Project SPACE: Solar Panel Automated Cleaning Environment

The goal of Project SPACE is to create an automated solar panel cleaner that will address the adverse impact of soiling on commercial photovoltaic cells. Specifically, we hoped to create a device that increases the maximum power output of a soiled panel by 10% (recovering the amount of power lost) while still costing under $500 and operating for up to 7.0 years. A successful design should operate without the use of water. This will help solar panel arrays achieve a production output closer to their maximum potential and save companies on costs associated energy generation. The current apparatus utilizes a brush cleaning system that cleans on set cleaning cycles. The device uses the combination of a gear train (with 48 pitch Delrin gears) and a 12V DC motor to spin both a 5.00 foot long, 0.25 inch diameter vacuum brush shaft and drive two sets of two wheels. The power source for the drive train is a 12V deep cycle lead-acid battery. Our light weight design eliminates water usage during cleaning and reduces the potential dangers stemming from manual labor. Our design’s retail price was estimated to be around$700 with a payback period of less than 3.5 years. To date, we have created a device that improves the efficiency of soiled solar panels by 3.5% after two runs over the solar panel. We hope that our final design will continue to expand the growth of solar energy globally

NEXT-100 Technical Design Report (TDR). Executive Summary

In this Technical Design Report (TDR) we describe the NEXT-100 detector that will search for neutrinoless double beta decay (bbonu) in Xe-136 at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC), in Spain. The document formalizes the design presented in our Conceptual Design Report (CDR): an electroluminescence time projection chamber, with separate readout planes for calorimetry and tracking, located, respectively, behind cathode and anode. The detector is designed to hold a maximum of about 150 kg of xenon at 15 bar, or 100 kg at 10 bar. This option builds in the capability to increase the total isotope mass by 50% while keeping the operating pressure at a manageable level. The readout plane performing the energy measurement is composed of Hamamatsu R11410-10 photomultipliers, specially designed for operation in low-background, xenon-based detectors. Each individual PMT will be isolated from the gas by an individual, pressure resistant enclosure and will be coupled to the sensitive volume through a sapphire window. The tracking plane consists in an array of Hamamatsu S10362-11-050P MPPCs used as tracking pixels. They will be arranged in square boards holding 64 sensors (8 times8) with a 1-cm pitch. The inner walls of the TPC, the sapphire windows and the boards holding the MPPCs will be coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), a wavelength shifter, to improve the light collection.Comment: 32 pages, 22 figures, 5 table

Illuminating Solutions: The Youth Violence Reduction Partnership

Over the last decade, P/PV has undertaken several studies of the Philadelphia-based Youth Violence Reduction Partnership (YVRP), an intensive collaboration that targets young people deemed at highest risk of being involved in a homicide. YVRP provides young probationers with enhanced supervision and support, with the goal of keeping them out of trouble and putting them on a path toward productive adulthood

Using A Nameserver to Enhance Control System Efficiency

The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) control system uses a nameserver to reduce system response time and to minimize the impact of client name resolution on front-end computers. The control system is based on the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), which uses name-based broadcasts to initiate data communication. By default, when EPICS process variables (PV) are requested by client applications, all front-end computers receive the broadcasts and perform name resolution processing against local channel name lists. The nameserver is used to offload the name resolution task to a single node. This processing, formerly done on all front-end computers, is now done only by the nameserver. In a control system with heavily loaded front-end computers and high peak client connection loads, a significant performance improvement is seen. This paper describes the name server in more detail, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of making name resolution a centralized service.Comment: ICALEPCS 200

Toward a Global Regime of Vessel Anti-Fouling

Vessel anti-fouling is key to the efficient operation of ships, and essential for effective control of invasive species introduced through international shipping. Anti-Fouling Systems, however, pose their own threats to marine environments. The Anti-Fouling Convention of 2001 banned the use of organotin compounds such as Tributyltin, and created a system for adoption of alternative anti-fouling biocides. In 2011, the Marine Environmental Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) released guidelines on bio-fouling management record keeping, installation, inspection, cleaning, maintenance, design and construction. Though these Guidelines provide a template for more effective and environmentally sound anti-fouling control and implementation, they are not mandatory. This article proposes that the member states of the IMO adopt the 2011 Guidelines as a mandatory instrument

Desıgn of a control and data acquısıtıon system for a multı-mode solar trackıng farm

This paper presents a combination network design for a solar tracking farm consisting of n-solar tracking systems. Serial communication protocol has been adopted for this network with developed strategy to make the farm expandable for possible future extension. The master control unit is responsible for managing all the trackers of the sun location in multi-tracking mode, diagnosis all the trackers for any faults and give complete information about the produced power by each of the solar tracking system. This network protocols is designed to deal with the error control, congestion control and flow control for data transmission in the network

Making Record-efficiency SnS Solar Cells by Thermal Evaporation and Atomic Layer Deposition

Tin sulfide (SnS) is a candidate absorber material for Earth-abundant, non-toxic solar cells. SnS offers easy phase control and rapid growth by congruent thermal evaporation, and it absorbs visible light strongly. However, for a long time the record power conversion efficiency of SnS solar cells remained below 2%. Recently we demonstrated new certified record efficiencies of 4.36% using SnS deposited by atomic layer deposition, and 3.88% using thermal evaporation. Here the fabrication procedure for these record solar cells is described, and the statistical distribution of the fabrication process is reported. The standard deviation of efficiency measured on a single substrate is typically over 0.5%. All steps including substrate selection and cleaning, Mo sputtering for the rear contact (cathode), SnS deposition, annealing, surface passivation, Zn(O,S) buffer layer selection and deposition, transparent conductor (anode) deposition, and metallization are described. On each substrate we fabricate 11 individual devices, each with active area 0.25 cm[superscript 2]. Further, a system for high throughput measurements of current-voltage curves under simulated solar light, and external quantum efficiency measurement with variable light bias is described. With this system we are able to measure full data sets on all 11 devices in an automated manner and in minimal time. These results illustrate the value of studying large sample sets, rather than focusing narrowly on the highest performing devices. Large data sets help us to distinguish and remedy individual loss mechanisms affecting our devices.United States. Dept. of Energy (SunShot Initiative Contract DE-EE0005329)Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch Energy Research Network Grant 02.20.MC11)Alexander von Humboldt-StiftungUnited States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (Postdoctoral Research Award)Intel Corporation (PhD Fellowship

Market and Economic Modelling of the Intelligent Grid: End of Year Report 2009

The overall goal of Project 2 has been to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of distributed energy (DG) on the Australian Electricity System. The research team at the UQ Energy Economics and Management Group (EEMG) has constructed a variety of sophisticated models to analyse the various impacts of significant increases in DG. These models stress that the spatial configuration of the grid really matters - this has tended to be neglected in economic discussions of the costs of DG relative to conventional, centralized power generation. The modelling also makes it clear that efficient storage systems will often be critical in solving transient stability problems on the grid as we move to the greater provision of renewable DG. We show that DG can help to defer of transmission investments in certain conditions. The existing grid structure was constructed with different priorities in mind and we show that its replacement can come at a prohibitive cost unless the capability of the local grid to accommodate DG is assessed very carefully.Distributed Generation. Energy Economics, Electricity Markets, Renewable Energy

Costing the ex situ conservation of genetic resources: maize and wheat at CIMMYT

Worldwide, the number of genebanks and the amount of seed stored in them has increased substantially over the past few decades. Most attention is focused on the likely benefits from conservation, but conserving germplasm involves costs whose nature and magnitude are largely unknown. In this paper we compile and use a set of cost data for wheat and maize stored in the CIMMYT genebank to address a number of questions. What is the cost of storing an accession of either crop for one more year, or, equivalently what is the benefit in terms of cost savings from eliminating duplicate accessions from the genebank? Relatedly, what is the cost from introducing a new accession into the genebank, given the decision to store it is revisited after one year? Does it make economic sense for CIMMYT to discard accessions that may be available elsewhere? As an extension of this line of inquiry it is possible to value the benefits from either consolidating genebanks or at least networking existing banks to reduce or eliminate duplicate holdings not needed for backup safety purposes. We present estimates of the size and scale economies evident in the CIMMYT operation as a basis for assessing the economics of consolidation. Genebanks represent a commitment to conserve seeds for the very long-run. In this study we report on these long-run costs for the CIMMYT genebank costs that are sensitive to the interest rate used and the protocols for periodically replenishing accessions that are shared with others or regenerating accessions whose viability gradually diminishes with age.Germplasm conservation., Gene banks, Plant., Maize Breeding., Wheat Breeding., Rate of return.,