Thermophotovoltaic （TPV） system has been regarded as one promising means to alleviate current energy demand because it can directly generate electricity from radiation heat via photons. However, the presently availa...Thermophotovoltaic （TPV） system has been regarded as one promising means to alleviate current energy demand because it can directly generate electricity from radiation heat via photons. However, the presently available TPV systems suffer from low conversion efficiency and low throughput. A viable solution to increase their efficiency is to apply micro/nanoscale radiation principles in the design of different components to utilize the characteristics ~f thermal radiation at small distances and in microstructures. Several critical issues are reviewed, such as photovoltaic effect, quantum efficiency and efficiency of TPV system. Emphasis is given to the development of wavelength-selective emitters and filters and the aspects of micro/nanoscale heat transfer. Recent progress, along with the challenges and opportunities for future development of TPV systems are also outlined.展开更多
CSP （concentrated solar power） has been viewed as the technology that if properly developed could lead to a large scale conversion of solar energy into electricity. CSP is a type of solar energy converter that is cl...CSP （concentrated solar power） has been viewed as the technology that if properly developed could lead to a large scale conversion of solar energy into electricity. CSP is a type of solar energy converter that is classified as thermal converter because the output power produced is a function of the operating temperature. The main components of a CSP plant are the solar field which is made up of the heliostat arrays, the receiver tower, the heat transfer fluid, the molten salt thermal energy storage tanks and the power conversion unit, which is made up of the turbine and the generator. The main advantage of CSP is that of a cheap thermal storage （i.e., molten salt storage） which makes it possible to dispatch power at a cost comparable to the grid electricity. Simulations run with the SAM （systems advisory model） developed by NREL （National Renewable Energy Laboratory） showed that CSP is capable of delivering electricity at the cost of 17UScents per kWh for the 30-year life of the plant. The main disadvantage of CSP however, is that of low efficiency （8%-16%）. There are ongoing research works to improve the efficiency of the CSP. One way to improve the efficiency is to increase the operating temperature of the system. In this paper, the authors discussed different modules of the CSP plant and suggested ways to improve on the conversion efficiencies of individual modules. Finally, an overall systems performance simulation is carried using SAM and the simulation results show that electricity can be produced using CSP at the cost of RI.05 per kWh.展开更多
The aim of this paper is to present a new topology of a DC-DC power converter for conditioning the current and voltages behaviors of embarked energy sources used in electrical vehicles. The fuel cells in conjunction w...The aim of this paper is to present a new topology of a DC-DC power converter for conditioning the current and voltages behaviors of embarked energy sources used in electrical vehicles. The fuel cells in conjunction with ultra-capacitors have been chosen as the power supply. The originality of the proposed converter is to use a variable voltage of the DC bus of the vehicle. The goal is to allow a better energy management of the embedded sources onboard the vehicle by improving its energy efficiency. After presenting and explaining the topology of the converter, some simulation and experiments results are shown to highlight its different operation modes.展开更多
OPV （Organic photovoltaic） cells represent a compelling candidate for renewable energy by solar energy conversion. In recent years, versatile light-trapping measures via structures have been intensively explored to ...OPV （Organic photovoltaic） cells represent a compelling candidate for renewable energy by solar energy conversion. In recent years, versatile light-trapping measures via structures have been intensively explored to optimize photovoltaic performance. In this work, a unique rubbing technique is demonstrated to create nanoscale grooves on the PEDOT：PSS [poly（3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene）： poly（styrenesulfonate）] surface and the grating-like features are 500 nm wide and 10 nm deep. The PEDOT：PSS film with grooved surface is used as buffer layers for OPV cell devices based on a P3HT：PCBM bulk heterojunction. The patterned surface has a profound effect on carrier mobility, light trapping, and hole collection efficiency, leading to an increase in the short circuit density, filling factor, and power conversion efficiency. These results indicate the feasibility of the rubbing method can be applicable to high-efficiency OPV cells.展开更多
This paper focuses on the implementation of a three-phase four-wire current-controlled Voltage Source Inverter （CC-VSI） as both power quality improvement and Photovoltaic （PV） energy extraction. For power quality ...This paper focuses on the implementation of a three-phase four-wire current-controlled Voltage Source Inverter （CC-VSI） as both power quality improvement and Photovoltaic （PV） energy extraction. For power quality improvement, the CC-VSI works as a grid current-controller shunt active power filter. Then, the PV array supported by the Hill- Climbing maximum power point tracking （MPPT） controller is coupled to the DC bus of the CC-VSI. The output of the MPPT controller is a DC voltage that determines the DC-bus voltage according to the PV maximum power. From computer simulation results, the CC-VSI is able to compensate for the harmonic and reactive power as well as to extract the PV maximum power.展开更多
It has been experimentally demonstrated that the stereometric packings of two new bisPC_(71) BM isomers have an important impact on the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells. Here, a theoretical investiga...It has been experimentally demonstrated that the stereometric packings of two new bisPC_(71) BM isomers have an important impact on the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells. Here, a theoretical investigation is made to reveal the mechanism behind from detailed photophysical processes in performed cells. The results show that the crystal packings of isomers affect the electron mobilities dominantly from the electronic coupling for electron transfer, and the trends of calculated mobilities are consistent with experimental measurements although the magnitudes are obviously larger. For the performed cells from two isomers with poly(3-hexylthiophene) as a donor, it is found that the exciton dissociation yields are also different, manifesting that stereometric packings essentially control the cell efficiency via both electron mobilities and exciton dissociation. Furthermore,the reasons for low cell efficiencies are analyzed, and possible improvements are suggested.展开更多
With the rapid development in recent years, small-molecule organic solar cell is challenging the dominance of its counterpart, polymer solar cell. The top power conversion efficiencies of both single and tandem solar ...With the rapid development in recent years, small-molecule organic solar cell is challenging the dominance of its counterpart, polymer solar cell. The top power conversion efficiencies of both single and tandem solar cells based on small molecules have surpassed 9%. In this mini review, achievements of small molecules with impressive photovoltaic performance especially reported in the last two years were highlighted. The relationship between molecular structure and device performance was analyzed, which draws some rules for rational molecular design. Five series of p- and n-type small molecules were selected based on the consideration of their competitiveness of power conversion efficiencies.展开更多
Photoelectrochemical(PEC)hydrogen production is of great interest as an ideal avenue towards clean and renewable energy.However,the instability and low energy conversion efficiency of photoanodes hinder their practica...Photoelectrochemical(PEC)hydrogen production is of great interest as an ideal avenue towards clean and renewable energy.However,the instability and low energy conversion efficiency of photoanodes hinder their practical applications.Here we address these issues by introducing a hole extraction layer(HEL)which could rapidly transfer and consume photogenerated holes.The HEL is constructed by reduced graphene oxide(RGO)and other cocatalysts that enable rapid transfer and subsequent consumption of holes,respectively.Specifically,we showcase a high-stability photoanode composed of CdSeTe nanowires(CST NWs)and RGO/PdS nanoparticles(PdS NPs)based HEL.The photoanode achieves excellent photocorrosion resistance,which allows stable hydrogen evolution for>2 h at 0.5 VRHE.展开更多
Two new conjugated copolymers, PBDT-T6-TTF and PBDT-T12-TTF, were derived from a novel 4-fluorobenzoyl thienothi- ophene （TTF）. In addition, two types of benzodithiophene （BDT） units with 2,3-dihexylthienyl （T6）...Two new conjugated copolymers, PBDT-T6-TTF and PBDT-T12-TTF, were derived from a novel 4-fluorobenzoyl thienothi- ophene （TTF）. In addition, two types of benzodithiophene （BDT） units with 2,3-dihexylthienyl （T6） and 2,3-didodecylthienyl （T12） substituents, respectively, were successfully synthesized. The effect of the dual two-dimensional （2D） substitutions of the building blocks upon the optoelectronic properties of the polymers was investigated. Generally, the two polymers exhibited good solubility and broad absorption, showing similar optical band gaps of ~1.53 eV. However, PBDT-T6-TTF with its shorter alkyl chain length possessed a larger extinction coefficient in thin solid film. The highest occupied molecular orbital （HOMO） level of PBDT-T6-TTF was located at -5.38 eV while that of PBDT-T12-TTF was at -5.51 eV. In space charge-limited- current （SCLC） measurement, PBDT-T6-TTF and PBDT-T12-TTF displayed respective hole mobilities of 3.0~10-~ and 1.6x10 5 cm2 V-1 s-l. In polymer solar cells, PBDT-T6-TTF and PBDT-T12-TTF showed respective power conversion efficiencies （PCEs） of 2.86% and 1.67%. When 1,8-diiodooctane （DIO） was used as the solvent additive, the PCE of PBDT-T6-TTF was remarkably elevated to 4.85%, but the use of DIO for the PBDT-T12-TTF-blend film resulted in a lower PCE of 0.91%. Atomic force microscopy （AFM） indicated that the superior efficiency of PBDT-T6-TTF with 3% DIO （v/v） should be related to the better continuous phase separation of the blend film. Nevertheless, the morphology of the PBDT-T12-TTF deteriorated when the 3% DIO （v/v） was added. Our results suggest that the alkyl-chain length on the 2D BDT units play an important role in determining the optoelectronic properties of dual 2D BDT-TT-based polymers.展开更多
We assembled a ternary blend bulk heterojunction polymer solar cell(PSCs) containing P3HT(donor) and PC61BM(acceptor) incorporated with a small molecule oligomer, dihexyl-quaterthiophene(DH4T) as a third component. By...We assembled a ternary blend bulk heterojunction polymer solar cell(PSCs) containing P3HT(donor) and PC61BM(acceptor) incorporated with a small molecule oligomer, dihexyl-quaterthiophene(DH4T) as a third component. By optimizing the contents of DH4 T, we increased the power conversion efficiency of ternary P3HT:DH4T:PC61BM PSCs to 4.17% from 3.44% of binary P3HT:PC61BM PSCs under AM 1.5 G of 100 m W/cm2 intensity. The major improvement is from the increase of the short circuit current and fill factor that is due to the increased light absorption at short wavelength, the balanced charge carrier transportation and the enhanced hole evacuation by a DH4T-enriched layer at the anode interface. In this work, we demonstrated that the efficiency of the PSCs can be enhanced by using low-bandgap conjugated polymer and its oligomer as donors and fullerene derivatives as acceptors.展开更多
基金Project(2009AA05Z215) supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China
文摘Thermophotovoltaic （TPV） system has been regarded as one promising means to alleviate current energy demand because it can directly generate electricity from radiation heat via photons. However, the presently available TPV systems suffer from low conversion efficiency and low throughput. A viable solution to increase their efficiency is to apply micro/nanoscale radiation principles in the design of different components to utilize the characteristics ~f thermal radiation at small distances and in microstructures. Several critical issues are reviewed, such as photovoltaic effect, quantum efficiency and efficiency of TPV system. Emphasis is given to the development of wavelength-selective emitters and filters and the aspects of micro/nanoscale heat transfer. Recent progress, along with the challenges and opportunities for future development of TPV systems are also outlined.
文摘CSP （concentrated solar power） has been viewed as the technology that if properly developed could lead to a large scale conversion of solar energy into electricity. CSP is a type of solar energy converter that is classified as thermal converter because the output power produced is a function of the operating temperature. The main components of a CSP plant are the solar field which is made up of the heliostat arrays, the receiver tower, the heat transfer fluid, the molten salt thermal energy storage tanks and the power conversion unit, which is made up of the turbine and the generator. The main advantage of CSP is that of a cheap thermal storage （i.e., molten salt storage） which makes it possible to dispatch power at a cost comparable to the grid electricity. Simulations run with the SAM （systems advisory model） developed by NREL （National Renewable Energy Laboratory） showed that CSP is capable of delivering electricity at the cost of 17UScents per kWh for the 30-year life of the plant. The main disadvantage of CSP however, is that of low efficiency （8%-16%）. There are ongoing research works to improve the efficiency of the CSP. One way to improve the efficiency is to increase the operating temperature of the system. In this paper, the authors discussed different modules of the CSP plant and suggested ways to improve on the conversion efficiencies of individual modules. Finally, an overall systems performance simulation is carried using SAM and the simulation results show that electricity can be produced using CSP at the cost of RI.05 per kWh.
文摘The aim of this paper is to present a new topology of a DC-DC power converter for conditioning the current and voltages behaviors of embarked energy sources used in electrical vehicles. The fuel cells in conjunction with ultra-capacitors have been chosen as the power supply. The originality of the proposed converter is to use a variable voltage of the DC bus of the vehicle. The goal is to allow a better energy management of the embedded sources onboard the vehicle by improving its energy efficiency. After presenting and explaining the topology of the converter, some simulation and experiments results are shown to highlight its different operation modes.
文摘OPV （Organic photovoltaic） cells represent a compelling candidate for renewable energy by solar energy conversion. In recent years, versatile light-trapping measures via structures have been intensively explored to optimize photovoltaic performance. In this work, a unique rubbing technique is demonstrated to create nanoscale grooves on the PEDOT：PSS [poly（3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene）： poly（styrenesulfonate）] surface and the grating-like features are 500 nm wide and 10 nm deep. The PEDOT：PSS film with grooved surface is used as buffer layers for OPV cell devices based on a P3HT：PCBM bulk heterojunction. The patterned surface has a profound effect on carrier mobility, light trapping, and hole collection efficiency, leading to an increase in the short circuit density, filling factor, and power conversion efficiency. These results indicate the feasibility of the rubbing method can be applicable to high-efficiency OPV cells.
文摘This paper focuses on the implementation of a three-phase four-wire current-controlled Voltage Source Inverter （CC-VSI） as both power quality improvement and Photovoltaic （PV） energy extraction. For power quality improvement, the CC-VSI works as a grid current-controller shunt active power filter. Then, the PV array supported by the Hill- Climbing maximum power point tracking （MPPT） controller is coupled to the DC bus of the CC-VSI. The output of the MPPT controller is a DC voltage that determines the DC-bus voltage according to the PV maximum power. From computer simulation results, the CC-VSI is able to compensate for the harmonic and reactive power as well as to extract the PV maximum power.
基金partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(9133310121133007+1 种基金21573175)the support from Scientific Research Foundation of Henan University(B2013141)
文摘It has been experimentally demonstrated that the stereometric packings of two new bisPC_(71) BM isomers have an important impact on the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells. Here, a theoretical investigation is made to reveal the mechanism behind from detailed photophysical processes in performed cells. The results show that the crystal packings of isomers affect the electron mobilities dominantly from the electronic coupling for electron transfer, and the trends of calculated mobilities are consistent with experimental measurements although the magnitudes are obviously larger. For the performed cells from two isomers with poly(3-hexylthiophene) as a donor, it is found that the exciton dissociation yields are also different, manifesting that stereometric packings essentially control the cell efficiency via both electron mobilities and exciton dissociation. Furthermore,the reasons for low cell efficiencies are analyzed, and possible improvements are suggested.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(2014CB643502)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB12010200)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(91333113)
文摘With the rapid development in recent years, small-molecule organic solar cell is challenging the dominance of its counterpart, polymer solar cell. The top power conversion efficiencies of both single and tandem solar cells based on small molecules have surpassed 9%. In this mini review, achievements of small molecules with impressive photovoltaic performance especially reported in the last two years were highlighted. The relationship between molecular structure and device performance was analyzed, which draws some rules for rational molecular design. Five series of p- and n-type small molecules were selected based on the consideration of their competitiveness of power conversion efficiencies.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51732011,21431006,21761132008,81788101 and 11227901)the Foundation for the Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21521001)+2 种基金the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences,CAS(QYZDJ-SSW-SLH036)the National Basic Research Program of China(2014CB931800)the Users with Excellence and Scientific Research Grant of Hefei Science Center of CAS(2015HSC-UE007).This work was partially carried out at the USTC Center for Micro and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication.
文摘Photoelectrochemical(PEC)hydrogen production is of great interest as an ideal avenue towards clean and renewable energy.However,the instability and low energy conversion efficiency of photoanodes hinder their practical applications.Here we address these issues by introducing a hole extraction layer(HEL)which could rapidly transfer and consume photogenerated holes.The HEL is constructed by reduced graphene oxide(RGO)and other cocatalysts that enable rapid transfer and subsequent consumption of holes,respectively.Specifically,we showcase a high-stability photoanode composed of CdSeTe nanowires(CST NWs)and RGO/PdS nanoparticles(PdS NPs)based HEL.The photoanode achieves excellent photocorrosion resistance,which allows stable hydrogen evolution for>2 h at 0.5 VRHE.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21225418 and 51173048)the National Basic Research Program of China(2013CB834705 and 2014CB643505)GDUPS(2013)
文摘Two new conjugated copolymers, PBDT-T6-TTF and PBDT-T12-TTF, were derived from a novel 4-fluorobenzoyl thienothi- ophene （TTF）. In addition, two types of benzodithiophene （BDT） units with 2,3-dihexylthienyl （T6） and 2,3-didodecylthienyl （T12） substituents, respectively, were successfully synthesized. The effect of the dual two-dimensional （2D） substitutions of the building blocks upon the optoelectronic properties of the polymers was investigated. Generally, the two polymers exhibited good solubility and broad absorption, showing similar optical band gaps of ~1.53 eV. However, PBDT-T6-TTF with its shorter alkyl chain length possessed a larger extinction coefficient in thin solid film. The highest occupied molecular orbital （HOMO） level of PBDT-T6-TTF was located at -5.38 eV while that of PBDT-T12-TTF was at -5.51 eV. In space charge-limited- current （SCLC） measurement, PBDT-T6-TTF and PBDT-T12-TTF displayed respective hole mobilities of 3.0~10-~ and 1.6x10 5 cm2 V-1 s-l. In polymer solar cells, PBDT-T6-TTF and PBDT-T12-TTF showed respective power conversion efficiencies （PCEs） of 2.86% and 1.67%. When 1,8-diiodooctane （DIO） was used as the solvent additive, the PCE of PBDT-T6-TTF was remarkably elevated to 4.85%, but the use of DIO for the PBDT-T12-TTF-blend film resulted in a lower PCE of 0.91%. Atomic force microscopy （AFM） indicated that the superior efficiency of PBDT-T6-TTF with 3% DIO （v/v） should be related to the better continuous phase separation of the blend film. Nevertheless, the morphology of the PBDT-T12-TTF deteriorated when the 3% DIO （v/v） was added. Our results suggest that the alkyl-chain length on the 2D BDT units play an important role in determining the optoelectronic properties of dual 2D BDT-TT-based polymers.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21374120)support by 100 Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
文摘We assembled a ternary blend bulk heterojunction polymer solar cell(PSCs) containing P3HT(donor) and PC61BM(acceptor) incorporated with a small molecule oligomer, dihexyl-quaterthiophene(DH4T) as a third component. By optimizing the contents of DH4 T, we increased the power conversion efficiency of ternary P3HT:DH4T:PC61BM PSCs to 4.17% from 3.44% of binary P3HT:PC61BM PSCs under AM 1.5 G of 100 m W/cm2 intensity. The major improvement is from the increase of the short circuit current and fill factor that is due to the increased light absorption at short wavelength, the balanced charge carrier transportation and the enhanced hole evacuation by a DH4T-enriched layer at the anode interface. In this work, we demonstrated that the efficiency of the PSCs can be enhanced by using low-bandgap conjugated polymer and its oligomer as donors and fullerene derivatives as acceptors.
