Some tradeoffs in ingot shaping and price of solar photovoltaic modules

Growth of round ingots is cost-effective for sheets but leaves unused space when round cells are packed into a module. This reduces the packing efficiency, which approaches 95% for square cells, to about 78% and reduces the conversion efficiency of the module by the same ratio. Shaping these ingots into squares with regrowth of cut silicon improves the packing factor, but increases growth cost. The cost impact on solar cell modules was determined by considering shaping ingots in stages from full round to complete square. The sequence of module production with relevant price allocation guidelines is outlined. The severe penalties in add-on price due to increasing slice thickness and kerf are presented. Trade-offs between advantages of recycling silicon and shaping costs are developed for different slicing scenarios. It is shown that shaping results in cost saving of up to 21% for a 15 cm dia. ingot

High-efficiency silicon solar cell research

Progress reports on research in high-efficiency silicon solar cells were presented by eight contractors and JPL. The presentations covered the issues of Bulk and Surface Loss, Modeling, Measurements, and Proof of Concept

Globalisation in the Malaysian context : the experience of Malay adolescents with 'conduct disorders' : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū Aotearoa/New Zealand

The process of globalisation offers opportunities for a country to progress to be a greater and more competitive nation. The Malaysian government is highly inspired by the concept of globalisation in progressing towards the vision of becoming a developed nation by the year 2020. Globalisation as a process is very demanding, requiring changes to the Malaysian political, cultural, economic, educational and social landscape. These changes have presented immense challenges to Malay adolescents where Western values have conflicted with traditional values and aspirations. Without adequate preparation, the potential incommensurability of values affects the locally defined wellbeing among Malay adolescents. Given that, how Malay adolescents understand and adapt to the globalisation process remains elusive. Therefore, this research is designed to explore the experiences of Malay adolescents who are considered to experience ‗conduct disorders‘ within the Malaysian context of globalisation. This research is a qualitative research inquiry, which utilised Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a method of analysis. IPA is an approach that explores in detail personal lived experience to examine what the world is like from the point of view of the participants. Initial data was collected from 28 participants with 12 participants selected from a rehabilitation centre for young offenders in Malaysia for a more thorough analysis. The lived experience of the participants is presented and explained through three levels of analysis, the participants' demographic background and history, detailed life experiences of each case and finally, the meaning they attached to their experiences. The analysis suggests that the understanding of the Malay adolescents is constructed reflecting the changes in the dynamic of all segments of life alongside the emerging new lifestyles that are embedded in the processes of globalisation. Their lived experiences are described by referring to a complex relationship with and various tensions between different tenets. Those tenets include the traditional Malay cultures, values, beliefs and practices, which are much influenced by Islamic teaching, and the emergent new values and worldviews associated with globalisation and modernisation. Due to their vulnerability regarding self-characteristics, innate capabilities and the systemic flaws of relevant support systems, they are described as problematic in meeting the new, yet challenging environment. The participants lost their primary and reliable sources of survival. Instead, they are being introduced to various alternative resources that promote values and cultures that are against the normality of local practices. As a result, they end up in the criminal justice system. Realising that they have gone ―off track‖, the participants shared their intention to recover through various strategies, which include both action oriented and cognitive frameworks, but at the same time, they expected to face a range of hassles that may contribute to some difficulties for them to make progress. This research comes out with an argument that questions the appropriateness of the relevance of the diagnostic system of conduct disorders as defined in DSM. The experiences of the participants‘ suggested that they simply reacted to the changing context which offered immense challenges to their lived experiences. Therefore, rather than disordered the adolescents can be understood as responding to the conflicting conditions they face. Keywords: Malay adolescents, globalisation, conduct disorders, lived experiences, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysi

Sustainable human development: bi’ah salihah index in Al-Amin education system

This paper presents spriritual component of the sustainable human development and a study had been made in Al-Amin education system. The salihah environment or bi’ah salihah index is proposed to measure the level of spiritualilty attained by the main stakeholders in Al-Amin schools. This paper takes the inspiration from few verses in the Holy Quran to develop items that can be used to measure the spiritual component of human development sustainability. The spirituality constitute of the faith (belief) and practice (actions) components. The bi’ah salihah index is then computed by taking the average of the mean from faith and practice of the students, teachers and parents (mean of the practice only)

Transmission properties of acousto optic material

Laser beam can be modulated by acousto optic modulator using a suitable acousto optic material. UV-VIS Spectrophotometer was utilized to investigate the transmission spectrum of two non linear acousto optic materials that are lithium niobate and fused quartz. From the spectrum it shows that transmittance for fused quartz and lithium niobate were 90% and 68% respectively. The absorption coefficient ? is calculated and plotted versus photon energy. It was found that ? increases linearly with photon energy in the range of 3.50 eV to 4.0 eV for fused quartz and 3.15 eV to 4.0 eV for lithium niobate. The estimated optical energy band gap was 2.97 eV for lithium niobate and 3.69 for fused quartz. From the transmission properties obtained in this study, it can be summarized that fused quartz is a better choice to be an acousto optic material

Laser beam modulation by an acousto optic mode locker

Nazariahmatdaud2006the characterization of beam modulation by acousto-optic mode locker is reported. Hene laser was employed as a source. Acousto-optic mode locker (aoml) was used to convert the continuous beam to become pulsed. Radio frequency signal provided an acoustic source to the aoml. The signal was amplified using a power amplifier. A pulse generator was utilized to regulate the frequency of the signal. The frequency and the power of the amplifier were varied to characterize the modulated beam. The hene laser beam was modulated into a periodic signal. The pulse width of the modulated signal was found to increase linearly with the rf pulse width. The modulated signal intensity was also found to vary linearly with rf drive power_laserbeammodulationbya

The gut microbiota and immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Although immunotherapy has been remarkably effective across multiple cancer types, there continues to be a significant number of non-responding patients. A possible factor proposed to influence the efficacy of immunotherapies is the gut microbiome. We discuss the results and implications of recent research on the relationship between the gut microbiome, our immune systems, and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies including anti-CTLA-4 Ab and anti-PD-1 Ab. While the investigations all exhibit interesting results and conclusions, we find little congruence in the specific bacteria that were found favorable for antitumor responses. It is unclear whether the inconsistencies are due to differential approaches in study design (pre-clinical or clinical subjects, anti-CTLA-4 Ab or anti-PD-1 Ab), experimental methods and measurements (metagenomics sequencing and clustering variations) or subject population dynamics (differential cancer types and baseline characteristics). Moreover, we note studies regarding particular bacterial commensals and autoimmune diseases, which challenge findings from these investigations. We conclude that with the current research, clinical investigators can appreciate the critical role of gut microbiota in mediating immunostimulant response. However, prospective research exploring the biochemical mechanisms which commensal bacteria communicate with each other and the immune system is imperative to understand how they can be adjusted properly for higher immunotherapy response