Adaptive control of a solar furnace for material testing

IFAC Adaptive Systems in Control and Signal Processing. Glasgow. Scotland. UK. 26/08/1998This paper presents an adaptive control system for controlling the temperature of a solar furnace, which is a high solar concentrating facility made up of heliostats tracking the sun and reflecting solar radiation onto a static parabolic concentrating system at the focal spot of which a high percentage of the solar energy collected by the collector system is concentrated in a small area. A large attenuator (shutter) placed between the collector system and the concentrator serves to control the amount of solar energy used for heating the samples placed at the focal spot. The paper shows the results obtained in the application of adaptive PI controllers to a solar furnace, incorporating feedforward action, anti-windup and slew rate constraint handling mechanisms

Electricity from photovoltaic solar cells: Flat-Plate Solar Array Project final Report. Volume III: Silicon sheet: wafers and ribbons

The Flat-Plate Solar Array (FSA) Project, funded by the U.S. Government and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was formed in 1975 to develop the module/array technology needed to attain widespread terrestrial use of photovoltaics by 1985. To accomplish this, the FSA Project established and managed an Industry, University, and Federal Government Team to perform the needed research and development. The primary objective of the Silicon Sheet Task of the FSA Project was the development of one or more low-cost technologies for producing silicon sheet suitable for processing into cost-eompetitive solar cells. Silicon sheet refers to high-purity crystalline silicon of size and thickness for fabrication into solar cells. The Task effort began with state-of-the-art sheet technologies and then solicited and supported any new silicon sheet alternatives that had the potential to achieve the Project goals. A total of 48 contracts were awarded that covered work in the areas of ingot growth and casting, wafering, ribbon growth, other sheet technologies, and programs of supportive research. Periodic reviews of each sheet technology were held, assessing the technical progress and the long-range potential. Technologies that failed to achieve their promise, or seemed to have lower probabilities for success in comparison with others, were dropped. A series of workshops was initiated to assess the state of the art, to provide insights into problems remaining to be addressed, and to support technology transfer. The Task made and fostered significant improvements in silicon sheet including processing of both ingot and ribbon technologies. An additional important outcome was the vastly improved understanding of the characteristics associated with high-quality sheet, and the control of the parameters required for higher efficiency solar cells. Although significant sheet cost reductions were made, the technology advancements required to meet the Task cost goals were not achieved. This FSA Final Report (JPL Publication 86-31, 5101-289, DOE/JPL 1012-125, October 1986) is composed of eight volumes, consisting of an Executive Summary and seven technology reports: Volume I: Executive Summary. Volume II: Silicon Material. Volume III: Silicon Sheet: Wafers and Ribbons Volume IV: High-Efficiency Solar Celis. Volume V: Process Development. Volume VI: Engineering Sciences and Reliability. Volume VII: Module Encapsulation. Volume VIII: Project Analysis and Integration. Two supplemental reports included in the final report package are: FSA Project: 10 Years of Progress, JPL Document 400-279. 5101-279, October 1985. Summary of FSA Project Documentation: Abstracts of Published Documents, 1975 to 1986, JPL Publication 82-79 (Revision 1),5101-221, DOE/JPL-1 012-76, September 1986

Review of Reactors with Potential Use in Thermochemical Energy Storage in Concentrated Solar Power Plants

The aim of this study is to perform a review of the state-of-the-art of the reactors available in the literature, which are used for solid-gas reactions or thermal decomposition processes around 1000 ºC that could be further implemented for thermochemical energy storage in CSP (concentrated solar power) plants, specifically for SPT (solar power tower) technology. Both direct and indirect systems can be implemented, with direct and closed systems being the most studied ones. Among direct and closed systems, the most used configuration is the stacked bed reactor, with the fixed bed reactor being the most frequent option. Out of all of the reactors studied, almost 70% are used for solid-gas chemical reactions. Few data are available regarding solar efficiency in most of the processes, and the available information indicates relatively low values. Chemical reaction efficiencies show better values, especially in the case of a fluidized bed reactor for solid-gas chemical reactions, and fixed bed and rotary reactors for thermal decompositions.The work is partially funded by the Spanish government (ENE2015-64117-C5-1-R (MINECO/FEDER) and ENE2015-64117-C5-2-R (MINECO/FEDER)). The authors would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their research groups GREA (2017 SGR 1537) and DIOPMA (2017 SGR 118). GREA and DIOPMA are certified agents TECNIO in the category of technology developers from the Government of Catalonia. Dr. Aran Solé would like to thank Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España for Grant Juan de la Cierva, FJCI-2015-25741

VELOX – A Demonstration Facilility for Lunar Oxygen Extraction in a Laboratory Environment

The ultimate goal of a permanent human presence on the Moon is discussed intensively within the global lunar community. Obviously, such an effort poses stringent demands not only on the technology but also on logistics, especially considering the important aspects of masses and volume for materials and replenishments of consumables. On-site propellant production (i.e. liquid oxygen) is one of the main needs and would lead to more efficient return-to-Earth or further exploration missions. Additionally, the supply of breathable air and water for the survival of the crew on the lunar surface is also a major aspect. Thus, large effort is put into the development and research of technologies for in-situ resources utilization (ISRU) to drastically reduce the required supply from Earth and to increase the level of autonomy of a lunar outpost. The major resource on the Moon for such a purpose is regolith, which covers the first meters of the lunar surface and contains about 45% of mineralogically bounded Oxygen in terms of mass. By using adequate processing methods of this material, one could be able to extract valuable minerals and volatiles for further utilization. At DLR Bremen a compact and flexible lab experimenting facility has been developed, built and tested, which shall demonstrate the feasibility of the process by extracting oxygen out of lunar regolith, respectively soil simulants and certain minerals in the laboratory case. For this purpose, important boundary conditions have been investigated such as temperatures during the process, chemical reaction characteristics and material properties for the buildup of the facility, which shall be analyzed within this paper. Since it is one of the most elaborated chemical processes regarding ISRU and has comparably low temperature and energy constraints it has been primarily concentrated on the Hydrogen-reduction process which reduces the iron oxide component of Ilmenite (FeTiO3) within the lunar regolith. Based on the obtained results, a first line-out of a planned superior test set-up and infrastructure with pre- and post-processing units such as feeding and extraction is also presented, as well as an analysis of reaction products with common methods. This paper will present the first results of DLR efforts regarding these topics. Finally, important aspects of the future development of the processes and technologies are discussed with special consideration of lunar applicability and with respect to environmental conditions as well as mass and energy constraints

Index to 1981 NASA Tech Briefs, volume 6, numbers 1-4

Short announcements of new technology derived from the R&D activities of NASA are presented. These briefs emphasize information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. This index for 1981 Tech Briefs contains abstracts and four indexes: subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief Number. The following areas are covered: electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, life sciences, mechanics, machinery, fabrication technology, and mathematics and information sciences

Material growth and characterization directed toward improving III-V heterojunction solar cells

In addition to the existing materials growth laboratory, the photolithographic facility and the device testing facility were completed. The majority of equipment for data acquisition, solar cell testing, materials growth and device characterization were received and are being put into operation. In the research part of the program, GaAs and GaA1As layers were grown reproducibly on GaAs substrates. These grown layers were characterized as to surface morphology, thickness and thickness uniformity. The liquid phase epitaxial growth process was used to fabricate p-n junctions in Ga(1-x)A1(x)As. Sequential deposition of two alloy layers was accomplished and detailed analysis of the effect of substrate quality and dopant on the GaA1As layer quality is presented. Finally, solar cell structures were formed by growing a thin p-GaA1As layer upon an epitaxial n-GaA1As layer. The energy gap corresponding to the long wavelength cutoff of the spectral response characteristic was 1.51-1.63 eV. Theoretical calculations of the spectral response were matched to the measured response

Design, fabrication and test of prototype furnace for continuous growth of wide silicon ribbon

A program having the overall objective of growing wide, thin silicon dendritic web crystals quasi-continuously from a semi-automated facility is discussed. The design considerations and fabrication of the facility as well as the test and operation phase are covered; detailed engineering drawings are included as an appendix. During the test and operation phase of the program, more than eighty growth runs and numerous thermal test runs were performed. At the conclusion of the program, 2.4 cm wide web was being grown at thicknesses of 100 to 300 micrometers. As expected, the thickness and growth rate are closely related. Solar cells made from this material were tested at NASA-Lewis and found to have conversion efficiencies comparable to devices fabricated from Czochralski material

Development of improved wraparound contacts for silicon

A developmental process for fabricating 2 X 4 cm back surface field silicon solar cells featuring wraparound contacts and screen printed dielectric isolation is described. The process was then used to fabricate a number of cells for evaluation and study, as well as to establish the validity of the process sequence. While a number of cells exhibiting relatively good conversion efficiencies were produced, nearly all had low I-V curve factors for the level of efficiencies attained. Cells with conversion efficiencies of more than 15 percent (air mass zero and 25 C) had fill factors of only 0.76. Evidence as to the cause of this has not been conclusive, but is most probably linked to isolation failure in the wraparound dielectric and associated shunting problems

Development of advanced Czochralski growth process to produce low cost 150 kg silicon ingots from a single crucible for technology readiness

Six growth runs used the Kayex-Hameo Automatic Games Logic (AGILE) computer based system for growth from larger melts in the Mod CG2000. The implementation of the melt pyrometer sensor allowed for dip temperature monitoring and usage by the operator/AGILE system. Use of AGILE during recharge operations was successfully evaluated. The tendency of crystals to lose cylindrical shape (spiraling) continued to be a problem. The hygrometer was added to the Furnace Gas Analysis System and used on several growth runs. The gas chromatograph, including the integrator, was also used for more accurate carbon monoxide concentration measurements. Efforts continued for completing the automation of the total Gas Analysis System. An economic analysis, based on revised achievable straight growth rate, is presented