature data are analyzed, and the optimal, robust hybrid systems are simulated for various sites in order to classify the country. The generated GIS maps show that Iran can be efficiently clustered into four technical and five economic clusters under optimal conditions. The clustering results prove that Iran is mainly a solar country with approximately 74% solar power fraction under optimum conditions. A macroeconomic evaluation using DaSOSaCa also reveals that the nominal discount rate is recommended to be greater than 20% considering the current economic situation for the renewable energy sector in Iran. An environmental analysis results show that an average 106.68 tonCO 2

Optimization by simulation of the nature of the buffer, the gap profile of the absorber and the thickness of the various layers in CZTSSe solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Chadel, Meriem; Chadel, Asma; Moustafa Bouzaki, Mohammed; Aillerie, Michel; Benyoucef, Boumediene; Charles, Jean-Pierre

2017-11-01

Performances of ZnO/ZnS/CZTSSe polycrystalline thin film solar cells (Copper Zinc Tin Sulphur Selenium-solar cell) were simulated for different thicknesses of the absorber and ZnS buffer layers. Simulations were performed with SCAPS (Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator) software, starting with actual parameters available from industrial data for commercial cells processing. The influences of the thickness of the various layers in the structure of the solar cell and the gap profile of the CZTSSe absorber layer on the performance of the solar cell were studied in detail. Through considerations of recent works, we discuss possible routes to enhance the performance of CZTSSe solar cells towards a higher efficiency level. Thus, we found that for one specific thickness of the absorber layer, the efficiency of the CZTSSe solar cell can be increased when a ZnS layer replaces the usual CdS buffer layer. On the other hand, the efficiency of the solar cell can be also improved when the absorber layer presents a grad-gap. In this case, the maximum efficiency for the CZTSSe cell was found equal to 13.73%.

Modelling, simulation and optimization of solarthermal systems in an object-oriented simulation environment; Modellierung, Simulation und Optimierung solarthermischer Anlagen in einer objektorientierten Simulationsumgebung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schrag, T.

2001-07-01

The simulation environment SMILE 1.0 and its new possibilities for modelling, simulating and optimising are described and demonstrated by three different examples of solarthermal aided energy supply systems. These examples have in common, that they deal with rather large systems and that they are all related to actual research projects. As the results obtained through the simulations have not only exemplary character but also represent new insights, their scientific background is given, too. The structure of the SMILE system is explained, where the concept of free software architecture enables extentability and adaption for special demands. The structuring of an object-oriented component library for solar- and building-models is shown and the advantages of object-orientation for modelling and validating are described. The integration of numerical optimization methods in the simulation environment allows automatic parameter studies and design calculations. To reduce the calculation time, different optimization strategies are studied as well as the reduction of the input weather data with neuronal nets. With this data reduction an acceleration for the design calculation of solar domestic hot water systems can be achieved, that leads in contrary to ordinary statistical methods to an acceptable accuracy. The examples differ not only in their relevance for the energy market, but also in the features of the simulationenvironment, they demonstrate. First large hot water buffer systems are studied. Two different designs for the discharging of a buffer are compared and it is shown, how object-orientation supports a gradual specification of the models for a detailed investigation of the heatexchangers. The parameters relevant for the discharging are numerically optimised and compared with the results of a paramter study. The focus of the second example is the combined examination of a multicomponent energy supply system and a building. The effects of thick insulation

Multijunction Solar Cell Technology for Mars Surface Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Stella, Paul M.; Mardesich, Nick; Ewell, Richard C.; Mueller, Robert L.; Endicter, Scott; Aiken, Daniel; Edmondson, Kenneth; Fetze, Chris

2006-01-01

Solar cells used for Mars surface applications have been commercial space qualified AM0 optimized devices. Due to the Martian atmosphere, these cells are not optimized for the Mars surface and as a result operate at a reduced efficiency. A multi-year program, MOST (Mars Optimized Solar Cell Technology), managed by JPL and funded by NASA Code S, was initiated in 2004, to develop tools to modify commercial AM0 cells for the Mars surface solar spectrum and to fabricate Mars optimized devices for verification. This effort required defining the surface incident spectrum, developing an appropriate laboratory solar simulator measurement capability, and to develop and test commercial cells modified for the Mars surface spectrum. This paper discusses the program, including results for the initial modified cells. Simulated Mars surface measurements of MER cells and Phoenix Lander cells (2007 launch) are provided to characterize the performance loss for those missions. In addition, the performance of the MER rover solar arrays is updated to reflect their more than two (2) year operation.

2D simulation and performance evaluation of bifacial rear local contact c-Si solar cells under variable illumination conditions

KAUST Repository

Katsaounis, Theodoros; Kotsovos, Konstantinos; Gereige, Issam; Al-Saggaf, Ahmed; Tzavaras, Athanasios

2017-01-01

A customized 2D computational tool has been developed to simulate bifacial rear local contact PERC type PV structures based on the numerical solution of the transport equations through the finite element method. Simulations were performed under various device material parameters and back contact geometry configurations in order to optimize bifacial solar cell performance under different simulated illumination conditions. Bifacial device maximum power output was also compared with the monofacial equivalent one and the industrial standard Al-BSF structure. The performance of the bifacial structure during highly diffused irradiance conditions commonly observed in the Middle East region due to high concentrations of airborne dust particles was also investigated. Simulation results demonstrated that such conditions are highly favorable for the bifacial device because of the significantly increased diffuse component of the solar radiation which enters the back cell surface.

2D simulation and performance evaluation of bifacial rear local contact c-Si solar cells under variable illumination conditions

KAUST Repository

Katsaounis, Theodoros

2017-09-18

A customized 2D computational tool has been developed to simulate bifacial rear local contact PERC type PV structures based on the numerical solution of the transport equations through the finite element method. Simulations were performed under various device material parameters and back contact geometry configurations in order to optimize bifacial solar cell performance under different simulated illumination conditions. Bifacial device maximum power output was also compared with the monofacial equivalent one and the industrial standard Al-BSF structure. The performance of the bifacial structure during highly diffused irradiance conditions commonly observed in the Middle East region due to high concentrations of airborne dust particles was also investigated. Simulation results demonstrated that such conditions are highly favorable for the bifacial device because of the significantly increased diffuse component of the solar radiation which enters the back cell surface.

Optimal heliocentric trajectories for solar sail with minimum area

Science.gov (United States)

Petukhov, Vyacheslav G.

2018-05-01

The fixed-time heliocentric trajectory optimization problem is considered for planar solar sail with minimum area. Necessary optimality conditions are derived, a numerical method for solving the problem is developed, and numerical examples of optimal trajectories to Mars, Venus and Mercury are presented. The dependences of the minimum area of the solar sail from the date of departure from the Earth, the time of flight and the departing hyperbolic excess of velocity are analyzed. In particular, for the rendezvous problem (approaching a target planet with zero relative velocity) with zero departing hyperbolic excess of velocity for a flight duration of 1200 days it was found that the minimum area-to-mass ratio should be about 12 m2/kg for trajectory to Venus, 23.5 m2/kg for the trajectory to Mercury and 25 m2/kg for trajectory to Mars.

Optimal control design for a solar greenhouse

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ooteghem, van R.J.C.

2007-01-01

The research of this thesis was part of a larger project aiming at the design of a greenhouse and an associated climate control that achieves optimal crop production with sustainable instead of fossil energy. This so called solar greenhouse design extends a conventional greenhouse with an improved

Optimization Design Method and Experimental Validation of a Solar PVT Cogeneration System Based on Building Energy Demand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Zhou

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Photovoltaic-thermal (PVT technology refers to the integration of a photovoltaic (PV and a conventional solar thermal collector, representing the deep exploitation and utilization of solar energy. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of a solar PVT cogeneration system based on specific building energy demand using theoretical modeling and experimental study. Through calculation and simulation, the dynamic heating load and electricity load is obtained as the basis of the system design. An analytical expression for the connection of PVT collector array is derived by using basic energy balance equations and thermal models. Based on analytical results, an optimized design method was carried out for the system. In addition, the fuzzy control method of frequency conversion circulating water pumps and pipeline switching by electromagnetic valves is introduced in this paper to maintain the system at an optimal working point. Meanwhile, an experimental setup is established, which includes 36 PVT collectors with every 6 PVT collectors connected in series. The thermal energy generation, thermal efficiency, power generation and photovoltaic efficiency have been given in this paper. The results demonstrate that the demonstration solar PVT cogeneration system can meet the building energy demand in the daytime in the heating season.

Numerical Simulation of a Solar Domestic Hot Water System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mongibello, L; Graditi, G; Bianco, N; Di Somma, M; Naso, V

2014-01-01

An innovative transient numerical model is presented for the simulation of a solar Domestic Hot Water (DHW) system. The solar collectors have been simulated by using a zerodimensional analytical model. The temperature distributions in the heat transfer fluid and in the water inside the tank have been evaluated by one-dimensional models. The reversion elimination algorithm has been used to include the effects of natural convection among the water layers at different heights in the tank on the thermal stratification. A finite difference implicit scheme has been implemented to solve the energy conservation equation in the coil heat exchanger, and the energy conservation equation in the tank has been solved by using the finite difference Euler implicit scheme. Energy conservation equations for the solar DHW components models have been coupled by means of a home-made implicit algorithm. Results of the simulation performed using as input data the experimental values of the ambient temperature and the solar irradiance in a summer day are presented and discussed

Numerical Simulation of a Solar Domestic Hot Water System

Science.gov (United States)

Mongibello, L.; Bianco, N.; Di Somma, M.; Graditi, G.; Naso, V.

2014-11-01

An innovative transient numerical model is presented for the simulation of a solar Domestic Hot Water (DHW) system. The solar collectors have been simulated by using a zerodimensional analytical model. The temperature distributions in the heat transfer fluid and in the water inside the tank have been evaluated by one-dimensional models. The reversion elimination algorithm has been used to include the effects of natural convection among the water layers at different heights in the tank on the thermal stratification. A finite difference implicit scheme has been implemented to solve the energy conservation equation in the coil heat exchanger, and the energy conservation equation in the tank has been solved by using the finite difference Euler implicit scheme. Energy conservation equations for the solar DHW components models have been coupled by means of a home-made implicit algorithm. Results of the simulation performed using as input data the experimental values of the ambient temperature and the solar irradiance in a summer day are presented and discussed.

Simulation of solar system in a house; Simulacion de un sistema solar en una vivienda unifamiliar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rey, F. J.; Velasco, E.; Herrero, R.; Varela, F.; Nunez, M. J.; Lopez, L. M.

2004-07-01

Building sustainable development make necessary the rational use of already existing Energy Resources and the use of the Renewable Energies as the Thermal Solar Energy. The technological advance of the last years has allowed the development and improvement of Solar Energy Systems. As today the Thermal Solar Energy is available technical and economically reducing the environmental impact. In the present work it has been developed a TRNSYS simulation of a thermal Solar System for Hot water consumption and Space Heating by radiant Flooring in a single house. The Thermal Solar installation Simulation allows the hour-by-hour system parameters treatment to determine the energy consumptions, yields, solar contribution etc. Also, it has been studied the Energy Qualification of the building by TRNSYS and the AEV methodology developed by the Termotecnia Department of Valladolid University ( UVA). (Author)

Daylight and solar control in buildings. General evaluation and optimization of a new angle selective glazing facade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frontini, Francesco

2011-07-01

Buildings account for almost 40% of the overall energy consumption in Europe. For the future energy scenarios, the building envelope, especially the facades, becomes really important as it provides the necessary area for the installation of PV modules or solar collectors to produce energy, using renewable energy sources. A new multifunctional building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) glazed facade for this application is presented here. The new angle-selective see through facade combines four important tasks in one element: solar control, glare protection, visual contact and electricity generation. Mathematical analysis and complex simulations with the software Radiance are performed to optimize the geometry and to assess the visual impact and optical properties of the new window. In order to evaluate the impact of the new facade in building spaces a new method for modelling the total solar energy transmittance, in building energy simulations software, for complex glazing facades is presented. The new black-box-model (BBM) is implemented into ESP-r software and is validated. The BBM is used to assess the impact of modelling accurately the g-value of complex facade within building simulation. It is shown that the new method can significantly increase the accuracy of heating/cooling loads and room temperatures. (orig.)

Geospatial Optimization of Siting Large-Scale Solar Projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macknick, Jordan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Quinby, Ted [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Caulfield, Emmet [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Gerritsen, Margot [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Diffendorfer, Jay [U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States); Haines, Seth [U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States)

2014-03-01

Recent policy and economic conditions have encouraged a renewed interest in developing large-scale solar projects in the U.S. Southwest. However, siting large-scale solar projects is complex. In addition to the quality of the solar resource, solar developers must take into consideration many environmental, social, and economic factors when evaluating a potential site. This report describes a proof-of-concept, Web-based Geographical Information Systems (GIS) tool that evaluates multiple user-defined criteria in an optimization algorithm to inform discussions and decisions regarding the locations of utility-scale solar projects. Existing siting recommendations for large-scale solar projects from governmental and non-governmental organizations are not consistent with each other, are often not transparent in methods, and do not take into consideration the differing priorities of stakeholders. The siting assistance GIS tool we have developed improves upon the existing siting guidelines by being user-driven, transparent, interactive, capable of incorporating multiple criteria, and flexible. This work provides the foundation for a dynamic siting assistance tool that can greatly facilitate siting decisions among multiple stakeholders.

Construction of Tungsten Halogen, Pulsed LED, and Combined Tungsten Halogen-LED Solar Simulators for Solar Cell I-V Characterization and Electrical Parameters Determination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anon Namin

2012-01-01

Full Text Available I-V characterization of solar cells is generally done under natural sunlight or solar simulators operating in either a continuous mode or a pulse mode. Simulators are classified on three features of irradiance, namely, spectral match with respect to air mass 1.5, spatial uniformity, and temporal stability. Commercial solar simulators use Xenon lamps and halogen lamps, whereas LED-based solar simulators are being developed. In this work, we build and test seven simulators for solar cell characterization, namely, one tungsten halogen simulator, four monochromatic (red, green, blue, and white LED simulators, one multicolor LED simulator, and one tungsten halogen-blue LED simulator. The seven simulators provide testing at nonstandard test condition. High irradiance from simulators is obtained by employing elevated supply voltage to tungsten halogen lamps and high pulsing voltages to LEDs. This new approach leads to higher irradiance not previously obtained from tungsten halogen lamps and LEDs. From I-V curves, electrical parameters of solar cell are made and corrected based on methods recommended in the IEC 60891 Standards. Corrected values obtained from non-STC measurements are in good agreement with those obtained from Class AAA solar simulator.

Potential of solar-simulator-pumped alexandrite lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Deyoung, Russell J.

1990-01-01

An attempt was made to pump an alexandrite laser rod using a Tamarak solar simulator and also a tungsten-halogen lamp. A very low optical laser cavity was used to achieve the threshold minimum pumping-power requirement. Lasing was not achieved. The laser threshold optical-power requirement was calculated to be approximately 626 W/sq cm for a gain length of 7.6 cm, whereas the Tamarak simulator produces 1150 W/sq cm over a gain length of 3.3 cm, which is less than the 1442 W/sq cm required to reach laser threshold. The rod was optically pulsed with 200 msec pulses, which allowed the alexandrite rod to operate at near room temperature. The optical intensity-gain-length product to achieve laser threshold should be approximately 35,244 solar constants-cm. In the present setup, this product was 28,111 solar constants-cm.

Thermoeconomic optimization of a combined-cycle solar tower power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spelling, James; Favrat, Daniel; Martin, Andrew; Augsburger, Germain

2012-01-01

A dynamic model of a pure-solar combined-cycle power plant has been developed in order to allow determination of the thermodynamic and economic performance of the plant for a variety of operating conditions and superstructure layouts. The model was then used for multi-objective thermoeconomic optimization of both the power plant performance and cost, using a population-based evolutionary algorithm. In order to examine the trade-offs that must be made, two conflicting objectives will be considered, namely minimal investment costs and minimal levelized electricity costs. It was shown that efficiencies in the region of 18–24% can be achieved, and this for levelized electricity costs in the region of 12–24 UScts/kWh e , depending on the magnitude of the initial investment, making the system competitive with current solar thermal technology. -- Highlights: ► Pure-solar combined-cycle studied using thermoeconomic tools. ► Multi-objective optimization conducted to determine Pareto-optimal power plant designs. ► Levelised costs between 12 and 24 UScts/kWhe predicted. ► Efficiencies between 18 and 24% predicted.

Thermodynamic performance analysis and optimization of a solar-assisted combined cooling, heating and power system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Jiangjiang; Lu, Yanchao; Yang, Ying; Mao, Tianzhi

2016-01-01

This study aims to present a thermodynamic performance analysis and to optimize the configurations of a hybrid combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) system incorporating solar energy and natural gas. A basic natural gas CCHP system containing a power generation unit, a heat recovery system, an absorption cooling system and a storage tank is integrated with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and/or a heat collector. Based on thermodynamic modeling, the thermodynamic performance, including energy and exergy efficiencies, under variable work conditions, such as electric load factor, solar irradiance and installation ratio, of the solar PV panels and heat collector is investigated and analyzed. The results of the energy supply side analysis indicate that the integration of solar PV into the CCHP system more efficiently improves the exergy efficiency, whereas the integration of a solar heat collector improves the energy efficiency. To match the building loads, the optimization method combined with the operation strategy is employed to optimize the system configurations to maximize the integrated benefits of energy and economic costs. The optimization results of demand–supply matching demonstrate that the integration of a solar heat collector achieves a better integrated performance than the solar PV integration in the specific case study. - Highlights: • Design a CCHP system integrated with solar PV and heat collector. • Present the energy and exergy analyses under variable work conditions. • Propose an optimization method of CCHP system for demand-supply matching.

A simulation study on the electrical structure of interdigitated back-contact silicon solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Min Gu; Song, Hee-eun; Kim, Soo Min; Kim, Donghwan

2015-05-01

In this paper, a simulation for interdigitated back-contact (IBC) silicon solar cells was performed by using Silvaco TCAD ATLAS to investigate the cell's electrical properties. The impacts of various parameters, including the depth of the front surface field(FSF), the FSF peak doping concentration, the depths of the emitter and the back surface field(BSF), the peak doping concentrations of the emitter and BSF, the base doping, and the bulk lifetime on the output characteristics like the light current-voltage curves and the internal quantum efficiency of the IBC solar cell, were investigated. The light absorption was determined by adjusting the antireflection coating and the Al thickness. The FSF must be thin and have a low doping concentration for high-efficiency IBC cells. If the conversion efficiency is to be improved, a thick emitter and a high doping concentration are needed. Because of the low resistivity of the Si substrate, the series resistance was reduced, but recombination was increased. With a high-resistivity Si substrate, the opposite trends were observed. By counter-balancing the series resistance and the recombination, we determined by simulation that the optimized resistivity for the IBC cells was 1 Ω·cm. Because all metal electrodes in the IBC cells are located on the back side, a higher minority carrier lifetime showed a higher efficiency. After the various parameters had been optimized, texturing and surface recombination were added into the simulation. The simulated IBC cells showed a short-circuit current density of 42.89 mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage of 714.8 mV, a fill factor of 84.04%, and a conversion efficiency of 25.77%.

Optimization of polarization compensating interlayers for InGaN/GaN MQW solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Saini, Basant; Sharma, Sugandha; Kaur, Ravinder; Pal, Suchandan; Kapoor, Avinashi

2018-05-01

Optimization of polarization compensating interlayer (PCI) is performed numerically to improve the photovoltaic properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well solar cell (MQWSC). Simulations are performed to investigate the effect of change in thickness and composition of PCI on the performance of cell. Short circuit current density is increased as we increase the thickness of the PCI. Changing the constitution of PCI not only mitigates the negative effects of polarization-induced electric fields but also reduces the high potential barrier existing at the QW/p-GaN hetero-interface. This claim is validated by the performance shown by the cell containing optimized PCI, as it shows an improved efficiency of 1.54 % under AM1.5G illumination.

3D Solar Null Point Reconnection MHD Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Baumann, G.; Galsgaard, K.; Nordlund, Å.

2013-06-01

Numerical MHD simulations of 3D reconnection events in the solar corona have improved enormously over the last few years, not only in resolution, but also in their complexity, enabling more and more realistic modeling. Various ways to obtain the initial magnetic field, different forms of solar atmospheric models as well as diverse driving speeds and patterns have been employed. This study considers differences between simulations with stratified and non-stratified solar atmospheres, addresses the influence of the driving speed on the plasma flow and energetics, and provides quantitative formulas for mapping electric fields and dissipation levels obtained in numerical simulations to the corresponding solar quantities. The simulations start out from a potential magnetic field containing a null-point, obtained from a Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) magnetogram magnetogram extrapolation approximately 8 hours before a C-class flare was observed. The magnetic field is stressed with a boundary motion pattern similar to - although simpler than - horizontal motions observed by SOHO during the period preceding the flare. The general behavior is nearly independent of the driving speed, and is also very similar in stratified and non-stratified models, provided only that the boundary motions are slow enough. The boundary motions cause a build-up of current sheets, mainly in the fan-plane of the magnetic null-point, but do not result in a flare-like energy release. The additional free energy required for the flare could have been partly present in non-potential form at the initial state, with subsequent additions from magnetic flux emergence or from components of the boundary motion that were not represented by the idealized driving pattern.

Thermodynamic and economic optimization of a solar-powered Stirling engine for micro-cogeneration purposes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferreira, Ana C.; Nunes, Manuel L.; Teixeira, José C.F.; Martins, Luís A.S.B.; Teixeira, Senhorinha F.C.F.

2016-01-01

Micro-cogeneration systems are a promising technology for improving the energy efficiency near the end user, allowing the optimal use of the primary energy sources and significant reductions in carbon emissions. Its use, still incipient, has a great potential for applications in the residential sector. This study aims to develop a methodology for the thermal-economic optimization of micro cogeneration units using Stirling engine as prime mover and concentrated solar energy as the heat source. The thermal-economic optimization was formulated considering the maximization of the annual worth from the system operation, subjected to the nonlinear thermodynamic and economic constraints. The physical model includes the limitations in the heat transfer processes and losses due to the pumping effects and the costing methodology was defined considering a purchase cost equation representative of each system component. Geometric and operational parameters were selected as decision variables. Numerical simulations were developed in MatLab"® programming language and the Generalized Pattern Search optimization algorithm with MADSPositiveBasis2N was used in the determination of the optimal solution. A positive annual worth for the defined input simulation conditions and the economic analysis disclosed a system, economically attractive, with a payback period of approximately 10 years. - Highlights: • Application of optimization methods to model a renewable powered Stirling engine. • The aim is to optimize design of each plant-component for the best economical outcome. • The objective function is the maximization of annual worth of micro-CHP system. • The optimal solution is sensitive to electricity feed-in-tariffs and fuel prices fluctuations. • The optimal solution is economically attractive, with a payback period of ≈10 years.

Material Technologies Developments for Solar Hydrogen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agrafiotis, C.; Pagkoura, C.; Lorentzou, S.; Hoguet, J.C.; Konstandopoulos, A.G.

2006-01-01

The present work presents recent activities of our Laboratory in the field of solar-aided hydrogen production materials and reactor technologies that can be fully integrated into solar thermal power plants. Emphasis is given on structured monolithic solar reactors where ceramic supports optimized to absorb solar radiation and develop sufficiently high temperatures, are coated with active materials to perform a variety of 'solar-aided' reactions such as water splitting or natural gas reforming. Particular examples discussed include properties'' assessment of monolithic ceramic honeycombs used as volumetric solar thermal reactors/receivers, synthesis of active water-splitting redox materials for the production of hydrogen and their tailored deposition upon porous supports and design, operation simulation and performance optimization of structured monolithic solar hydrogen production reactors. (authors)

An IBM PC-based math model for space station solar array simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Emanuel, E. M.

1986-01-01

This report discusses and documents the design, development, and verification of a microcomputer-based solar cell math model for simulating the Space Station's solar array Initial Operational Capability (IOC) reference configuration. The array model is developed utilizing a linear solar cell dc math model requiring only five input parameters: short circuit current, open circuit voltage, maximum power voltage, maximum power current, and orbit inclination. The accuracy of this model is investigated using actual solar array on orbit electrical data derived from the Solar Array Flight Experiment/Dynamic Augmentation Experiment (SAFE/DAE), conducted during the STS-41D mission. This simulator provides real-time simulated performance data during the steady state portion of the Space Station orbit (i.e., array fully exposed to sunlight). Eclipse to sunlight transients and shadowing effects are not included in the analysis, but are discussed briefly. Integrating the Solar Array Simulator (SAS) into the Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) subsystem is also discussed.

Modeling, simulation, and fabrication of a fully integrated, acid-stable, scalable solar-driven water-splitting system.

Science.gov (United States)

Walczak, Karl; Chen, Yikai; Karp, Christoph; Beeman, Jeffrey W; Shaner, Matthew; Spurgeon, Joshua; Sharp, Ian D; Amashukeli, Xenia; West, William; Jin, Jian; Lewis, Nathan S; Xiang, Chengxiang

2015-02-01

A fully integrated solar-driven water-splitting system comprised of WO3 /FTO/p(+) n Si as the photoanode, Pt/TiO2 /Ti/n(+) p Si as the photocathode, and Nafion as the membrane separator, was simulated, assembled, operated in 1.0 M HClO4 , and evaluated for performance and safety characteristics under dual side illumination. A multi-physics model that accounted for the performance of the photoabsorbers and electrocatalysts, ion transport in the solution electrolyte, and gaseous product crossover was first used to define the optimal geometric design space for the system. The photoelectrodes and the membrane separators were then interconnected in a louvered design system configuration, for which the light-absorbing area and the solution-transport pathways were simultaneously optimized. The performance of the photocathode and the photoanode were separately evaluated in a traditional three-electrode photoelectrochemical cell configuration. The photocathode and photoanode were then assembled back-to-back in a tandem configuration to provide sufficient photovoltage to sustain solar-driven unassisted water-splitting. The current-voltage characteristics of the photoelectrodes showed that the low photocurrent density of the photoanode limited the overall solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency due to the large band gap of WO3 . A hydrogen-production rate of 0.17 mL hr(-1) and a STH conversion efficiency of 0.24 % was observed in a full cell configuration for >20 h with minimal product crossover in the fully operational, intrinsically safe, solar-driven water-splitting system. The solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency, ηSTH , calculated using the multiphysics numerical simulation was in excellent agreement with the experimental behavior of the system. The value of ηSTH was entirely limited by the performance of the photoelectrochemical assemblies employed in this study. The louvered design provides a robust platform for implementation of various types of

Solar cooker effect test and temperature field simulation of radio telescope subreflector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Deshen; Wang, Huajie; Qian, Hongliang; Zhang, Gang; Shen, Shizhao

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Solar cooker effect test of a telescope subreflector is conducted for the first time. • The cause and temperature distribution regularities are analyzed contrastively. • Simulation methods are proposed using light beam segmentation and tracking methods. • The validity of simulation methods is evaluated using the test results. - Abstract: The solar cooker effect can cause a local high temperature of the subreflector and can directly affect the working performance of the radio telescope. To study the daily temperature field and solar cooker effect of a subreflector, experimental studies are carried out with a 3-m-diameter radio telescope model for the first time. Initially, the solar temperature distribution rules, especially the solar cooker effect, are summarized according to the field test results under the most unfavorable conditions. Then, a numerical simulation for the solar temperature field of the subreflector is studied by light beam segmentation and tracking methods. Finally, the validity of the simulation methods is evaluated using the test results. The experimental studies prove that the solar cooker effect really exists and should not be overlooked. In addition, simulation methods for the subreflector temperature field proposed in this paper are effective. The research methods and conclusions can provide valuable references for thermal design, monitoring and control of similar high-precision radio telescopes.

Seven Operation Modes and Simulation Models of Solar Heating System with PCM Storage Tank

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Zhao

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A physical model and dynamic simulation models of a solar phase-change heat storage heating system with a plate solar collector, phase-change material (PCM storage tank, plate heat exchanger, and auxiliary heat sources were established. A control strategy and numerical models for each of seven different operation modes that cover the entire heating season of the system were developed for the first time. The seven proposed operation modes are Mode 1: free cooling; Mode 2: reservation of heat absorbed by the solar collector in the PCM storage tank when there is no heating demand; Mode 3: direct supply of the heating demand by the solar collector; Mode 4: use of the heat absorbed by the solar collector to meet the heating demands, with the excess heat stored in the PCM storage tank; Mode 5: use of heat stored in the PCM storage tank to meet the heating demands, Mode 6: combined use of heat stored in the PCM storage tank and the auxiliary heating sources to meet the heating demands; and Mode 7: exclusive use of the auxiliary heat sources in order to meet the heating demands. Mathematical models were established for each of the above seven operation modes, taking into consideration the effects of the outdoor meteorological parameters and terminal load on the heating system. The real-time parameters for the entire heating season of the system with respect to the different operation modes can be obtained by solving the simulation models, and used as reference for the optimal design and operation of the actual system.

Modeling and optimization of a concentrated solar supercritical CO2 power plant

Science.gov (United States)

Osorio, Julian D.

Renewable energy sources are fundamental alternatives to supply the rising energy demand in the world and to reduce or replace fossil fuel technologies. In order to make renewable-based technologies suitable for commercial and industrial applications, two main challenges need to be solved: the design and manufacture of highly efficient devices and reliable systems to operate under intermittent energy supply conditions. In particular, power generation technologies based on solar energy are one of the most promising alternatives to supply the world energy demand and reduce the dependence on fossil fuel technologies. In this dissertation, the dynamic behavior of a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) supercritical CO2 cycle is studied under different seasonal conditions. The system analyzed is composed of a central receiver, hot and cold thermal energy storage units, a heat exchanger, a recuperator, and multi-stage compression-expansion subsystems with intercoolers and reheaters between compressors and turbines respectively. The effects of operating and design parameters on the system performance are analyzed. Some of these parameters are the mass flow rate, intermediate pressures, number of compression-expansion stages, heat exchangers' effectiveness, multi-tank thermal energy storage, overall heat transfer coefficient between the solar receiver and the environment and the effective area of the recuperator. Energy and exergy models for each component of the system are developed to optimize operating parameters in order to lead to maximum efficiency. From the exergy analysis, the components with high contribution to exergy destruction were identified. These components, which represent an important potential of improvement, are the recuperator, the hot thermal energy storage tank and the solar receiver. Two complementary alternatives to improve the efficiency of concentrated solar thermal systems are proposed in this dissertation: the optimization of the system's operating

Solar Collector Design Optimization: A Hands-on Project Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Birnie, Dunbar P., III; Kaz, David M.; Berman, Elena A.

2012-01-01

A solar power collector optimization design project has been developed for use in undergraduate classrooms and/or laboratories. The design optimization depends on understanding the current-voltage characteristics of the starting photovoltaic cells as well as how the cell's electrical response changes with increased light illumination. Students…

Thermal analysis and performance optimization of a solar hot water plant with economic evaluation

KAUST Repository

Kim, Youngdeuk

2012-05-01

The main objective of this study is to optimize the long-term performance of an existing active-indirect solar hot water plant (SHWP), which supplies hot water at 65 °C for use in a flight kitchen, using a micro genetic algorithm in conjunction with a relatively detailed model of each component in the plant and solar radiation model based on the measured data. The performance of SHWP at Changi International Airport Services (CIASs), Singapore, is studied for better payback period using the monthly average hourly diffuse and beam radiations and ambient temperature data. The data input for solar radiation model is obtained from the Singapore Meteorological Service (SMS), and these data have been compared with long-term average data of NASA (surface meteorology and solar energy or SSE). The comparison shows a good agreement between the predicted and measured hourly-averaged, horizontal global radiation. The SHWP at CIAS, which comprises 1200m 2 of evacuated-tube collectors, 50m 3 water storage tanks and a gas-fired auxiliary boiler, is first analyzed using a baseline configuration, i.e., (i) the local solar insolation input, (ii) a coolant flow rate through the headers of collector based on ASHRAE standards, (iii) a thermal load demand pattern amounting to 100m 3/day, and (iv) the augmentation of water temperature by auxiliary when the supply temperature from solar tank drops below the set point. A comparison between the baseline configuration and the measured performance of CIAS plant gives reasonably good validation of the simulation code. Optimization is further carried out for the following parameters, namely; (i) total collector area of the plant, (ii) storage volume, and (iii) three daily thermal demands. These studies are performed for both the CIAS plant and a slightly modified plant where the hot water supply to the load is adjusted constant at times when the water temperature from tank may exceed the set temperature. It is found that the latter

Thermal analysis and performance optimization of a solar hot water plant with economic evaluation

KAUST Repository

Kim, Youngdeuk; Thu, Kyaw; Bhatia, Hitasha Kaur; Bhatia, Charanjit Singh; Ng, K. C.

2012-01-01

The main objective of this study is to optimize the long-term performance of an existing active-indirect solar hot water plant (SHWP), which supplies hot water at 65 °C for use in a flight kitchen, using a micro genetic algorithm in conjunction with a relatively detailed model of each component in the plant and solar radiation model based on the measured data. The performance of SHWP at Changi International Airport Services (CIASs), Singapore, is studied for better payback period using the monthly average hourly diffuse and beam radiations and ambient temperature data. The data input for solar radiation model is obtained from the Singapore Meteorological Service (SMS), and these data have been compared with long-term average data of NASA (surface meteorology and solar energy or SSE). The comparison shows a good agreement between the predicted and measured hourly-averaged, horizontal global radiation. The SHWP at CIAS, which comprises 1200m 2 of evacuated-tube collectors, 50m 3 water storage tanks and a gas-fired auxiliary boiler, is first analyzed using a baseline configuration, i.e., (i) the local solar insolation input, (ii) a coolant flow rate through the headers of collector based on ASHRAE standards, (iii) a thermal load demand pattern amounting to 100m 3/day, and (iv) the augmentation of water temperature by auxiliary when the supply temperature from solar tank drops below the set point. A comparison between the baseline configuration and the measured performance of CIAS plant gives reasonably good validation of the simulation code. Optimization is further carried out for the following parameters, namely; (i) total collector area of the plant, (ii) storage volume, and (iii) three daily thermal demands. These studies are performed for both the CIAS plant and a slightly modified plant where the hot water supply to the load is adjusted constant at times when the water temperature from tank may exceed the set temperature. It is found that the latter

A solar simulator-pumped atomic iodine laser

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, J. H.; Weaver, W. R.

1981-01-01

An atomic iodine laser, a candidate for the direct solar-pumped gas laser, was excited with a 4-kW beam from a xenon arc solar simulator. Continuous lasing at 1.315 micron for over 10 ms was obtained for static filling of n-C3F7I vapor. By momentarily flowing the lasant, a 30-Hz pulsed output was obtained for about 200 ms. The peak laser power observed was 4 W for which the system efficiency reached 0.1%. These results indicate that direct solar pumping of a gas laser for power conversion in space is indeed feasible.

Solar cooling. Dynamic computer simulations and parameter variations; Solare Kuehlung. Dynamische Rechnersimulationen und Parametervariationen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adam, Mario; Lohmann, Sandra [Fachhochschule Duesseldorf (Germany). E2 - Erneuerbare Energien und Energieeffizienz

2011-05-15

The research project 'Solar cooling in the Hardware-in-the-Loop-Test' is funded by the BMBF and deals with the modeling of a pilot plant for solar cooling with the 17.5 kW absorption chiller of Yazaki in the simulation environment of MATLAB/ Simulink with the toolboxes Stateflow and CARNOT. Dynamic simulations and parameter variations according to the work-efficient methodology of design of experiments are used to select meaningful system configurations, control strategies and dimensioning of the components. The results of these simulations will be presented and a view of the use of acquired knowledge for the planned laboratory field tests on a hardware-in-the-loop test stand will be given. (orig.)

Optimal placement and decentralized robust vibration control for spacecraft smart solar panel structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Jian-ping; Li, Dong-xu

2010-01-01

The decentralized robust vibration control with collocated piezoelectric actuator and strain sensor pairs is considered in this paper for spacecraft solar panel structures. Each actuator is driven individually by the output of the corresponding sensor so that only local feedback control is implemented, with each actuator, sensor and controller operating independently. Firstly, an optimal placement method for the location of the collocated piezoelectric actuator and strain gauge sensor pairs is developed based on the degree of observability and controllability indices for solar panel structures. Secondly, a decentralized robust H ∞ controller is designed to suppress the vibration induced by external disturbance. Finally, a numerical comparison between centralized and decentralized control systems is performed in order to investigate their effectiveness to suppress vibration of the smart solar panel. The simulation results show that the vibration can be significantly suppressed with permitted actuator voltages by the controllers. The decentralized control system almost has the same disturbance attenuation level as the centralized control system with a bit higher control voltages. More importantly, the decentralized controller composed of four three-order systems is a better practical implementation than a high-order centralized controller is

Optimization of a 5 kW solar powered alpha stirling engine using Powell's method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shamekhi, A. [Numeric Method Development Co., Shemiranat, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Aliabadi, A. [MAPNA Group, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2010-08-13

Many types of Stirling engines have been built in a variety of forms and sizes since its invention in 1816. The Stirling engine offers maximum efficiency; maximum power; and minimum costs. In this study, a solar powered alpha Stirling engine was simulated using a second order method. The paper presented the governing equations, including conservation of mass; pressure losses inside the heat exchangers; pressure losses inside the regenerator; and heat transfer in the heat exchangers. Methods to optimize the parameters in order to improve engine efficiency were also discussed. The study showed that the geometric parameter of the engine influences engine performance considerably. After 20 iterations of Powell's method for engine optimization, the engine performance was optimized to the value of 25.4 percent. 18 refs., 2 tabs., 8 figs.

An MHD simulation model of time-dependent global solar corona with temporally varying solar-surface magnetic field maps

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashi, K.

2013-11-01

We present a model of a time-dependent three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulation of the sub-Alfvenic solar corona and super-Alfvenic solar wind with temporally varying solar-surface boundary magnetic field data. To (i) accommodate observational data with a somewhat arbitrarily evolving solar photospheric magnetic field as the boundary value and (ii) keep the divergence-free condition, we developed a boundary model, here named Confined Differential Potential Field model, that calculates the horizontal components of the magnetic field, from changes in the vertical component, as a potential field confined in a thin shell. The projected normal characteristic method robustly simulates the solar corona and solar wind, in response to the temporal variation of the boundary Br. We conduct test MHD simulations for two periods, from Carrington Rotation number 2009 to 2010 and from Carrington Rotation 2074 to 2075 at solar maximum and minimum of Cycle 23, respectively. We obtained several coronal features that a fixed boundary condition cannot yield, such as twisted magnetic field lines at the lower corona and the transition from an open-field coronal hole to a closed-field streamer. We also obtained slight improvements of the interplanetary magnetic field, including the latitudinal component, at Earth.

Scaled model guidelines for solar coronagraphs' external occulters with an optimized shape.

Science.gov (United States)

Landini, Federico; Baccani, Cristian; Schweitzer, Hagen; Asoubar, Daniel; Romoli, Marco; Taccola, Matteo; Focardi, Mauro; Pancrazzi, Maurizio; Fineschi, Silvano

2017-12-01

One of the major challenges faced by externally occulted solar coronagraphs is the suppression of the light diffracted by the occulter edge. It is a contribution to the stray light that overwhelms the coronal signal on the focal plane and must be reduced by modifying the geometrical shape of the occulter. There is a rich literature, mostly experimental, on the appropriate choice of the most suitable shape. The problem arises when huge coronagraphs, such as those in formation flight, shall be tested in a laboratory. A recent contribution [Opt. Lett.41, 757 (2016)OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.41.000757] provides the guidelines for scaling the geometry and replicate in the laboratory the flight diffraction pattern as produced by the whole solar disk and a flight occulter but leaves the conclusion on the occulter scale law somehow unjustified. This paper provides the numerical support for validating that conclusion and presents the first-ever simulation of the diffraction behind an occulter with an optimized shape along the optical axis with the solar disk as a source. This paper, together with Opt. Lett.41, 757 (2016)OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.41.000757, aims at constituting a complete guide for scaling the coronagraphs' geometry.

Photonic Nanostructures Design and Optimization for Solar Cell Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian Liu

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a semiconducting photonic nanostructure capable of wide range absorption and tunable optical resonance has been designed with a proposed theoretical optimization model. The design consists of ZnO/CdS core-shell nanowire arrays as well as multilayer thin films that act to absorb incident electromagnetic (EM waves over a broad frequency range. Theoretical, as well as numerical, studies of the nanostructure inside a solar cell plate have been conducted in order to validate the proposed microstructural design. Excellent energy absorption rates of EM waves have been achieved in the high frequency range by using the optical resonance of the nanowire array. By combining multilayer thin film with the core-shell nanowire in the unit cell of a photonic solar cell, a broadband high absorption has been achieved. Moreover, the geometry of the proposed photonic nanostructure is obtained through the implementation of a genetic algorithm. This avoids local minima and an optimized absorption rate of ~90% over the frequency range of 300 to 750 THz has been obtained in the solar cell.

Design of DSP-based high-power digital solar array simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yang; Liu, Zhilong; Tong, Weichao; Feng, Jian; Ji, Yibo

2013-12-01

To satisfy rigid performance specifications, a feedback control was presented for zoom optical lens plants. With the increasing of global energy consumption, research of the photovoltaic(PV) systems get more and more attention. Research of the digital high-power solar array simulator provides technical support for high-power grid-connected PV systems research.This paper introduces a design scheme of the high-power digital solar array simulator based on TMS320F28335. A DC-DC full-bridge topology was used in the system's main circuit. The switching frequency of IGBT is 25kHz.Maximum output voltage is 900V. Maximum output current is 20A. Simulator can be pre-stored solar panel IV curves.The curve is composed of 128 discrete points .When the system was running, the main circuit voltage and current values was feedback to the DSP by the voltage and current sensors in real-time. Through incremental PI,DSP control the simulator in the closed-loop control system. Experimental data show that Simulator output voltage and current follow a preset solar panels IV curve. In connection with the formation of high-power inverter, the system becomes gridconnected PV system. The inverter can find the simulator's maximum power point and the output power can be stabilized at the maximum power point (MPP).

Simulation of an adsorption solar cooling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassan, H.Z.; Mohamad, A.A.; Bennacer, R.

2011-01-01

A more realistic theoretical simulation model for a tubular solar adsorption refrigerating system using activated carbon-methanol (AC/M) pair has been introduced. The mathematical model represents the heat and mass transfer inside the adsorption bed, the condenser, and the evaporator. The simulation technique takes into account the variations of ambient temperature and solar radiation along the day. Furthermore, the local pressure, and local thermal conductivity variations in space and time inside the tubular reactor are investigated as well. A C++ computer program is written to solve the proposed numerical model using the finite difference method. The developed program covers the operations of all the system components along the cycle time. The performance of the tubular reactor, the condenser, and the evaporator has been discussed. Time allocation chart and switching operations for the solar refrigeration system processes are illustrated as well. The case studied has a 1 m 2 surface area solar flat plate collector integrated with a 20 stainless steel tubes containing the AC/M pair and each tube has a 5 cm outer diameter. In addition, the condenser pressure is set to 54.2 kpa. It has been found that, the solar coefficient of performance and the specific cooling power of the system are 0.211 and 2.326 respectively. In addition, the pressure distribution inside the adsorption bed has been found nearly uniform and varying only with time. Furthermore, the AC/M thermal conductivity is shown to be constant in both space and time.

Optimal Solar PV Arrays Integration for Distributed Generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Omitaomu, Olufemi A [ORNL; Li, Xueping [University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK)

2012-01-01

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems hold great potential for distributed energy generation by installing PV panels on rooftops of residential and commercial buildings. Yet challenges arise along with the variability and non-dispatchability of the PV systems that affect the stability of the grid and the economics of the PV system. This paper investigates the integration of PV arrays for distributed generation applications by identifying a combination of buildings that will maximize solar energy output and minimize system variability. Particularly, we propose mean-variance optimization models to choose suitable rooftops for PV integration based on Markowitz mean-variance portfolio selection model. We further introduce quantity and cardinality constraints to result in a mixed integer quadratic programming problem. Case studies based on real data are presented. An efficient frontier is obtained for sample data that allows decision makers to choose a desired solar energy generation level with a comfortable variability tolerance level. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to show the tradeoffs between solar PV energy generation potential and variability.

Techno-economic optimization for the design of solar chimney power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, Babkir

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Chimney height and collector area of different designs were optimized. • Simple actual and minimum payback periods were developed. • Comparative assessment was conducted for different designs configuration. • Effects of uncertain parameters on the payback period were studied. - Abstract: This paper aims to propose a methodology for optimization of solar chimney power plants taking into account the techno-economic parameters. The indicator used for optimization is the comparison between the actual achieved simple payback period for the design and the minimum possible (optimum) simple payback period as a reference. An optimization model was executed for different twelve designs in the range 5–200 MW to cover reinforced concrete chimney, sloped collector, and floating chimney. The height of the chimney was optimized and the associated collector area was calculated accordingly. Relationships between payback periods, electricity price, and the peak power capacity of each power plant were developed. The resulted payback periods for the floating chimney power plants were the shortest compared to the other studied designs. For a solar chimney power plant with 100 MW at electricity price 0.10 USD/kWh, the simple payback period for the reference case was 4.29 years for floating chimney design compared to 23.47 and 16.88 years for reinforced concrete chimney and sloped collector design, respectively. After design optimization for 100 MW power plant of each of reinforced concrete, sloped collector, and floating chimney, a save of 19.63, 2.22, and 2.24 million USD, respectively from the initial cost of the reference case is achieved. Sensitivity analysis was conducted in this study to evaluate the impacts of varied running cost, solar radiation, and electricity price on the payback periods of solar chimney power plant. Floating chimney design is still performing after applying the highest ratio of annual running cost to the annual revenue. The

Theoretical simulation of small scale psychometric solar water desalination system in semi-arid region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shatat, Mahmoud; Omer, Siddig; Gillott, Mark; Riffat, Saffa

2013-01-01

Many countries around the world suffer from water scarcity. This is especially true in remote and semi-arid regions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) where per capita water supplies decline as populations increase. This paper presents the results of a theoretical simulation of an affordable small scale solar water desalination plant using the psychometric humidification and dehumidification process coupled with an evacuated tube solar collector with an area of about 2 m 2 . A mathematical model was developed to describe the system's operation. Then a computer program using Simulink Matlab software was developed to provide the governing equations for the theoretical calculations of the humidification and dehumidification processes. The experimental and theoretical values for the total daily distillate output were found to be closely correlated. After the experimental calibration of the mathematical model, a model simulating solar radiation under the climatic conditions in the Middle East region proved that the performance of the system could be improved to produce a considerably higher amount of fresh water, namely up to 17.5 kg/m 2 day. This work suggests that utilizing the concept of humidification and dehumidification, a compact water desalination unit coupled with solar collectors would significantly increase the potable water supply in remote area. It could be a unique solution of water shortages in such areas. -- Highlights: • An affordable small scale desalination system is proposed. • A mathematical model of the desalination system is developed and programmed using Matlab Simulink. • The model describes the psychometric process based on humidification and dehumidification. • The model is used in optimal selection of elements and operating conditions for solar desalination system. • The use of solar water desalination contributes significantly to reducing global warming

Simulated Space Environment Effects on a Candidate Solar Sail Material

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Jin Ho; Bryant, Robert G.; Wilkie, W. Keats; Wadsworth, Heather M.; Craven, Paul D.; Nehls, Mary K.; Vaughn, Jason A.

2017-01-01

For long duration missions of solar sails, the sail material needs to survive harsh space environments and the degradation of the sail material controls operational lifetime. Therefore, understanding the effects of the space environment on the sail membrane is essential for mission success. In this study, we investigated the effect of simulated space environment effects of ionizing radiation, thermal aging and simulated potential damage on mechanical, thermal and optical properties of a commercial off the shelf (COTS) polyester solar sail membrane to assess the degradation mechanisms on a feasible solar sail. The solar sail membrane was exposed to high energy electrons (about 70 keV and 10 nA/cm2), and the physical properties were characterized. After about 8.3 Grad dose, the tensile modulus, tensile strength and failure strain of the sail membrane decreased by about 20 95%. The aluminum reflective layer was damaged and partially delaminated but it did not show any significant change in solar absorbance or thermal emittance. The effect on mechanical properties of a pre-cracked sample, simulating potential impact damage of the sail membrane, as well as thermal aging effects on metallized PEN (polyethylene naphthalate) film will be discussed.

Thermo-economic design optimization of parabolic trough solar plants for industrial process heat applications with memetic algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, R.; Berenguel, M.; Pérez, M.; Fernández-Garcia, A.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A thermo-economic optimization of a parabolic-trough solar plant for industrial process heat applications is developed. • An analysis of the influence of economic cost functions on optimal design point location is presented. • A multi-objective optimization approach to the design routine is proposed. • A sensitivity analysis of the optimal point location to economic, operational, and ambient conditions is developed. • Design optimization of a parabolic trough plant for a reference industrial application is developed. - Abstract: A thermo-economic design optimization of a parabolic trough solar plant for industrial processes with memetic algorithms is developed. The design domain variables considered in the optimization routine are the number of collectors in series, number of collector rows, row spacing, and storage volume. Life cycle savings, levelized cost of energy, and payback time objective functions are compared to study the influence on optimal design point location. Furthermore a multi-objective optimization approach is proposed to analyze the design problem from a multi-economic criteria point of view. An extensive set of optimization cases are performed to estimate the influence of fuel price trend, plant location, demand profile, operation conditions, solar field orientation, and radiation uncertainty on optimal design. The results allow quantifying as thermo-economic design optimization based on short term criteria as the payback time leads to smaller plants with higher solar field efficiencies and smaller solar fractions, while the consideration of optimization criteria based on long term performance of the plants, as life cycle savings based optimization, leads to the reverse conclusion. The role of plant location and future evolution of gas prices in the thermo-economic performance of the solar plant has been also analyzed. Thermo-economic optimization of a parabolic trough solar plant design for the reference industrial

Towards Optimal PDE Simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keyes, David

2009-01-01

The Terascale Optimal PDE Solvers (TOPS) Integrated Software Infrastructure Center (ISIC) was created to develop and implement algorithms and support scientific investigations performed by DOE-sponsored researchers. These simulations often involve the solution of partial differential equations (PDEs) on terascale computers. The TOPS Center researched, developed and deployed an integrated toolkit of open-source, optimal complexity solvers for the nonlinear partial differential equations that arise in many DOE application areas, including fusion, accelerator design, global climate change and reactive chemistry. The algorithms created as part of this project were also designed to reduce current computational bottlenecks by orders of magnitude on terascale computers, enabling scientific simulation on a scale heretofore impossible.

Terascale Optimal PDE Simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David Keyes

2009-07-28

The Terascale Optimal PDE Solvers (TOPS) Integrated Software Infrastructure Center (ISIC) was created to develop and implement algorithms and support scientific investigations performed by DOE-sponsored researchers. These simulations often involve the solution of partial differential equations (PDEs) on terascale computers. The TOPS Center researched, developed and deployed an integrated toolkit of open-source, optimal complexity solvers for the nonlinear partial differential equations that arise in many DOE application areas, including fusion, accelerator design, global climate change and reactive chemistry. The algorithms created as part of this project were also designed to reduce current computational bottlenecks by orders of magnitude on terascale computers, enabling scientific simulation on a scale heretofore impossible.

Optimization of pharmaceutical wastewater treatment by solar/ferrioxalate photo-catalysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Monteagudo, J M; Durán, A; Culebradas, R; San Martín, I; Carnicer, A

2013-10-15

The degradation of a pharmaceutical wastewater using a ferrioxalate-assisted solar/photo-Fenton system has been studied. The photochemical reaction was carried out in a pilot plant consisting of a compound parabolic collector (CPC) solar reactor. An optimization study was performed combining a multivariate experimental design and Neuronal Networks that included the following variables: initial concentrations of H2O2, catalyst Fe (II) and oxalic acid (H2C2O4), temperature and solar power. Under optimal conditions, 84% TOC (Total Organic Carbon) removal was achieved in 115 min. Oxalic acid had a positive effect on mineralization when solar power was above 30 W m(-2). The minimum amount of H2O2 to degrade 1 mol of TOC was found to be 3.57 mol. Both the H2O2 conversion efficiency and the degree of mineralization were highest when the oxalic/Fe(II) initial molar relation was close to 3. HO radicals were the main oxidative intermediate species in the process, although hydroperoxyl radicals (HO(2)(·)) also played a role. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Retrofitting Conventional Electric Domestic Hot Water Heaters to Solar Water Heating Systems in Single-Family Houses—Model Validation and Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis R. Bernardo

2013-02-01

Full Text Available System cost reductions and development of standardised plug-and-function systems are some of the most important goals for solar heating technology development. Retrofitting hot water boilers in single-family houses when installing solar collectors has the potential to significantly reduce both material and installation costs. In this study, the TRNSYS simulation models of the retrofitting solar thermal system were validated against measurements. Results show that the validated models are in good agreement with measurements. On an annual basis a deviation of 2.5% out of 1099 kWh was obtained between the auxiliary energy from results and from the simulation model for a complete system. Using the validated model a system optimization was carried out with respect to control strategies for auxiliary heating, heat losses and volume of auxiliary storage. A sensitivity analysis was carried out regarding different volumes of retrofitted hot water boiler, DHW profiles and climates. It was estimated that, with adequate improvements, extended annual solar fractions of 60%, 78% and 81% can be achieved for Lund (Sweden, Lisbon (Portugal and Lusaka (Zambia, respectively. The correspondent collector area was 6, 4 and 3 m2, respectively. The studied retrofitted system achieves a comparable performance with conventional solar thermal systems with the potential to reduce the investment cost.

Design issues for optimum solar cell configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Atul; Thakur, Ajay D.

2018-05-01

A computer based simulation of solar cell structure is performed to study the optimization of pn junction configuration for photovoltaic action. The fundamental aspects of photovoltaic action viz, absorption, separation collection, and their dependence on material properties and deatails of device structures is discussed. Using SCAPS 1D we have simulated the ideal pn junction and shown the effect of band offset and carrier densities on solar cell performance. The optimum configuration can be achieved by optimizing transport of carriers in pn junction under effect of field dependent recombination (tunneling) and density dependent recombination (SRH, Auger) mechanisms.

Vertical bifacial solar farms: Physics, design, and global optimization

KAUST Repository

Khan, M. Ryyan

2017-09-04

There have been sustained interest in bifacial solar cell technology since 1980s, with prospects of 30–50% increase in the output power from a stand-alone panel. Moreover, a vertical bifacial panel reduces dust accumulation and provides two output peaks during the day, with the second peak aligned to the peak electricity demand. Recent commercialization and anticipated growth of bifacial panel market have encouraged a closer scrutiny of the integrated power-output and economic viability of bifacial solar farms, where mutual shading will erode some of the anticipated energy gain associated with an isolated, single panel. Towards that goal, in this paper we focus on geography-specific optimization of ground-mounted vertical bifacial solar farms for the entire world. For local irradiance, we combine the measured meteorological data with the clear-sky model. In addition, we consider the effects of direct, diffuse, and albedo light. We assume the panel is configured into sub-strings with bypass-diodes. Based on calculated light collection and panel output, we analyze the optimum farm design for maximum yearly output at any given location in the world. Our results predict that, regardless of the geographical location, a vertical bifacial farm will yield 10–20% more energy than a traditional monofacial farm for a practical row-spacing of 2 m (corresponding to 1.2 m high panels). With the prospect of additional 5–20% energy gain from reduced soiling and tilt optimization, bifacial solar farm do offer a viable technology option for large-scale solar energy generation.

Modeling and simulation of a solar power source at 3kW for a clean energy without pollution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louzazni M.

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The air pollution was much worse, and it became necessary to replace the fossil energy sources by the renewable energies. The causes are related to reserves that can be exhausted, to pollution and their impacts on the environment. Production of toxic gases from the combustion of coal for the effect of increasing the temperature of the earth. Solar energy is a clean and inexhaustible excellent alternative. We propose a modeling and simulation of a solar system consists of a photovoltaic generator (PVG, a boost chopper, to supply a telecommunications relay station (BTS, According to the load characteristics (I = 60A, V = 48V DC (3 kW. A stage adaptation composed of this chopper controlled by a PWM controller (Pulse Width Modulation is used to control the optimal operating point (MPPT and optimize system performance using Matlab / Simulink.

Design and optimization of zero-energy-consumption based solar energy residential building systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, D. L.; Yu, L. J.; Tan, H. W.

2017-11-01

Energy consumption of residential buildings has grown fast in recent years, thus raising a challenge on zero energy residential building (ZERB) systems, which aim at substantially reducing energy consumption of residential buildings. Thus, how to facilitate ZERB has become a hot but difficult topic. In the paper, we put forward the overall design principle of ZERB based on analysis of the systems’ energy demand. In particular, the architecture for both schematic design and passive technology is optimized and both energy simulation analysis and energy balancing analysis are implemented, followed by committing the selection of high-efficiency appliance and renewable energy sources for ZERB residential building. In addition, Chinese classical residential building has been investigated in the proposed case, in which several critical aspects such as building optimization, passive design, PV panel and HVAC system integrated with solar water heater, Phase change materials, natural ventilation, etc., have been taken into consideration.

Theoretical modeling and optimization of III-V GaInP/GaAs/Ge monolithic triple-junction solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leem, Jung Woo; Yu, Jae Su; Kim, Jong Nam; Noh, Sam Kyu

2014-01-01

We design and optimize monolithic III-V GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple-junction (TJ) solar cells by using a commercial software Silvaco ATLAS simulator to obtain the maximum short-circuit current density J sc . The maximum J sc , which is a current matching value between the GaInP top and GaAs middle subcells, can be determined by varying the base thicknesses of the GaInP top and GaAs middle subcells. From the numerical simulation results, a matched maximum J sc value of 13.92 mA/cm 2 is obtained at base thicknesses of 0.57 μm and 3 μm for the GaInP top and GaAs middle subcells, respectively, under 1-sun air mass 1.5 global spectrum illumination, leading to a high power conversion efficiency of 30.72%. The open-circuit voltage and the fill factor are 2.55 V and 86.55%, respectively. For the optimized cell structure, the external quantum efficiency and the photogeneration rate distributions are also investigated. To obtain efficient antireflection coatings (ARCs), we perform optical reflectance calculations by using a rigorous coupled-wave analysis method. For this, a silicon oxide/titanium oxide double-layer is used as an ARC on the TJ solar cell.

Theoretical modeling and optimization of III-V GaInP/GaAs/Ge monolithic triple-junction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leem, Jung Woo; Yu, Jae Su [Kyung Hee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jong Nam [Pukyung National University, Pusan (Korea, Republic of); Noh, Sam Kyu [Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

We design and optimize monolithic III-V GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple-junction (TJ) solar cells by using a commercial software Silvaco ATLAS simulator to obtain the maximum short-circuit current density J{sub sc}. The maximum J{sub sc}, which is a current matching value between the GaInP top and GaAs middle subcells, can be determined by varying the base thicknesses of the GaInP top and GaAs middle subcells. From the numerical simulation results, a matched maximum J{sub sc} value of 13.92 mA/cm{sup 2} is obtained at base thicknesses of 0.57 μm and 3 μm for the GaInP top and GaAs middle subcells, respectively, under 1-sun air mass 1.5 global spectrum illumination, leading to a high power conversion efficiency of 30.72%. The open-circuit voltage and the fill factor are 2.55 V and 86.55%, respectively. For the optimized cell structure, the external quantum efficiency and the photogeneration rate distributions are also investigated. To obtain efficient antireflection coatings (ARCs), we perform optical reflectance calculations by using a rigorous coupled-wave analysis method. For this, a silicon oxide/titanium oxide double-layer is used as an ARC on the TJ solar cell.

Multi-objective Optimization of a Solar Humidification Dehumidification Desalination Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Rafigh, M.; Mirzaeian, M.; Najafi, B.; Rinaldi, F.; Marchesi, R.

2017-11-01

In the present paper, a humidification-dehumidification desalination unit integrated with solar system is considered. In the first step mathematical model of the whole plant is represented. Next, taking into account the logical constraints, the performance of the system is optimized. On one hand it is desired to have higher energetic efficiency, while on the other hand, higher efficiency results in an increment in the required area for each subsystem which consequently leads to an increase in the total cost of the plant. In the present work, the optimum solution is achieved when the specific energy of the solar heater and also the areas of humidifier and dehumidifier are minimized. Due to the fact that considered objective functions are in conflict, conventional optimization methods are not applicable. Hence, multi objective optimization using genetic algorithm which is an efficient tool for dealing with problems with conflicting objectives has been utilized and a set of optimal solutions called Pareto front each of which is a tradeoff between the mentioned objectives is generated.

Optimization of low temperature solar thermal electric generation with Organic Rankine Cycle in different areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jing, Li; Gang, Pei; Jie, Ji

2010-01-01

The presented low temperature solar thermal electric generation system mainly consists of compound parabolic concentrators (CPC) and the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) working with HCFC-123. A novel design is proposed to reduce heat transfer irreversibility between conduction oil and HCFC-123 in the heat exchangers while maintaining the stability of electricity output. Mathematical formulations are developed to study the heat transfer and energy conversion processes and the numerical simulation is carried out based on distributed parameters. Annual performances of the proposed system in different areas of Canberra, Singapore, Bombay, Lhasa, Sacramento and Berlin are simulated. The influences of the collector tilt angle adjustment, the connection between the heat exchangers and the CPC collectors, and the ORC evaporation temperature on the system performance are investigated. The results indicate that the three factors have a major impact on the annual electricity output and should be the key points of optimization. And the optimized system shows that: (1) The annual received direct irradiance can be significantly increased by two or three times optimal adjustments even when the CPC concentration ratio is smaller than 3.0. (2) Compared with the traditional single-stage collectors, two-stage collectors connected with the heat exchangers by two thermal oil cycles can improve the collector efficiency by 8.1-20.9% in the simultaneous processes of heat collection and power generation. (3) On the use of the market available collectors the optimal ORC evaporation temperatures in most of the simulated areas are around 120 C. (author)

Thermo-ecological optimization of a solar collector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szargut, J.; Stanek, W.

2007-01-01

The depletion of non-renewable natural exergy resources (the thermo-ecological cost) has been accepted as the objective function for thermo-ecological optimization. Its general formulation has been cited. A detailed form of the objective function has been formulated for a solar collector producing hot water for household needs. The following design parameters have been accepted as the decision variables: the collector area per unit of the heat demand, the diameter of collector pipes, the distance of the pipe axes in the collector plate. The design parameters of the internal installation (the pipes, the hot water receiver) have not been taken into account, because they are very individual. The accumulation ability of hot water comprising one day has been assumed. The objective function contains the following components: the thermo-ecological cost of copper plate, copper pipes, glass plate, steel box, thermal insulation, heat transfer liquid, electricity for driving the pump of liquid, fuel for the peak boiler. The duration curves of the flux of solar radiation and absorbed heat have been elaborated according to meteorological data and used in the calculations. The objective function for economic optimization may have a similar form, only the cost values would be different

18.4%-Efficient Heterojunction Si Solar Cells Using Optimized ITO/Top Electrode.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Namwoo; Um, Han-Don; Choi, Inwoo; Kim, Ka-Hyun; Seo, Kwanyong

2016-05-11

We optimize the thickness of a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer, and apply a microscale mesh-pattern metal electrode for high-efficiency a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells. A solar cell equipped with the proposed microgrid metal electrode demonstrates a high short-circuit current density (JSC) of 40.1 mA/cm(2), and achieves a high efficiency of 18.4% with an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 618 mV and a fill factor (FF) of 74.1% as result of the shortened carrier path length and the decreased electrode area of the microgrid metal electrode. Furthermore, by optimizing the process sequence for electrode formation, we are able to effectively restore the reduction in VOC that occurs during the microgrid metal electrode formation process. This work is expected to become a fundamental study that can effectively improve current loss in a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells through the optimization of transparent and metal electrodes.

Potential application of CuSbS2 as the hole transport material in perovskite solar cell: A simulation study

Science.gov (United States)

Teimouri, R.; Mohammadpour, R.

2018-06-01

CH3 NH3 PbI3 (MAPbI3) thin film solar cells, which are reported at laboratory efficiency scale of nearly 22%, are the subject of much attention by energy researchers due to their low cost buildup, acceptable efficiency, high absorption coefficient and diffusion length. The main purpose of this research is to simulate the structure of thin film perovskite solar cells through numerical simulation of SCAPS based on the empirical data for different hole transport layers. After simulating the initial structure of FTO/TiO2/CH3NH3PbI3/Spiro-OMeTAD solar cell, the hole transport layer Spiro-OMeTAD thickness was optimized on a small scale using modeling. The researchers also sought to reduce the amount of this material and the cost of construction. Ultimately, an optimum thickness of 140 nm was obtained for this cell with efficiency of 22.88%. The effect of employing alternative inorganic hole transport layer was investigated as a substitute for Spiro-OMeTAD; Copper antimony sulphide (CuSbS2) was selected due to abundant and available material and high open circuit voltage of about 988 mV. Thickness variations were also performed on a MAPbI3/CuSbS2 solar cell. Finally, It has obtained that perovskite solar cell with 120 nm-thick of CuSbS2 has 23.14% conversion efficiency with acceptable VOC and JSC values.

Optimization Model for Web Based Multimodal Interactive Simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Halic, Tansel; Ahn, Woojin; De, Suvranu

2015-07-15

This paper presents a technique for optimizing the performance of web based multimodal interactive simulations. For such applications where visual quality and the performance of simulations directly influence user experience, overloading of hardware resources may result in unsatisfactory reduction in the quality of the simulation and user satisfaction. However, optimization of simulation performance on individual hardware platforms is not practical. Hence, we present a mixed integer programming model to optimize the performance of graphical rendering and simulation performance while satisfying application specific constraints. Our approach includes three distinct phases: identification, optimization and update . In the identification phase, the computing and rendering capabilities of the client device are evaluated using an exploratory proxy code. This data is utilized in conjunction with user specified design requirements in the optimization phase to ensure best possible computational resource allocation. The optimum solution is used for rendering (e.g. texture size, canvas resolution) and simulation parameters (e.g. simulation domain) in the update phase. Test results are presented on multiple hardware platforms with diverse computing and graphics capabilities to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

Optimizing the size of a solar cell array; Optimiser la taille d'un panneau solaire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shannon, J. [Linear Technology, 94 - Rungis (France)

2006-06-15

The electronic power conversion system is a strategic part of solar power supply systems. An ideal diode controller combined to a compensated switching regulator allows to optimize the operation of the battery and to optimize the dimensioning of the solar cells array. The ideal diode controller limits the discharge of the battery inside the non-exposed solar cells and limits the related direct voltage drop and loss of power. The switching regulator charger lowers the solar cells voltage to charge the battery and ensures the optimum operation of the solar elements. (J.S.)

Coupled multiscale simulation and optimization in nanoelectronics

CERN Document Server

2015-01-01

Designing complex integrated circuits relies heavily on mathematical methods and calls for suitable simulation and optimization tools. The current design approach involves simulations and optimizations in different physical domains (device, circuit, thermal, electromagnetic) and in a range of electrical engineering disciplines (logic, timing, power, crosstalk, signal integrity, system functionality). COMSON was a Marie Curie Research Training Network created to meet these new scientific and training challenges by (a) developing new descriptive models that take these mutual dependencies into account, (b) combining these models with existing circuit descriptions in new simulation strategies, and (c) developing new optimization techniques that will accommodate new designs. The book presents the main project results in the fields of PDAE modeling and simulation, model order reduction techniques and optimization, based on merging the know-how of three major European semiconductor companies with the combined expe...

Westinghouse waste simulation and optimization software tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mennicken, Kim; Aign, Jorg

2013-01-01

Applications for dynamic simulation can be found in virtually all areas of process engineering. The tangible benefits of using dynamic simulation can be seen in tighter design, smoother start-ups and optimized operation. Thus, proper implementation of dynamic simulation can deliver substantial benefits. These benefits are typically derived from improved process understanding. Simulation gives confidence in evidence based decisions and enables users to try out lots of 'what if' scenarios until one is sure that a decision is the right one. In radioactive waste treatment tasks different kinds of waste with different volumes and properties have to be treated, e.g. from NPP operation or D and D activities. Finding a commercially and technically optimized waste treatment concept is a time consuming and difficult task. The Westinghouse Waste Simulation and Optimization Software Tool will enable the user to quickly generate reliable simulation models of various process applications based on equipment modules. These modules can be built with ease and be integrated into the simulation model. This capability ensures that this tool is applicable to typical waste treatment tasks. The identified waste streams and the selected treatment methods are the basis of the simulation and optimization software. After implementing suitable equipment data into the model, process requirements and waste treatment data are fed into the simulation to finally generate primary simulation results. A sensitivity analysis of automated optimization features of the software generates the lowest possible lifecycle cost for the simulated waste stream. In combination with proven waste management equipments and integrated waste management solutions, this tool provides reliable qualitative results that lead to an effective planning and minimizes the total project planning risk of any waste management activity. It is thus the ideal tool for designing a waste treatment facility in an optimum manner

Westinghouse waste simulation and optimization software tool

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mennicken, Kim; Aign, Jorg [Westinghouse Electric Germany GmbH, Hamburg (Germany)

2013-07-01

Applications for dynamic simulation can be found in virtually all areas of process engineering. The tangible benefits of using dynamic simulation can be seen in tighter design, smoother start-ups and optimized operation. Thus, proper implementation of dynamic simulation can deliver substantial benefits. These benefits are typically derived from improved process understanding. Simulation gives confidence in evidence based decisions and enables users to try out lots of 'what if' scenarios until one is sure that a decision is the right one. In radioactive waste treatment tasks different kinds of waste with different volumes and properties have to be treated, e.g. from NPP operation or D and D activities. Finding a commercially and technically optimized waste treatment concept is a time consuming and difficult task. The Westinghouse Waste Simulation and Optimization Software Tool will enable the user to quickly generate reliable simulation models of various process applications based on equipment modules. These modules can be built with ease and be integrated into the simulation model. This capability ensures that this tool is applicable to typical waste treatment tasks. The identified waste streams and the selected treatment methods are the basis of the simulation and optimization software. After implementing suitable equipment data into the model, process requirements and waste treatment data are fed into the simulation to finally generate primary simulation results. A sensitivity analysis of automated optimization features of the software generates the lowest possible lifecycle cost for the simulated waste stream. In combination with proven waste management equipments and integrated waste management solutions, this tool provides reliable qualitative results that lead to an effective planning and minimizes the total project planning risk of any waste management activity. It is thus the ideal tool for designing a waste treatment facility in an optimum manner

Optimization of MIS/IL solar cells parameters using genetic algorithm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahmed, K.A.; Mohamed, E.A.; Alaa, S.H. [Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria Univ. (Egypt); Motaz, M.S. [Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria Univ. (Egypt)

2004-07-01

This paper presents a genetic algorithm optimization for MIS/IL solar cell parameters including doping concentration NA, metal work function {phi}m, oxide thickness d{sub ox}, mobile charge density N{sub m}, fixed oxide charge density N{sub ox} and the external back bias applied to the inversion grid V. The optimization results are compared with theoretical optimization and shows that the genetic algorithm can be used for determining the optimum parameters of the cell. (orig.)

Techno-economic design optimization of solar thermal power plants

OpenAIRE

Morin, G.

2011-01-01

A holistic view is essential in the engineering of technical systems. This thesis presents an integrative approach for designing solar thermal power plants. The methodology is based on a techno-economic plant model and a powerful optimization algorithm. Typically, contemporary design methods treat technical and economic parameters and sub-systems separately, making it difficult or even impossible to realize the full optimization potential of power plant systems. The approach presented here ov...

Optimization of Serial Combined System of Ground-Coupled Heat Pump and Solar Collector

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHAO Jun; CHEN Yan; LU Suzhen; CUI Junkui

2009-01-01

A mathematical optimization model was set up for a ground-solar combined system based on in-situ experimental results,in which the solar collector was combined serially with a ground-coupled heat pump(GCHP).The universal optimal equations were solved by the constrained variable metric method considering both the performance and economics.Then the model was applied to a specific case concerning an actual solar assisted GCHP system for space heating.The results indicated a system coefficient of performance(COP)of 3.9 for the optimal method under the seriaI heating mode,and 3.2 for the conventional one.In addition,the optimum solution also showed advantages in energy and cost saving.1eading to a 16.7%improvement in the heat pump performance at 17.2%less energy consumption and 11.8%lower annual cost,respectively.

Determination of the Optimal Tilt Angle for Solar Photovoltaic Panel in Ilorin, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K.R. Ajao

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The optimal tilt angle of solar photovoltaic panel in Ilorin, Nigeria was determined. The solar panel was first mounted at 0o to the horizontal and after ten minutes, the voltage and current generated with the corresponding atmospheric temperature were recorded. The same procedure was repeated for 2o to 30o at a succession of 2o at ten minutes time interval over the entire measurement period. The result obtained shows that the average optimal tilt angle at which a solar panel will be mounted for maximum power performance at fixed position in Ilorin is 22o. This optimum angle of tilt of the solar panel and the orientation are dependent on the month of the year and the location of the site of study.

Optimization of reflector-boosters for solar flat-collectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Profant, M; Weidner, P; Boettcher, A

1979-04-01

To increase the working temperature of solar energy systems two-sided collectors together with appropriate reflectors are used. Here, the efficiency of various reflector shapes was investigated and attempts made to optimize them under several criteria. The results indicate that with cheap and simple to manufacture reflectors good energy gains can be expected.

Characteristics and optimization of ZnO/CdS/CZTS photovoltaic solar cell

Science.gov (United States)

Gueddim, A.; Bouarissa, N.; Naas, A.; Daoudi, F.; Messikine, N.

2018-02-01

In the present contribution a ZnO/CdS/CZTS structure with new thicknesses of the different layers has been proposed using solar cell capacitance simulator. The objective of this study is the improvement of the device efficiency while varying the thickness of the various layers and the CZTS system energy band-gap. Our results showed that cells with optimal values of thicknesses of 0.1, 0.02 and 1 µm for ZnO window layer, CdS buffer layer and CZTS absorber layer, respectively give conversion efficiency of 23.56%. Furthermore, the higher performance of these cells is obtained for a CZTS band-gap energy of about 1.45 eV. The obtained conversion efficiency is comparable to those previously reported in the literature.

Energetic and economic optimization of solar tunnel dryers with a photovoltaic driven fan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muehlbauer, W.; Mayer, R.A.; Esper, A.; Reisinger, L.; Linckh, G.; Hensel, O.

1992-02-01

In the recent years the solar tunnel dryer has been used successfully for drying several agricultural products in tropical and subtropical countries. Up to now the dissemination has been limited to electrified areas. Objective of this work has been the improvement of the thermal performance of the tunnel dryer due to a optimization of the plastic film solar air heater as well as optimization work in point of fluid dynamic view to reduce the power requirement of the blower. To improve the efficiency of the blower optimization work had been done by investigating several blower wheels, dc-motors and actuation systems. A PV-System was designed according to these requirements to test the long term behaviour. The remarkable features of the newly designed solar tunnel dryer are the low power requirement for driving the blower and a high efficiency of the actuation. In the range of a power requirement of 80 - 100 W a blower with an efficiency of 48% is now available. The theoretical power requirement of the solar tunnel dryer could be reduced to 11 W. From economic point of view the use of the solar tunnel dryer is possible. (orig.) With 3 refs., 15 tabs., 49 figs [de

Contribution to the modeling and simulation of solar power tower plants using energy analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benammar, S.; Khellaf, A.; Mohammedi, K.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The solar tower power plant system (STPP) is divided into four main subsystems. • The energy balance of each subsystem has been developed. • A general nonlinear mathematical model of the studied system (STPP) has been presented. • Using numerical optimization methods, the nonlinear mathematical model has been solved. • The obtained results are presented and analyzed. - Abstract: In this paper, a mathematical model based on energy analysis, has been developed for modeling and simulation of solar tower power plants (STPP) performances without energy storage. The STPP system has been divided into four main subsystems: the heliostat field subsystem, the cavity receiver subsystem (tower), the steam generation subsystem and the power cycle subsystem (Rankine cycle). Thermal and thermodynamic models of main subsystems have been developed. A general nonlinear mathematical model of the studied system (STPP) has been presented and solved using numerical optimization methods. The obtained results are presented and analyzed. The effects of the receiver surface temperature and the receiver surface area on the cavity receiver efficiency and the steam mass flow have been investigated. The effects of other parameters, such as the incident heat flux, the absorbed energy and the heat losses from the receiver are also studied. The analysis of these results shows the existence of an optimal receiver efficiency value for each steam mass flow, receiver surface temperature and receiver surface area

Modeling of solar polygeneration plant

Science.gov (United States)

Leiva, Roberto; Escobar, Rodrigo; Cardemil, José

2017-06-01

In this work, a exergoeconomic analysis of the joint production of electricity, fresh water, cooling and process heat for a simulated concentrated solar power (CSP) based on parabolic trough collector (PTC) with thermal energy storage (TES) and backup energy system (BS), a multi-effect distillation (MED) module, a refrigeration absorption module, and process heat module is carried out. Polygeneration plant is simulated in northern Chile in Crucero with a yearly total DNI of 3,389 kWh/m2/year. The methodology includes designing and modeling a polygeneration plant and applying exergoeconomic evaluations and calculating levelized cost. Solar polygeneration plant is simulated hourly, in a typical meteorological year, for different solar multiple and hour of storage. This study reveals that the total exergy cost rate of products (sum of exergy cost rate of electricity, water, cooling and heat process) is an alternative method to optimize a solar polygeneration plant.

ANN based optimization of a solar assisted hybrid cooling system in Turkey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ozgur, Arif; Yetik, Ozge; Arslan, Oguz [Mechanical Eng. Dept., Engineering Faculty, Dumlupinar University (Turkey)], email: maozgur@dpu.edu.tr, email: ozgeyetik@dpu.edu.tr, email: oarslan@dpu.edu.tr

2011-07-01

This study achieved optimization of a solar assisted hybrid cooling system with refrigerants such as R717, R141b, R134a and R123 using an artificial neural network (ANN) model based on average total solar radiation, ambient temperature, generator temperature, condenser temperature, intercooler temperature and fluid types. ANN is a new tool; it works rapidly and can thus be a solution for design and optimization of complex power cycles. A unique flexible ANN algorithm was introduced to evaluate the solar ejector cooling systems because of the nonlinearity of neural networks. The conclusion was that the best COPs value obtained with the ANN is 1.35 and COPc is 3.03 when the average total solar radiation, ambient temperature, generator temperature, condenser temperature, intercooler temperature and algorithm are respectively 674.72 W/m2, 17.9, 80, 15 and 13 degree celsius and LM with 14 neurons in single hidden layer, for R717.

Simulation model of ANN based maximum power point tracking controller for solar PV system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rai, Anil K.; Singh, Bhupal [Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, Ghaziabad 201009 (India); Kaushika, N.D.; Agarwal, Niti [School of Research and Development, Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering, A-4 Paschim Vihar, New Delhi 110063 (India)

2011-02-15

In this paper the simulation model of an artificial neural network (ANN) based maximum power point tracking controller has been developed. The controller consists of an ANN tracker and the optimal control unit. The ANN tracker estimates the voltages and currents corresponding to a maximum power delivered by solar PV (photovoltaic) array for variable cell temperature and solar radiation. The cell temperature is considered as a function of ambient air temperature, wind speed and solar radiation. The tracker is trained employing a set of 124 patterns using the back propagation algorithm. The mean square error of tracker output and target values is set to be of the order of 10{sup -5} and the successful convergent of learning process takes 1281 epochs. The accuracy of the ANN tracker has been validated by employing different test data sets. The control unit uses the estimates of the ANN tracker to adjust the duty cycle of the chopper to optimum value needed for maximum power transfer to the specified load. (author)

Simulation, design and thermal analysis of a solar Stirling engine using MATLAB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shazly, J.H.; Hafez, A.Z.; El Shenawy, E.T.; Eteiba, M.B.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Modeling and simulation for a prototype of the solar-powered Stirling engine. • The solar-powered Stirling engine working at the low temperature range. • Estimating output power from the solar Stirling engine using Matlab program. • Solar radiation simulation program presents a solar radiation data using MATLAB. - Abstract: This paper presents the modeling and simulation for a prototype of the solar-powered Stirling engine working at the low temperature range. A mathematical model for the thermal analysis of the solar-powered low temperature Stirling engine with heat transfer is developed using Matlab program. The model takes into consideration the effect of the absorber temperature on the thermal analysis like as radiation and convection heat transfer between the absorber and the working fluid as well as radiation and convection heat transfer between the lower temperature plate and the working fluid. Hence, the present analysis provides a theoretical guidance for designing and operating of the solar-powered low temperature Stirling engine system, as well as estimating output power from the solar Stirling engine using Matlab program. This study attempts to demonstrate the potential of the low temperature Stirling engine as an option for the prime movers for Photovoltaic tracking systems. The heat source temperature is 40–60 °C as the temperature available from the sun directly

Simulation-based optimization of thermal systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaluria, Yogesh

2009-01-01

This paper considers the design and optimization of thermal systems on the basis of the mathematical and numerical modeling of the system. Many complexities are often encountered in practical thermal processes and systems, making the modeling challenging and involved. These include property variations, complicated regions, combined transport mechanisms, chemical reactions, and intricate boundary conditions. The paper briefly presents approaches that may be used to accurately simulate these systems. Validation of the numerical model is a particularly critical aspect and is discussed. It is important to couple the modeling with the system performance, design, control and optimization. This aspect, which has often been ignored in the literature, is considered in this paper. Design of thermal systems based on concurrent simulation and experimentation is also discussed in terms of dynamic data-driven optimization methods. Optimization of the system and of the operating conditions is needed to minimize costs and improve product quality and system performance. Different optimization strategies that are currently used for thermal systems are outlined, focusing on new and emerging strategies. Of particular interest is multi-objective optimization, since most thermal systems involve several important objective functions, such as heat transfer rate and pressure in electronic cooling systems. A few practical thermal systems are considered in greater detail to illustrate these approaches and to present typical simulation, design and optimization results

Dynamic modeling of a solar ORC with compound parabolic collectors: Annual production and comparison with steady-state simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baccioli, A.; Antonelli, M.; Desideri, U.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A small scale solar ORC was investigated during a year-long simulation. • The system was operated without a thermal storage. • High flexibility thanks to a sliding-velocity control and volumetric expander. • Influence of ORC and solar field parameters considered. • Strong influence of concentration factor and system inertia. - Abstract: In this paper the dynamic behavior of a small low-concentration solar plant with static Compound Parabolic Collectors (CPC) and an ORC power unit with rotary volumetric expander has been analyzed. The plant has been simulated in transient conditions for a year-long operation and for three different sites respectively located in northern, central and southern Italy, in order to evaluate the influence of the latitude on the production. Hourly discretized data for solar radiation and for ambient temperature have been used. The adoption of a sliding-velocity control strategy, has allowed to operate without any storage system with a solar multiple (S.M.) of 1, reducing the amplitude of the solar field and simplifying the control system. Different collectors tilt angles and concentration factors, as well as thermodynamic parameters of the cycle have been tested, to evaluate the optimal working conditions for each locality. Results highlighted that specific production increased with the concentration ratio, and with the decrease of latitude. The comparison with the steady-state analysis showed that this type of control strategy is suited for those configurations having a smaller number of collectors, since the thermal inertia of the solar field is not recovered at all during the plant shut-down phase.

Simulation of Solar Energy Use in Livelihood of Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Lvocich, I. Ya; Preobrazhenskiy, A. P.; Choporov, O. N.

2017-11-01

Solar energy can be considered as the most technological and economical type of renewable energy. The purpose of the paper is to increase the efficiency of solar energy utilization on the basis of the mathematical simulation of the solar collector. A mathematical model of the radiant heat transfer vacuum solar collector is clarified. The model was based on the process of radiative heat transfer between glass and copper walls with the defined blackness degrees. A mathematical model of the ether phase transition point is developed. The dependence of the reservoir walls temperature change on the ambient temperature over time is obtained. The results of the paper can be useful for the development of prospective sources using solar energy.

Stand-alone power systems for the future: Optimal design, operation and control of solar-hydrogen energy systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ulleberg, Oeystein

1998-12-31

This thesis gives a systematic review of the fundamentals of energy systems, the governing physical and chemical laws related to energy, inherent characteristics of energy system, and the availability of the earth`s energy. It shows clearly why solar-hydrogen systems are one of the most viable options for the future. The main subject discussed is the modelling of SAPS (Stand-Alone Power Systems), with focus on photovoltaic-hydrogen energy systems. Simulation models for a transient simulation program are developed for PV-H{sub 2} components, including models for photovoltaics, water electrolysis, hydrogen storage, fuel cells, and secondary batteries. A PV-H{sub 2} demonstration plant in Juelich, Germany, is studied as a reference plant and the models validated against data from this plant. Most of the models developed were found to be sufficiently accurate to perform short-term system simulations, while all were more than accurate enough to perform long-term simulations. Finally, the verified simulation models are used to find the optimal operation and control strategies of an existing PV-H{sub 2} system. The main conclusion is that the simulation methods can be successfully used to find optimal operation and control strategies for a system with fixed design, and similar methods could be used to find alternative system designs. 148 refs., 78 figs., 31 tabs.

Stand-alone power systems for the future: Optimal design, operation and control of solar-hydrogen energy systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ulleberg, Oeystein

1999-12-31

This thesis gives a systematic review of the fundamentals of energy systems, the governing physical and chemical laws related to energy, inherent characteristics of energy system, and the availability of the earth`s energy. It shows clearly why solar-hydrogen systems are one of the most viable options for the future. The main subject discussed is the modelling of SAPS (Stand-Alone Power Systems), with focus on photovoltaic-hydrogen energy systems. Simulation models for a transient simulation program are developed for PV-H{sub 2} components, including models for photovoltaics, water electrolysis, hydrogen storage, fuel cells, and secondary batteries. A PV-H{sub 2} demonstration plant in Juelich, Germany, is studied as a reference plant and the models validated against data from this plant. Most of the models developed were found to be sufficiently accurate to perform short-term system simulations, while all were more than accurate enough to perform long-term simulations. Finally, the verified simulation models are used to find the optimal operation and control strategies of an existing PV-H{sub 2} system. The main conclusion is that the simulation methods can be successfully used to find optimal operation and control strategies for a system with fixed design, and similar methods could be used to find alternative system designs. 148 refs., 78 figs., 31 tabs.

An Indirect Simulation-Optimization Model for Determining Optimal TMDL Allocation under Uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng Zhou

2015-11-01

Full Text Available An indirect simulation-optimization model framework with enhanced computational efficiency and risk-based decision-making capability was developed to determine optimal total maximum daily load (TMDL allocation under uncertainty. To convert the traditional direct simulation-optimization model into our indirect equivalent model framework, we proposed a two-step strategy: (1 application of interval regression equations derived by a Bayesian recursive regression tree (BRRT v2 algorithm, which approximates the original hydrodynamic and water-quality simulation models and accurately quantifies the inherent nonlinear relationship between nutrient load reductions and the credible interval of algal biomass with a given confidence interval; and (2 incorporation of the calibrated interval regression equations into an uncertain optimization framework, which is further converted to our indirect equivalent framework by the enhanced-interval linear programming (EILP method and provides approximate-optimal solutions at various risk levels. The proposed strategy was applied to the Swift Creek Reservoir’s nutrient TMDL allocation (Chesterfield County, VA to identify the minimum nutrient load allocations required from eight sub-watersheds to ensure compliance with user-specified chlorophyll criteria. Our results indicated that the BRRT-EILP model could identify critical sub-watersheds faster than the traditional one and requires lower reduction of nutrient loadings compared to traditional stochastic simulation and trial-and-error (TAE approaches. This suggests that our proposed framework performs better in optimal TMDL development compared to the traditional simulation-optimization models and provides extreme and non-extreme tradeoff analysis under uncertainty for risk-based decision making.

Solar cycle variations of stratospheric ozone and temperature in simulations of a coupled chemistry-climate model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Austin

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The results from three 45-year simulations of a coupled chemistry climate model are analysed for solar cycle influences on ozone and temperature. The simulations include UV forcing at the top of the atmosphere, which includes a generic 27-day solar rotation effect as well as the observed monthly values of the solar fluxes. The results are analysed for the 27-day and 11-year cycles in temperature and ozone. In accordance with previous results, the 27-day cycle results are in good qualitative agreement with observations, particularly for ozone. However, the results show significant variations, typically a factor of two or more in sensitivity to solar flux, depending on the solar cycle. In the lower and middle stratosphere we show good agreement also between the modelled and observed 11-year cycle results for the ozone vertical profile averaged over low latitudes. In particular, the minimum in solar response near 20 hPa is well simulated. In comparison, experiments of the model with fixed solar phase (solar maximum/solar mean and climatological sea surface temperatures lead to a poorer simulation of the solar response in the ozone vertical profile, indicating the need for variable phase simulations in solar sensitivity experiments. The role of sea surface temperatures and tropical upwelling in simulating the ozone minimum response are also discussed.

Extremely Efficient Design of Organic Thin Film Solar Cells via Learning-Based Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mine Kaya

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Design of efficient thin film photovoltaic (PV cells require optical power absorption to be computed inside a nano-scale structure of photovoltaics, dielectric and plasmonic materials. Calculating power absorption requires Maxwell’s electromagnetic equations which are solved using numerical methods, such as finite difference time domain (FDTD. The computational cost of thin film PV cell design and optimization is therefore cumbersome, due to successive FDTD simulations. This cost can be reduced using a surrogate-based optimization procedure. In this study, we deploy neural networks (NNs to model optical absorption in organic PV structures. We use the corresponding surrogate-based optimization procedure to maximize light trapping inside thin film organic cells infused with metallic particles. Metallic particles are known to induce plasmonic effects at the metal–semiconductor interface, thus increasing absorption. However, a rigorous design procedure is required to achieve the best performance within known design guidelines. As a result of using NNs to model thin film solar absorption, the required time to complete optimization is decreased by more than five times. The obtained NN model is found to be very reliable. The optimization procedure results in absorption enhancement greater than 200%. Furthermore, we demonstrate that once a reliable surrogate model such as the developed NN is available, it can be used for alternative analyses on the proposed design, such as uncertainty analysis (e.g., fabrication error.

Optimization of hybrid system (wind-solar energy) for pumping water

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DR OKE

Keywords: Renewable energy; pumping water; technical optimization; ... The country already start on a mega-project of solar power production (2000 MW) ...... with a wind turbine in a standalone renewable energy system based on hydrogen.

Cogeneration system simulation/optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Puppa, B.A.; Chandrashekar, M.

1992-01-01

Companies are increasingly turning to computer software programs to improve and streamline the analysis o cogeneration systems. This paper introduces a computer program which originated with research at the University of Waterloo. The program can simulate and optimize any type of layout of cogeneration plant. An application of the program to a cogeneration feasibility study for a university campus is described. The Steam and Power Plant Optimization System (SAPPOS) is a PC software package which allows users to model any type of steam/power plant on a component-by-component basis. Individual energy/steam balances can be done quickly to model any scenario. A typical days per month cogeneration simulation can also be carried out to provide a detailed monthly cash flow and energy forecast. This paper reports that SAPPOS can be used for scoping, feasibility, and preliminary design work, along with financial studies, gas contract studies, and optimizing the operation of completed plants. In the feasibility study presented, SAPPOS is used to evaluate both diesel engine and gas turbine combined cycle options

Seasonal optimal mix of wind and solar power in a future, highly renewable Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heide, Dominik [Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) and Frankfurt International Graduate School for Science, Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitaet, Ruth-Moufang-Strasse 1, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); von Bremen, Lueder [ForWind - Center for Wind Energy Research, University of Oldenburg, Marie-Curie-Str. 1, D-26129 Oldenburg (Germany); Greiner, Martin [Corporate Research and Technology, Siemens AG, D-81730 Muenchen (Germany); Aarhus School of Engineering and Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 118, 8000 Aarhus C (Denmark); Hoffmann, Clemens [Corporate Research and Technology, Siemens AG, D-81730 Muenchen (Germany); Speckmann, Markus; Bofinger, Stefan [Fraunhofer Institut fuer Windenergie und Energiesystemtechnik (IWES), Koenigstor 59, D-34119 Kassel (Germany)

2010-11-15

The renewable power generation aggregated across Europe exhibits strong seasonal behaviors. Wind power generation is much stronger in winter than in summer. The opposite is true for solar power generation. In a future Europe with a very high share of renewable power generation those two opposite behaviors are able to counterbalance each other to a certain extent to follow the seasonal load curve. The best point of counterbalancing represents the seasonal optimal mix between wind and solar power generation. It leads to a pronounced minimum in required stored energy. For a 100% renewable Europe the seasonal optimal mix becomes 55% wind and 45% solar power generation. For less than 100% renewable scenarios the fraction of wind power generation increases and that of solar power generation decreases. (author)

Correction for spectral mismatch effects on the calibration of a solar cell when using a solar simulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seaman, C.H.

1981-01-15

A general expression has been derived to enable calculation of the calibration error resulting from simulator-solar AMX spectral mismatch and from reference cell-test cell spectral mismatch. The information required includes the relative spectral response of the reference cell, the relative spectral response of the cell under test, and the relative spectral irradiance of the simulator (over the spectral range defined by cell response). The spectral irradiance of the solar AMX is assumed to be known.

Optimized design and control of an off grid solar PV/hydrogen fuel cell power system for green buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Ghenai, C.; Bettayeb, M.

2017-11-01

Modelling, simulation, optimization and control strategies are used in this study to design a stand-alone solar PV/Fuel Cell/Battery/Generator hybrid power system to serve the electrical load of a commercial building. The main objective is to design an off grid energy system to meet the desired electric load of the commercial building with high renewable fraction, low emissions and low cost of energy. The goal is to manage the energy consumption of the building, reduce the associate cost and to switch from grid-tied fossil fuel power system to an off grid renewable and cleaner power system. Energy audit was performed in this study to determine the energy consumption of the building. Hourly simulations, modelling and optimization were performed to determine the performance and cost of the hybrid power configurations using different control strategies. The results show that the hybrid off grid solar PV/Fuel Cell/Generator/Battery/Inverter power system offers the best performance for the tested system architectures. From the total energy generated from the off grid hybrid power system, 73% is produced from the solar PV, 24% from the fuel cell and 3% from the backup Diesel generator. The produced power is used to meet all the AC load of the building without power shortage (system produces 18.2% excess power that can be used to serve the thermal load of the building. The proposed hybrid power system is sustainable, economically viable and environmentally friendly: High renewable fraction (66.1%), low levelized cost of energy (92 /MWh), and low carbon dioxide emissions (24 kg CO2/MWh) are achieved.

Vertical bifacial solar farms: Physics, design, and global optimization

KAUST Repository

Khan, M. Ryyan; Hanna, Amir; Sun, Xingshu; Alam, Muhammad A.

2017-01-01

10–20% more energy than a traditional monofacial farm for a practical row-spacing of 2 m (corresponding to 1.2 m high panels). With the prospect of additional 5–20% energy gain from reduced soiling and tilt optimization, bifacial solar farm do offer a

A solar simulator-pumped gas laser for the direct conversion of solar energy

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, W. R.; Lee, J. H.

1981-01-01

Most proposed space power systems are comprised of three general stages, including the collection of the solar radiation, the conversion to a useful form, and the transmission to a receiver. The solar-pumped laser, however, effectively eliminates the middle stage and offers direct photon-to-photon conversion. The laser is especially suited for space-to-space power transmission and communication because of minimal beam spread, low power loss over large distances, and extreme energy densities. A description is presented of the first gas laser pumped by a solar simulator that is scalable to high power levels. The lasant is an iodide C3F7I that as a laser-fusion driver has produced terawatt peak power levels.

Reduced-Order Dynamic Modeling, Fouling Detection, and Optimal Control of Solar-Powered Direct Contact Membrane Distillation

KAUST Repository

Karam, Ayman M.

2016-12-01

Membrane Distillation (MD) is an emerging sustainable desalination technique. While MD has many advantages and can be powered by solar thermal energy, its main drawback is the low water production rate. However, the MD process has not been fully optimized in terms of its manipulated and controlled variables. This is largely due to the lack of adequate dynamic models to study and simulate the process. In addition, MD is prone to membrane fouling, which is a fault that degrades the performance of the MD process. This work has three contributions to address these challenges. First, we derive a mathematical model of Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD), which is the building block for the next parts. Then, the proposed model is extended to account for membrane fouling and an observer-based fouling detection method is developed. Finally, various control strategies are implemented to optimize the performance of the DCMD solar-powered process. In part one, a reduced-order dynamic model of DCMD is developed based on lumped capacitance method and electrical analogy to thermal systems. The result is an electrical equivalent thermal network to the DCMD process, which is modeled by a system of nonlinear differential algebraic equations (DAEs). This model predicts the water-vapor flux and the temperature distribution along the module length. Experimental data is collected to validate the steady-state and dynamic responses of the proposed model, with great agreement demonstrated in both. The second part proposes an extension of the model to account for membrane fouling. An adaptive observer for DAE systems is developed and convergence proof is presented. A method for membrane fouling detection is then proposed based on adaptive observers. Simulation results demonstrate the performance of the membrane fouling detection method. Finally, an optimization problem is formulated to maximize the process efficiency of a solar-powered DCMD. The adapted method is known as Extremum

Solar-simulator-pumped atomic iodine laser kinetics

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, H. W.; Raju, S.; Shiu, Y. J.

1983-01-01

The literature contains broad ranges of disagreement in kinetic data for the atomic iodine laser. A kinetic model of a solar-simulator-pumped iodine laser is used to select those kinetic data consistent with recent laser experiments at the Langley Research Center. Analysis of the solar-simulator-pumped laser experiments resulted in the following estimates of rate coefficients: for alkyl radical (n-C3F7) and atomic iodine (I) recombination, 4.3 x 10 to the 11th power (1.9) + or - cu cm/s; for n-C3F7I stabilized atomic iodine recombination (I + I) 3.7 x 10 to the -32nd power (2.3) + or -1 cm to the 6th power/s; and for molecular iodine (I2) quenching, 3.1 x 10 to the -11th power (1.6) + or - 1 cu cm/s. These rates are consistent with the recent measurements.

Global optimization and simulated annealing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dekkers, A.; Aarts, E.H.L.

1988-01-01

In this paper we are concerned with global optimization, which can be defined as the problem of finding points on a bounded subset of Rn in which some real valued functionf assumes its optimal (i.e. maximal or minimal) value. We present a stochastic approach which is based on the simulated annealing

Smart Control System to Optimize Time of Use in a Solar-Assisted Air-Conditioning by Ejector for Residential Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanna Avedian-González

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The present work provides a series of theoretical improvements of a control strategy in order to optimize the time of use of solar air-conditioning by an ejector distributed in multiple solar collectors of vacuum tubes for the residential sector, which will allow us to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, costs and electrical energy consumption. In a solar ejector cooling system, the instability of the solar source of energy causes an operational conflict between the solar thermal system and ejector cooling cycle. A fuzzy control structure for the supervisory ejector cycle and multi-collector control system is developed: the first control is applied to control the mass flow of the generator and the evaporator for different cooling capacities (3, 3.5, 4, 4.5 and 5 kW and set a temperature reference according to the operating conditions; the second is applied to keep a constant temperature power source that feeds the low-grade ejector cooling cycle using R134aas refrigerant. For the present work, the temperature of the generator oscillates between 65 °C and 90 °C, a condenser temperature of 30 °C and an evaporator temperature of 10 °C. For the purpose of optimization, there are different levels of performance for time of use: the Mode 0 (economic gives a performance of 17.55 h, Mode 5 (maximum cooling power 14.86 h and variable mode (variable mode of capacities 16.25 h, on average. Simulations are done in MATLAB-Simulink applying fuzzy logic for a mathematical model of the thermal balance. They are compared with two different types of solar radiation: real radiation and disturbed radiation.

Simulation of solar-powered absorption cooling system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Atmaca, I.; Yigit, A. [Uludag Univ., Bursa (Turkey). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

2003-07-01

With developing technology and the rapid increase in world population, the demand for energy is ever increasing. Conventional energy will not be enough to meet the continuously increasing need for energy in the future. In this case, renewable energy sources will become important. Solar energy is a very important energy source because of its advantages. Instead of a compressor system, which uses electricity, an absorption cooling system, using renewable energy and kinds of waste heat energy, may be used for cooling. In this study, a solar-powered, single stage, absorption cooling system, using a water-lithium bromide solution, is simulated. A modular computer program has been developed for the absorption system to simulate various cycle configurations and solar energy parameters for Antalya, Turkey. So, the effects of hot water inlet temperatures on the coefficient of performance (COP) and the surface area of the absorption cooling components are studied. In addition, reference temperatures which are the minimum allowable hot water inlet temperatures are determined and their effect on the fraction of the total load met by non-purchased energy (FNP) and the coefficient of performance are researched. Also, the effects of the collector type and storage tank mass are investigated in detail. (author)

Full PIC simulations of solar radio emission

Science.gov (United States)

Sgattoni, A.; Henri, P.; Briand, C.; Amiranoff, F.; Riconda, C.

2017-12-01

Solar radio emissions are electromagnetic (EM) waves emitted in the solar wind plasma as a consequence of electron beams accelerated during solar flares or interplanetary shocks such as ICMEs. To describe their origin, a multi-stage model has been proposed in the 60s which considers a succession of non-linear three-wave interaction processes. A good understanding of the process would allow to infer the kinetic energy transfered from the electron beam to EM waves, so that the radio waves recorded by spacecraft can be used as a diagnostic for the electron beam.Even if the electrostatic problem has been extensively studied, full electromagnetic simulations were attempted only recently. Our large scale 2D-3V electromagnetic PIC simulations allow to identify the generation of both electrostatic and EM waves originated by the succession of plasma instabilities. We tested several configurations varying the electron beam density and velocity considering a background plasma of uniform density. For all the tested configurations approximately 105 of the electron-beam kinetic energy is transfered into EM waves emitted in all direction nearly isotropically. With this work we aim to design experiments of laboratory astrophysics to reproduce the electromagnetic emission process and test its efficiency.

Empirical solar/stellar cycle simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santos Ângela R. G.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available As a result of the magnetic cycle, the properties of the solar oscillations vary periodically. With the recent discovery of manifestations of activity cycles in the seismic data of other stars, the understanding of the different contributions to such variations becomes even more important. With this in mind, we built an empirical parameterised model able to reproduce the properties of the sunspot cycle. The resulting simulations can be used to estimate the magnetic-induced frequency shifts.

Performance Analysis and Optimization of a Solar Powered Stirling Engine with Heat Transfer Considerations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chia-En Ho

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the optimization of the performance of a solar powered Stirling engine based on finite-time thermodynamics. Heat transference in the heat exchangers between a concentrating solar collector and the Stirling engine is studied. The irreversibility of a Stirling engine is considered with the heat transfer following Newton's law. The power generated by a Stirling engine is used as an objective function for maximum power output design with the concentrating solar collector temperature and the engine thermal efficiency as the optimization parameters. The maximum output power of engine and its corresponding system parameters are determined using a genetic algorithm.

Optimal design of compact organic Rankine cycle units for domestic solar applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barbazza, Luca; Pierobon, Leonardo; Mirandola, Alberto

2014-01-01

criteria, i.e., compactness, high performance and safe operation, are targeted by adopting a multi-objective optimization approach modeled with the genetic algorithm. Design-point thermodynamic variables, e.g., evaporating pressure, the working fluid, minimum allowable temperature differences......Organic Rankine cycle turbogenerators are a promising technology to transform the solar radiation harvested by solar collectors into electric power. The present work aims at sizing a small-scale organic Rankine cycle unit by tailoring its design for domestic solar applications. Stringent design...

Optimization of dye extraction from Cordyline fruticosa via response surface methodology to produce a natural sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahmoud A.M. Al-Alwani

Full Text Available In the present work, the application of response surface methodology (RSM for the optimization of process parameters in the chlorophyll extraction from Cordyline fruticosa leaves was performed. The absorbance of the extract obtained from the extraction process under different conditions was estimated using the D-optimal design in RSM. Three different process parameters such as the nature of organic solvent based on their boiling point (ethanol, methanol, and acetonitrile, pH (4–8 and extraction temperature (50–90 °C were optimized for chlorophyll extraction. The effects of these parameters on the absorbance or concentration of the extract were evaluated using ANOVA results of quadratic polynomial regression. The results showed a high R2 and adjusted R2 correlation coefficients of 0.9963 and 0.9921 respectively. Moreover, the analysis of the final quadric model based on the design experiments indicated an optimal extraction condition of pH of 7.99, extraction temperature of 78.33 °C, and a solvent boiling point, 78 °C. The predicted absorbance was 1.006, which is in good agreement with the experimentally obtained result of 1.04 at 665 nm wavelength. The application of pigment obtained under the optimal condition was further evaluated as a sensitizer for the dye sensitized solar cells. Maximum solar conversion efficiency (η of 0.5% was achieved for the C. fruticosa leaf extract obtained under the optimum extraction conditions. Furthermore, the exposure of the leaf pigment to 100 mW/cm2 simulated sunlight yielded a short circuit photocurrent density (Isc of 1.3 mA, open circuit voltage (Voc of 616 mV, and a fill factor (ff of 60.16%. Keywords: Optimization, Cordyline fruticosa, Chlorophyll, Process variables, D-optimal design, Solar cells

Two new methods used to simulate the circumferential solar flux density concentrated on the absorber of a parabolic trough solar collector

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Minghuan; Wang, Zhifeng; Sun, Feihu

2016-05-01

The optical efficiencies of a solar trough concentrator are important to the whole thermal performance of the solar collector, and the outer surface of the tube absorber is a key interface of energy flux. So it is necessary to simulate and analyze the concentrated solar flux density distributions on the tube absorber of a parabolic trough solar collector for various sun beam incident angles, with main optical errors considered. Since the solar trough concentrators are linear focusing, it is much of interest to investigate the solar flux density distribution on the cross-section profile of the tube absorber, rather than the flux density distribution along the focal line direction. Although a few integral approaches based on the "solar cone" concept were developed to compute the concentrated flux density for some simple trough concentrator geometries, all those integral approaches needed special integration routines, meanwhile, the optical parameters and geometrical properties of collectors also couldn't be changed conveniently. Flexible Monte Carlo ray trace (MCRT) methods are widely used to simulate the more accurate concentrated flux density distribution for compound parabolic solar trough concentrators, while generally they are quite time consuming. In this paper, we first mainly introduce a new backward ray tracing (BRT) method combined with the lumped effective solar cone, to simulate the cross-section flux density on the region of interest of the tube absorber. For BRT, bundles of rays are launched at absorber-surface points of interest, directly go through the glass cover of the absorber, strike on the uniformly sampled mirror segment centers in the close-related surface region of the parabolic reflector, and then direct to the effective solar cone around the incident sun beam direction after the virtual backward reflection. All the optical errors are convoluted into the effective solar cone. The brightness distribution of the effective solar cone is supposed

Accessing the band alignment in high efficiency Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 (CIGSSe) solar cells with an InxSy:Na buffer based on temperature dependent measurements and simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Schoneberg, Johannes; Ohland, Jörg; Eraerds, Patrick; Dalibor, Thomas; Parisi, Jürgen; Richter, Michael

2018-04-01

We present a one-dimensional simulation model for high efficiency Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 solar cells with a novel band alignment at the hetero-junction. The simulation study is based on new findings about the doping concentration of the InxSy:Na buffer and i-ZnO layers as well as comprehensive solar cell characterization by means of capacitance, current voltage, and external quantum efficiency measurements. The simulation results show good agreement with the experimental data over a broad temperature range, suggesting the simulation model with an interface-near region (INR) of approximately 100 nm around the buffer/absorber interface that is of great importance for the solar cell performance. The INR exhibits an inhomogeneous doping and defect density profile as well as interface traps at the i-layer/buffer and buffer/absorber interfaces. These crucial parameters could be accessed via their opposing behavior on the simulative reconstruction of different measurement characteristics. In this work, we emphasize the necessity to reconstruct the results of a set of experimental methods by means of simulation to find the most appropriate model for the solar cell. Lowly doped buffer and intrinsic window layers in combination with a high space charge at the front of the absorber lead to a novel band alignment in the simulated band structure of the solar cell. The presented insights may guide the strategy of further solar cell optimization including (alkali-) post deposition treatments.

Optimization criteria for solar and wind power systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salieva, R B

1976-01-01

It is shown that the design of solar and wind power systems requires both the specification of the target function and the optimization of the system with respect to two criteria, namely, the system must be economical (minimum cost to the economy) and it must be reliable (the probability of failure-free operation of the system must be not less than a standard value).

Forecasting solar radiation using an optimized hybrid model by Cuckoo Search algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Jianzhou; Jiang, He; Wu, Yujie; Dong, Yao

2015-01-01

Due to energy crisis and environmental problems, it is very urgent to find alternative energy sources nowadays. Solar energy, as one of the great potential clean energies, has widely attracted the attention of researchers. In this paper, an optimized hybrid method by CS (Cuckoo Search) on the basis of the OP-ELM (Optimally Pruned Extreme Learning Machine), called CS-OP-ELM, is developed to forecast clear sky and real sky global horizontal radiation. First, MRSR (Multiresponse Sparse Regression) and LOO-CV (leave-one-out cross-validation) can be applied to rank neurons and prune the possibly meaningless neurons of the FFNN (Feed Forward Neural Network), respectively. Then, Direct strategy and Direct-Recursive strategy based on OP-ELM are introduced to build a hybrid model. Furthermore, CS (Cuckoo Search) optimized algorithm is employed to determine the proper weight coefficients. In order to verify the effectiveness of the developed method, hourly solar radiation data from six sites of the United States has been collected, and methods like ARMA (Autoregression moving average), BP (Back Propagation) neural network and OP-ELM can be compared with CS-OP-ELM. Experimental results show the optimized hybrid method CS-OP-ELM has the best forecasting performance. - Highlights: • An optimized hybrid method called CS-OP-ELM is proposed to forecast solar radiation. • CS-OP-ELM adopts multiple variables dataset as input variables. • Direct and Direct-Recursive strategy are introduced to build a hybrid model. • CS (Cuckoo Search) algorithm is used to determine the optimal weight coefficients. • The proposed method has the best performance compared with other methods

Convex relaxation of Optimal Power Flow in Distribution Feeders with embedded solar power

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hermann, Alexander Niels August; Wu, Qiuwei; Huang, Shaojun

2016-01-01

There is an increasing interest in using Distributed Energy Resources (DER) directly coupled to end user distribution feeders. This poses an array of challenges because most of today’s distribution feeders are designed for unidirectional power flow. Therefore when installing DERs such as solar...... panels with uncontrolled inverters, the upper limit of installable capacity is quickly reached in many of today’s distribution feeders. This problem can often be mitigated by optimally controlling the voltage angles of inverters. However, the optimal power flow problem in its standard form is a large...... scale non-convex optimization problem, and thus can’t be solved precisely and also is computationally heavy and intractable for large systems. This paper examines the use of a convex relaxation using Semi-definite programming to optimally control solar power inverters in a distribution grid in order...

GPU-accelerated CFD Simulations for Turbomachinery Design Optimization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aissa, M.H.

2017-01-01

Design optimization relies heavily on time-consuming simulations, especially when using gradient-free optimization methods. These methods require a large number of simulations in order to get a remarkable improvement over reference designs, which are nowadays based on the accumulated engineering

Performance Optimization of the ATLAS Detector Simulation

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(CDS)2091018

In the thesis at hand the current performance of the ATLAS detector simulation, part of the Athena framework, is analyzed and possible optimizations are examined. For this purpose the event based sampling profiler VTune Amplifier by Intel is utilized. As the most important metric to measure improvements, the total execution time of the simulation of $t\\bar{t}$ events is also considered. All efforts are focused on structural changes, which do not influence the simulation output and can be attributed to CPU specific issues, especially front end stalls and vectorization. The most promising change is the activation of profile guided optimization for Geant4, which is a critical external dependency of the simulation. Profile guided optimization gives an average improvement of $8.9\\%$ and $10.0\\%$ for the two considered cases at the cost of one additional compilation (instrumented binaries) and execution (training to obtain profiling data) at build time.

Fourier analysis of Solar atmospheric numerical simulations accelerated with GPUs (CUDA).

Science.gov (United States)

Marur, A.

2015-12-01

Solar dynamics from the convection zone creates a variety of waves that may propagate through the solar atmosphere. These waves are important in facilitating the energy transfer between the sun's surface and the corona as well as propagating energy throughout the solar system. How and where these waves are dissipated remains an open question. Advanced 3D numerical simulations have furthered our understanding of the processes involved. Fourier transforms to understand the nature of the waves by finding the frequency and wavelength of these waves through the simulated atmosphere, as well as the nature of their propagation and where they get dissipated. In order to analyze the different waves produced by the aforementioned simulations and models, Fast Fourier Transform algorithms will be applied. Since the processing of the multitude of different layers of the simulations (of the order of several 100^3 grid points) would be time intensive and inefficient on a CPU, CUDA, a computing architecture that harnesses the power of the GPU, will be used to accelerate the calculations.

A Framework for the Optimization of Discrete-Event Simulation Models

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, B. D.; Unal, R.; White, N. H.; Morris, W. D.

1996-01-01

With the growing use of computer modeling and simulation, in all aspects of engineering, the scope of traditional optimization has to be extended to include simulation models. Some unique aspects have to be addressed while optimizing via stochastic simulation models. The optimization procedure has to explicitly account for the randomness inherent in the stochastic measures predicted by the model. This paper outlines a general purpose framework for optimization of terminating discrete-event simulation models. The methodology combines a chance constraint approach for problem formulation, together with standard statistical estimation and analyses techniques. The applicability of the optimization framework is illustrated by minimizing the operation and support resources of a launch vehicle, through a simulation model.

Passive flow heat exchanger simulation for power generation from solar pond using thermoelectric generators

Science.gov (United States)

Baharin, Nuraida'Aadilia; Arzami, Amir Afiq; Singh, Baljit; Remeli, Muhammad Fairuz; Tan, Lippong; Oberoi, Amandeep

2017-04-01

In this study, a thermoelectric generator heat exchanger system was designed and simulated for electricity generation from solar pond. A thermoelectric generator heat exchanger was studied by using Computational Fluid Dynamics to simulate flow and heat transfer. A thermoelectric generator heat exchanger designed for passive in-pond flow used in solar pond for electrical power generation. A simple analysis simulation was developed to obtain the amount of electricity generated at different conditions for hot temperatures of a solar pond at different flow rates. Results indicated that the system is capable of producing electricity. This study and design provides an alternative way to generate electricity from solar pond in tropical countries like Malaysia for possible renewable energy applications.

Design and construction of a low cost solar simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Supranto; Daud, W.R.W.; Sopian, K.; Othman, M.Y.; Yatim, B.

2000-01-01

A solar simulator has been designed and constructed for indoor testing for solar collectors. The simulator consists of 45 halogen lamps. Each lamp has a rated power of a 300 watts. The lamps in ten rows where each row consists of 4 to 5 lamps. The lamps occupied area 6 m 2 . Dimmers are used to control the amount of lamp intensities. The spacing between the lamps and the collector is about 150 cm. The intensities of the lamps are measured using a pyranometer. The intensity contours or mappings for minimum and maximum average pyranometer readings about 280 to 640 W/m 2 are produced, with errors are about of 3.16 % to 4.5 %. (Author)

Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of an integrated Rankine power cycle and nano-fluid based parabolic trough solar collector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toghyani, Somayeh; Baniasadi, Ehsan; Afshari, Ebrahim

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The performance of an integrated nano-fluid based solar Rankine cycle is studied. • The effect of solar intensity, ambient temperature, and volume fraction is evaluated. • The concept of Finite Time Thermodynamics is applied. • It is shown that CuO/oil nano-fluid has the best performance from exergy perspective. - Abstract: In this paper, the performance of an integrated Rankine power cycle with parabolic trough solar system and a thermal storage system is simulated based on four different nano-fluids in the solar collector system, namely CuO, SiO_2, TiO_2 and Al_2O_3. The effects of solar intensity, dead state temperature, and volume fraction of different nano-particles on the performance of the integrated cycle are studied using second law of thermodynamics. Also, the genetic algorithm is applied to optimize the net output power of the solar Rankine cycle. The solar thermal energy is stored in a two-tank system to improve the overall performance of the system when sunlight is not available. The concept of Finite Time Thermodynamics is applied for analyzing the performance of the solar collector and thermal energy storage system. This study reveals that by increasing the volume fraction of nano-particles, the exergy efficiency of the system increases. At higher dead state temperatures, the overall exergy efficiency is increased, and higher solar irradiation leads to considerable increase of the output power of the system. It is shown that among the selected nano-fluids, CuO/oil has the best performance from exergy perspective.

Optimization of Operations Resources via Discrete Event Simulation Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, B.; Morris, D.; White, N.; Unal, R.

1996-01-01

The resource levels required for operation and support of reusable launch vehicles are typically defined through discrete event simulation modeling. Minimizing these resources constitutes an optimization problem involving discrete variables and simulation. Conventional approaches to solve such optimization problems involving integer valued decision variables are the pattern search and statistical methods. However, in a simulation environment that is characterized by search spaces of unknown topology and stochastic measures, these optimization approaches often prove inadequate. In this paper, we have explored the applicability of genetic algorithms to the simulation domain. Genetic algorithms provide a robust search strategy that does not require continuity and differentiability of the problem domain. The genetic algorithm successfully minimized the operation and support activities for a space vehicle, through a discrete event simulation model. The practical issues associated with simulation optimization, such as stochastic variables and constraints, were also taken into consideration.

Errors in short circuit measurements due to spectral mismatch between sunlight and solar simulators

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, H. B.

1976-01-01

Errors in short circuit current measurement were calculated for a variety of spectral mismatch conditions. The differences in spectral irradiance between terrestrial sunlight and three types of solar simulator were studied, as well as the differences in spectral response between three types of reference solar cells and various test cells. The simulators considered were a short arc xenon lamp AMO sunlight simulator, an ordinary quartz halogen lamp, and an ELH-type quartz halogen lamp. Three types of solar cells studied were a silicon cell, a cadmium sulfide cell and a gallium arsenide cell.

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Optimal Gel Electrolyte Using the Taguchi Design Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenn-Kai Tsai

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The Taguchi method was adopted to determine the optimal gel electrolyte used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs. Since electrolyte is a very important factor in fabrication of high performance and long-term stability DSSCs, to find the optimal composition of gel electrolyte is desired. In this paper, the common ingredients used in the liquid electrolyte were chosen. The ingredients then mixed with cheap ionic liquids and poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP were added to form colloidal electrolyte (gel. The optimal composition of each materials in the gel electrolyte determined by Taguchi method consists of 0.03 M I2, 0.15 M KI, 0.6 M LiI, 0.5 M 4-tertbutylpyridine (TBP, and 10% PVDF-HFP dissolved in the acetonitrile and 3-methoxypropionitrile (MPN solution with volume ratio of 2 : 1. The short circuit current density of 14.11 mA/cm2, the conversion efficiency (η of 5.52%, and the lifetime of over 110 days were observed for the dye-sensitized solar cell assembled with optimal gel electrolyte. The lifetime increases 10 times when compared with the conventional dye-sensitized solar cell assembled with liquid electrolyte.

Constrained optimization via simulation models for new product innovation

Science.gov (United States)

Pujowidianto, Nugroho A.

2017-11-01

We consider the problem of constrained optimization where the decision makers aim to optimize the primary performance measure while constraining the secondary performance measures. This paper provides a brief overview of stochastically constrained optimization via discrete event simulation. Most review papers tend to be methodology-based. This review attempts to be problem-based as decision makers may have already decided on the problem formulation. We consider constrained optimization models as there are usually constraints on secondary performance measures as trade-off in new product development. It starts by laying out different possible methods and the reasons using constrained optimization via simulation models. It is then followed by the review of different simulation optimization approach to address constrained optimization depending on the number of decision variables, the type of constraints, and the risk preferences of the decision makers in handling uncertainties.

Optimization of Simulated Inventory Systems : OptQuest and Alternatives

OpenAIRE

Kleijnen, J.P.C.; Wan, J.

2006-01-01

This article illustrates simulation optimization through an (s, S) inventory manage- ment system. In this system, the goal function to be minimized is the expected value of speci…c inventory costs. Moreover, speci…c constraints must be satis…ed for some random simulation responses, namely the service or …ll rate, and for some determin- istic simulation inputs, namely the constraint s optimization methods, including the popular OptQuest method. The optimal...

Analytical optimization of interior PCM for energy storage in a lightweight passive solar room

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao Wei; Wang Xin; Zhang Yinping

2009-01-01

Lightweight envelopes are widely used in modern buildings but they lack sufficient thermal capacity for passive solar utilization. An attractive solution to increase the building thermal capacity is to incorporate phase change material (PCM) into the building envelope. In this paper, a simplified theoretical model is established to optimize an interior PCM for energy storage in a lightweight passive solar room. Analytical equations are presented to calculate the optimal phase change temperature and the total amount of latent heat capacity and to estimate the benefit of the interior PCM for energy storage. Further, as an example, the analytical optimization is applied to the interior PCM panels in a direct-gain room with realistic outdoor climatic conditions of Beijing. The analytical results agree well with the numerical results. The analytical results show that: (1) the optimal phase change temperature depends on the average indoor air temperature and the radiation absorbed by the PCM panels; (2) the interior PCM has little effect on average indoor air temperature; and (3) the amplitude of the indoor air temperature fluctuation depends on the product of surface heat transfer coefficient h in and area A of the PCM panels in a lightweight passive solar room.

Optimal Sizing and Placement of Battery Energy Storage in Distribution System Based on Solar Size for Voltage Regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nazaripouya, Hamidreza [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Wang, Yubo [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Chu, Peter [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Pota, Hemanshu R. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Gadh, Rajit [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2016-07-26

This paper proposes a new strategy to achieve voltage regulation in distributed power systems in the presence of solar energy sources and battery storage systems. The goal is to find the minimum size of battery storage and its corresponding location in the network based on the size and place of the integrated solar generation. The proposed method formulates the problem by employing the network impedance matrix to obtain an analytical solution instead of using a recursive algorithm such as power flow. The required modifications for modeling the slack and PV buses (generator buses) are utilized to increase the accuracy of the approach. The use of reactive power control to regulate the voltage regulation is not always an optimal solution as in distribution systems R/X is large. In this paper the minimum size and the best place of battery storage is achieved by optimizing the amount of both active and reactive power exchanged by battery storage and its gridtie inverter (GTI) based on the network topology and R/X ratios in the distribution system. Simulation results for the IEEE 14-bus system verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Analysis of the effects of simulated synergistic LEO environment on solar panels

Science.gov (United States)

Allegri, G.; Corradi, S.; Marchetti, M.; Scaglione, S.

2007-02-01

The effects due to the LEO environment exposure of a solar array primary structure are here presented and discussed in detail. The synergistic damaging components featuring LEO environment are high vacuum, thermal cycling, neutral gas, ultraviolet (UV) radiation and cold plasma. The synergistic effects due to these environmental elements are simulated by "on ground" tests, performed in the Space Environment Simulator (SAS) at the University of Rome "La Sapienza"; numerical simulations are performed by the Space Environment Information System (SPENVIS), developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). A "safe life" design for a solar array primary structure is developed, taking into consideration the combined damaging action of the LEO environment components; therefore results from both numerical and experimental simulations are coupled within the framework of a standard finite element method (FEM) based design. The expected durability of the solar array primary structure, made of laminated sandwich composite, is evaluated assuming that the loads exerted on the structure itself are essentially dependent on thermo-elastic stresses. The optical degradation of surface materials and the stiffness and strength degradation of structural elements are taken into account to assess the global structural durability of the solar array under characteristic operative conditions in LEO environment.

Prediction of energy balance and utilization for solar electric cars

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, K.; Guo, L. M.; Wang, Y. K.; Zafar, M. T.

2017-11-01

Solar irradiation and ambient temperature are characterized by region, season and time-domain, which directly affects the performance of solar energy based car system. In this paper, the model of solar electric cars used was based in Xi’an. Firstly, the meteorological data are modelled to simulate the change of solar irradiation and ambient temperature, and then the temperature change of solar cell is calculated using the thermal equilibrium relation. The above work is based on the driving resistance and solar cell power generation model, which is simulated under the varying radiation conditions in a day. The daily power generation and solar electric car cruise mileage can be predicted by calculating solar cell efficiency and power. The above theoretical approach and research results can be used in the future for solar electric car program design and optimization for the future developments.

Parameter extraction using global particle swarm optimization approach and the influence of polymer processing temperature on the solar cell parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, S.; Singh, A.; Dhar, A.

2017-08-01

The accurate estimation of the photovoltaic parameters is fundamental to gain an insight of the physical processes occurring inside a photovoltaic device and thereby to optimize its design, fabrication processes, and quality. A simulative approach of accurately determining the device parameters is crucial for cell array and module simulation when applied in practical on-field applications. In this work, we have developed a global particle swarm optimization (GPSO) approach to estimate the different solar cell parameters viz., ideality factor (η), short circuit current (Isc), open circuit voltage (Voc), shunt resistant (Rsh), and series resistance (Rs) with wide a search range of over ±100 % for each model parameter. After validating the accurateness and global search power of the proposed approach with synthetic and noisy data, we applied the technique to the extract the PV parameters of ZnO/PCDTBT based hybrid solar cells (HSCs) prepared under different annealing conditions. Further, we examine the variation of extracted model parameters to unveil the physical processes occurring when different annealing temperatures are employed during the device fabrication and establish the role of improved charge transport in polymer films from independent FET measurements. The evolution of surface morphology, optical absorption, and chemical compositional behaviour of PCDTBT co-polymer films as a function of processing temperature has also been captured in the study and correlated with the findings from the PV parameters extracted using GPSO approach.

Modeling of solar heating and air conditioning. Progress report, October 31, 1974--December 31, 1975

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duffie, J.A.; Beckman, W.A.

1975-12-31

The principal objective of the research is to develop the means to identify and optimize practical systems for heating and cooling of buildings with solar energy in the United States. This will be done through simulation methods. Secondary objectives are to: extend and refine TRNSYS (a modular solar energy system simulation program); develop the means of supporting TRNSYS users in other laboratories; use TRNSYS (and other simulation programs) to develop design procedures for solar heating and cooling processes; design and evaluate an experimental solar heating system on a Wisconsin farm residence.

Dynamics and Control of a Flexible Solar Sail

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiafu Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Solar sail can merely make use of solar radiation pressure (SRP force as the thrust for space missions. The attitude dynamics is obtained for the highly flexible solar sail with control vanes, sliding masses, and a gimbaled control boom. The vibration equations are derived considering the geometric nonlinearity of the sail structure subjected to the forces generated by the control vanes, solar radiation pressure (SRP, and sliding masses. Then the dynamic models for attitude/vibration controller design and dynamic simulation are obtained, respectively. The linear quadratic regulator (LQR based and optimal proportional-integral (PI based controllers are designed for the coupled attitude/vibration models with constant disturbance torques caused by the center-of-mass (cm/center-of-pressure (cp offset, respectively. It can be concluded from the theoretical analysis and simulation results that the optimal PI based controller performs better than the LQR based controller from the view of eliminating the steady-state errors. The responses with and without the geometrical nonlinearity are performed, and the differences are observed and analyzed. And some suggestions are also presented.

Optimization of hybrid system (wind-solar energy) for pumping water ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper presents an optimization method for a hybrid (wind-solar) autonomous system designed for pumping water. This method is based on mathematical models demonstrated for the analysis and control of the performance of the various components of the hybrid system. These models provide an estimate of ...

How the relative permittivity of solar cell materials influences solar cell performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crovetto, Andrea; Huss-Hansen, Mathias K.; Hansen, Ole

2017-01-01

of the materials permittivity on the physics and performance of the solar cell by means of numerical simulation supported by analytical relations. We demonstrate that, depending on the specific solar cell configuration and materials properties, there are scenarios where the relative permittivity has a major......The relative permittivity of the materials constituting heterojunction solar cells is usually not considered as a design parameter when searching for novel combinations of heterojunction materials. In this work, we investigate the validity of such an approach. Specifically, we show the effect...... the heterojunction partner has a high permittivity, solar cells are consistently more robust against several non-idealities that are especially likely to occur in early-stage development, when the device is not yet optimized....

Location optimization of solar plants by an integrated hierarchical DEA PCA approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azadeh, A.; Ghaderi, S.F.; Maghsoudi, A.

2008-01-01

Unique features of renewable energies such as solar energy has caused increasing demands for such resources. In order to use solar energy as a natural resource, environmental circumstances and geographical location related to solar intensity must be considered. Different factors may affect on the selection of a suitable location for solar plants. These factors must be considered concurrently for optimum location identification of solar plants. This article presents an integrated hierarchical approach for location of solar plants by data envelopment analysis (DEA), principal component analysis (PCA) and numerical taxonomy (NT). Furthermore, an integrated hierarchical DEA approach incorporating the most relevant parameters of solar plants is introduced. Moreover, 2 multivariable methods namely, PCA and NT are used to validate the results of DEA model. The prescribed approach is tested for 25 different cities in Iran with 6 different regions within each city. This is the first study that considers an integrated hierarchical DEA approach for geographical location optimization of solar plants. Implementation of the proposed approach would enable the energy policy makers to select the best-possible location for construction of a solar power plant with lowest possible costs

BASIMO - Borehole Heat Exchanger Array Simulation and Optimization Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Schulte, Daniel O.; Bastian, Welsch; Wolfram, Rühaak; Kristian, Bär; Ingo, Sass

2017-04-01

Arrays of borehole heat exchangers are an increasingly popular source for renewable energy. Furthermore, they can serve as borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) systems for seasonally fluctuating heat sources like solar thermal energy or district heating grids. The high temperature level of these heat sources prohibits the use of the shallow subsurface for environmental reasons. Therefore, deeper reservoirs have to be accessed instead. The increased depth of the systems results in high investment costs and has hindered the implementation of this technology until now. Therefore, research of medium deep BTES systems relies on numerical simulation models. Current simulation tools cannot - or only to some extent - describe key features like partly insulated boreholes unless they run fully discretized models of the borehole heat exchangers. However, fully discretized models often come at a high computational cost, especially for large arrays of borehole heat exchangers. We give an update on the development of BASIMO: a tool, which uses one dimensional thermal resistance and capacity models for the borehole heat exchangers coupled with a numerical finite element model for the subsurface heat transport in a dual-continuum approach. An unstructured tetrahedral mesh bypasses the limitations of structured grids for borehole path geometries, while the thermal resistance and capacity model is improved to account for borehole heat exchanger properties changing with depth. Thereby, partly insulated boreholes can be considered in the model. Furthermore, BASIMO can be used to improve the design of BTES systems: the tool allows for automated parameter variations and is readily coupled to other code like mathematical optimization algorithms. Optimization can be used to determine the required minimum system size or to increase the system performance.

Optimizing Re-planning Operation for Smart House Applying Solar Radiation Forecasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atsushi Yona

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes the re-planning operation method using Tabu Search for direct current (DC smart house with photovoltaic (PV, solar collector (SC, battery and heat pump system. The proposed method is based on solar radiation forecasting using reported weather data, Fuzzy theory and Recurrent Neural Network. Additionally, the re-planning operation method is proposed with consideration of solar radiation forecast error, battery and inverter losses. In this paper, it is assumed that the installation location for DC smart house is Okinawa, which is located in Southwest Japan. The validity of proposed method is confirmed by comparing the simulation results.

Integrating rooftop solar into a multi-source energy planning optimization model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnette, Andrew N.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • There is significant technical capacity for rooftop solar installations. • Rooftop solar generation is heavily dependent on key parameters. • Rooftop solar should be one of several options for increasing renewable energy. • Renewable energy planning should consider both cost and benefits. - Abstract: This research uses an optimization model to compare the role of rooftop solar generation versus large-scale solar and wind farm installations in renewable energy planning. The model consists of competing objectives, minimizing annual generation costs and minimizing annual greenhouse gas emissions. Rather than focus on the individual consumer’s investment decision, over 20 scenarios were developed which explored key input parameters such as the maximum penetration level of rooftop solar installations, pricing of equipment, tax credits, and net-metering policy to determine what role rooftop solar plays in renewable energy investment at an aggregate level. The research finds that at lower levels of penetration, such as those currently found in the United States, other renewable energy sources remain viable options, thus rooftop solar should be just one option considered when increasing development of renewable energy sources. The research also shows that a balanced approach taking into account both of the opposing objectives will lead to greater levels of rooftop solar generation than focusing solely on cost or emissions. Therefore, rooftop solar should be considered as part of an overall balanced approach to increasing renewable energy generation

Real time optimization of solar powered direct contact membrane distillation based on multivariable extremum seeking

KAUST Repository

Karam, Ayman M.; Laleg-Kirati, Taous-Meriem

2015-01-01

This paper presents a real time optimization scheme for a solar powered direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) water desalination system. The sun and weather conditions vary and are inconsistent throughout the day. Therefore, the solar powered DCMD feed inlet temperature is never constant, which influences the distilled water flux. The problem of DCMD process optimization has not been studied enough. In this work, the response of the process under various feed inlet temperatures is investigated, which demonstrates the need for an optimal controller. To address this issue, we propose a multivariable Newton-based extremum seeking controller which optimizes the inlet feed and permeate mass flow rates as the feed inlet temperature varies. Results are presented and discussed for a realistic temperature profile.

Real time optimization of solar powered direct contact membrane distillation based on multivariable extremum seeking

KAUST Repository

Karam, Ayman M.

2015-09-21

This paper presents a real time optimization scheme for a solar powered direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) water desalination system. The sun and weather conditions vary and are inconsistent throughout the day. Therefore, the solar powered DCMD feed inlet temperature is never constant, which influences the distilled water flux. The problem of DCMD process optimization has not been studied enough. In this work, the response of the process under various feed inlet temperatures is investigated, which demonstrates the need for an optimal controller. To address this issue, we propose a multivariable Newton-based extremum seeking controller which optimizes the inlet feed and permeate mass flow rates as the feed inlet temperature varies. Results are presented and discussed for a realistic temperature profile.

Variational method for the minimization of entropy generation in solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smit, Sjoerd; Kessels, W. M. M., E-mail: w.m.m.kessels@tue.nl [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2015-04-07

In this work, a method is presented to extend traditional solar cell simulation tools to make it possible to calculate the most efficient design of practical solar cells. The method is based on the theory of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, which is used to derive an expression for the local entropy generation rate in the solar cell, making it possible to quantify all free energy losses on the same scale. The framework of non-equilibrium thermodynamics can therefore be combined with the calculus of variations and existing solar cell models to minimize the total entropy generation rate in the cell to find the most optimal design. The variational method is illustrated by applying it to a homojunction solar cell. The optimization results in a set of differential algebraic equations, which determine the optimal shape of the doping profile for given recombination and transport models.

Using Real and Simulated TNOs to Constrain the Outer Solar System

Science.gov (United States)

Kaib, Nathan

2018-04-01

Over the past 2-3 decades our understanding of the outer solar system’s history and current state has evolved dramatically. An explosion in the number of detected trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) coupled with simultaneous advances in numerical models of orbital dynamics has driven this rapid evolution. However, successfully constraining the orbital architecture and evolution of the outer solar system requires accurately comparing simulation results with observational datasets. This process is challenging because observed datasets are influenced by orbital discovery biases as well as TNO size and albedo distributions. Meanwhile, such influences are generally absent from numerical results. Here I will review recent work I and others have undertaken using numerical simulations in concert with catalogs of observed TNOs to constrain the outer solar system’s current orbital architecture and past evolution.

Simulation results of the electron-proton telescope for Solar Orbiter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boden, Sebastian; Steinhagen, Jan; Kulkarni, Shrinivasrao; Grunau, Jan; Paspirgilis, Rolf; Martin, Cesar; Boettcher, Stephan; Seimetz, Lars; Schuster, Bjoern; Kulemzin, Alexander; Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F. [Christian-Albrechts-Universitaet Kiel (Germany)

2013-07-01

The Electron Proton Telescope (EPT) is one of five instruments in the Energetic Particle Detector suite for Solar Orbiter. It investigates low energy electrons and protons of solar events. EPT covers an energy range from 20400 keV for electrons and 20 keV-7 MeV for protons and distinguishes electrons from protons using a magnet/foil technique with silicon detectors. There will be two EPT units, each with double-barreled telescopes, one looking sunwards/antisunwards and the other north/south. EPT is designed using the GEometry ANd Tracking (GEANT) simulation toolkit developed by CERN for Monte Carlo calculations. Here we present the details of our simulations and the simulation results with respect to energy coverage and the geometrical factor of the EPT instrument. We also look at the far-field of the EPT magnets, which is important for electromagnetic cleanliness considerations.

Environmental simulation testing of solar cell contamination by hydrazine

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, W. W., Jr.

1972-01-01

Test results for thermal vacuum and radiation environment simulation of hydrazine contamination are discussed. Solar cell performance degradation, measured by short circuit current, is presented in correlation with the variations used in environmental parameters.

Simulation study of solar wind push on a charged wire: basis of solar wind electric sail propulsion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Janhunen

2007-03-01

Full Text Available One possibility for propellantless propulsion in space is to use the momentum flux of the solar wind. A way to set up a solar wind sail is to have a set of thin long wires which are kept at high positive potential by an onboard electron gun so that the wires repel and deflect incident solar wind protons. The efficiency of this so-called electric sail depends on how large force a given solar wind exerts on a wire segment and how large electron current the wire segment draws from the solar wind plasma when kept at a given potential. We use 1-D and 2-D electrostatic plasma simulations to calculate the force and present a semitheoretical formula which captures the simulation results. We find that under average solar wind conditions at 1 AU the force per unit length is (5±1×10−8 N/m for 15 kV potential and that the electron current is accurately given by the well-known orbital motion limited (OML theory cylindrical Langmuir probe formula. Although the force may appear small, an analysis shows that because of the very low weight of a thin wire per unit length, quite high final speeds (over 50 km/s could be achieved by an electric sailing spacecraft using today's flight-proved components. It is possible that artificial electron heating of the plasma in the interaction region could increase the propulsive effect even further.

Simulated hail impact testing of photovoltaic solar panels

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, D.; Wilson, A.; Ross, R.

1978-01-01

Techniques used to simulate and study the effect of hail on photovoltaic solar panels are described. Simulated hail stones (frozen ice spheres projected at terminal velocity) or steel balls were applied by air guns, gravity drop, or static loading. Tests with simulated hail and steel balls yielded different results. The impact strength of 10 commercially available flat-plate photovoltaic modules was tested. It was found that none of the six panel designs incorporating clear potting silicone material as the outermost layer remained undamaged by 1-in. simulated hailstones, while a photovoltaic module equipped with a 0.188-in.-thick acrylic cover sheet would be able to withstand the impact of a 2-in.-diameter hailstone.

Analysis of influence on the solar simulator light source off-focus to the spot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiayu ZHANG

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Aiming at focusing-type solar simulator, the paper researches the relationship between the defocusing amount and the facula irradiance. With the optical system of focusing-type solar simulator as research object, simulation is conducted based on a short-arc xenon lamps and its ellipsoidal condenser. According to the xenon lamp energy distribution figure and its distribution curve flux, the luminous body is simplified to cylindrical luminous light which emits light only on the flank. Model for the simplified luminous light and its ellipsoidal condenser are established in the optical simulation software TracePro, and the impact of axial and radial deviation on the facula is simulated. The results show that light off-focus has little influence on the average of facula irradiance, but has great influence on the maximum value and the distribution of facula irradiance as well as the facula area. The result provides a theoretical reference for the design and alignment of solar simulator focusing system.

CASTING IMPROVEMENT BASED ON METAHEURISTIC OPTIMIZATION AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radomir Radiša

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the use of metaheuristic optimization techniques to support the improvement of casting process. Genetic algorithm (GA, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO, Simulated annealing (SA and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO have been considered as optimization tools to define the geometry of the casting part’s feeder. The proposed methodology has been demonstrated in the design of the feeder for casting Pelton turbine bucket. The results of the optimization are dimensional characteristics of the feeder, and the best result from all the implemented optimization processes has been adopted. Numerical simulation has been used to verify the validity of the presented design methodology and the feeding system optimization in the casting system of the Pelton turbine bucket.

Mercury Conditions for the MESSENGER Mission Simulated in High- Solar-Radiation Vacuum Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Wayne A.

2003-01-01

The MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft, planned for launch in March 2004, will perform two flybys of Mercury before entering a year-long orbit of the planet in September 2009. The mission will provide opportunities for detailed characterization of the surface, interior, atmosphere, and magnetosphere of the closest planet to the Sun. The NASA Glenn Research Center and the MESSENGER spacecraft integrator, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, have partnered under a Space Act Agreement to characterize a variety of critical components and materials under simulated conditions expected near Mercury. Glenn's Vacuum Facility 6, which is equipped with a solar simulator, can simulate the vacuum and high solar radiation anticipated in Mercury orbit. The MESSENGER test hardware includes a variety of materials and components that are being characterized during the Tank 6 vacuum tests, where the hardware will be exposed to up to 11 suns insolation, simulating conditions expected in Mercury orbit. In 2002, ten solar vacuum tests were conducted, including beginning of life, end of life, backside exposure, and solar panel thermal shock cycling tests. Components tested include candidate solar array panels, sensors, thermal shielding materials, and communication devices. As an example, for the solar panel thermal shock cycling test, two candidate solar array panels were suspended on a lift mechanism that lowered the panels into a liquid-nitrogen-cooled box. After reaching -140 C, the panels were then lifted out of the box and exposed to the equivalent of 6 suns (8.1 kilowatts per square meters). After five cold soak/heating cycles were completed successfully, there was no apparent degradation in panel performance. An anticipated 100-hr thermal shield life test is planned for autumn, followed by solar panel flight qualification tests in winter. Glenn's ongoing support to the MESSENGER program has been instrumental in

Solar Trigeneration: a Transitory Simulation of HVAC Systems Using Different Typologies of Hybrid Panels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandro del Amo Sancho

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The high energy demand on buildings requires efficient installations and the integration of renewable energy to achieve the goal of reducing energy consumption using traditional energy sources. Usually, solar energy generation and heating loads have different profiles along a day and their maximums take place at different moments. In addition, in months in which solar production is higher, the heating demands are the minimum (hot water is consumed only domestically in summer. Cooling machines (absorption and adsorption allow using thermal energy to chill a fluid. This heat flow rate could be recovered from solar collectors or any other heat source. The aim of this study is to integrate different typologies of solar hybrid (photovoltaic and thermal collectors with cooling machines getting solar trigeneration and concluding the optimal combination for building applications. The heat recovered from the photovoltaic module is used to provide energy to these cooling machines getting a double effect: to get a better efficiency on PV modules and to cool the building. In this document the authors analyse these installations, their operating conditions, dimensions and parameters, in order to get the optimal installation in three different European cities. This work suggests that in a family house in Madrid, the optimal combination is to use CPVT with azimuthally tracking and absorption machine. In this case, the solar trigeneration system using 55 m2 of collector area saves the cooling loads and 79% of the heating load in the house round the year.

Photodegradation of antibiotics under simulated solar radiation: implications for their environmental fate.

Science.gov (United States)

Batchu, Sudha Rani; Panditi, Venkata R; O'Shea, Kevin E; Gardinali, Piero R

2014-02-01

Roxithromycin, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole are frequently detected antibiotics in environmental waters. Direct and indirect photolysis of these problematic antibiotics were investigated in pure and natural waters (fresh and salt water) under irradiation of different light sources. Fundamental photolysis parameters such as molar absorption coefficient, quantum yield and first order rate constants are reported and discussed. The antibiotics are degraded fastest under ultraviolet 254 nm, followed by 350 nm and simulated solar radiation. The composition of the matrix (pH, dissolved organic content, chloride ion concentration) played a significant role in the observed photodegradation. Under simulated solar radiation, ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole degrade relatively quickly with half-lives of 0.5 and 1.5h, respectively. However, roxithromycin and erythromycin, macrolides are persistent (half-life: 2.4-10 days) under solar simulation. The transformation products (15) of the targeted antibiotics produced under irradiation experiments were identified using high resolution mass spectrometry and degradation pathways were proposed. © 2013.

A Simulation Framework for Optimal Energy Storage Sizing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Suazo-Martínez

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Despite the increasing interest in Energy Storage Systems (ESS, quantification of their technical and economical benefits remains a challenge. To assess the use of ESS, a simulation approach for ESS optimal sizing is presented. The algorithm is based on an adapted Unit Commitment, including ESS operational constraints, and the use of high performance computing (HPC. Multiple short-term simulations are carried out within a multiple year horizon. Evaluation is performed for Chile's Northern Interconnected Power System (SING. The authors show that a single year evaluation could lead to sub-optimal results when evaluating optimal ESS size. Hence, it is advisable to perform long-term evaluations of ESS. Additionally, the importance of detailed simulation for adequate assessment of ESS contributions and to fully capture storage value is also discussed. Furthermore, the robustness of the optimal sizing approach is evaluated by means of a sensitivity analyses. The results suggest that regulatory frameworks should recognize multiple value streams from storage in order to encourage greater ESS integration.

Alkyl Chain Barriers for Kinetic Optimization in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kroeze, J.E.; Hirata, N.; Koops, S.; Nazeeruddin, M.K.; Schmidt-Mende, L.; Grätzel, M.; Durrant, J.R.

2006-01-01

The optimization of interfacial charge transfer is crucial to the design of dye-sensitized solar cells. In this paper we address the dynamics of the charge separation and recombination in liquid-electrolyte and solid-state cells employing a series of amphiphilic ruthenium dyes with varying

Radiation absorption and optimization of solar photocatalytic reactors for environmental applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Colina-Márquez, Jose; Machuca-Martínez, Fiderman; Li Puma, Gianluca

2010-07-01

This study provides a systematic and quantitative approach to the analysis and optimization of solar photocatalytic reactors utilized in environmental applications such as pollutant remediation and conversion of biomass (waste) to hydrogen. Ray tracing technique was coupled with the six-flux absorption scattering model (SFM) to analyze the complex radiation field in solar compound parabolic collectors (CPC) and tubular photoreactors. The absorption of solar radiation represented by the spatial distribution of the local volumetric rate of photon absorption (LVRPA) depends strongly on catalyst loading and geometry. The total radiation absorbed in the reactors, the volumetric rate of absorption (VRPA), was analyzed as a function of the optical properties (scattering albedo) of the photocatalyst. The VRPA reached maxima at specific catalyst concentrations in close agreement with literature experimental studies. The CPC has on average 70% higher photon absorption efficiency than a tubular reactor and requires 39% less catalyst to operate under optimum conditions. The "apparent optical thickness" is proposed as a new dimensionless parameter for optimization of CPC and tubular reactors. It removes the dependence of the optimum catalyst concentration on tube diameter and photocatalyst scattering albedo. For titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) Degussa P25, maximum photon absorption occurs at apparent optical thicknesses of 7.78 for CPC and 12.97 for tubular reactors.

Simulation study of solar wind push on a charged wire: basis of solar wind electric sail propulsion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Janhunen

2007-03-01

Full Text Available One possibility for propellantless propulsion in space is to use the momentum flux of the solar wind. A way to set up a solar wind sail is to have a set of thin long wires which are kept at high positive potential by an onboard electron gun so that the wires repel and deflect incident solar wind protons. The efficiency of this so-called electric sail depends on how large force a given solar wind exerts on a wire segment and how large electron current the wire segment draws from the solar wind plasma when kept at a given potential. We use 1-D and 2-D electrostatic plasma simulations to calculate the force and present a semitheoretical formula which captures the simulation results. We find that under average solar wind conditions at 1 AU the force per unit length is (5±1×10⁻⁸ N/m for 15 kV potential and that the electron current is accurately given by the well-known orbital motion limited (OML theory cylindrical Langmuir probe formula. Although the force may appear small, an analysis shows that because of the very low weight of a thin wire per unit length, quite high final speeds (over 50 km/s could be achieved by an electric sailing spacecraft using today's flight-proved components. It is possible that artificial electron heating of the plasma in the interaction region could increase the propulsive effect even further.

Simulation experiments and solar wind sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffith, J.E.; Papanastassiou, D.A.; Russell, W.A.; Tombrello, T.A.; Weller, R.A.

1978-01-01

In order to isolate the role played by solar wind sputtering from other lunar surface phenomena a number of simulation experiments were performed, including isotope abundance measurements of Ca sputtered from terrestrial fluorite and plagioclase by 50-keV and 130-keV 14 N beams, measurement of the energy distribution of U atoms sputtered with 80-keV 40 Ar, and measurement of the fraction of sputtered U atoms which stick on the surfaces used to collect these atoms. 10 references

Solar photovoltaic system design optimization by shading analysis to maximize energy generation from limited urban area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rachchh, Ravi; Kumar, Manoj; Tripathi, Brijesh

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Scheme to maximize total number of solar panels in a given area. • Enhanced energy output from a fixed area without compromising the efficiency. • Capacity and generated energy are enhanced by more than 25%. - Abstract: In the urban areas the demand of solar power is increasing due to better awareness about the emission of green house gases from conventional thermal power plants and significant decrease in the installation cost of residential solar power plants. But the land cost and the under utilization of available space is hindering its further growth. Under these circumstances, solar photovoltaic system installation needs to accommodate the maximum number of solar panels in either roof-top or land-mounted category. In this article a new approach is suggested to maximize the total number of solar panels in a given area with enhanced energy output without compromising the overall efficiency of the system. The number of solar panels can be maximized in a solar photovoltaic energy generation system by optimizing installation parameters such as tilt angle, pitch, gain factor, altitude angle and shading to improve the energy yield. In this paper mathematical analysis is done to show that the capacity and generated energy can be enhanced by more than 25% for a given land area by optimization various parameters.

Optimal design of compact organic Rankine cycle units for domestic solar applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbazza Luca

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Organic Rankine cycle turbogenerators are a promising technology to transform the solar radiation harvested by solar collectors into electric power. The present work aims at sizing a small-scale organic Rankine cycle unit by tailoring its design for domestic solar applications. Stringent design criteria, i. e., compactness, high performance and safe operation, are targeted by adopting a multi-objective optimization approach modeled with the genetic algorithm. Design-point thermodynamic variables, e. g., evaporating pressure, the working fluid, minimum allowable temperature differences, and the equipment geometry, are the decision variables. Flat plate heat exchangers with herringbone corrugations are selected as heat transfer equipment for the preheater, the evaporator and the condenser. The results unveil the hyperbolic trend binding the net power output to the heat exchanger compactness. Findings also suggest that the evaporator and condenser minimum allowable temperature differences have the largest impact on the system volume and on the cycle performances. Among the fluids considered, the results indicate that R1234yf and R1234ze are the best working fluid candidates. Using flat plate solar collectors (hot water temperature equal to 75 °C, R1234yf is the optimal solution. The heat exchanger volume ranges between 6.0 and 23.0 dm3, whereas the thermal efficiency is around 4.5%. R1234ze is the best working fluid employing parabolic solar collectors (hot water temperature equal to 120 °C. In such case the thermal efficiency is around 6.9%, and the heat exchanger volume varies from 6.0 to 18.0 dm3.

Optimization and modeling of a photovoltaic solar integrated system by neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashhab, Moh'd Sami S.

2008-01-01

A photovoltaic solar integrated system is modeled with artificial neural networks (ANN's). Data relevant to the system performance was collected on April, 4th 1993 and every 15 min during the day. This input-output data is used to train the ANN. The ANN approximates the data well and therefore can be relied on in predicting the system performance, namely, system efficiencies. The solar system consists of a solar trainer which contains a photovoltaic panel, a DC centrifugal pump, flat plate collectors, storage tank, a flowmeter for measuring the water mass flow rate, pipes, pyranometer for measuring the solar intensity, thermocouples for measuring various system temperatures and wind speed meter. The complex method constrained optimization is applied to the solar system ANN model to find the operating conditions of the system that will produce the maximum system efficiencies. This information will be very hard to obtain by just looking at the available historical input-output data

Optimization and modeling of a photovoltaic solar integrated system by neural networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ashhab, Moh' d Sami S. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13115 (Jordan)

2008-11-15

A photovoltaic solar integrated system is modeled with artificial neural networks (ANN's). Data relevant to the system performance was collected on April, 4th 1993 and every 15 min during the day. This input-output data is used to train the ANN. The ANN approximates the data well and therefore can be relied on in predicting the system performance, namely, system efficiencies. The solar system consists of a solar trainer which contains a photovoltaic panel, a DC centrifugal pump, flat plate collectors, storage tank, a flowmeter for measuring the water mass flow rate, pipes, pyranometer for measuring the solar intensity, thermocouples for measuring various system temperatures and wind speed meter. The complex method constrained optimization is applied to the solar system ANN model to find the operating conditions of the system that will produce the maximum system efficiencies. This information will be very hard to obtain by just looking at the available historical input-output data. (author)

Simulated annealing algorithm for optimal capital growth

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Yong; Zhu, Bo; Tang, Yong

2014-08-01

We investigate the problem of dynamic optimal capital growth of a portfolio. A general framework that one strives to maximize the expected logarithm utility of long term growth rate was developed. Exact optimization algorithms run into difficulties in this framework and this motivates the investigation of applying simulated annealing optimized algorithm to optimize the capital growth of a given portfolio. Empirical results with real financial data indicate that the approach is inspiring for capital growth portfolio.

Solar radio emissions: 2D full PIC simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Pierre, H.; Sgattoni, A.; Briand, C.; Amiranoff, F.; Riconda, C.

2016-12-01

Solar radio emissions are electromagnetic waves observed at the local plasma frequency and/or at twice the plasma frequency. To describe their origin a multi-stage model has been proposed by Ginzburg & Zhelezniakov (1958) and further developed by several authors, which consider a succession of non-linear three-wave interaction processes. Electron beams accelerated by solar flares travel in the interplanetary plasma and provide the free energy for the development of plasma instabilities. The model describes how part of the free energy of these beams can be transformed in a succession of plasma waves and eventually into electromagnetic waves. Following the work of Thurgood & Tsiklauri (2015) we performed several 2D Particle In Cell simulations. The simulations follow the entire set of processes from the electron beam propagation in the background plasma to the generation of the electromagnetic waves in particular the 2ωp emission, including the excitation of the low frequency waves. As suggested by Thurgood & Tsiklauri (2015) it is possible to identify regimes where the radiation emission can be directly linked to the electron beams. Our attention was devoted to estimate the conversion efficiency from electron kinetic energy to the em energy, and the growth rate of the several processes which can be identified. We studied the emission angles of the 2ωpradiation and compared them with the theoretical predictions of Willes et. al. (1995). We also show the role played by some numerical parameters i.e. the size and shape of the simulation box. This work is the first step to prepare laser-plasma experiments. V. L. Ginzburg, V. V. Zhelezniakov On the Possible Mechanisms of Sporadic Solar Radio Emission (Radiation in an Isotropic Plasma) Soviet Astronomy, Vol. 2, p.653 (1958) J. O. Thurgood and D. Tsiklauri Self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations of funda- mental and harmonic plasma radio emission mechanisms. Astronomy & Astrophysics 584, A83 (2015). A. Willes, P

Numerical simulation of heat transfer process in solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower with radiation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Qiuhuan; Zhu, Jialing; Lu, Xinli

2017-01-01

Graphical abstract: A 3-D numerical model integrated with a discrete ordinate (DO) solar radiation model (considering solar radiation effect in the room of solar collector) was developed to investigate the influence of solar radiation intensity and ambient pressure on the efficiency and thermal characteristics of the SENDDCT. Our study shows that introducing such a radiation model can more accurately simulate the heat transfer process in the SENDDCT. Calculation results indicate that previous simulations overestimated solar energy obtained by the solar collector and underestimated the heat loss. The cooling performance is improved when the solar radiation intensity or ambient pressure is high. Air temperature and velocity increase with the increase of solar radiation intensity. But ambient pressure has inverse effects on the changes of air temperature and velocity. Under a condition that the solar load increases but the ambient pressure decreases, the increased rate of heat transferred in the heat exchanger is not obvious. Thus the performance of the SENDDCT not only depends on the solar radiation intensity but also depends on the ambient pressure. - Highlights: • A radiation model has been introduced to accurately simulate heat transfer process. • Heat transfer rate would be overestimated if the radiation model was not introduced. • The heat transfer rate is approximately proportional to solar radiation intensity. • The higher the solar radiation or ambient pressure, the better SENDDCT performance. - Abstract: Solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower (SENDDCT) is more efficient than natural draft dry cooling tower by utilizing solar radiation in arid region. A three-dimensional numerical model considering solar radiation effect was developed to investigate the influence of solar radiation intensity and ambient pressure on the efficiency and thermal characteristics of SENDDCT. The numerical simulation outcomes reveal that a model with consideration of

MODELLING, SIMULATING AND OPTIMIZING BOILERS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Kim; Condra, Thomas Joseph; Houbak, Niels

2004-01-01

In the present work a framework for optimizing the design of boilers for dynamic operation has been developed. A cost function to be minimized during the optimization has been formulated and for the present design variables related to the Boiler Volume and the Boiler load Gradient (i.e. ring rate...... on the boiler) have been dened. Furthermore a number of constraints related to: minimum and maximum boiler load gradient, minimum boiler size, Shrinking and Swelling and Steam Space Load have been dened. For dening the constraints related to the required boiler volume a dynamic model for simulating the boiler...... performance has been developed. Outputs from the simulations are shrinking and swelling of water level in the drum during for example a start-up of the boiler, these gures combined with the requirements with respect to allowable water level uctuations in the drum denes the requirements with respect to drum...

Optimizing Chromatographic Separation: An Experiment Using an HPLC Simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Shalliker, R. A.; Kayillo, S.; Dennis, G. R.

2008-01-01

Optimization of a chromatographic separation within the time constraints of a laboratory session is practically impossible. However, by employing a HPLC simulator, experiments can be designed that allow students to develop an appreciation of the complexities involved in optimization procedures. In the present exercise, a HPLC simulator from "JCE…

Solar parabolic dish Stirling engine system design, simulation, and thermal analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hafez, A.Z.; Soliman, Ahmed; El-Metwally, K.A.; Ismail, I.M.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Modeling and simulation for different parabolic dish Stirling engine designs using Matlab®. • The effect of solar dish design features and factors had been taken. • Estimation of output power from the solar dish using Matlab®. • The present analysis provides a theoretical guidance for designing and operating solar parabolic dish system. - Abstract: Modeling and simulation for different parabolic dish Stirling engine designs have been carried out using Matlab®. The effect of solar dish design features and factors such as material of the reflector concentrators, the shape of the reflector concentrators and the receiver, solar radiation at the concentrator, diameter of the parabolic dish concentrator, sizing the aperture area of concentrator, focal Length of the parabolic dish, the focal point diameter, sizing the aperture area of receiver, geometric concentration ratio, and rim angle have been studied. The study provides a theoretical guidance for designing and operating solar parabolic dish Stirling engines system. At Zewail city of Science and Technology, Egypt, for a 10 kW Stirling engine; The maximum solar dish Stirling engine output power estimation is 9707 W at 12:00 PM where the maximum beam solar radiation applied in solar dish concentrator is 990 W/m"2 at 12:00 PM. The performance of engine can be improved by increasing the precision of the engine parts and the heat source efficiency. The engine performance could be further increased if a better receiver working fluid is used. We can conclude that where the best time for heating the fluid and fasting the processing, the time required to heat the receiver to reach the minimum temperature for operating the Solar-powered Stirling engine for different heat transfer fluids; this will lead to more economic solar dish systems. Power output of the solar dish system is one of the most important targets in the design that show effectiveness of the system, and this has achieved when we take

Simulation of closed loop controlled boost converter for solar installation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalirasu Athimulam

2010-01-01

Full Text Available With the shortage of the energy and ever increasing of the oil price, research on the renewable and green energy sources, especially the solar arrays and the fuel cells, becomes more and more important. How to achieve high stepup and high efficiency DC/DC converters is the major consideration in the renewable power applications due to the low voltage of PV arrays and fuel cells. In this paper digital simulation of closed loop controlled boost converter for solar installation is presented. Circuit models for open loop and closed loop controlled systems are developed using the blocks of simulink. The simulation results are compared with the theoretical results. This converter has advantages like improved power factor, fast response and reduced hardware. .

Determining the energy performance of manually controlled solar shades: A stochastic model based co-simulation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao, Jian

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Driving factor for adjustment of manually controlled solar shades was determined. • A stochastic model for manual solar shades was constructed using Markov method. • Co-simulation with Energyplus was carried out in BCVTB. • External shading even manually controlled should be used prior to LOW-E windows. • Previous studies on manual solar shades may overestimate energy savings. - Abstract: Solar shading devices play a significant role in reducing building energy consumption and maintaining a comfortable indoor condition. In this paper, a typical office building with internal roller shades in hot summer and cold winter zone was selected to determine the driving factor of control behavior of manual solar shades. Solar radiation was determined as the major factor in driving solar shading adjustment based on field measurements and logit analysis and then a stochastic model for manually adjusted solar shades was constructed by using Markov method. This model was used in BCVTB for further co-simulation with Energyplus to determine the impact of the control behavior of solar shades on energy performance. The results show that manually adjusted solar shades, whatever located inside or outside, have a relatively high energy saving performance than clear-pane windows while only external shades perform better than regularly used LOW-E windows. Simulation also indicates that using an ideal assumption of solar shade adjustment as most studies do in building simulation may lead to an overestimation of energy saving by about 16–30%. There is a need to improve occupants’ actions on shades to more effectively respond to outdoor conditions in order to lower energy consumption, and this improvement can be easily achieved by using simple strategies as a guide to control manual solar shades

Development of a digital solar simulator based on full-bridge converter

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chen; Feng, Jian; Liu, Zhilong; Tong, Weichao; Ji, Yibo

2014-02-01

With the development of solar photovoltaic, distribution schemes utilized in power grid had been commonly application, and photovoltaic (PV) inverter is an essential equipment in grid. In this paper, a digital solar simulator based on full-bridge structure is presented. The output characteristic curve of system is electrically similar to silicon solar cells, which can greatly simplify research methods of PV inverter, improve the efficiency of research and development. The proposed simulator consists on a main control board based on TM320F28335, phase-shifted zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) DC-DC full-bridge converter and voltage and current sampling circuit, that allows emulating the voltage-current curve with the open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 900V and the short-circuit current (Isc) of 18A .When the system connected to a PV inverter, the inverter can quickly track from the open-circuit to the maximum power point and keep stability.

Semiconductor heterostructures and optimization of light-trapping structures for efficient thin-film solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McPheeters, Claiborne O; Yu, Edward T; Hu, Dongzhi; Schaadt, Daniel M

2012-01-01

Sub-wavelength photonic structures and nanoscale materials have the potential to greatly improve the efficiencies of solar cells by enabling maximum absorption of sunlight. Semiconductor heterostructures provide versatile opportunities for improving absorption of infrared radiation in photovoltaic devices, which accounts for half of the power in the solar spectrum. These ideas can be combined in quantum-well solar cells and related structures in which sub-wavelength metal and dielectric scattering elements are integrated for light trapping. Measurements and simulations of GaAs solar cells with less than one micron of active material demonstrate the benefits of incorporating In(Ga)As quantum-wells and quantum-dots to improve their performance. Simulations that incorporate a realistic model of absorption in quantum-wells show that the use of broadband photonic structures with such devices can substantially improve the benefit of incorporating heterostructures, enabling meaningful improvements in their performance

Simulation design of P–I–N-type all-perovskite solar cells with high efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Hui-Jing; Wang Wei-Chao; Gu Yi-Fan

2017-01-01

According to the good charge transporting property of perovskite, we design and simulate a p–i–n-type all-perovskite solar cell by using one-dimensional device simulator. The perovskite charge transporting layers and the perovskite absorber constitute the all-perovskite cell. By modulating the cell parameters, such as layer thickness values, doping concentrations and energy bands of n-, i-, and p-type perovskite layers, the all-perovskite solar cell obtains a high power conversion efficiency of 25.84%. The band matched cell shows appreciably improved performance with widen absorption spectrum and lowered recombination rate, so weobtain a high J sc of 32.47 mA/cm 2 . The small series resistance of the all-perovskite solar cell also benefits the high J sc . The simulation provides a novel thought of designing perovskite solar cells with simple producing process, low production cost and high efficient structure to solve the energy problem. (paper)

Performance analysis a of solar driven organic Rankine cycle using multi-component working fluids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baldasso, E.; Andreasen, J. G.; Modi, A.

2015-01-01

suitable control strategy and both the overall annual production and the average solar to electrical efficiency are estimated with an annual simulation. The results suggest that the introduction of binary working fluids enables to increase the solar system performance both in design and part-load operation....... cycle. The purpose of this paper is to optimize a low temperature organic Rankine cycle tailored for solar applications. The objective of the optimization is the maximization of the solar to electrical efficiency and the optimization parameters are the working fluid and the turbine inlet temperature...... and pressure. Both pure fluids and binary mixtures are considered as possible working fluids and thus one of the primary aims of the study is to evaluate whether the use of multi-component working fluids might lead to increased solar to electrical efficiencies. The considered configuration includes a solar...

Conception and simulation of an improved solar refrigeration unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaouachi, B.; Gabsi, S.

2006-01-01

If the solar energy possesses the advantage to be c lean , free and new able, this last is probably, considered like an adapted potential solution, that answers in even time at a economic preoccupation and ecological problems. Among the main done currently research is the use of free source to make operate system of refrigeration. following a bibliographic study on the absorption cycles, the utilized couples absorbents-refrigerating fluids and the capture of the solar energy, an unit refrigeration using an improved solar absorption cycle of ammonia has been conceived and studied. The simulation results in permanent regime concerned the determination of the variation of the performance criteria mainly according to the operatives kept for this study. The obtained results showed, that the improved mono pressure absorption cycle of ammonia is suitable well for the cold production by means of the solar energy and that with a simple plate collector we can reach a power, of the order of 900 watts sufficient for domestic use.(Author)

Solar-generated steam for oil recovery: Reservoir simulation, economic analysis, and life cycle assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandler, Joel; Fowler, Garrett; Cheng, Kris; Kovscek, Anthony R.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Integrated assessment of solar thermal enhanced oil recovery (TEOR). • Analyses of reservoir performance, economics, and life cycle factors. • High solar fraction scenarios show economic viability for TEOR. • Continuous variable-rate steam injection meets the benchmarks set by conventional steam flood. - Abstract: The viability of solar thermal steam generation for thermal enhanced oil recovery (TEOR) in heavy-oil sands was evaluated using San Joaquin Valley, CA data. The effectiveness of solar TEOR was quantified through reservoir simulation, economic analysis, and life-cycle assessment. Reservoir simulations with continuous but variable rate steam injection were compared with a base-case Tulare Sand steamflood project. For equivalent average injection rates, comparable breakthrough times and recovery factors of 65% of the original oil in place were predicted, in agreement with simulations in the literature. Daily cyclic fluctuations in steam injection rate do not greatly impact recovery. Oil production rates do, however, show seasonal variation. Economic viability was established using historical prices and injection/production volumes from the Kern River oil field. For comparison, this model assumes that present day steam generation technologies were implemented at TEOR startup in 1980. All natural gas cogeneration and 100% solar fraction scenarios had the largest and nearly equal net present values (NPV) of $12.54 B and $12.55 B, respectively. Solar fraction refers to the steam provided by solar steam generation. Given its large capital cost, the 100% solar case shows the greatest sensitivity to discount rate and no sensitivity to natural gas price. Because there are very little emissions associated with day-to-day operations from the solar thermal system, life-cycle emissions are significantly lower than conventional systems even when the embodied energy of the structure is considered. We estimate that less than 1 g of CO 2 /MJ of refined

Optimizations of large area quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biancardo, M.; West, K.; Krebs, Frederik C

2006-01-01

In this paper, we address optimizations of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) through the combination of important issues like semi-transparency, quasi-solid-state constructions and low-cost realization of serially connected modules. DSSCs with a transparency of 50% in the visible region, moderate...... encouraging results. A short circuit current (I-sc) of 4.45 mA cm(-2) with an open circuit voltage (V-oc) of 0.5 V were recorded in standard solar cells sensitized by cis-bis(thiocyano) ruthenium(II)-bis-2, 2'-bipyridine-4, 4'-dicarboxylate. Up-scaling tests demonstrate the easy realization of a 625 cm(2...

Dependence of Substorm Evolution on Solar Wind Condition: Simulation Study

Science.gov (United States)

Kamiyoshikawa, N.; Ebihara, Y.; Tanaka, T.

2017-12-01

A substorm is one of the remarkable disturbances occurring in the magnetosphere. It is known that the substorm occurs frequently when IMF is southward and solar wind speed is high. However, the physical process to determine substorm scale is not well understood. We reproduced substorms by using global MHD simulation, calculated auroral electrojet (ionospheric Hall current) flowing in the ionosphere to investigate the dependence of substorm evolution on solar wind condition. Solar wind speed of 372.4 km/s and IMF Bz of 5.0 nT were imposed to, obtain the quasi-stationary state of the magnetosphere. Then the solar wind parameters were changed as a step function. For the solar wind speed, we assumed 300 km/s, 500 km/s and 700 km/s. For IMF, we assumed -1.0 nT, -3.0 nT, -5.0 nT, -7.0 nT and -9.0 nT. In total, 15 simulation runs were performed. In order to objectively evaluate the substorm, the onset was identified with the method based on the one proposed by Newell et al. (2011). This method uses the SME index that is an extension of the AE index. In this study, the geomagnetic variation induced by the ionospheric Hall current was obtained every 1 degree from the magnetic latitude 40 degrees to 80 degrees and in every 0.5 hours in the magnetic region direction. The upper and the lower envelopes of the geomagnetic variation are regarded as SMU index and SML index, respectively. The larger the solar wind speed, the larger the southward IMF, the more the onset tends to be faster. This tendency is consistent with the onset occurrence probability indicated by Newell et al. (2016). Moreover, the minimum value of the SML index within 30 minutes from the beginning of the onset tends to decrease with the solar wind speed and the magnitude of the southward IMF. A rapid decrease of the SML index can be explained by a rapid increase in the field-aligned currents flowing in and out of the nightside ionosphere. This means that electromagnetic energies flowing into the ionosphere

A Practical Guide To Solar Array Simulation And PCDU Test

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitz, Noah; Carroll, Greg; Clegg, Russell

2011-10-01

Solar arrays consisting of multiple photovoltaic segments provide power to satellites and charge internal batteries for use during eclipse. Solar arrays have unique I-V characteristics and output power which vary with environmental and operational conditions such as temperature, irradiance, spin, and eclipse. Therefore, specialty power solutions are needed to properly test the satellite on the ground, especially the Power Control and Distribution Unit (PCDU) and the Array Power Regulator (APR.) This paper explores some practical and theoretical considerations that should be taken into account when choosing a commercial, off-the-shelf solar array simulator (SAS) for verification of the satellite PCDU. An SAS is a unique power supply with I-V output characteristics that emulate the solar arrays used to power a satellite. It is important to think about the strengths and the limitations of this emulation capability, how closely the SAS approximates a real solar panel, and how best to design a system using SAS as components.

Three-Terminal Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Hung Tai

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Many defects exist within amorphous silicon since it is not crystalline. This provides recombination centers, thus reducing the efficiency of a typical a-Si solar cell. A new structure is presented in this paper: a three-terminal a-Si solar cell. The new back-to-back p-i-n/n-i-p structure increased the average electric field in a solar cell. A typical a-Si p-i-n solar cell was also simulated for comparison using the same thickness and material parameters. The 0.28 μm-thick three-terminal a-Si solar cell achieved an efficiency of 11.4%, while the efficiency of a typical a-Si p-i-n solar cell was 9.0%. Furthermore, an efficiency of 11.7% was achieved by thickness optimization of the three-terminal solar cell.

Modeling, simulation and optimization of bipedal walking

CERN Document Server

Berns, Karsten

2013-01-01

The model-based investigation of motions of anthropomorphic systems is an important interdisciplinary research topic involving specialists from many fields such as Robotics, Biomechanics, Physiology, Orthopedics, Psychology, Neurosciences, Sports, Computer Graphics and Applied Mathematics. This book presents a study of basic locomotion forms such as walking and running is of particular interest due to the high demand on dynamic coordination, actuator efficiency and balance control. Mathematical models and numerical simulation and optimization techniques are explained, in combination with experimental data, which can help to better understand the basic underlying mechanisms of these motions and to improve them. Example topics treated in this book are Modeling techniques for anthropomorphic bipedal walking systems Optimized walking motions for different objective functions Identification of objective functions from measurements Simulation and optimization approaches for humanoid robots Biologically inspired con...

Simulation programs for ph.D. study of analysis, modeling and optimum design of solar domestic hot water systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin Qin

1998-12-31

The design of solar domestic hot water (DHW) systems is a complex process, due to characteristics inherent in the solar heating technology. Recently, computer simulation has become a widely used technique to improve the understanding of the thermal processes in such systems. One of the main objects of the Ph.D. study of `Analysis, Modelling and optimum Design of Solar Domestic Hot Water Systems` is to develop and verify programs for carrying out the simulation and evaluation of the dynamic performance of solar DHW systems. During this study, simulation programs for hot water distribution networks and for certain types of solar DHW systems were developed. (au)

Impurity photovoltaic effect in silicon solar cell doped with sulphur: A numerical simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azzouzi, Ghania; Chegaar, Mohamed

2011-01-01

The impurity photovoltaic effect (IPV) has mostly been studied in various semiconductors such as silicon, silicon carbide and GaAs in order to increase infrared absorption and hence cell efficiency. In this work, sulphur is used as the IPV effect impurity incorporated in silicon solar cells. For our simulation we use the numerical device simulator (SCAPS). We calculate the solar cell performances (short circuit current density J sc , open circuit voltage V oc , conversion efficiency η and quantum efficiency QE). We study the influence of light trapping and certain impurity parameters like impurity concentration and position in the gap on the solar cell performances. Simulation results for IPV effect on silicon doped with sulphur show an improvement of the short circuit current and the efficiency for sulphur energy levels located far from the middle of the band gap especially at E c -E t =0.18 eV.

Performance evaluation and solar radiation capture of optimally inclined box type solar cooker with parallelepiped cooking vessel design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sethi, V.P.; Pal, D.S.; Sumathy, K.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Optimally inclined solar cooker is presented for efficient cooking. • A new parallelepiped shaped cooking vessel for higher solar radiation capture is presented. • Optimum tilt angles of the boosted mirror are computed for maximization of reflected components. • Solar radiation capture ratios show the better cooking performance of inclined cooker. • Standard performance parameters establish the better cooking performance of inclined cooker. - Abstract: An optimally inclined box type solar cooker with single booster mirror is presented along with design and development of a novel parallelepiped shaped cooking vessel design for efficient cooking especially in winter conditions. The main feature of new parallelepiped shaped design is its longer inclined south wall (facing the sun) and a trapezoidal cavity on the vessel lid for greater heat transfer to the food material. The ends of the vessel towards east and west direction are minimized. The cooking performance parameters of proposed inclined cooker coupled with new vessel design were compared with horizontally placed identical cooker of same material and dimensions coupled with conventional cylindrical vessel design during winter month (January) of the year 2010 at Ludhiana climate (30°N 77°E), India. Results showed that the first and the second figures of merit (F 1 and F 2 ) for inclined cooker were 0.16 and 0.54 as compared to 0.14 and 0.43 for horizontally placed cooker. Time taken to boil the water τ boil and standard cooking power P n was 37% less and 40% more respectively in parallelepiped shaped cooking vessel of inclined cooker as compared to conventional cylindrical vessel of horizontally placed cooker. A mathematical model is developed to compute the total solar radiation availability on the absorber plate of inclined as well as horizontal cooker which establishes the better cooking performance of the inclined cooker due to greater width of sun rays intercepting the absorber

Model validation of solar PV plant with hybrid data dynamic simulation based on fast-responding generator method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Dawei

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, a significant number of large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV plants have been put into operation or been under planning around the world. The model accuracy of solar PV plant is the key factor to investigate the mutual influences between solar PV plants and a power grid. However, this problem has not been well solved, especially in how to apply the real measurements to validate the models of the solar PV plants. Taking fast-responding generator method as an example, this paper presents a model validation methodology for solar PV plant via the hybrid data dynamic simulation. First, the implementation scheme of hybrid data dynamic simulation suitable for DIgSILENT PowerFactory software is proposed, and then an analysis model of solar PV plant integration based on IEEE 9 system is established. At last, model validation of solar PV plant is achieved by employing hybrid data dynamic simulation. The results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in solar PV plant model validation.

Stochastic Modelling, Analysis, and Simulations of the Solar Cycle Dynamic Process

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Douglas C.; Ladde, Gangaram S.

2018-03-01

Analytical solutions, discretization schemes and simulation results are presented for the time delay deterministic differential equation model of the solar dynamo presented by Wilmot-Smith et al. In addition, this model is extended under stochastic Gaussian white noise parametric fluctuations. The introduction of stochastic fluctuations incorporates variables affecting the dynamo process in the solar interior, estimation error of parameters, and uncertainty of the α-effect mechanism. Simulation results are presented and analyzed to exhibit the effects of stochastic parametric volatility-dependent perturbations. The results generalize and extend the work of Hazra et al. In fact, some of these results exhibit the oscillatory dynamic behavior generated by the stochastic parametric additative perturbations in the absence of time delay. In addition, the simulation results of the modified stochastic models influence the change in behavior of the very recently developed stochastic model of Hazra et al.

Measurements and Simulations on the Mechanisms of Efficiency Losses in HIT Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvio Pierro

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We study the electrical and the optical behavior of HIT solar cell by means of measurements and optoelectrical simulations by TCAD simulations. We compare the HIT solar cell with a conventional crystalline silicon solar cell to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the HIT technology. Results highlight different mechanisms of electrical and optical efficiency losses caused by the presence of the amorphous silicon layer. The higher resistivity of the a-Si layers implies a smaller distance between the metal lines that causes a higher shadowing. The worst optical coupling between the amorphous silicon and the antireflective coating implies a slight increase of reflectivity around the 600 nm wavelength.

Solar concentrator panel and gore testing in the JPL 25-foot space simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Dennison, E. W.; Argoud, M. J.

1981-01-01

The optical imaging characteristics of parabolic solar concentrator panels (or gores) have been measured using the optical beam of the JPL 25-foot space simulator. The simulator optical beam has been characterized, and the virtual source position and size have been determined. These data were used to define the optical test geometry. The point source image size and focal length have been determined for several panels. A flux distribution of a typical solar concentrator has been estimated from these data. Aperture photographs of the panels were used to determine the magnitude and characteristics of the reflecting surface errors. This measurement technique has proven to be highly successful at determining the optical characteristics of solar concentrator panels.

The effect of low energy protons on silicon solar cells with simulated coverglass cracks

Science.gov (United States)

Gasner, S.; Anspaugh, B.; Francis, R.; Marvin, D.

1991-01-01

Results of a series of low-energy proton (LEP) tests are presented. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of low-energy protons on the electrical performance of solar cells with simulated cracked covers. The results of the tests were then related to the space environment. A matrix of LEP tests was set up using solar cells with simulated cracks to determine the effect on electrical performance as a function of fluence, energy, crack width, coverglass adhesive shielding, crack location, and solar cell size. The results of the test were, for the most part, logical, and consistent.

A review on recent size optimization methodologies for standalone solar and wind hybrid renewable energy system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-falahi, Monaaf D.A.; Jayasinghe, S.D.G.; Enshaei, H.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Possible combinations and configurations for standalone PV-WT HES were discussed. • Most recently used assessment parameters for standalone PV-WT HES were explained. • Optimization algorithms and software tools were comprehensively reviewed. • The recent trend of using hybrid algorithms over single algorithms was discussed. • Optimization algorithms for sizing standalone PV-WT HES were critically compared. - Abstract: Electricity demand in remote and island areas are generally supplied by diesel or other fossil fuel based generation systems. Nevertheless, due to the increasing cost and harmful emissions of fossil fuels there is a growing trend to use standalone hybrid renewable energy systems (HRESs). Due to the complementary characteristics, matured technologies and availability in most areas, hybrid systems with solar and wind energy have become the popular choice in such applications. However, the intermittency and high net present cost are the challenges associated with solar and wind energy systems. In this context, optimal sizing is a key factor to attain a reliable supply at a low cost through these standalone systems. Therefore, there has been a growing interest to develop algorithms for size optimization in standalone HRESs. The optimal sizing methodologies reported so far can be broadly categorized as classical algorithms, modern techniques and software tools. Modern techniques, based on single artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, are becoming more popular than classical algorithms owing to their capabilities in solving complex optimization problems. Moreover, in recent years, there has been a clear trend to use hybrid algorithms over single algorithms mainly due to their ability to provide more promising optimization results. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review on recent developments in size optimization methodologies, as well as a critical comparison of single algorithms, hybrid algorithms, and software tools

Numerical simulation of thermal behaviors of a clothed human body with evaluation of indoor solar radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao, Aihua; Luo, Jie; Li, Yi

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Solar radiation evaluation is integrated with the thermal transfer in clothed humans. • Thermal models are developed for clothed humans exposed in indoor solar radiation. • The effect of indoor solar radiation on humans can be predicted in different situations in living. • The green solar energy can be efficiently utilized in the building development. - Abstract: Solar radiation is a valuable green energy, which is important in achieving a successful building design for thermal comfort in indoor environment. This paper considers solar radiation indoors into the transient thermal transfer models of a clothed human body and offers a new numerical method to analyze the dynamic thermal status of a clothed human body under different solar radiation incidences. The evaluation model of solar radiation indoors and a group of coupled thermal models of the clothed human body are developed and integrated. The simulation capacities of these integrated models are validated through a comparison between the predicted results and the experimental data in reference. After that, simulation cases are also conducted to show the influence of solar radiation on the thermal status of individual clothed body segments when the human body is staying indoors in different seasons. This numerical simulation method provides a useful tool to analyze the thermal status of clothed human body under different solar radiation incidences indoors and thus enables the architect to efficiently utilize the green solar energy in building development.

Simulated Space Environmental Effects on Thin Film Solar Array Components

Science.gov (United States)

Finckenor, Miria; Carr, John; SanSoucie, Michael; Boyd, Darren; Phillips, Brandon

2017-01-01

The Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and Transceiver (LISA-T) experiment consists of thin-film, low mass, low volume solar panels. Given the variety of thin solar cells and cover materials and the lack of environmental protection typically afforded by thick coverglasses, a series of tests were conducted in Marshall Space Flight Center's Space Environmental Effects Facility to evaluate the performance of these materials. Candidate thin polymeric films and nitinol wires used for deployment were also exposed. Simulated space environment exposures were selected based on SSP 30425 rev. B, "Space Station Program Natural Environment Definition for Design" or AIAA Standard S-111A-2014, "Qualification and Quality Requirements for Space Solar Cells." One set of candidate materials were exposed to 5 eV atomic oxygen and concurrent vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation for low Earth orbit simulation. A second set of materials were exposed to 1 MeV electrons. A third set of samples were exposed to 50, 100, 500, and 700 keV energy protons, and a fourth set were exposed to >2,000 hours of near ultraviolet (NUV) radiation. A final set was rapidly thermal cycled between -55 and +125degC. This test series provides data on enhanced power generation, particularly for small satellites with reduced mass and volume resources. Performance versus mass and cost per Watt is discussed.

Solar Power Ramp Events Detection Using an Optimized Swinging Door Algorithm: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cui, Mingjian; Zhang, Jie; Florita, Anthony; Hodge, Bri-Mathias; Ke, Deping; Sun, Yuanzhang

2015-08-07

Solar power ramp events (SPREs) are those that significantly influence the integration of solar power on non-clear days and threaten the reliable and economic operation of power systems. Accurately extracting solar power ramps becomes more important with increasing levels of solar power penetrations in power systems. In this paper, we develop an optimized swinging door algorithm (OpSDA) to detection. First, the swinging door algorithm (SDA) is utilized to segregate measured solar power generation into consecutive segments in a piecewise linear fashion. Then we use a dynamic programming approach to combine adjacent segments into significant ramps when the decision thresholds are met. In addition, the expected SPREs occurring in clear-sky solar power conditions are removed. Measured solar power data from Tucson Electric Power is used to assess the performance of the proposed methodology. OpSDA is compared to two other ramp detection methods: the SDA and the L1-Ramp Detect with Sliding Window (L1-SW) method. The statistical results show the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method. OpSDA can significantly improve the performance of the SDA, and it can perform as well as or better than L1-SW with substantially less computation time.

Experimental thermal study and numerical simulation of a composite solar wall. Optimization of the energetic performances; Etude thermique experimentale et simulation numerique d`un mur solaire composite. Optimisation des performances energetiques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zalewski, L.

1996-11-27

The objective of this work is the analysis of a passive solar component: the composite solar wall, a building component, which includes an insulating panel located behind the massive wall. This panel has two vents located at the top and at the bottom, which allow the air to circulate from the room to the layer in contact with the back of the massive wall, where it is heated, and then back to the room. The solar energy is transferred to the building by conduction through the massive wall, and then by convection using a thermosyphon phenomenon. The monitoring of 2 solar houses in Verdun-Thierville (Meuse, France) has clearly shown, control issues of the air layer. The wall must be operated as autonomously as possible, to not be a constraint for the occupants and to get an optimization of the energy gains. To solve these problems, a composite solar wall prototype was erected in a test cell at Cadarache and tested in real operating conditions. This allows to use a more complete instrumentation, to have access more easily to the sensors and to study various configurations. The first experiments revealed an inverse thermosyphon phenomenon. To avoid this effect, two systems were designed, tested at Cadarache and then implemented in the walls at Verdun. (author) 77 refs.

Simulation and optimization study on a solar space heating system combined with a low temperature ASHP for single family rural residential houses in Beijing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deng, Jie; Tian, Zhiyong; Fan, Jianhua

2016-01-01

A pilot project of the solar water heating system combined with a low temperature air source heat pump (ASHP) unit was established in 2014 in a detached residential house in the rural region of Beijing, in order to investigate the system application prospect for single family houses via system...... optimization design and economic analysis. The established system was comprised of the glass heat-pipe based evacuated tube solar collectors with a gross area of 18.8 m2 and an ASHP with a stated heating power of 8 kW for the space heating of a single family rural house of 81.4 m2. The dynamic thermal...... with good building insulation were undertaken to figure out the system economical efficiency in the rural regions of Beijing. The results show that the payback periods of the solar space heating system combined with the ASHP with the collector areas 15.04-22.56 m2 are 17.3-22.4 years for the established...

Numerical model of simulation for solar collector of water heating; Modelo de simulaco numerica para colector solar de aquecimento de agua

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, A. C. G. C.; Dutra, J. C. C.; Henriquez, J. R.; Michalewicz, J. S.

2008-07-01

Before being installed a solar heater, It must be tested, numerical or experimentally to get his characteristic equation, which is the efficiency curve, plotted as a function on the temperature of entry and solar incident radiation on the collector. In this work was developed a tool for numerical simulation of heating water flat-plate solar collectors. This tool has been developed from a mathematical model which is composed of a system of equations. In the model are included equations of balance energy for the collector, equation of the first law, the law of cooling equation of Newton, convective heat transfer coefficient correlations, equations for calculating the solar incident radiation, and one equation that calculates of the water flow due to the siphon effect. The solution of the equations system was obtained by the multidimensional version of the Newton-Raphson method. the model was validated with experimental data from literature. The results shows, that it is a very interesting tool to simulate efficiency curve of the solar collector. (Author)

Intelligent optimization models based on hard-ridge penalty and RBF for forecasting global solar radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, He; Dong, Yao; Wang, Jianzhou; Li, Yuqin

2015-01-01

Highlights: • CS-hard-ridge-RBF and DE-hard-ridge-RBF are proposed to forecast solar radiation. • Pearson and Apriori algorithm are used to analyze correlations between the data. • Hard-ridge penalty is added to reduce the number of nodes in the hidden layer. • CS algorithm and DE algorithm are used to determine the optimal parameters. • Proposed two models have higher forecasting accuracy than RBF and hard-ridge-RBF. - Abstract: Due to the scarcity of equipment and the high costs of maintenance, far fewer observations of solar radiation are made than observations of temperature, precipitation and other weather factors. Therefore, it is increasingly important to study several relevant meteorological factors to accurately forecast solar radiation. For this research, monthly average global solar radiation and 12 meteorological parameters from 1998 to 2010 at four sites in the United States were collected. Pearson correlation coefficients and Apriori association rules were successfully used to analyze correlations between the data, which provided a basis for these relative parameters as input variables. Two effective and innovative methods were developed to forecast monthly average global solar radiation by converting a RBF neural network into a multiple linear regression problem, adding a hard-ridge penalty to reduce the number of nodes in the hidden layer, and applying intelligent optimization algorithms, such as the cuckoo search algorithm (CS) and differential evolution (DE), to determine the optimal center and scale parameters. The experimental results show that the proposed models produce much more accurate forecasts than other models

Intermediate band solar cell simulation use InAs quantum dot in GaAs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendra P, I. B.; Rahayu, F.; Sahdan, M. F.; Darma, Y.

2015-01-01

Intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) has become a new approach in increasing solar cell efficiency significantly. One way to create intermediate band is by proposing quantum dots (QD) technology. One of the important aspects in utilizing IBSC is the absorption of light. In this work we simulated the influence of QD arrangement in order to increase absorption coefficient and solar cell efficiency. We also simulated the influence of QD size to capture a wider light spectrum. We present a simple calculation method with low computing power demand. Results show that the increasing in quantum dot size can increase in capturing wider spectrum of light. Arrangement InAs QD in bulk material GaAs can capture wider spectrum of light and increase the absorption coefficient. The arrangement InAs QD 2 nm in GaAs bulk can increase solar cell efficiency up to 49.68%

Experimental and numerical analysis of sodium-carbonate salt gradient solar-pond performance under simulated solar-radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurt, Hueseyin; Ozkaymak, Mehmet [Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Technical Education Faculty, 78200 Karabuk (Turkey); Binark, A. Korhan [Marmara University, Technical Education Faculty, 34722 Kuyubasi-Istanbul (Turkey)

2006-04-01

The objective of this study is to investigate experimentally and theoretically whether sodium carbonate (Na{sub 2}CO{sub 3}) salt is suitable for establishing a salinity gradient in a salt-gradient solar-pond (SGSP). For this purpose, a small-scale prismatic solar-pond was constructed. Experiments were conducted in the laboratory under the incident radiation from two halogen-lamps acting as a solar simulator. Furthermore, a one-dimensional transient mathematical model that describes the heat and mass transfer behaviour of the SGSP was developed. The differential equations obtained were solved numerically using a finite-difference method. It was found from the experiments that the density gradient, achieved using sodium carbonate salt, can suppress convection from the bottom to the surface of the pond. (author)

Experimental and numerical analysis of sodium-carbonate salt gradient solar-pond performance under simulated solar-radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurt, Hueseyin; Ozkaymak, Mehmet; Binark, A. Korhan

2006-01-01

The objective of this study is to investigate experimentally and theoretically whether sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ) salt is suitable for establishing a salinity gradient in a salt-gradient solar-pond (SGSP). For this purpose, a small-scale prismatic solar-pond was constructed. Experiments were conducted in the laboratory under the incident radiation from two halogen-lamps acting as a solar simulator. Furthermore, a one-dimensional transient mathematical model that describes the heat and mass transfer behaviour of the SGSP was developed. The differential equations obtained were solved numerically using a finite-difference method. It was found from the experiments that the density gradient, achieved using sodium carbonate salt, can suppress convection from the bottom to the surface of the pond

Influence of the contacting scheme in simulations of radial silicon nanorod solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voigt, Felix; Stelzner, Thomas; Christiansen, Silke H.

2012-01-01

Silicon nanorod solar cells were simulated using the Silvaco Technical Computer Aided Design (TCAD) software suite. For reasons of speed optimization the simulations were performed in cylinder coordinates taking advantage of the model's symmetry. Symmetric doping was assumed with a dopant density of 10 18 cm −3 in the p-type core and in the n-type shell, and the location of the pn-junction was chosen such that the space charge region was located adjacent to the shell surface. Two contact configurations were explored. In configuration A the cathode contact was wrapped around the semiconductor nanorod, while in configuration B the cathode was assumed just on top of the nanorod. In both cases the anode was located at the bottom of the rod. Cell efficiency was optimized with regard to rod radius and rod length. Optimization was performed in a three-step procedure consisting in radius optimization, length optimization and again radius optimization. A maximum in efficiency with respect to rod length L was visible in configuration A, leading to an optimum value of L = 48 μm. This maximum is explained by the combination of an increase of short-circuit current density J sc and a decrease of open-circuit voltage U oc with L. In configuration B, J sc also increases with L, but U oc stays rather constant and the maximum in efficiency only appears at very large values of L ≈ 12 mm. We restricted the rod length to L ≤ 100 μm for further optimization, in order to stay in an experimentally feasible range. During the optimization of rod radius R in configuration A the open circuit voltage increased continuously, while short circuit current density stayed rather constant. This leads to an increase in efficiency with R, which only stops at very large radii, where R starts to be comparable with L. In configuration B efficiency is almost independent of R, provided that the radius is large enough to comprise a well-formed space charge region, here only a shallow maximum can be

Influence of the contacting scheme in simulations of radial silicon nanorod solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Voigt, Felix, E-mail: felix.voigt@uni-oldenburg.de [Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena (Germany); Institute of Physics, University of Oldenburg (Germany); Stelzner, Thomas [Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena (Germany); Christiansen, Silke H. [Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena (Germany); Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen (Germany)

2012-10-01

Silicon nanorod solar cells were simulated using the Silvaco Technical Computer Aided Design (TCAD) software suite. For reasons of speed optimization the simulations were performed in cylinder coordinates taking advantage of the model's symmetry. Symmetric doping was assumed with a dopant density of 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3} in the p-type core and in the n-type shell, and the location of the pn-junction was chosen such that the space charge region was located adjacent to the shell surface. Two contact configurations were explored. In configuration A the cathode contact was wrapped around the semiconductor nanorod, while in configuration B the cathode was assumed just on top of the nanorod. In both cases the anode was located at the bottom of the rod. Cell efficiency was optimized with regard to rod radius and rod length. Optimization was performed in a three-step procedure consisting in radius optimization, length optimization and again radius optimization. A maximum in efficiency with respect to rod length L was visible in configuration A, leading to an optimum value of L = 48 {mu}m. This maximum is explained by the combination of an increase of short-circuit current density J{sub sc} and a decrease of open-circuit voltage U{sub oc} with L. In configuration B, J{sub sc} also increases with L, but U{sub oc} stays rather constant and the maximum in efficiency only appears at very large values of L Almost-Equal-To 12 mm. We restricted the rod length to L {<=} 100 {mu}m for further optimization, in order to stay in an experimentally feasible range. During the optimization of rod radius R in configuration A the open circuit voltage increased continuously, while short circuit current density stayed rather constant. This leads to an increase in efficiency with R, which only stops at very large radii, where R starts to be comparable with L. In configuration B efficiency is almost independent of R, provided that the radius is large enough to comprise a well-formed space

Thermo-economic multi-objective optimization of solar dish-Stirling engine by implementing evolutionary algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmadi, Mohammad H.; Sayyaadi, Hoseyn; Mohammadi, Amir H.; Barranco-Jimenez, Marco A.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Thermo-economic multi-objective optimization of solar dish-Stirling engine is studied. • Application of the evolutionary algorithm is investigated. • Error analysis is done to find out the error through investigation. - Abstract: In the recent years, remarkable attention is drawn to Stirling engine due to noticeable advantages, for instance a lot of resources such as biomass, fossil fuels and solar energy can be applied as heat source. Great number of studies are conducted on Stirling engine and finite time thermo-economic is one of them. In the present study, the dimensionless thermo-economic objective function, thermal efficiency and dimensionless power output are optimized for a dish-Stirling system using finite time thermo-economic analysis and NSGA-II algorithm. Optimized answers are chosen from the results using three decision-making methods. Error analysis is done to find out the error through investigation

Solar Plus: A Holistic Approach to Distributed Solar PV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Shaughnessy, Eric [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ardani, Kristen [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Cutler, Dylan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Margolis, Robert [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-05-25

Solar 'plus' refers to an emerging approach to distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment that uses energy storage and controllable devices to optimize customer economics. The solar plus approach increases customer system value through technologies such as electric batteries, smart domestic water heaters, smart air-conditioner (AC) units, and electric vehicles We use an NREL optimization model to explore the customer-side economics of solar plus under various utility rate structures and net metering rates. We explore optimal solar plus applications in five case studies with different net metering rates and rate structures. The model deploys different configurations of PV, batteries, smart domestic water heaters, and smart AC units in response to different rate structures and customer load profiles. The results indicate that solar plus improves the customer economics of PV and may mitigate some of the negative impacts of evolving rate structures on PV economics. Solar plus may become an increasingly viable model for optimizing PV customer economics in an evolving rate environment.

Solar Plus: A Holistic Approach to Distributed Solar PV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

OShaughnessy, Eric J. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ardani, Kristen B. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Cutler, Dylan S. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Margolis, Robert M. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-06-08

Solar 'plus' refers to an emerging approach to distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment that uses energy storage and controllable devices to optimize customer economics. The solar plus approach increases customer system value through technologies such as electric batteries, smart domestic water heaters, smart air-conditioner (AC) units, and electric vehicles We use an NREL optimization model to explore the customer-side economics of solar plus under various utility rate structures and net metering rates. We explore optimal solar plus applications in five case studies with different net metering rates and rate structures. The model deploys different configurations of PV, batteries, smart domestic water heaters, and smart AC units in response to different rate structures and customer load profiles. The results indicate that solar plus improves the customer economics of PV and may mitigate some of the negative impacts of evolving rate structures on PV economics. Solar plus may become an increasingly viable model for optimizing PV customer economics in an evolving rate environment.

Automatic CT simulation optimization for radiation therapy: A general strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Hua, E-mail: huli@radonc.wustl.edu; Chen, Hsin-Chen; Tan, Jun; Gay, Hiram; Michalski, Jeff M.; Mutic, Sasa [Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63110 (United States); Yu, Lifeng [Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905 (United States); Anastasio, Mark A. [Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63110 (United States); Low, Daniel A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)

2014-03-15

Purpose: In radiation therapy, x-ray computed tomography (CT) simulation protocol specifications should be driven by the treatment planning requirements in lieu of duplicating diagnostic CT screening protocols. The purpose of this study was to develop a general strategy that allows for automatically, prospectively, and objectively determining the optimal patient-specific CT simulation protocols based on radiation-therapy goals, namely, maintenance of contouring quality and integrity while minimizing patient CT simulation dose. Methods: The authors proposed a general prediction strategy that provides automatic optimal CT simulation protocol selection as a function of patient size and treatment planning task. The optimal protocol is the one that delivers the minimum dose required to provide a CT simulation scan that yields accurate contours. Accurate treatment plans depend on accurate contours in order to conform the dose to actual tumor and normal organ positions. An image quality index, defined to characterize how simulation scan quality affects contour delineation, was developed and used to benchmark the contouring accuracy and treatment plan quality within the predication strategy. A clinical workflow was developed to select the optimal CT simulation protocols incorporating patient size, target delineation, and radiation dose efficiency. An experimental study using an anthropomorphic pelvis phantom with added-bolus layers was used to demonstrate how the proposed prediction strategy could be implemented and how the optimal CT simulation protocols could be selected for prostate cancer patients based on patient size and treatment planning task. Clinical IMRT prostate treatment plans for seven CT scans with varied image quality indices were separately optimized and compared to verify the trace of target and organ dosimetry coverage. Results: Based on the phantom study, the optimal image quality index for accurate manual prostate contouring was 4.4. The optimal tube

Automatic CT simulation optimization for radiation therapy: A general strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hua; Yu, Lifeng; Anastasio, Mark A; Chen, Hsin-Chen; Tan, Jun; Gay, Hiram; Michalski, Jeff M; Low, Daniel A; Mutic, Sasa

2014-03-01

In radiation therapy, x-ray computed tomography (CT) simulation protocol specifications should be driven by the treatment planning requirements in lieu of duplicating diagnostic CT screening protocols. The purpose of this study was to develop a general strategy that allows for automatically, prospectively, and objectively determining the optimal patient-specific CT simulation protocols based on radiation-therapy goals, namely, maintenance of contouring quality and integrity while minimizing patient CT simulation dose. The authors proposed a general prediction strategy that provides automatic optimal CT simulation protocol selection as a function of patient size and treatment planning task. The optimal protocol is the one that delivers the minimum dose required to provide a CT simulation scan that yields accurate contours. Accurate treatment plans depend on accurate contours in order to conform the dose to actual tumor and normal organ positions. An image quality index, defined to characterize how simulation scan quality affects contour delineation, was developed and used to benchmark the contouring accuracy and treatment plan quality within the predication strategy. A clinical workflow was developed to select the optimal CT simulation protocols incorporating patient size, target delineation, and radiation dose efficiency. An experimental study using an anthropomorphic pelvis phantom with added-bolus layers was used to demonstrate how the proposed prediction strategy could be implemented and how the optimal CT simulation protocols could be selected for prostate cancer patients based on patient size and treatment planning task. Clinical IMRT prostate treatment plans for seven CT scans with varied image quality indices were separately optimized and compared to verify the trace of target and organ dosimetry coverage. Based on the phantom study, the optimal image quality index for accurate manual prostate contouring was 4.4. The optimal tube potentials for patient sizes

Concrete Plant Operations Optimization Using Combined Simulation and Genetic Algorithms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cao, Ming; Lu, Ming; Zhang, Jian-Ping

2004-01-01

This work presents a new approach for concrete plant operations optimization by combining a ready mixed concrete (RMC) production simulation tool (called HKCONSIM) with a genetic algorithm (GA) based optimization procedure. A revamped HKCONSIM computer system can be used to automate the simulation

Optimization, selection and feasibility study of solar parabolic trough power plants for Algerian conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boukelia, T.E.; Mecibah, M.S.; Kumar, B.N.; Reddy, K.S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Evaluation of solar resources in the absence of measured data. • Optimization of 2 PTSTPPs integrated with TES and FBS and using oil and salt as HTFs. • 4E comparative study of the two optimized plants alongside the Andasol 1 plant. • The salt plant resulting as the best one and has been chosen for the viability study. • Tamanrasset is the best location for construction of PTSTPPs. - Abstract: In the present study, optimization of two parabolic trough solar thermal power plants integrated with thermal energy storage (TES), and fuel backup system (FBS) has been performed. The first plant uses Therminol VP-1 as heat transfer fluid in the solar field and the second plant uses molten salt. The optimization is carried out with solar multiple (SM) and full load hours of TES as the parameters, with an objective of minimizing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and maximizing the annual energy yield. A 4E (energy–exergy–environment–economic) comparison of the optimized plants alongside the Andasol 1 as reference plant is studied. The molten salt plant resulting as the best technology, from the optimization and 4E comparative study has been chosen for the viability analysis of ten locations in Algeria with semi-arid and arid climatic conditions. The results indicate that Andasol 1 reference plant has the highest mean annual energy efficiency (17.25%) and exergy efficiency (23.30%). Whereas, the highest capacity factor (54.60%) and power generation (236.90 GW h) are exhibited by the molten salt plant. The molten salt plant has least annual water usage of about 800,482 m 3 , but demands more land for the operation. Nevertheless the oil plant emits the lowest amount of CO 2 gas (less than 40.3 kilo tonnes). From the economic viewpoint, molten salt seems to be the best technology compared to other plants due to its lowest investment cost (less than 360 million dollars) and lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) (8.48 ¢/kW h). The

Modelling and simulation of a photovoltaic generator; Modelagem e simulacao de gerador fotovoltaico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cabral, Claudia Valeria T.; Oliveira Filho, Delly [Universidade Federal de Vicosa (UFV), MG (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Agricola], e-mail: tclavale@vicosa.ufv.br; Machado Neto, Lauro de Vilhena B. [Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Minas Gerais (PUC/Minas), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil); Diniz, Antonia Sonia Alves C. [Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais (CEMIG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

2004-07-01

A photovoltaic generator is subject to diverse variations in solar intensity, surrounding temperature or load, which alter the optimal operation point. Thus, one must analyze its behavior regarding such variations in order to optimize its functioning. This paper aims at modeling a photovoltaic generator regarding the features provided by the manufacturer and simulate it, using, for that purpose, simulation and curve digitalisation programs (Simulink of Matlab), analyzing its behavior with regard to the temperature and solar intensity variation, comparing the obtained curves to those provided by the manufacturer. The obtained results were satisfactory, the model used being valid for photovoltaic generators simulation. (author)

Experimental analysis and dynamic simulation of a novel high-temperature solar cooling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buonomano, Annamaria; Calise, Francesco; D’Accadia, Massimo Dentice; Ferruzzi, Gabriele; Frascogna, Sabrina; Palombo, Adolfo; Russo, Roberto; Scarpellino, Marco

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The paper presents an innovative high temperature solar cooling system. • The system is based on novel flat-plate evacuated solar thermal collectors. • Results of an experimental campaign in Saudi Arabia are reported. • A dynamic simulation model and a detailed economic analyses are developed. • Results show that the collector and the system as a whole exhibit excellent performance. - Abstract: This paper presents experimental and numerical analyses of a novel high-temperature solar cooling system based on innovative flat-plate evacuated solar thermal collectors (SC). This is the first solar cooling system, including a double-effect absorption chiller, which is based on non-concentrating solar thermal collectors. The aim of the paper is prove the technical and economic feasibility of the system, also presenting a comparison with a conventional technology, based on concentrating solar thermal collectors. To this scope, an experimental setup has been installed in Saudi Arabia. Here, several measurement devices are installed in order to monitor and control all the thermodynamic parameters of the system. The paper presents some of the main results of this experimental campaign, showing temperatures, powers, energies and efficiencies for a selected period. Experimental results showed that collector peak efficiency is higher than 60%, whereas daily average efficiency is around 40%. This prototypal solar cooling system has been numerically analysed, developing a dynamic simulation model aiming at predicting system performance. For a representative operating period, numerical data were compared with the experimental one, showing an excellent accuracy of the model. A similar system, equipped with Parabolic Trough solar thermal collectors (PTC) was also simulated in order to compare the novel solar collectors with such reference technology. For both systems a detailed thermo-economic model has been implemented in order to perform such comparison also

Simulated annealing algorithm for reactor in-core design optimizations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong Wenfa; Zhou Quan; Zhong Zhaopeng

2001-01-01

A nuclear reactor must be optimized for in core fuel management to make full use of the fuel, to reduce the operation cost and to flatten the power distribution reasonably. The author presents a simulated annealing algorithm. The optimized objective function and the punishment function were provided for optimizing the reactor physics design. The punishment function was used to practice the simulated annealing algorithm. The practical design of the NHR-200 was calculated. The results show that the K eff can be increased by 2.5% and the power distribution can be flattened

Optimization of oxidation processes to improve crystalline silicon solar cell emitters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Shen

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Control of the oxidation process is one key issue in producing high-quality emitters for crystalline silicon solar cells. In this paper, the oxidation parameters of pre-oxidation time, oxygen concentration during pre-oxidation and pre-deposition and drive-in time were optimized by using orthogonal experiments. By analyzing experimental measurements of short-circuit current, open circuit voltage, series resistance and solar cell efficiency in solar cells with different sheet resistances which were produced by using different diffusion processes, we inferred that an emitter with a sheet resistance of approximately 70 Ω/□ performed best under the existing standard solar cell process. Further investigations were conducted on emitters with sheet resistances of approximately 70 Ω/□ that were obtained from different preparation processes. The results indicate that emitters with surface phosphorus concentrations between 4.96 × 1020 cm−3 and 7.78 × 1020 cm−3 and with junction depths between 0.46 μm and 0.55 μm possessed the best quality. With no extra processing, the final preparation of the crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency can reach 18.41%, which is an increase of 0.4%abs compared to conventional emitters with 50 Ω/□ sheet resistance.

Concentration solar power optimization system and method of using the same

Science.gov (United States)

Andraka, Charles E

2014-03-18

A system and method for optimizing at least one mirror of at least one CSP system is provided. The system has a screen for displaying light patterns for reflection by the mirror, a camera for receiving a reflection of the light patterns from the mirror, and a solar characterization tool. The solar characterization tool has a characterizing unit for determining at least one mirror parameter of the mirror based on an initial position of the camera and the screen, and a refinement unit for refining the determined parameter(s) based on an adjusted position of the camera and screen whereby the mirror is characterized. The system may also be provided with a solar alignment tool for comparing at least one mirror parameter of the mirror to a design geometry whereby an alignment error is defined, and at least one alignment unit for adjusting the mirror to reduce the alignment error.

New technique for global solar radiation forecasting by simulated annealing and genetic algorithms using

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolabi, H.B.; Ayob, S.M.

2014-01-01

In this paper, a novel approach based on simulated annealing algorithm as a meta-heuristic method is implemented in MATLAB software to estimate the monthly average daily global solar radiation on a horizontal surface for six different climate cities of Iran. A search method based on genetic algorithm is applied to accelerate problem solving. Results show that simulated annealing based on genetic algorithm search is a suitable method to find the global solar radiation. (author)

Back-contacted back-junction silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mangersnes, Krister

2010-10-15

Conventional silicon solar cells have a front-side contacted emitter. Back-contacted back-junction (BC-BJ) silicon solar cells, on the other hand, have both the complete metallization and the active diffused regions of both polarities on the backside. World-record efficiencies have already been demonstrated for this type of cell design in production, both on cell and module level. However, the production of these cells is both complex and costly, and a further cost reduction in fabrication is needed to make electricity from BC-BJ silicon solar cells cost-competitive with electricity on the grid ('grid-parity'). During the work with this thesis, we have investigated several important issues regarding BC-BJ silicon solar cells. The aim has been to reduce production cost and complexity while at the same time maintaining, or increasing, the already high conversion efficiencies demonstrated elsewhere. This has been pursued through experimental work as well as through numerical simulations and modeling. Six papers are appended to this thesis, two of which are still under review in scientific journals. In addition, two patents have been filed based on the work presented herein. Experimentally, we have focused on investigating and optimizing single, central processing steps. A laser has been the key processing tool during most of the work. We have used the same laser both to structure the backside of the cell and to make holes in a double-layer of passivating amorphous silicon and silicon oxide, where the holes were opened with the aim of making local contact to the underlying silicon. The processes developed have the possibility of using a relatively cheap and industrially proven laser and obtain results better than most state-of-the-art laser technologies. During the work with the laser, we also developed a thermodynamic model that was able to predict the outcome from laser interaction with amorphous and crystalline silicon. Alongside the experimental work, we

Optimization of forging processes using finite element simulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bonte, M.H.A.; Fourment, Lionel; Do, Tien-tho; van den Boogaard, Antonius H.; Huetink, Han

2010-01-01

During the last decades, simulation software based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) has significantly contributed to the design of feasible forming processes. Coupling FEM to mathematical optimization algorithms offers a promising opportunity to design optimal metal forming processes rather than

Hybrid Silicon Nanocone–Polymer Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Jeong, Sangmoo

2012-06-13

Recently, hybrid Si/organic solar cells have been studied for low-cost Si photovoltaic devices because the Schottky junction between the Si and organic material can be formed by solution processes at a low temperature. In this study, we demonstrate a hybrid solar cell composed of Si nanocones and conductive polymer. The optimal nanocone structure with an aspect ratio (height/diameter of a nanocone) less than two allowed for conformal polymer surface coverage via spin-coating while also providing both excellent antireflection and light trapping properties. The uniform heterojunction over the nanocones with enhanced light absorption resulted in a power conversion efficiency above 11%. Based on our simulation study, the optimal nanocone structures for a 10 μm thick Si solar cell can achieve a short-circuit current density, up to 39.1 mA/cm 2, which is very close to the theoretical limit. With very thin material and inexpensive processing, hybrid Si nanocone/polymer solar cells are promising as an economically viable alternative energy solution. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Hybrid Silicon Nanocone–Polymer Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Jeong, Sangmoo; Garnett, Erik C.; Wang, Shuang; Yu, Zongfu; Fan, Shanhui; Brongersma, Mark L.; McGehee, Michael D.; Cui, Yi

2012-01-01

Recently, hybrid Si/organic solar cells have been studied for low-cost Si photovoltaic devices because the Schottky junction between the Si and organic material can be formed by solution processes at a low temperature. In this study, we demonstrate a hybrid solar cell composed of Si nanocones and conductive polymer. The optimal nanocone structure with an aspect ratio (height/diameter of a nanocone) less than two allowed for conformal polymer surface coverage via spin-coating while also providing both excellent antireflection and light trapping properties. The uniform heterojunction over the nanocones with enhanced light absorption resulted in a power conversion efficiency above 11%. Based on our simulation study, the optimal nanocone structures for a 10 μm thick Si solar cell can achieve a short-circuit current density, up to 39.1 mA/cm 2, which is very close to the theoretical limit. With very thin material and inexpensive processing, hybrid Si nanocone/polymer solar cells are promising as an economically viable alternative energy solution. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Simulation of embedded heat exchangers of solar aided ground source heat pump system

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王芳; 郑茂余; 邵俊鹏; 李忠建

2008-01-01

Aimed at unbalance of soil temperature field of ground source heat pump system, solar aided energy storage system was established. In solar assisted ground-source heat pump (SAGSHP) system with soil storage, solar energy collected in three seasons was stored in the soil by vertical U type soil exchangers. The heat abstracted by the ground-source heat pump and collected by the solar collector was employed to heating. Some of the soil heat exchangers were used to store solar energy in the soil so as to be used in next winter after this heating period; and the others were used to extract cooling energy directly in the soil by circulation pump for air conditioning in summer. After that solar energy began to be stored in the soil and ended before heating period. Three dimensional dynamic numerical simulations were built for soil and soil heat exchanger through finite element method. Simulation was done in different strata month by month. Variation and restoration of soil temperature were studied. Economy and reliability of long term SAGSHP system were revealed. It can be seen that soil temperature is about 3 ℃ higher than the original one after one year’s running. It is beneficial for the system to operate for long period.

Global optimization framework for solar building design

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, N.; Alves, N.; Pascoal-Faria, P.

2017-07-01

The generative modeling paradigm is a shift from static models to flexible models. It describes a modeling process using functions, methods and operators. The result is an algorithmic description of the construction process. Each evaluation of such an algorithm creates a model instance, which depends on its input parameters (width, height, volume, roof angle, orientation, location). These values are normally chosen according to aesthetic aspects and style. In this study, the model's parameters are automatically generated according to an objective function. A generative model can be optimized according to its parameters, in this way, the best solution for a constrained problem is determined. Besides the establishment of an overall framework design, this work consists on the identification of different building shapes and their main parameters, the creation of an algorithmic description for these main shapes and the formulation of the objective function, respecting a building's energy consumption (solar energy, heating and insulation). Additionally, the conception of an optimization pipeline, combining an energy calculation tool with a geometric scripting engine is presented. The methods developed leads to an automated and optimized 3D shape generation for the projected building (based on the desired conditions and according to specific constrains). The approach proposed will help in the construction of real buildings that account for less energy consumption and for a more sustainable world.

Numerical simulation and optimization of nickel-hydrogen batteries

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Li-Jun; Qin, Ming-Jun; Zhu, Peng; Yang, Li

2008-05-01

A three-dimensional, transient numerical model of an individual pressure vessel (IPV) nickel-hydrogen battery has been developed based on energy conservation law, mechanisms of heat and mass transfer, and electrochemical reactions in the battery. The model, containing all components of a battery including the battery shell, was utilized to simulate the transient temperature of the battery, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology. The comparison of the model prediction and experimental data shows a good agreement, which means that the present model can be used for the engineering design and parameter optimization of nickel-hydrogen batteries in aerospace power systems. Two kinds of optimization schemes were provided and evaluated by the simulated temperature field. Based on the model, the temperature simulation during five successive periods in a designed space battery was conducted and the simulation results meet the requirement of safe operation.

Two-fluid Numerical Simulations of Solar Spicules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuźma, Błażej; Murawski, Kris; Kayshap, Pradeep; Wójcik, Darek [Group of Astrophysics, University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska, ul. Radziszewskiego 10, 20-031 Lublin (Poland); Srivastava, Abhishek Kumar; Dwivedi, Bhola N., E-mail: blazejkuzma1@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi-221005 (India)

2017-11-10

We aim to study the formation and evolution of solar spicules by means of numerical simulations of the solar atmosphere. With the use of newly developed JOANNA code, we numerically solve two-fluid (for ions + electrons and neutrals) equations in 2D Cartesian geometry. We follow the evolution of a spicule triggered by the time-dependent signal in ion and neutral components of gas pressure launched in the upper chromosphere. We use the potential magnetic field, which evolves self-consistently, but mainly plays a passive role in the dynamics. Our numerical results reveal that the signal is steepened into a shock that propagates upward into the corona. The chromospheric cold and dense plasma lags behind this shock and rises into the corona with a mean speed of 20–25 km s{sup −1}. The formed spicule exhibits the upflow/downfall of plasma during its total lifetime of around 3–4 minutes, and it follows the typical characteristics of a classical spicule, which is modeled by magnetohydrodynamics. The simulated spicule consists of a dense and cold core that is dominated by neutrals. The general dynamics of ion and neutral spicules are very similar to each other. Minor differences in those dynamics result in different widths of both spicules with increasing rarefaction of the ion spicule in time.

Study on the Optimizing Operation of Exhaust Air Heat Recovery and Solar Energy Combined Thermal Compensation System for Ground-Coupled Heat Pump

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuan Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study proposed an exhaust air heat recovery and solar energy combined thermal compensation system (ESTC for ground-coupled heat pumps. Based on the prediction of the next day’s exhaust air temperature and solar irradiance, an optimized thermal compensation (OTC method was developed in this study as well, in which the exhaust air heat recovery compensator and solar energy compensator in the ESTC system run at high efficiency throughout various times of day. Moreover, a modified solar term similar days group (STSDG method was proposed to improve the accuracy of solar irradiance prediction in hazy weather. This modified STSDG method was based on air quality forecast and AQI (air quality index correction factors. Through analyzing the operating parameters and the simulation results of a case study, the ESTC system proved to have good performance and high efficiency in eliminating the heat imbalance by using the OTC method. The thermal compensation quantity per unit energy consumption (TEC of ESTC under the proposed method was 1.25 times as high as that under the traditional operation method. The modified STSDG method also exhibited high accuracy. For the accumulated solar irradiance of the four highest daily radiation hours, the monthly mean absolute percentage error (MAPE between the predicted values and the measured values was 6.35%.

Effects of the Solar Wind Pressure on Mercury's Exosphere: Hybrid Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Travnicek, P. M.; Schriver, D.; Orlando, T. M.; Hellinger, P.

2017-12-01

We study effects of the changed solar wind pressure on the precipitation of hydrogen on the Mercury's surface and on the formation of Mercury's magnetosphere. We carry out a set of global hybrid simulations of the Mercury's magnetosphere with the interplanetary magnetic field oriented in the equatorial plane. We change the solar wind pressure by changing the velocity of injected solar wind plasma (vsw = 2 vA,sw; vsw = 4 vA,sw; vsw = 6 vA,sw). For each of the cases we examine proton and electron precipitation on Mercury's surface and calculate yields of heavy ions released from Mercury's surface via various processes (namely: Photo-Stimulated Desorption, Solar Wind Sputtering, and Electron Stimulated Desorption). We study circulation of the released ions within the Mercury's magnetosphere for the three cases.

Optimization of a Solar-Driven Trigeneration System with Nanofluid-Based Parabolic Trough Collectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evangelos Bellos

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to optimize and to evaluate a solar-driven trigeneration system which operates with nanofluid-based parabolic trough collectors. The trigeneration system includes an organic Rankine cycle (ORC and an absorption heat pump operating with LiBr-H2O which is powered by the rejected heat of the ORC. Toluene, n-octane, Octamethyltrisiloxane (MDM and cyclohexane are the examined working fluids in the ORC. The use of CuO and Al2O3 nanoparticles in the Syltherm 800 (base fluid is investigated in the solar field loop. The analysis is performed with Engineering Equation Solver (EES under steady state conditions in order to give the emphasis in the exergetic optimization of the system. Except for the different working fluid investigation, the system is optimized by examining three basic operating parameters in all the cases. The pressure in the turbine inlet, the temperature in the ORC condenser and the nanofluid concentration are the optimization variables. According to the final results, the combination of toluene in the ORC with the CuO nanofluid is the optimum choice. The global maximum exergetic efficiency is 24.66% with pressure ratio is equal to 0.7605, heat rejection temperature 113.7 °C and CuO concentration 4.35%.

Accurate characterization of OPVs: Device masking and different solar simulators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gevorgyan, Suren; Carlé, Jon Eggert; Søndergaard, Roar R.

2013-01-01

One of the prime objects of organic solar cell research has been to improve the power conversion efficiency. Unfortunately, the accurate determination of this property is not straight forward and has led to the recommendation that record devices be tested and certified at a few accredited...... laboratories following rigorous ASTM and IEC standards. This work tries to address some of the issues confronting the standard laboratory in this regard. Solar simulator lamps are investigated for their light field homogeneity and direct versus diffuse components, as well as the correct device area...

Simulation of perovskite solar cells with inorganic hole transporting materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Yan; Xia, Zhonggao; Liu, Yiming

2015-01-01

Device modeling organolead halide perovskite solar cells with planar architecture based on inorganic hole transporting materials (HTMs) were performed. A thorough understanding of the role of the inorganic HTMs and the effect of band offset between HTM/absorber layers is indispensable for further...... improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE). Here, we investigated the effect of band offset between inorganic HTM/absorber layers. The solar cell simulation program adopted in this work is named wxAMPS, an updated version of the AMPS tool (Analysis of Microelectronic and Photonic Structure)....

NUMERICAL SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

30 juin 2011 ... This article has as an aim the study and the simulation of the photovoltaic cells containing CdTe materials, contributing to the development of renewable energies, and able to feed from the houses, the shelters as well as ... and the output energy of conversion is 18.26%.Optimization is made according to the.

Thermo economical optimization of a jet nozzle cooling cycle assisted by solar energy; Otimizacao termoeconomica de ciclo de refrigeracao por compressao por ejetor auxiliado com energia solar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tapia, Gabriel I. Medina; Colle, Sergio [Santa Catarina Univ., Florianopolis, SC (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica]. E-mail: gabriel@emc.ufsc.br; colle@emc.ufsc.br

2000-07-01

The present work deals with the analysis of the jet nozzle cooling cycle assisted by solar energy. Both, a thermodynamic and economic optimization are carried out, for ammonia as working fluid. The optimization of the ejector is also focussed, for different values of the relevant design parameters. The method P{sub 1} - {sub P}2 for economical optimization of solar energy systems is used in order to find out the optimum collector area, which corresponds to the maximum value of the life time cost saving. The numerical results are presented in terms of the specific costs of the auxiliary energy, as well as the collector area. (author)

Performance Investigation and Structure Optimization of a Flat Dual-Function Solar Collector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinwei Ma

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The performance of a dual-function solar collector (DFSC that can work as either water heater or air heater depending on seasonal requirement is investigated via both experimental and numerical approaches in this paper. The numerical results are well consistent with the experimental results. Daily efficiency of the thermosiphon system with DFSC is more than 55% in water heating mode and the instantaneous air heating efficiency of the collector reaches 60%. The effects of inner parameters on the thermal efficiency of the collector are analyzed by numerical simulations of the operation of DFSC in two working modes. It is found that the depths of the two air channels in DFSC have an optimal range suitable for both working modes. The thickness of back insulation should be no less than 0.06 m to prevent heat loss via backboard, and the diameter and number of copper tubes show notable effect on the efficiency of DFSC in water heating mode but slight effect in air heating mode.

Augmented Visual Experience of Simulated Solar Phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, A. O., IV; Berardino, R. A.; Hahne, D.; Schreurs, B.; Fox, N. J.; Raouafi, N.

2017-12-01

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission will explore the Sun's corona, studying solar wind, flares and coronal mass ejections. The effects of these phenomena can impact the technology that we use in ways that are not readily apparent, including affecting satellite communications and power grids. Determining the structure and dynamics of corona magnetic fields, tracing the flow of energy that heats the corona, and exploring dusty plasma near the Sun to understand its influence on solar wind and energetic particle formation requires a suite of sensors on board the PSP spacecraft that are engineered to observe specific phenomena. Using models of these sensors and simulated observational data, we can visualize what the PSP spacecraft will "see" during its multiple passes around the Sun. Augmented reality (AR) technologies enable convenient user access to massive data sets. We are developing an application that allows users to experience environmental data from the point of view of the PSP spacecraft in AR using the Microsoft HoloLens. Observational data, including imagery, magnetism, temperature, and density are visualized in 4D within the user's immediate environment. Our application provides an educational tool for comprehending the complex relationships of observational data, which aids in our understanding of the Sun.

Solid State Large Area Pulsed Solar Simulator for 3-, 4- and 6-Junction Solar Cell Arrays, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Phase I was successful in delivering a complete prototype of the proposed innovation, an LED-based, solid state, large area, pulsed, solar simulator (ssLAPSS)....

Dr. Mainte. Integrated simulator of maintenance optimization of LWRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isobe, Yoshihiro; Sagisaka, Mitsuyuki; Etoh, Junji; Matsunaga, Takashi; Kosaka, Toru; Matsumoto, Satoshi; Yoshimura, Shinobu

2014-01-01

Dr. Mainte, an integrated simulator for maintenance optimization of LWRs (Light Water Reactors) has been developed based on PFM (Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics) analyses. The concept of the simulator is to provide a decision-making system to optimize maintenance activities for representative components and piping systems in nuclear power plants totally and quantitatively in terms of safety, availability and economic efficiency, environmental impact and social acceptance. For the further improvement of the safety and availability, the effect of human error and its reduction on the optimization of plant maintenance activities and approaches of reducing it have been studied. (author)

Optimization and Simulation in the Danish Fishing Industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Toke Koldborg; Clausen, Jens

and simulation can be applied in a holistic modeling framework. Using the insights into supply chain theory and the Danish fishing industry, we investigate how the fishing industry as a whole may benefit from the formulation and use of mathematical optimization and simulation models. Finally, an appendix......We consider the Danish fishing industry from a holistic viewpoint, and give a review of the main aspects, and the important actors. We also consider supply chain theory, and identify both theoretically, and based on other application areas, e.g. other fresh food industries, how optimization...

Fuzzy Simulation-Optimization Model for Waste Load Allocation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Motahhare Saadatpour

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper present simulation-optimization models for waste load allocation from multiple point sources which include uncertainty due to vagueness of the parameters and goals. This model employs fuzzy sets with appropriate membership functions to deal with uncertainties due to vagueness. The fuzzy waste load allocation model (FWLAM incorporate QUAL2E as a water quality simulation model and Genetic Algorithm (GA as an optimization tool to find the optimal combination of the fraction removal level to the dischargers and pollution control agency (PCA. Penalty functions are employed to control the violations in the system.  The results demonstrate that the goal of PCA to achieve the best water quality and the goal of the dischargers to use the full assimilative capacity of the river have not been satisfied completely and a compromise solution between these goals is provided. This fuzzy optimization model with genetic algorithm has been used for a hypothetical problem. Results demonstrate a very suitable convergence of proposed optimization algorithm to the global optima.

Solar cooling in the hardware-in-the-loop test; Solare Kuehlung im Hardware-in-the-Loop-Test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lohmann, Sandra; Radosavljevic, Rada; Goebel, Johannes; Gottschald, Jonas; Adam, Mario [Fachhochschule Duesseldorf (Germany). Erneuerbare Energien und Energieeffizienz E2

2012-07-01

The first part of the BMBF-funded research project 'Solar cooling in the hardware-in-the-loop test' (SoCool HIL) deals with the simulation of a solar refrigeration system using the simulation environment Matlab / Simulink with the toolboxes Stateflow and Carnot. Dynamic annual simulations and DoE supported parameter variations were used to select meaningful system configurations, control strategies and dimensioning of components. The second part of this project deals with hardware-in-the-loop tests using the 17.5 kW absorption chiller of the company Yazaki Europe Limited (Hertfordshire, United Kingdom). For this, the chiller is operated on a test bench in order to emulate the behavior of other system components (solar circuit with heat storage, recooling, buildings and cooling distribution / transfer). The chiller is controlled by a simulation of the system using MATLAB / Simulink / Carnot. Based on the knowledge on the real dynamic performance of the chiller the simulation model of the chiller can then be validated. Further tests are used to optimize the control of the chiller to the current cooling load. In addition, some changes in system configurations (for example cold backup) are tested with the real machine. The results of these tests and the findings on the dynamic performance of the chiller are presented.

Solar energetic particles: observational studies and magnetohydrodynamic simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masson, S.

2010-10-01

Solar activity manifests itself through highly dynamical events, such as flares and coronal mass ejections, which result in energy release by magnetic reconnection. This thesis focuses on two manifestations of this energy release: solar energetic particles and dynamics of magnetic reconnection. The first part of my work consists in the detailed temporal analysis of several electromagnetic signatures, produced by energetic particles in the solar atmosphere, with respect to the energetic particle flux at Earth. Using multi-instrument observations, I highlighted that particles can be accelerated by the flare to relativistic energies during a specific episode of acceleration in the impulsive phase. This showed that particles traveled a longer path length than the theoretical length generally assumed. Using in-situ measurements of magnetic field and plasma, I identified the interplanetary magnetic field for 10 particle events, and performing a velocity dispersion analysis I obtained the interplanetary length traveled by particles. I showed that the magnetic structure of the interplanetary medium play a crucial role in the association of the particle flux at Earth and the acceleration signatures of particles at the Sun. The second part of my work focuses on the dynamics of magnetic reconnection. Observationally, the best evidence for magnetic reconnection is the appearance of brightnesses at the solar surface. Performing the first data-driven 3 dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of an observed event, I discovered that the evolution of brightnesses can be explained by the succession of two different reconnection regimes, induced by a new topological association where null-point separatrix lines are embedded in quasi-separatrix layers. This new topological association induces a change of field line connectivity, but also a continuous reconnection process, leading to an apparent slipping motion of reconnected field lines. From a MHD simulation I showed that

Signal processing for solar array monitoring, fault detection, and optimization

CERN Document Server

Braun, Henry; Spanias, Andreas

2012-01-01

Although the solar energy industry has experienced rapid growth recently, high-level management of photovoltaic (PV) arrays has remained an open problem. As sensing and monitoring technology continues to improve, there is an opportunity to deploy sensors in PV arrays in order to improve their management. In this book, we examine the potential role of sensing and monitoring technology in a PV context, focusing on the areas of fault detection, topology optimization, and performance evaluation/data visualization. First, several types of commonly occurring PV array faults are considered and detection algorithms are described. Next, the potential for dynamic optimization of an array's topology is discussed, with a focus on mitigation of fault conditions and optimization of power output under non-fault conditions. Finally, monitoring system design considerations such as type and accuracy of measurements, sampling rate, and communication protocols are considered. It is our hope that the benefits of monitoring presen...

On the Evaluation of Solar Greenhouse Efficiency in Building Simulation during the Heating Period

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Asdrubali

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Among solar passive systems integrated in buildings, sunspaces or solar greenhouses represent a very interesting solution. A sunspace is a closed, southbound volume, constituted by transparent surfaces, adjacent to a building, which reduces winter energy demand thanks to the use of solar gains. The effect of a typical solar greenhouse on the energy balance of a building was evaluated during the heating period with two stationary procedures (Method 5000 and EN ISO 13790 and with a dynamic tool (TRNSYS. After the analysis of the greenhouse alone, the behavior of an entire house was simulated; a flat equipped with a sunspace, recently built thanks to public contributions provided by the Umbria Region in Italy to widespread bio-climatic architecture, was used as case-study. Simulations were carried out for the examined flat, both with a steady-state tool and with a dynamic one; the contribution of the sunspace was estimated thanks to the various methods previously mentioned. Finally, the simulated data were satisfactorily compared with the real energy consumptions (natural gas for heating of the flat; the sunspace allows a reduction of winter energy demand of the flat of about 20%.

Power Management Strategy by Enhancing the Mission Profile Configuration of Solar-Powered Aircraft

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parvathy Rajendran

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Solar energy offers solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV the possibility of unlimited endurance. Some researchers have developed techniques to achieve perpetual flight by maximizing the power from the sun and by flying in accordance with its azimuth angles. However, flying in a path that follows the sun consumes more energy to sustain level flight. This study optimizes the overall power ratio by adopting the mission profile configuration of optimal solar energy exploitation. Extensive simulation is conducted to optimize and restructure the mission profile phases of UAV and to determine the optimal phase definition of the start, ascent, and descent periods, thereby maximizing the energy from the sun. In addition, a vertical cylindrical flight trajectory instead of maximizing the solar inclination angle has been adopted. This approach improves the net power ratio by 30.84% compared with other techniques. As a result, the battery weight may be massively reduced by 75.23%. In conclusion, the proposed mission profile configuration with the optimal power ratio of the trajectory of the path planning effectively prolongs UAV operation.

Examination of solar simulators used for the determination of sunscreen UVA efficacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayre, Robert M; Dowdy, John C

2010-01-01

The U.S. FDA recently proposed both in vivo and in vitro UVA efficacy tests for sunscreen products with the lower result used to establish the sunscreen's labeled UVA protection claim. The FDA stated their rationale for dual tests was concern that the in vivo test method overemphasizes UVA-2 (320-340 nm) photoprotection. We attribute FDA's observation to the relative lack, compared to sunlight, of UVA-1 (340-400 nm) radiation in the current JCIA UVA solar simulator specification, allowing the method to generate higher UVA protection factors than sunscreens will provide in sunlight. Our work is based upon comparisons of Air Mass 1.0 sunlight to variously filtered UVA solar simulators. Sources near the JCIA UVA-2/UVA limits (8-20%) had a goodness of fit to solar UVA of only 67-79%. We propose that instead of using ratios of UVA-2 to UVA the standard should be a goodness of fit to the UVA region of an Air Mass 1 solar reference spectrum. As the spectral distribution of solar UVA varies much less than UVB, sunlight of reasonable zenith angles of < or = 60 degrees will have similar spectral shapes and approximate risk spectrum. Goodness of fit to this spectrum will produce UVA protection values predictive to those actually achieved in sunlight of different zenith angles.

Forced-circulation solar water heater using a solar battery; Taiyo denchi wo mochiita kyosei junkahshiki taiyonetsu onsuiki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asai, S; Mizuno, T [Yazaki Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1997-11-25

Optimal operation control was discussed on a forced-circulation solar water heater using solar cells not only as the power supply of a heat collecting pump, but also for controlling operation of the heat collecting pump. With this system, when the amount of power generated by solar cells reaches a sufficient level for operating the heat collecting pump, the heat collecting pump starts operation, wherein the heat collecting medium circulates in the system. The discussion was given by using simulation based on experimental expressions such as the relation expression between insolation and heat collecting medium flow rate as derived from the result of the system`s heat collecting performance test. As a result, the following conclusions were obtained: optimal insolation for activating the discussed system is from 50 to 100 W/m {sup 2}, and the heat collected within this range is within -1.5% of the collected heat amount at an optimum value; optimal activating insolation for the case of 1000 to 2000 W/m {sup 2} with low daily cumulative insolation is from 0 to 50 W/m {sup 2}, whereas the optimal activating insolation amount increases as the daily cumulative insolation amount increases; and the optimal activating insolation amount increases as water to be supplied requires higher temperature. 1 ref., 17 figs., 2 tabs.

Contribution to the optimal sizing of the hybrid photovoltaic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dimitrov, Dimitar

2009-01-01

In this thesis, hybrid photovoltaic (HPV) systems are considered, in which the electricity is generated by a photovoltaic generator, and additionally by a diesel genset. Within this, a software tool for optimal sizing and designing was developed, which was used for optimization of HPV systems, aimed for supplying a small rural village. For optimization, genetic algorithms were used, optimizing 10 HPV system parameters (rated power of the components, battery capacity, dispatching strategy parameters etc.). The optimization objective is to size and design systems that continuously supply the load, with the lowest net electricity cost. In order to speed up the optimization process, the most suitable genetic algorithm settings were chosen by an in-depth previous analysis. Using measurements, the characteristics of PV generator working in real conditions were obtained. According to this, input values for the PV generator simulation model were adapted. It is introduced a quasi-steady battery simulation model, which avoid the voltage and state-of-the-charge value variation problems, when constant current charging/discharging, within a time step interval, is used. This model takes into account the influence of the battery temperature to its operational characteristics. There were also introduced simulation model improvements to the other components in the HPV systems. Using long-term measurement records, validity of solar radiation and air temperature data was checked. It was also analyzed the sensitivity of the obtained optimized HPV systems to the variation of the prices of the: components, fuel and economic rates. Based on the values of multi-decade records for more locations in the Balkan region, it was estimated the occurrence probability of the solar radiation values. This was used for analysing the sensitivity of some HPV performances to the expected stochastic variations of the solar radiation values. (Author)

An open-source optimization tool for solar home systems: A case study in Namibia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campana, Pietro Elia; Holmberg, Aksel; Pettersson, Oscar; Klintenberg, Patrik; Hangula, Abraham; Araoz, Fabian Benavente; Zhang, Yang; Stridh, Bengt; Yan, Jinyue

2016-01-01

Highlights: • An open-source optimization tool for solar home systems (SHSs) design is developed. • The optimization tool is written in MS Excel-VBA. • The optimization tool is validated with a commercial and open-source software. • The optimization tool has the potential of improving future SHS installations. - Abstract: Solar home systems (SHSs) represent a viable technical solution for providing electricity to households and improving standard of living conditions in areas not reached by the national grid or local grids. For this reason, several rural electrification programmes in developing countries, including Namibia, have been relying on SHSs to electrify rural off-grid communities. However, the limited technical know-how of service providers, often resulting in over- or under-sized SHSs, is an issue that has to be solved to avoid dissatisfaction of SHSs’ users. The solution presented here is to develop an open-source software that service providers can use to optimally design SHSs components based on the specific electricity requirements of the end-user. The aim of this study is to develop and validate an optimization model written in MS Excel-VBA which calculates the optimal SHSs components capacities guaranteeing the minimum costs and the maximum system reliability. The results obtained with the developed tool showed good agreement with a commercial software and a computational code used in research activities. When applying the developed optimization tool to existing systems, the results identified that several components were incorrectly sized. The tool has thus the potentials of improving future SHSs installations, contributing to increasing satisfaction of end-users.

A Mathematical Model of Hourly Solar Radiation in Varying Weather Conditions for a Dynamic Simulation of the Solar Organic Rankine Cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taehong Sung

2015-07-01

Full Text Available A mathematical model of hourly solar radiation with weather variability is proposed based on the simple sky model. The model uses a superposition of trigonometric functions with short and long periods. We investigate the effects of the model variables on the clearness (kD and the probability of persistence (POPD indices and also evaluate the proposed model for all of the kD-POPD weather classes. A simple solar organic Rankine cycle (SORC system with thermal storage is simulated using the actual weather conditions, and then, the results are compared with the simulation results using the proposed model and the simple sky model. The simulation results show that the proposed model provides more accurate system operation characteristics than the simple sky model.

Parameter optimization for surface flux transport models

Science.gov (United States)

Whitbread, T.; Yeates, A. R.; Muñoz-Jaramillo, A.; Petrie, G. J. D.

2017-11-01

Accurate prediction of solar activity calls for precise calibration of solar cycle models. Consequently we aim to find optimal parameters for models which describe the physical processes on the solar surface, which in turn act as proxies for what occurs in the interior and provide source terms for coronal models. We use a genetic algorithm to optimize surface flux transport models using National Solar Observatory (NSO) magnetogram data for Solar Cycle 23. This is applied to both a 1D model that inserts new magnetic flux in the form of idealized bipolar magnetic regions, and also to a 2D model that assimilates specific shapes of real active regions. The genetic algorithm searches for parameter sets (meridional flow speed and profile, supergranular diffusivity, initial magnetic field, and radial decay time) that produce the best fit between observed and simulated butterfly diagrams, weighted by a latitude-dependent error structure which reflects uncertainty in observations. Due to the easily adaptable nature of the 2D model, the optimization process is repeated for Cycles 21, 22, and 24 in order to analyse cycle-to-cycle variation of the optimal solution. We find that the ranges and optimal solutions for the various regimes are in reasonable agreement with results from the literature, both theoretical and observational. The optimal meridional flow profiles for each regime are almost entirely within observational bounds determined by magnetic feature tracking, with the 2D model being able to accommodate the mean observed profile more successfully. Differences between models appear to be important in deciding values for the diffusive and decay terms. In like fashion, differences in the behaviours of different solar cycles lead to contrasts in parameters defining the meridional flow and initial field strength.

Simulated solar wind plasma interaction with the Martian exosphere: influence of the solar EUV flux on the bow shock and the magnetic pile-up boundary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Modolo

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The solar wind plasma interaction with the Martian exosphere is investigated by means of 3-D multi-species hybrid simulations. The influence of the solar EUV flux on the bow shock and the magnetic pile-up boundary is examined by comparing two simulations describing the two extreme states of the solar cycle. The hybrid formalism allows a kinetic description of each ions species and a fluid description of electrons. The ionization processes (photoionization, electron impact and charge exchange are included self-consistently in the model where the production rate is computed locally, separately for each ionization act and for each neutral species. The results of simulations are in a reasonable agreement with the observations made by Phobos 2 and Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The position of the bow shock and the magnetic pile-up boundary is weakly dependent of the solar EUV flux. The motional electric field creates strong asymmetries for the two plasma boundaries.

Spatially resolved analysis and minimization of resistive losses in high-efficiency Si solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Altermatt, P.P.; Wang, A.; Zhao, J.; Robinson, S.J.; Bowden, S.; Green, M.A. [New South Wales Univ., Kensington, NSW (Australia). Centre for Photovoltaic Devices and Systems; Heiser, G. [New South Wales Univ., Sydney, NSW (Australia). School of Computer Science and Engineering; Aberle, A.G. [Institut fuer Solarenergieforschung (ISFH), Emmerthal (Germany)

1996-11-01

This paper presents an improved method for measuring the total lumped series resistance (R{sub s}) of high-efficiency solar cells. Since this method greatly minimizes the influence of non-linear recombination processes on the measured R{sub s} values, it is possible to determine R{sub s} as a function of external current density over a wide range of illumination levels with a significantly improved level of accuracy. This paper furthermore explains how resistive losses in the emitter, the base, the metal/silicon contacts and the front metal grid can be separately determined by combining measurements and multi-dimensional numerical simulations. A novel combination of device simulation and circuit simulation is introduced in order to simulate complete 2 x 2 cm s sq. P:ERL (`passivated emitter and rear locally-diffused`) silicon solar cells. These computer simulations provide improved insight into the dynamics of resistive losses, and thus allow new strategies for the optimization of resistive losses to be developed. The predictions have been experimentally verified with PERL cells, whose resistive losses were reduced to approximately half of their previous values, contributing to a new efficiency world record (24.0%) for silicon solar cells under terrestrial illumination. The measurement techniques and optimization strategies presented here can be applied to most other types of solar cells, and to materials other than silicon. (Author)

The Simulation of the Recharging Method Based on Solar Radiation for an Implantable Biosensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yun; Song, Yong; Kong, Xianyue; Li, Maoyuan; Zhao, Yufei; Hao, Qun; Gao, Tianxin

2016-09-10

A method of recharging implantable biosensors based on solar radiation is proposed. Firstly, the models of the proposed method are developed. Secondly, the recharging processes based on solar radiation are simulated using Monte Carlo (MC) method and the energy distributions of sunlight within the different layers of human skin have been achieved and discussed. Finally, the simulation results are verified experimentally, which indicates that the proposed method will contribute to achieve a low-cost, convenient and safe method for recharging implantable biosensors.

Three-dimensional kinetic simulations of whistler turbulence in solar wind on parallel supercomputers

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Ouliang

The objective of this dissertation is to study the physics of whistler turbulence evolution and its role in energy transport and dissipation in the solar wind plasmas through computational and theoretical investigations. This dissertation presents the first fully three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of whistler turbulence forward cascade in a homogeneous, collisionless plasma with a uniform background magnetic field B o, and the first 3D PIC simulation of whistler turbulence with both forward and inverse cascades. Such computationally demanding research is made possible through the use of massively parallel, high performance electromagnetic PIC simulations on state-of-the-art supercomputers. Simulations are carried out to study characteristic properties of whistler turbulence under variable solar wind fluctuation amplitude (epsilon e) and electron beta (betae), relative contributions to energy dissipation and electron heating in whistler turbulence from the quasilinear scenario and the intermittency scenario, and whistler turbulence preferential cascading direction and wavevector anisotropy. The 3D simulations of whistler turbulence exhibit a forward cascade of fluctuations into broadband, anisotropic, turbulent spectrum at shorter wavelengths with wavevectors preferentially quasi-perpendicular to B o. The overall electron heating yields T ∥ > T⊥ for all epsilone and betae values, indicating the primary linear wave-particle interaction is Landau damping. But linear wave-particle interactions play a minor role in shaping the wavevector spectrum, whereas nonlinear wave-wave interactions are overall stronger and faster processes, and ultimately determine the wavevector anisotropy. Simulated magnetic energy spectra as function of wavenumber show a spectral break to steeper slopes, which scales as k⊥lambda e ≃ 1 independent of betae values, where lambdae is electron inertial length, qualitatively similar to solar wind observations. Specific

Simulation and Optimization of SCR System for Direct-injection Diesel Engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guanqiang Ruan

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The turbo diesel SCR system has been researched and analyzed in this paper. By using software of CATIA, three-dimensional physical model of SCR system has been established, and with software of AVL-FIRE, the boundary conditions have been set, simulated and optimized. In the process of SCR system optimizing, it mainly optimized the pray angle. Compare the effects of processing NO to obtain batter optimization results. At last the optimization results are compared by bench test, and the experimental results are quite consistent with simulation.