Comparison of the Electrical Properties of PERC Approach Applied to Monocrystalline and Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cells

At present, the improvement in performance and the reduction of cost for crystalline silicon solar cells are a key for photovoltaic industry. Passivated emitter and rear cells are the most promising technology for next-generation commercial solar cells. The efficiency gains of passivated emitter and rear cells obtained on monocrystalline silicon wafer and multicrystalline silicon wafer are different. People are puzzled as to how to develop next-generation industrial cells. In this paper, both monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon solar cells for commercial applications with passivated emitter and rear cells structure were fabricated by using cost-effective process. It was found that passivated emitter and rear cells are more effective for monocrystalline silicon solar cells than for multicrystalline silicon solar cells. This study gives some hints about the industrial-scale mass production of passivated emitter and rear cells process

Pressure-enhanced superconductivity in quasi-1D cobalt carbide Sc

We have successfully synthesized the quasi-1D cobalt carbide Sc3CoC4 by using the arc-melting technique which is similar to that of the previous reports. An incomplete superconducting transition is detected at ambient pressure. In addition, two anomalies have been observed at 72 K and 143 K both from resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements. According to previous studies, it was argued that they correspond to the 1D Peierls-type distortion and charge-density-wave transitions, respectively. By applying a pressure, the transition at about 72 K is quickly suppressed, which is accompanied by the occurrence of a complete superconducting transition at about 4.5 K. Moreover, the DC magnetic susceptibility under high pressures also reveals the enhancement of superconductivity. We attribute this enhancement of superconductivity to the suppression of the Peierls-type distortion at about 72 K and probably together with the promoted Josephson coupling between the [CoC4]∞ one-dimensional ribbons

Effects of pin fins and vortex generators on thermal performance in a microchannel with Al2O3 nanofluids

This paper performs a comparative analysis to obtain the optimal cross-section shape and parameters of both pin fins and vortex generators. A novel combined structure with pin fins and vortex generators is proposed to enhance thermal performance of an integrated microchannel heat sink. Effects of nanoparticle diameter and volume fraction are investigated using Al2O3 nanofluid and DI-water as working fluid. Pin fins and vortex generators cause enhancements of flow disturbance and heat transfer on microchannel heat sinks. Results indicate that oval pin fins have better improvements of thermal/hydraulic performance compared to round and diamond pin fins. The oval pin fin with 0.4 mm spacing and 0.1 mm height presents the highest overall performance factor in the Reynolds number range of 340–640. Presence of vortices intensifies the mixing of the hot fluid near bottom surface and cold fluid near top surface. The optimal vortex generator with length of 0.08 mm and height of 0.06 mm provides a 30% increase in overall performance factor compared to the rectangular microchannel at Reynolds number of 340. Mechanism of heat transfer enhancement is analyzed by investigating flow velocity, temperature distribution and field synergy angle distribution in microchannels. Based on the field synergy principle, it is found that a small and uniformly distributed synergy angle is achieved in the integrated microchannel. According to comparisons of the overall performance factor and total thermal resistance, the optimal nanoparticle diameter and Al2O3 volume fraction of nanofluids are 20 nm and 4%, respectively

Short-Term Power Load Forecasting: An Integrated Approach Utilizing Variational Mode Decomposition and TCN–BiGRU

Accurate short-term power load forecasting is crucial to maintaining a balance between energy supply and demand, thus minimizing operational costs. However, the intrinsic uncertainty and non-linearity of load data substantially impact the accuracy of forecasting results. To mitigate the influence of these uncertainties and non-linearity in electric load data on the forecasting results, we propose a hybrid network that integrates variational mode decomposition with a temporal convolutional network (TCN) and a bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BiGRU). This integrated approach aims to enhance the accuracy of short-term power load forecasting. The method was validated on load datasets from Singapore and Australia. The MAPE of this paper’s model on the two datasets reached 0.42% and 1.79%, far less than other models, and the R2 reached 98.27% and 97.98, higher than other models. The experimental results show that the proposed network exhibits a better performance compared to other methods, and could improve the accuracy of short-term electricity load forecasting

Targeting NLRP3 Inflammasome Alleviates Synovitis by Reducing Pyroptosis in Rats with Experimental Temporomandibular Joint Osteoarthritis

The mechanism of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA), which leads to the final erosion of cartilage and subchondral bone, has been widely demonstrated, but still not clearly elucidated. Many studies have pointed that NLRP3-mediated inflammation played a vital role in degenerative diseases. However, its interaction with synovitis of TMJOA has remained poorly investigated. In our study, we explored the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in TMJOA synovitis and the therapeutic potential of caspase-1 and NLRP3 inhibitors. By establishing a rat TMJOA model, we found that NLRP3 was upregulated in synovial tissue of TMJOA. It was involved in the progress of a programmed cell death called pyroptosis, which was caspase-1 dependent and ultimately triggered inflammatory mediator interleukin IL-1β release. Treatment with Ac-YVAD-cmk and MCC950, inhibitors targeting caspase-1 and NLRP3, respectively, significantly suppressed pyroptosis in TMJOA synovial tissue. Then, a macrophage- and fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLS) cocultured model further verified the above results. Macrophage somehow promoted FLS pyroptosis in this study. Our results suggested that the NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis participated in synovial inflammation of TMJOA. Interfering with the progress could be a potential option for controlling TMJOA development