Optimizing the power conversion processes in diluted donor/acceptor heterojunctions towards 19.4%efficiency all-polymer solar cells

All polymer solar cells(all-PSCs)promise mechanically-flexible and morphologically-stable organic photovoltaics and have aroused increased interests very recently.However,due to their disorderly conformation structures within the photoactive film,inefficient charge generation and carrier transport are observed which lead to inferior photovoltaic performance compared to smaller molecular acceptor-based photovoltaics.Here,by diluting PM6 with a cutting-edge polymeric acceptor PY-IT and diluting PY-IT with PM6 or D18,donor-dominating or acceptor-dominating heterojunctions were prepared.Synchrotron X-ray and multiple spectrometer techniques reveal that the diluted heterojunctions receive increased structural order,translating to enhanced carrier mobility,improved exciton diffusion length,and suppressed non-radiative recombination loss during the power conversion.As the results,the corresponding PM6+1%PY-IT/PY-IT+1%D18 and PM6+1%PY-IT/PY-IT+1%PM6 devices fabricated by layer-by-layer deposition received superior power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 19.4%and 18.8%respectively,along with enhanced operational lifetimes in air,outperforming the PCE of 17.5%in the PM6/PY-IT reference device.

Cascade utilization of full spectrum solar energy for achieving simultaneous hydrogen production and all-day thermoelectric conversion

Solar-driven photocatalytic water/seawater splitting holds great potential for green hydrogen production.However,the practical application is hindered by the relatively low conversion efficiency resulting from the inadequate utilization of solar spectrum with significant waste in the form of heat.Moreover,current equipment struggles to maintain all-day operation subjected to the lack of light during nighttime.Herein,a novel hybrid system integrating photothermal catalytic(PTC)reactor,thermoelectric generator(TEG),and phase change materials(PCM)was proposed and designed(named as PTC-TEG-PCM)to address these challenges and enable simultaneous overall seawater splitting and 24-hour power generation.The PTC system effectively maintains in an optimal temperature range to maximize photothermal-assisted photocatalytic hydrogen production.The TEG component recycles the low-grade waste heat for power generation,complementing the shortcoming of photocatalytic conversion and achieving cascade utilization of full-spectrum solar energy.Furthermore,exceptional thermal storage capability of PCM allow for the conversion of released heat into electricity during nighttime,contributing significantly to the overall power output and enabling PTC-TEG-PCM to operate for more than 12 h under the actual condition.Compared to traditional PTC system,the overall energy conversion efficiency of the PTC-TEG-PCM system can be increased by∼500%,while maintaining the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency.The advancement of this novel system demonstrated that recycling waste heat from the PTC system and utilizing heat absorption/release capability of PCM for thermoelectric application are effective strategies to improve solar energy conversion.With flexible parameter designing,PTC-TEG-PCM can be applied in various scenarios,offering high efficiency,stability,and sustainability.

Low Power Polarity Conversion Based on the Whole Annealing Genetic Algorithm

For an n-variable logic function,the power dissipation and area of the REED-MULLER （RM） circuit corresponding to each polarity are different. Based on the propagation algorithm of signal probability,the decomposition algorithm of a multi-input XOR/AND gate,and the multiple segment algorithm of polarity conversion,this paper successfully applies the whole annealing genetic algorithm （WAGA） to find the best polarity of an RM circuit. Through testing eight large-scale circuits from the Microelectronics Center North Carolina （MCNC） Benchmark, the SYNOPSYS synthesis results show that the RM circuits corresponding to the best polarity found using the proposed algorithm attain average power,area,and max delay savings of 77.2% ,62.4% ,and 9.2% respectively,compared with those under polarity 0.

Advanced Power Module Packaging and Integration Structures for High Frequency Power Conversion：From Silicon to GaN

The emerging of commercial high-voltage gallium nitride(GaN) power devices provides extraordinary switching performance over silicone devices, which enables high-voltage power conversion switching at megahertz range.Such outstanding features also pose strong challenges for device packaging design since the package parasitics can significantly influence the device switching characteristics, and thus can shadow the advantages brought by GaN devices. Designers have been dealing with these challenges brought by high du/dt and high-frequency switching operation even since the silicon(Si) era when fast switching Si MOSFET is first developed and came up with lots of inspiring advanced power module packaging structures to mitigate the problems.This paper presents a review of advanced power module packaging and integration structures that are suitable for high frequency power conversion.The review covers the heritage from the high frequency Si MOSFET packaging to the state-of-the-art for GaN devices.

Regulation of Power Conversion in Fuel Cells

Here we report a regulation about power conversion in fuel cells. This regulation is expressed as that total power produced by fuel cells is always proportional to the square of the potential difference between the \{equilibrium\} potential and work potential. With this regulation we deduced fuel cell performance equation which can describe the potential vs.the current performance curves, namely, polarization curves of fuel cells with three power source parameters: equilibrium potential E_0; internal resistance R; and power conversion coefficient K. The concept of the power conversion coefficient is a new criterion to evaluate and compare the characteristics and capacity of different fuel cells. The calculated values obtained with this equation agree with practical performance of different types of fuel cells.

Optimal oxide-aperture for improving the power conversion efficiency of VCSEL arrays

The maximum power conversion efficiencies of the top-emitting,oxide-confined,two-dimensional integrated 2×2 and4×4 vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser（VCSEL） arrays with the oxide-apertures of 6 μm,16 μm,19 μm,26 μm,29 μm,36 μm,39 μm,and 46 urn are fabricated and characterized,respectively.The maximum power conversion efficiencies increase rapidly with the augment of oxide-aperture at the beginning and then decrease slowly.A maximum value of27.91%at an oxide-aperture of 18.6 μm is achieved by simulation.The experimental data are well consistent with the simulation results,which are analyzed by utilizing an empirical model.

Highly Efficient Power Conversion from Salinity Gradients with Ion-Selective Polymeric Nanopores

A polymeric nanopore membrane with selective ionic transport has been proposed as a potential device to convert the chemical potential energy in salinity gradients to electrical power. However, its energy conversion efficiency and power density are often limited due to the challenge in reliably controlling the size of the nanopores with the conventional chemical etching method. Here we report that without chemical etching, polyimide （PI） membranes irradiated with GeV heavy ions have negatively charged nanopores, showing nearly perfect selectivity for cations over anions, and they can generate electrical power from salinity gradients. We further demonstrate that the power generation efficiency of the PI membrane approaches the theoretical limit, and the maximum power density reaches 130m W/m2 with a modified etching method, outperforming the previous energy conversion device that was made of polymeric nanopore membranes.

Power Allocation for Wireless Powered MIMO Transmissions with Non-Linear RF Energy Conversion Models

We study a radio frequency(RF) wireless energy transfer(WET) enabled multiple input multiple output(MIMO) system. A time slotted transmission pattern is considered. Each slot can be divided into two phases, downlink(DL) WET and uplink(UL) wireless information transmission(WIT). Since energy conversion efficiency of the energy harvesting circuits are non.linear, the conventional linear model leads to a mismatch for resource allocation. In this paper, the power allocation algorithm considering the practical non.linear energy harvesting circuits is studied. The optimization problem is formulated to maximize the energy efficiency of system with multiple constraints, i.e., the transmission power, the received power and the minimum harvested energy, which is a non.convex problem. We transform the objective function from fractional form into an equivalent objective function in subtractive form and provide an iterative power allocation algorithm to achieve the optimal solution. Numerical results show that our proposed algorithm with the non.linear RF energy conversion models can achieve much better performance than the algorithm with the conventional linear model.

Three-Dimensional Study of the Effect of the Angle of Incidence of a Magnetic Field on the Electrical Power and Conversion Efficiency of a Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cell under Multispectral Illumination

A three-dimensional approach to the effect of magnetic field incidence angle on electrical power and conversion efficiency is performed on a front-illuminated polycrystalline silicon bifacial solar cell. A solution of the continuity equation allowed us to present the equations of photocurrent density, photovoltage and electric power. The influence of the angle of incidence of the magnetic field on the photocurrent density, the photovoltage and the electric power has been studied. The curves of electrical power versus dynamic junction velocity were used to extract the values of maximum electrical power and dynamic junction velocity and to calculate those of conversion efficiency. From this study, it is found that the conversion efficiency values increase with the angle of incidence of the magnetic field.

Application of Power Electronics Converters in Renewable Energy

Against the backdrop of global energy shortages and increasingly severe environmental pollution,renewable energy is gradually becoming a significant direction for future energy development.Power electronics converters,as the core technology for energy conversion and control,play a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency and stability of renewable energy systems.This paper explores the basic principles and functions of power electronics converters and their specific applications in photovoltaic power generation,wind power generation,and energy storage systems.Additionally,it analyzes the current innovations in high-efficiency energy conversion,multilevel conversion technology,and the application of new materials and devices.By studying these technologies,the aim is to promote the widespread application of power electronics converters in renewable energy systems and provide theoretical and technical support for achieving sustainable energy development.

Study on Purchasing Power Conversion Coefficient at Par

The basic theory of the purchasing power at par refers to the rate of one country＇s currency to U.S. dollar while purchasing ＂a basket＂ goods and services in the same quantity and quality respectively in this country and U.S.A. This paper gives out calculation method of purchasing power conversion coefficient at par and how to calculate the non-base year purchasing power at par.

Research on Energy Conversion System of Floating Wave Energy Converter

A wave power device includes an energy harvesting system and a power take-off system. The power take-off system of a floating wave energy device is the key that converts wave energy into other forms. A set of hydraulic power take-off system, which suits for the floating wave energy devices, includes hydraulic system and power generation system. The hydraulic control system uses a special“self-hydraulic control system”to control hydraulic system to release or save energy under the maximum and the minimum pressures. The maximum pressure is enhanced to 23 MPa, the minimum to 9 MPa. Quite a few experiments show that the recent hydraulic system is evidently improved in efficiency and reliability than our previous one, that is expected to be great significant in the research and development of our prototype about wave energy conversion.

Study on Energy Conversion Characteristics in Volute of Pump as Turbine

A volute is a curved funnel with cross-sectional area increasing towards the discharge port.The volute of a centrifugal pump is the casing hosting the fluid being pumped by the impeller.In Pump-as-turbine devices(PAT),vice versa the volute plays the role of energy conversion element.In the present analysis,this process is analyzed using CFD.The results show that in the contraction section of volute the conversion between dynamic pressure energy and static pressure energy essentially depends on the reduction of flow area,while in the spiral section,frictional losses also play a significant role.From the throat to the end of the volute,the flow decreases in a wave-like manner.

Application of Single-to-Single Phase Matrix Conversion in Conventional Rectifier-Inverter

The principle of single to single phase matrix electric power conversioin is further studied and the conversioin switch function is introduced into conventional rectifier inverter, thus a general character of the two conversion techniques is discovered. It is characteristic of the switch functiion to follow mains voltage distortion and mains frequency drift. By utilizing the merit, unidirectional switch duty rations of the inverter follow the variation of DC link voltage automatically, thus the size of DC link electrolytic capacitor can be reduced considerably, bringing about improved mains side power factor. Corresponding topologies and theoretical and theoretical derivations are given, and so are the simulation results, based on which it is confirmed that the single to single phase matrix conversion technique is potentially useful in large scale production, and the introduction of switch function can yield good economic returns.

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.

Layered-stacking of titania films for solar energy conversion:Toward tailored optical,electronic and photovoltaic performance

Nanostructured TiO2 with differentiate morphologies has attracted tremendous attention due to its wide band-gap nature as well as outstanding optical and electric properties for solar-driven light-toelectricity conversion application. Layered-stacking TiO2 film such as double-layer, tri-layer, quadrupleor quintuplicate-layer, is highly desirable to the design of high-performance semiconductor material photoanodes and the development of advanced photovoltaic devices. In this minireview, we will summarize the recent progress and achievements on proof-of-concept of layered-stacking TiO2 films（LTFs） for solar cells with emphasis on the tailored properties and synergistic functionalization of LTFs, such as optimized sensitizer adsorption, broadened light confinement as well as facilitated electron transport characteristics.Various demonstrations of LTFs photovoltaic systems provide lots of possibilities and flexibilities for more efficient solar energy utilization that a wide variety of TiO2 with distinguished morphologies can be integrated into differently structured photoanodes with synergistic and complementary advantages. This key structure engineering technology will also pave the way for the development of next generation state-ofthe-art electronics and optoelectronics. Finally, from our point of view, we conclude the future research interest and efforts for constructing more efficient LTFs as photoelectrode, which will be highly warranted to advance the solar energy conversion process.

Multi-converter Approach to Higher Power Density DC-DC Converter for 380 V DC Distribution System

Multi-converter approach based on the series and parallel connection topology of modular power converters has been proposed to realize higher power density DC-DC converter. The availability of the proposed approach has been verified through the design consideration and the experiment. The design consideration for two DC-DC converters has been carried out by utilizing the power converter exact loss simulator, and the design parameters to maximize their power densities have been extracted taking the trade-off between the conversion efficiency and the power density into account. The prototypes of a 2,400 W, 256-384 V boost chopper using SiC-MOSFETs and a 300 W, 32-48 V GaN-FETs boost chopper have been also developed based on the design. The SiC chopper achieved the efficiency of 97.8% and the power density of 12,8 W/cm3, and the GaN chopper accomplished 98.9% and 18.6 W/cm3 in the experiment. These results show the validity of the design and the availability of the proposed approach. The multi-converter approach enables the cost reduction of the modular power converters, and contributes to realizing the widespread use of power electronics converters in the future 380 V DC distribution system.

Direct driven wind energy conversion system based on hybrid excitation synchronous machine

A novel direct-drive type wind power generation system based on hybrid excitation synchronous machine（HESM）is introduced in this paper.The generator is connected to an uncontrollable rectifier,and a fully controlled voltage-sourceinverter is used to connect the system to utility grid.An intermediate DC bus exists between the rectifier and inverter.A new control strategy is proposed which achieves the maximum power point tracking（MPPT） with the control of excitation current of HESM and stabilizes the DC link voltage with the control of inverter output current simultaneously.Specially-designed buck circuit is used to control the excitation current of HESM,and grid voltage-oriented vector control strategy is employed to realize the decoupling of the inverter output power.Simulation results and experiment in 3 kW lab prototype show an excellent static and dynamic performance of the proposed system.

OUTPUT MAXIMIZATION CONTROL FOR VSCF WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM USING EXTREMUM CONTROL STRATEGY

The energy conversion optimization control strategy is presented for a family of horizontal-axis variablespeed fixed-pitch wind energy conversion systems,working in the partial load region.The system uses a variablespeed wind turbine(VSWT)driving a squirrel-cage induction generator(SCIG)connected to a grid.A new maximum power point tracking(MPPT)approach is proposed based on the extremum seeking control principles under the assumption that the wind turbine model and its parameters are poorly known.The aim is to drive the average position of the operation point close to optimality.Here the wind turbulence is used as search disturbance instead of inducing new sinusoidal search signals.The discrete Fourier transform(DFT)process of some available measures estimates the distance of operation point to optimality.The effectiveness of the proposed MPPT approach is validated under different operation conditions by numerical simulations in MATLAB/SIMULINK.The simulation results prove that the new approach can effectively suppress the vibration of system and enhance the dynamic performance of system.

An Improved Torque Sensorless Speed Control Method for Electric Assisted Bicycle With Consideration of Coordinate Conversion

In this paper,we propose an improved torque sensorless speed control method for electric assisted bicycle,this method considers the coordinate conversion.A low-pass filter is designed in disturbance observer to estimate and compensate the variable disturbance during cycling.A DC motor provides assisted power driving,the assistance method is based on the realtime wheel angular velocity and coordinate system transformation.The effect of observer is proved,and the proposed method guarantees stability under disturbances.It is also compared to the existing methods and their performances are illustrated through simulations.The proposed method improves the performance both in rapidity and stability.