689 research outputs found
Thermal management of concentrator photovoltaics
Photovoltaic Concentrator systems, which increase the solar radiation intensity on the
photovoltaic cells, may reduce the system cost, if the cost of the concentrator is less than
the photovoltaic material displaced. An Asymmetric Compound Parabolic Photovoltaic
Concentrator (ACPPVC) for building façade integration with a solar concentration ratio of
2.0 has been designed, fabricated and experimentally characterised. The truncated
ACPPVC has acceptance half angles of 0° and 55° and an absorber width of 125mm. Phase
Change Materials (PCM) have been integrated to the rear of the PV panel to moderate the
temperature rise of the PV and maintain good solar-electrical conversion efficiency. The
thermal behaviour of a Fresnel lens PV Concentrator (FPVC) has also been studied in this
work.
A two-dimensional ray trace technique has been used to predict the optical performance
and the angular acceptance of the ACPPVC system. The predicted highest optical
efficiency was 88.67% for the ACPPVC-55 system. Extensive indoor experimental
characterisation of a number of PV systems was undertaken for a range of incident solar
radiation intensities using a highly collimated solar simulator developed specifically for this
project. Experimental results showed that the electrical output from the ACPPVC-55 was
approximately 1.8 of that of a non-concentrating PV system with similar solar cells area.
The electrical conversion efficiency for the ACPPVC-55 system was further increased,
when RT27 PCM was incorporated to its rear
Stable Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov pairing states in 2D and 3D optical lattices
We present the study of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) pairing
states in the -orbital bands in both two and three-dimensional optical
lattices. Due to the quasi one-dimensional band structure which arises from the
unidirectional hopping of the orthogonal -orbitals, the pairing phase space
is not affected by spin imbalance. Furthermore, interactions build up high
dimensional phase coherence which stabilizes the FFLO states in 2D and 3D
optical lattices in a large parameter regime in phase diagram. These FFLO
phases are stable with imposing the inhomogeneous trapping potential. Their
entropies are comparable to those of the normal states at finite temperatures.Comment: 5 page
Distributional Reinforcement Learning with Online Risk-awareness Adaption
The use of reinforcement learning (RL) in practical applications requires
considering sub-optimal outcomes, which depend on the agent's familiarity with
the uncertain environment. Dynamically adjusting the level of epistemic risk
over the course of learning can tactically achieve reliable optimal policy in
safety-critical environments and tackle the sub-optimality of a static risk
level. In this work, we introduce a novel framework, Distributional RL with
Online Risk Adaption (DRL-ORA), which can quantify the aleatory and epistemic
uncertainties compositely and dynamically select the epistemic risk levels via
solving a total variation minimization problem online. The risk level selection
can be efficiently achieved through grid search using a Follow-The-Leader type
algorithm, and its offline oracle is related to "satisficing measure" (in the
decision analysis community) under a special modification of the loss function.
We show multiple classes of tasks where DRL-ORA outperforms existing methods
that rely on either a fixed risk level or manually predetermined risk level
adaption. Given the simplicity of our modifications, we believe the framework
can be easily incorporated into most RL algorithm variants
Quantum magnetism of ultra-cold fermion systems with the symplectic symmetry
We numerically study quantum magnetism of ultra-cold alkali and
alkaline-earth fermion systems with large hyperfine spin , which are
characterized by a generic symmetry with N=4. The methods of exact
diagonalization (ED) and density-matrix-renormalization-group are employed for
the large size one-dimensional (1D) systems, and ED is applied to a
two-dimensional (2D) square lattice on small sizes. We focus on the magnetic
exchange models in the Mott-insulating state at quarter-filling. Both 1D and 2D
systems exhibit rich phase diagrams depending on the ratio between the spin
exchanges and in the bond spin singlet and quintet channels,
respectively. In 1D, the ground states exhibit a long-range-ordered
dimerization with a finite spin gap at , and a gapless spin liquid
state at , respectively. In the former and latter cases, the
correlation functions exhibit the two-site and four-site periodicities,
respectively. In 2D, various spin correlation functions are calculated up to
the size of . The Neel-type spin correlation dominates at large
values of , while a plaquette correlation is prominent at
small values of this ratio. Between them, a columnar spin-Peierls dimerization
correlation peaks. We infer the competitions among the plaquette ordering, the
dimer ordering, and the Neel ordering in the 2D system.Comment: 16 page
Analysis of the daylight performance of a glazing system with Parallel Slat Transparent Insulation Material (PS-TIM)
Daylight plays an important role in the energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality of an office building. An innovative façade system where parallel transparent/translucent plastic slats are sandwiched between glass panes to form a Parallel Slat Transparent Insulation Material (PS-TIM) is proposed as a strategy to effectively increase the thermal resistance of window systems, while providing better daylight performance. In this paper, the optical performance (as defined by Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function) of a double glazed window containing PS-TIM systems with different slat pitches (the distance between neighbouring slats), slat tilt angles, as well as the slat materials (transparent and translucent) was obtained using a ray-tracing technique. Then, the annual daylight performance of a typical office building with various PS-TIM applied under different climatic conditions and at different orientations was investigated using RADIANCE. The simulation results show that PS-TIM with translucent slats offers better daylight performance than conventional double glazing: it can increase the percentage of annual working hours under daylight, where the illuminance lies in the useful range by up to 79%. It also achieves a homogenous distribution of daylight within the internal working space and effectively reduces the possibility of glare. When applying PS- TIM at higher site latitude, smaller slat pitches are required to maximise useful daylight. Optimised PS-TIM geometry is also affected by local prevailing sky conditions
A review of Transparent Insulation Material (TIM) for building energy saving and daylight comfort
Improving the energy efficiency of buildings is a key strategy in responding to climate change and resource challenges associated with the use of fossil fuel derived energy. The characteristics of the building envelope play a decisive role in determining building operation energy. Transparent Insulation Materials (TIMs) add to the strategies that may be used to sustain these improvements: they can reduce heat loss by providing high thermal resistance while effectively transmitting solar energy and contributing to the luminous environment. In this review, key types of TIMs and their characterisation in terms of both thermal and optical behaviours are introduced as well as the benefits that may be realised through their application to buildings. Relatively few studies exist regarding the performance of window systems incorporating TIMs. To provide a clear picture of how to accurately predict the performance of TIM integrated window systems, this paper also explores the literature around window systems incorporating complex interstitial structures, as these share many of the same characteristics as TIMs. The experimental and numerical methods used to evaluate the thermal and optical characteristics of complex window systems are summarised and this body of research provides potential methods for tackling similar questions posed in relation to the performance of window systems with TIMs. Finally, this review introduces a method that permits the prediction of the combined thermal and daylight behaviour of spaces served by TIM integrated window systems. The results from using this methodology show that using TIMs over a conventional window system offers a range of benefits to the occupants of buildings. Thus, this review offers a workflow that may be used to assess and analyse the benefit of applying TIMs for building energy saving and daylight comfort in buildings subjected to varying climate conditions
Experimental investigation of evacuated heat pipe solar collector efficiency using phase-change fluid
Performance of a microencapsulated phase-change material (PCM) as a heat-transport medium in an evacuated heat pipe solar collector was evaluated and the results compared with those using water. Collector efficiency was experimentally determined according to the method based on European Standard EN 12975–2:2006. This method proved unsuitable when using an encapsulated PCM suspension. A modified test method was proposed, which was appropriate for predicting solar collector efficiency when using a phase-change fluid. Average solar collection efficiency when using a PCM suspension was higher than that using water
Thermal management of concentrator photovoltaics
Photovoltaic Concentrator systems, which increase the solar radiation intensity on the photovoltaic cells, may reduce the system cost, if the cost of the concentrator is less than the photovoltaic material displaced. An Asymmetric Compound Parabolic Photovoltaic Concentrator (ACPPVC) for building façade integration with a solar concentration ratio of 2.0 has been designed, fabricated and experimentally characterised. The truncated ACPPVC has acceptance half angles of 0° and 55° and an absorber width of 125mm. Phase Change Materials (PCM) have been integrated to the rear of the PV panel to moderate the temperature rise of the PV and maintain good solar-electrical conversion efficiency. The thermal behaviour of a Fresnel lens PV Concentrator (FPVC) has also been studied in this work. A two-dimensional ray trace technique has been used to predict the optical performance and the angular acceptance of the ACPPVC system. The predicted highest optical efficiency was 88.67% for the ACPPVC-55 system. Extensive indoor experimental characterisation of a number of PV systems was undertaken for a range of incident solar radiation intensities using a highly collimated solar simulator developed specifically for this project. Experimental results showed that the electrical output from the ACPPVC-55 was approximately 1.8 of that of a non-concentrating PV system with similar solar cells area. The electrical conversion efficiency for the ACPPVC-55 system was further increased, when RT27 PCM was incorporated to its rear.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceUniversity of Warwick (UoW)GBUnited Kingdo
Anti-jamming of Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar based on Slope-varying Linear Frequency Modulation Signal
Deceptive jamming technology against inverse synthetic aperture radar is matured now, which is meaningful in military application. But the research on anti-jamming technology for inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) is still not a mature technology. Through the analysis on the theory of deceptive jamming technology against ISAR, a new method for anti-jamming against ISAR based on linear frequency modulation signals frequency slope-varying is presented. The false target echo energy is suppressed due to frequency modulation slope mis-matching. Doppler domain averaging is adopted for improving the quality of the ISAR image, which helps automatic target recognition. Simulation result based on simulating data shows the validity of the new algorithm.Defence Science Journal, 2009, 59(5), pp.537-544, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.59.155
- …