Comparative Study of the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Foamed Concrete with Local Materials

Living in a habitat with comfort is requested by all. Cinder block bricks have poor thermal properties, leading people to use fan heaters and air conditioners to regain comfort. To overcome this problem of thermal discomfort in buildings, we used lightweight concrete such as foamed concrete which is a material that has improved thermal properties for thermal comfort. In addition, this material was compared with local materials used for the construction of buildings such as BTC, adobe and BLT mixed with binders. The results showed that foamed concrete is a material that has good thermal and mechanical properties compared to local materials mixed with binders. The foamed concrete having acceptable thermo-mechanical properties was that having a density of 930 kg/m3. It has a thermal resistance of 0.4 m2·K/W for a thickness of 20 cm. The foamed concrete having acceptable thermo-mechanical properties was that having a density of 930 kg/m3. It has a thermal resistance of 0.4 m2·K/W for a thickness of 20 cm. For sunshine on a daily cycle equal to 12 hours, the characteristic thickness achieved by this material is 7.29 cm. It also has a shallow depth of heat diffusion having a lower thickness than other materials. This shows that foamed concrete is a promising material for the construction of buildings.

Effect of the Orientation on the Comfort of a Building Made with Compressed Earth Block

Thermal comfort is one of the most important requirements that scientists and building designers must meet to ensure the indoor air quality knowing its importance on productivity and the health of occupants. However, it has never been of great concern for architects and architectural historians and seldom explores it. Buildings are the large consumer of the most energy consumption (around 40% worldwide) and generate around 35% of GHGs like CO2 that leads to extreme climate change. Hence, general and specific eco-friendly solutions in the field of building construction are required. Analysis of this study shows that air conditioning consumption can be significantly reduced thanks to the compressed earth bricks and by taking into account the climate and the orientation of the facades. However, this paper establishes viable low-cost option of building energy consumption while maintaining the thermal comfort and good indoor air quality. This work explains the effect of a single residential room orientation, by reducing the thermal amplitude, and improving the thermal phase shift in Ouagadougou climate conditions in April. Internal temperature was modelled with 8 cardinal orientations. The result corresponds to a decrease of thermal amplitude damping greater than 4°C between East-West and North-South sides and, with a thermal phase shift of 4 hours 30 minutes between the Nord and West walls.

External Magnetic Field Effect on Bifacial Silicon Solar Cell’s Electrical Parameters

The aim of this work is to present a theoretical study of external magnetic field effect on a bifacial silicon solar cell’s electrical parameters (peak power, fill factor and load resistance) using the J-V and P-V characteristics. After the resolution of the magneto transport equation and continuity equation of excess minority carriers in the base of the bifacial silicon solar cell under multispectral illumination, the photo-current density and the photovoltage are determined and the J-V and P-V curves are plotted. Using simultaneously the J-V and P-V curves, we determine, according to magnetic field intensity, the peak photocurrent density, the peak photovoltage, the peak electric power, the fill factor and the load resistance at the peak power point. The numerical data show that the solar cell’s peak power decreases with magnetic field intensity while the fill factor and the load resistance increase.

Effect of Incidence Angle of Magnetic Field on the Performance of a Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cell under Multispectral Illumination

The aim of this work is to investigate, with a three-dimensional steady-state approach, the effect of the incidence angle of a magnetic field on the performance of a polycrystalline silicon solar cell under multispectral illumination. The magneto-transport and continuity equations of excess minority carriers are solved to find the expression of the density of excess minority carriers and the related electrical parameters, such as the photocurrent density, the photovoltage and the electric power, of a grain of the polycrystalline silicon solar cell. The influence of the incidence angle of the magnetic field on the diffusion coefficient, the short-circuit photocurrent density, the open-circuit photovoltage and the electric power-photovoltage is studied. Then, the curves of the electric power-photovoltage is used to find the maximum electric power allowing to calculate, according to the incidence angle of the magnetic field, the fill factor and the conversion efficiency. The study has shown that the increase of the incidence angle of the magnetic field from 0 rad to π/2 rad, can reduce the degradation of the performance of solar cells.

Temperature Effect on Light Concentration Silicon Solar Cell’s Operating Point and Conversion Efficiency

It is well known that temperature acts negatively on practically all the parameters of photovoltaic solar cells. Also, the solar cells which are subjected to particularly very high temperatures are the light concentration solar cells and are used in light concentration photovoltaic systems (CPV). In fact, the significant heating of these solar cells is due to the concentration of the solar flux which arrives on them. Light concentration solar cells appear as solar cells under strong influences of heating and temperature. It is therefore necessary to take into account temperature effect on light concentration solar cells performances in order to obtain realistic results. This one-dimensional study of a crystalline silicon solar cell under light concentration takes into account electrons concentration gradient electric field in the determination of the continuity equation of minority carriers in the base. To determine excess minority carrier’s density, the effects of temperature on the diffusion and mobility of electrons and holes, on the intrinsic concentration of electrons, on carrier’s generation rate as well as on width of band gap have also been taken into account. The results show that an increase of temperature improves diffusion parameters and leads to an increase of the short-circuit photocurrent density. However, an increase of temperature leads to a significant decrease in open-circuit photovoltage, maximum electric power and conversion efficiency. The results also show that the operating point and the maximum power point (MPP) moves to the open circuit when the cell temperature increases.

Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cell p-n Junction Capacitance Behavior Modelling under an Integrated External Electrical Field Source in Solar Cell System

The state of the p-n junction is very important to explain the performances of a solar cell. Some works give the influence of the electric field on the junction capacitance. However, these works do not relate the quality of the p-n junction under the electic field. The present manuscript is about a theoretical modelling of the p-n junction capacitance behavior of the polycrystalline silicon solar cell under an integration of the external electrical field source. An external electrical source is integrated in a solar cell system. The electronic carriers charge generated in the solar cell crossed mainly the junction with the great strength external electrical field. In open circuit, this crossing of the electronic charge carriers causes the thermal heating of the p-n junction by Joule effect. The p-n junction capacitance plotted versus the junction dynamic velocity and the photo-voltage for different external electrical fields. The electric field causes the decrease of the photo-voltage mainly the open-circuit photo-voltage. The decrease of the photo-voltage translates the narrowing of the Space Charge Region (SCR). The average value of the external electric field used in this study is not sufficient to cause the breakdown of the p-n junction of the solar cell system under integration of the external electrical field production source. The increase of the electrical field causes rather the narrowing of the SCR. That can provide an improvement of the solar cell’s electrical outputs.

Modelling Study of Magnetic Field Effect on the Performance of a Silicon Photovoltaic Module

Solar Photovoltaic is a very promising solution that can greatly contribute in solving the increasing global energy demand. In both rural and urban areas, photovoltaic modules are in some instances installed close to telecommunication antennas or voltage transformers which generate important magnetic fields in their vicinity. The question is whether or not these magnetic fields affect the performances of the photovoltaic installations. This article presents a modelling study of external magnetic field effect on the electrical parameters of a photovoltaic module. The photocurrent, the photovoltage, the electric power, the series and the shunt resistances of the photovoltaic module, made up of ideal cells, are deduced from those of a silicon solar cell. Then, the I-V and P-V curves are plotted and the theoretical values of the electrical parameters of the photovoltaic module are deduced. The series and shunt resistances of the photovoltaic module are calculated using well known equations and the previous electrical parameters. The results show the negative effect of magnetic field on the performance of a solar photovoltaic module.

3-D Modeling of Temperature Effect on a Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cell under Intense Light Illumination

The efficiency of a silicon solar cell is directly linked to the quantity of carrier photogenerated in its base. It increases with the increase of the quantity of carrier in the base of the solar cell. The carrier density in the base of the solar cell increases with the increase of the flux of photons that crosses the solar cell. One of the methods used to increase the flux of photon on the illuminated side of the solar cell is the intensification of the illumination light. However, the intensification of the light come with the increase of the energy released by thermalization, the collision between carriers, their braking due to the carriers concentration gradient electric field which lead to increase the temperature in the base of the solar cell. This work presents a 3-D study, of the effect of the temperature on the electronic parameters of a polycrystalline silicon solar under intense light illumination. The electronic parameters on which we analyze the temperature effect are:?the mobility of solar cell carriers?(electrons and holes),?their diffusion coefficient, their diffusion length and their distribution in the bulk of the base. To study the effect of the temperature on electronic parameters, we take into account, the dependence of carriers (electrons and holes) mobility with the temperature (μn,(T)?μp(T)). Then, the resolution of the continuity equation,which is a function of the carriers gradient electric field and the carriers mobility,?leads to the expressions of?the diffusion coefficient, the diffusion length, and the density of carriers which are function of the temperature. Then, we studied the effects of the temperature on the diffusion parameters in order to explain their effect on the behavior the carriers distribution in intermediate, short circuit and open circuit operating modes at several positions in the base depth. It appears through this study that the diffusion coefficient and the diffusion length decrease with the increase of the temperature. We observe also that with the increase of the temperature, the density of carriers in the base of the solar cell in short circuit and open voltage operating modes increases. In intermediate operating mode, the density of carriers increases also with the temperature but it is function of the base depth.

Improvement of the Silicon Solar Cell Performance by Integration of an Electric Field Source in the Solar Cell or Solar Module System

This manuscript is about a theoretical modelling of conversion efficiency improvement of a typical polycrystalline Si solar cell in 1D assumptions. The improvement is brought by the increase of the collection of the minority carriers charge in excess. This increase is the consequence of the influence of an electric field provided by the use of the open circuit photovoltage of another silicon solar cell. We assume that it is integrated two silicon solar cells to the system. The first solar cell provides the open circuit photovoltage which is connected to two aluminum planar armatures creating a planar capacitor. The second solar cell is placed under the uniform electric field created between the two aluminum armatures. This work has shown an improvement of the output electric power leading to the increase of the conversion efficiency. We observe an increase of 0.7% of the conversion efficiency of the second silicon solar cell.

Climatological Analysis of Aerosols Optical Properties by Airborne Sensors and in Situ Measurements in West Africa: Case of the Sahelian Zone

This paper deals with the climatology of aerosols in West Africa based on satellite and in situ measurements between 2001 and 2016 and covers four sites in the Sahelian zone. There are indeed Banizoumbou (13.541°N, 02.665°E), Cinzana (13.278°N, 05.934°W), Dakar (14.394°N, 16.959°W) and Ouagadougou (12.20°N, 1.40°W) located respectively in Niger, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thus, an intercomparison between the satellite observations and the in situ measurements shows a good correlation between MODIS and AERONET with a correlation coefficient R = 0.86 at Cinzana, R = 0.85 at Banizounbou, R = 0.84 at Ouagadougou and a low correlation coefficient R = 0.66 calculated on the Dakar site. Like MODIS, SeaWiFS shows a very good correspondence with measurements of the ground photometer especially for Banizoumbou (R = 0.89), Cinzana (R = 0.88) and Dakar (R = 0.75) followed by a low correlation coefficient calculated on the Ouagadougou site (R = 0.64). The performance of these airborne sensors is also corroborated by the calculation of root mean square error (RMSE) and the mean absolute error (MAE). Following this validation, a climatological analysis based on aerosol optical depth (AOD) shows the seasonality of aerosols in West Africa strongly influenced by the climate dynamics illustrated by the MERRA model reanalysis. This seasonal spatial distribution of aerosols justifies the temporal variability of the particles observed at the different sites in the Sahel. In addition, a combined analysis of AOD and Angstrom coefficient indicates the aerosol period in the Sahel in spring (March-April-May) and summer (June-July-August). However, these aerosols are strongly dominated by desert dust whose main sources are located north in the Sahara and Sahel.

Numerical Study of a Cylindro-Parabolic Cooker “Blazing Tube”

The objective of this work is to numerically determine the thermal performance of the parabolic cylinder cooker commonly “blazing tube”. These performances were determined by establishing heat balances at the different levels of the system. The equations obtained have been discretized;simplifying assumptions have been made to facilitate their resolution. We adopted Gauss Seidel’s method using MATLAB software to solve these equations. The temperatures of the coolant, the glass and the absorber were determined as a function of time and along the tube. The thermal efficiency was also determined. It emerged that the different temperatures evolve linearly as a function of the length of the tube. Yield and temperatures depend on the amount of sunshine.

Experimental Study of the Evolution of Temperatures in Pavement Structures and Influence of Traffic on the RN1 in Burkina Faso in a Hot and Dry Climate

Asphalt concrete pavements in hot and dry climates deteriorate prematurely some time after their construction. This degradation is accelerated under the effect of heavy vehicle traffic pressure and high temperatures after the bitumen has softened. A study was conducted on the RN1 in Burkina Faso in order to analyze the evolution of temperature and traffic in the process of degradation of asphalt concrete pavements. It consisted on the one hand in recording the temperatures at different points inside the layers of asphalt concrete pavements and the layer of laterite. These results were compared with the values of the softening temperatures of the bitumen obtained in the laboratory. On the other hand, this study is supplemented by the daily counting of heavy goods vehicles passing through the RN1 during the month of April in order to study the influence of the evolution of heavy goods vehicle traffic on the degradation of pavements in hot and dry climatic conditions. The results obtained for temperatures and the frequency of heavy goods vehicle traffic favor pavement deterioration under certain conditions.