Advancements in photovoltaic cell and system technologies

Renewable energy undergoes a continuous development and improvement being driven by the growth in energy demand, the need to reduce pollution, and the increase in investment and policies at national and international levels. The photovoltaic solar energy lately became an important pillar for renewable energy to reach global and European targets in the share of renewable electricity. The first target for the energy generated by photovoltaic systems is 10% from the total European electricity production until 2020 [1], and until 2050, 60% from electricity generation has to be from photovoltaic solar energy and wind [2]..

Experiment Based Teaching of Solar Cell Operation and Characterization Using the SolarLab Platform

Experiment based teaching methods are a great way to get students involved and interested in almost any topic. This paper presents such a hands-on approach for teaching solar cell operation principles along with characterization and modelling methods. This is achieved with the SolarLab platform which is a laboratory teaching tool developed at Transylvania University of Brasov. Using this platform, solar cells can be characterized under various illumination, temperature and angle of light incidence. Additionally, the SolarLab platform includes guided exercises and intuitive graphical user interfaces for exploring different solar cell principles and topics. The exercises presented in the current paper have been adapted from the original exercises developed for the SolarLab platform and are currently included in the Photovoltaic Power Systems courses (MSc and PhD level) taught at the Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University.<br/

Monthly average daily global and diffuse solar radiation based on sunshine duration and clearness index for Brasov, Romania

The main objective of this study is to develop single location appropriate models for the estimation of the monthly average daily global and diffuse horizontal solar radiation for Brasov, Romania. The study focuses particularly on models based on the sunshine duration and clearness index. The data used for the calibration of the models were collected during a period of 4 yr, between November 2008 and October 2012, at the Transilvania University of Brasov. The testing and validation of the models was carried out using data from the online SoDa database for Brasov for the year 2005. Different statistical error tests were applied to evaluate the accuracy of the models. The predicted values are also compared with values from three other known models concerning the global and diffuse solar radiation. A new mixed model was developed for the estimation of monthly average daily global horizontal solar radiation. The data processing was performed by means of a real-time interface developed with LabVIEW graphical programming language. The parameters taken into account were the relative sunshine, the clearness index, the extraterrestrial radiation, the latitude and the longitude. The methodology is simple and effective and may be applied for any region. Its effectiveness was proven through comparison with global models

An Experimental Study on Transient Response of a Hybrid Thermoelectric–Photovoltaic System with Beam Splitter

In the current study, the electrical responses of a thermoelectric (TE) module and a photovoltaic (PV) cell are investigated in three different systems, namely, a PV-only system, TE-only system, and hybrid TE-PV system with a beam splitter (TE-PV-BS), under variable solar irradiations demonstrating partly cloudy weather conditions. To enhance the deployment of solar energy, a predesigned beam splitter combined with the amorphous silicon TE and PV system is used in the experiments. The impact of the spectral beam splitting technology on the conversion performance of the TE module and PV cell in the hybrid system is studied and compared to the performance of the TE-only and PV-only systems. The electrical output parameters of the TE module and PV cell are obtained for the studied systems, and they are discussed in detail. The results of this work show that the power generated by the PV cell has a stepwise fluctuation similar to the variation in the concentrated solar radiation. Affected by its heat capacity, the power variation is monotonous with the TE module. The results moreover indicate that there is more power generated by the PV cell in the TE-PV-BS hybrid system than by the PV-only system. In comparison, the TE-only system produces more power than the TE module in the hybrid system. Furthermore, the TE-PV-BS hybrid system generates higher and more stable electrical power than the TE-only and PV-only systems, showing a significant advantage of the spectrum management concept

New Trends in Robots Engineering with Professional Software SolidWorks

Engineering robotic systems stand for a challenging complex process, closely related to product development phases. Society’s needs and requirements generate the idea for new robot products, which are sketched as an initial concept. This is the moment when the design phases start, engineers continue their work by evaluating and optimizing the mechanical parts according to many criteria: kinematics, dynamics, the strength of materials, NVH, thermal assessments, etc. Finally, there are established specifications for prototype execution, environment sustainability, end-user specifications, and recycling requirements. All these phases could be implemented into smart software. SolidWorks is such software enabling the creation of new mechanical designs automatically based on its programming tools. This chapter is focused on relevant advanced capabilities of SolidWorks software to assist engineers in achieving a new advanced level in mechanical design, that of automatically generating new or modifying existing concepts according to the requirements. By using professional software in research studies, new engineering procedures can be developed in order to automate the concept and design phases for many concurrent engineering methodologies, design optimization methods, manufacturing, documentation, or end-user specification. Case studies on the different types of robot systems used in healthcare and assisted living are presented

Solar Hybrid System Component Study in Low Concentrated Sunlight

The solar energy is increasingly used as a renewable energy source. Raising the efficiency of energy conversion from solar to useful energy (electric and thermal) represents an important research direction in the renewable energy domain. Using hybrid systems for electric and thermal energy cogeneration can be a solution. In this study, a hybrid system (HS) is designed, manufactured, implemented, and experimentally tested under concentrated sunlight with a concentration ratio of 25 suns, obtained using a Fresnel lens as a sunlight concentrator. The HS comprises of four concentrated photovoltaic cells (CPVs), four thermoelectric generators (TEGs), and a solar thermal collector (STC). The HS is studied in three configurations of the exposed surface: only the CPV active area, the CPV active area with ceramic support, and the CPV active area with ceramic support covered with graphite sheet. Results reveal that the efficiency of each system component is affected by the exposed surface. If the efficiencies of the CPVs decrease from 32.3% to 30.8% from the first configuration to the last one, the efficiencies of TEGs and STC increase from 0.12% to 0.44 and from 26.3% to 52.0%, respectively. Increasing the concentration ratio from 25 to 33 suns, the power of the CPVs increases with almost 31%, but the efficiency decreases slightly, instead the efficiencies of the TEGs and STC increase