Photovoltaics Overview

This paper first discusses some of the basic concepts underlying photovoltaic system operation including the photovoltaic effect, response to solar radiation, cell materials, efficiency, operating characteristics and manufacturing processes. System components are considered next, including stationary and tracking flat-plate arrays, concentrating arrays, storage and power conditioning equipment. Both stand-alone and grid-connected applications are discussed and the paper concludes with a brief look at industry trends and prospects

Paper Session III-B - Florida\u27s Space Education Development Program

The Space Education Development Program (SEDP) discussed in this paper was strongly influenced by a highly successful Space Education Conference held in Cocoa Beach, Florida in October 1991. This national conference, entitled Meeting Space Education Needs of the Future, was sponsored jointly by the Florida Space Grant Consortium (FSGC) and the Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA). At the meeting, thirty-three outstanding educators, industry leaders and government representatives from around the nation presented bold, innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to enhancing education at all levels. The Space Education Development Program was developed to help address these needs, within the constraints of presently available resources. It is the newest of six programs currently being offered by the Florida Space Grant Consortium. For the 1992-93 academic year, the total budget for the Space Education Development Program is only $40,000, of which$20,000 is from NASA and $20,000 is in matching funds from the universities receiving awards. Despite these low numbers, we think we can achieve some useful goals

ACTS for distance education in developing countries

The need for electrical energy supply in the rural communities of developing countries has been well documented. Equally well known is the potential for photovoltaic in cost effectively meeting this need. A major impediment to fulfilling the need is the lack of indigenous personnel with a knowledgeof photovoltaic systems, and the associated infrastructure required to implement project. Various delivery schemes for providing the needed training to developing countries personnel have been investigated. Various train methods and programs that have been employed to remedy the problem have had significant drawbacks in terms of cost, consistency, impact, reach, and sustainability. The hypothesis to be tested in this project posits that satellite-based distance education using ACTS technologies can overcome these impediments. The purpose of the project is to investigate the applicability of the ACTS satellite in providing distance education in photovoltaic systems to developing countries and rural communities. An evaluation of the cost effectiveness of using ACTS unique technologies to overcome identified problems shall be done. The limitations of ACTS in surmounting distance education problems in developing countries shall be investigated. This project will, furthermore, provide training to Savannah State College faculty in photovoltaic (PV) systems and in distance education configurations and models. It will also produce training materials adequate for use in PV training programs via distance education. Savannah State College will, as a consequence become well equipped to play a leading role in the training of minority populations in photovoltaic systems and other renewables through its Center for Advanced Water Technology and Energy Systems. This communication provides the project outline including the specific issues that will be investigated during the project. Also presented i the project design which covers the participations of the various components of a network of institutions that is formed for optimal project execution. The expected results and project output, including plans for potential leverages and linkages to be derived, are also discussed. Finally, we point out possible extensions from this project and other related projects that could be initiated based on the experiences gained from the project

Paper Session I-C - The Role of the University in Commercial Launch Activities

Success of the U.S. in the international space arena depends largely on our ability to reduce the cost-to-orbit of payloads. To reduce costs, significant effort must be expended to upgrade commercial launch vehicles, processing facilities and operational procedures. The universities have much to contribute to such an effort. This paper discusses the positive role that universities can play in helping industry and government be more successful in commercial space. Activities include needs assessments* problem definition, research, test and evaluation, business assistance, and education. Emphasis is placed on establishing a permanent capability to continuously advance launch systems technology, and on developing education and research programs that are complementary to each other

A decrease of calcitonin serum concentrations less than 50 percent 30 minutes after thyroid surgery suggests incomplete C-cell tumor tissue removal

The prognosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) depends on the completeness of the first surgical treatment. To date, it is not possible to predict whether the tumor has been completely removed after surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of an intraoperative calcitonin monitoring as a predictor of the final outcome after surgery in patients with MTC

Service level Indication: A proposal for QoS monitoring in SLA -based multidomain networks

The offering of QoS based communication services has to face several challenges. Among these, the provisioning of an open and formalised framework for the collection and interchange of monitoring and performance data is feit as one of the most important issues to be solved. Indeed, this is true in seenarios where multiple providers are teaming (intentionally or not) for the construction of a complex service to be sold to a final user, like in the case of the creation of a virtual private network spanning multiple network Operators and infrastructures. In this case, failures in providing certain required Ievels in the quality parameters should be dealt with an immediate attribution of responsibility across the different entities involved in the end-to-end provisioning of the service. But also in cases apparently much simpler, for example when an user requires a video strearning service across a single operator network infrastructure, there is a demand for mechanisms for the measurement of the received quality of service across all the elements involved in the service provisioning: the server system, the network infrastructure, the dient terminal and the user application. lt is clear that this is a complex problem, involving different technologies, disciplines and research areas. In this paper, starting from the ongoing work in the definition of standard interfaces for the Quality of Service negotiation (Service Level Agreements) and control (Service Level Specifications), as weil as from the work ongoing in the IPFIX and IPPM working groups from the IETF, we introduce a new document specifically for delivering monitoring information to user applications. We called such a document Service Level Indication. We here aim at sketching a possible starting point for a research discussion. © 2003 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Integration of 3G connectivity in planetlab Europe :A step of an evolutionary path towards heterogeneous large scale network testbeds

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