热光伏太阳电池及其研究进展

热光伏技术是将太阳光辐射出的能量,通过热光伏电池直接转换成电能的技术.由于它可广泛使用热源和具有较高能量输出密度等优点,因此在未来的光伏领域具有很大的发展潜力.本文首先介绍了热光伏系统的工作原理,然后重点评述了Si热光伏电池、Ge热光伏电池、Ⅲ-Ⅴ族化合物热光伏电池、量子阱热光伏电池和中间带热光伏电池的研究进展,并指出了目前热光伏电池发展所面临的一些问题.

新能源 新技术 新思路

本文介绍当前国内外空间电源的新技术,包括先进的光生伏打太阳电池、先进的太阳电池阵、太阳动力源、核电源;先进的蓄电池组、飞轮、电容以及先进的功率管理和分配单元。说明研究空间电源的新思路,分析我国空间电源的研究现状并提出建议。

Preparation and photoelectric properties of Ho^(3+)-doped titanium dioxide nanowire downconversion photoanode

Ho^3＋-doped titanium dioxide（TiO2：Ho^3＋） downconversion（DC） nanowires were synthesized through a simple hydrothermal method followed by a subsequent calcination process after being immersed in Ho（NO3）3 aqueous solution. Moreover, TiO2：Ho^3＋ nanowires（HTNWs） were used as the photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells（DSSCs） to investigate their photoelectric properties. Scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and X-ray diffraction（XRD） were used to characterize the morphology and structure of the material, respectively. The photofluorescence and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra of HTNWs reveal a DC from the near and middle ultraviolet light to visible light which matches the strong absorbed region of the N719 dye. Compared with the pure TNW photoanode, HTNWs DC photoanodes show greater photovoltaic efficiency. The photovoltaic conversion efficiency（η） of the DSSCs with HTNWs photoanode doped with 4% Ho2O3（mass fraction） is two times that with pure TNW photoanode. This enhancement could be attributed to HTNWs which could extend the spectral response range of DSSCs to the near and middle ultraviolet region and increase the short-circuit current density（Jsc） of DSSCs, thus leading to the enhancement of photovoltaic conversion efficiency.

The Use of Hydrogen as a Fuel for Inland Waterway Units

Escalating apprehension about the harmful effects of widespread use of conventional fossil fuels in the marine field and in internal combustion engines in general, has led to a vast amount of efforts and the directing of large capital investment towards research and development of sustainable alternative energy sources. One of the most promising and abundant of these sources is hydrogen. Firstly, the use of current fossil fuels is. discussed focusing on the emissions and economic sides to emphasize the need for a new, cleaner and renewable fuel with particular reference to hydrogen as a suitable possible alternative. Hydrogen properties, production and storage methods are then reviewed along with its suitability from the economical point of view. Finally, a cost analysis for the use of hydrogen in internal combustion engines is carried out to illustrate the benefits of its use as a replacement for diesel. The outcome of this cost analysis shows that 98% of the capital expenditure is consumed by the equipment, and 68.3% of the total cost of the equipment is spent on the solar photovoltaic cells. The hydrogen plant is classified as a large investment project because of its high initial cost which is about 1 billion US$; but this is justified because hydrogen is produced in a totally green way. When hydrogen is used as a fuel, no harmful emissions are obtained.

Performance Evaluation of New Two Axes Tracking PV-Thermal Concentrator

The overall problem with PV （photovoltaic） systems is the high cost for the photovoltaic modules. This makes it interesting to concentrate irradiation on the PV-module, thereby reducing the PV area necessary for obtaining the same amount of output power. The tracking capability of two-axes tracking unit driving a new concentrating paraboloid for electric and heat production have been evaluated. The reflecting optics consisting of flat mirrors provides uniform illumination on the absorber which is a good indication for optimised electrical production due to series connection of solar cells. The calculated optical efficiency of the system indicates that about 80% of the incident beam radiation is transferred to the absorber. Simulations of generated electrical and thermal energy from the evaluated photovoltaic thermal （PV/T） collector show the potential of obtaining high total energy efficiency.

Integration of the Energy and Building Technologies

The performance of each type of building must meet all the needs and requests of new real estate markets. In fact, in the excellent architectures, the user can manage, with autonomy and flexibility, each system and product, according to the new energy and building technologies too. The main objective is the social and environmental sustainability with the reduction of fossil fuels and the greenhouse gas effect, pushing the use of renewable energies, in a new trend of land regeneration with sustainable buildings and settlement recovery. The energy crisis, mainly generated by the climate change, the air pollution, with consequent extinction of the species, reduction of the land and the work, the degradation and the environmental and seismic risk, focuses on the security and quality of construction systems, integrated use of clean resources. The methodologies aimed at integrating of energy-efficient and innovative building technologies in architecture, from design to management, to produce electric and thermal energy with active and passive properties, for a high-performance habitat. Therefore, the use of solar photovoltaic in the buildings, BIPV （Building Integrated Photovoltaic） with high-performance glass vision, efficient systems, intelligent materials, is integrated in architectures with the use of innovative construction systems, finally, technology of OPV （Organic Photovoltaic）, multi-junction cells, the dye sensitized solar cells in the solid state, etc., and adoption of storage systems.

Simulation of Maximum Power Point Tracking for Photovoltaic Systems

A PV （photovoltaic） solar panels exhibit non-linear current--voltage characteristics, and according to the MPT （maximum power transform） theory, it can produce maximum power at only one particular OP （operating point）; namely, when the source impedance matches with the load impedance, a match which cannot be guaranteed spontaneously. Furthermore, the MPP （maximum power point） changes with temperature and light intensity variations. Therefore, different algorithms have been developed for finding MPPT （maximum power point tracking） based on offline and online methods. Evaluating the performance of these algorithms for various PV systems operating under highly dynamic environments are essentials to ensure producing reliable, efficient, cost-effective and high performance systems. One possible approach for system evaluation is to use computer simulation. This paper addresses the use of Matlab software as a simulation tool for evaluating the performance of PV solar systems and finding the MPPT.

飞行器供电系统最大功率跟踪与测试技术研究

分析了太阳电池光伏特性、DC／DC变换器工作原理以及最大功率点跟踪算法，综合了空间电源的实际情况，采用了组合式MPPT算法。旨在研究飞行器的太阳能蓄电池节能控制系统对太阳能的利用效率。利用太阳能功率表测出光照强度变化曲线，获得仿真所需的参数。通过建立光伏阵列仿真模型，得到组合式算法、扰动干扰法、电导增量法三条实际功率跟踪曲线。锁定太阳电池最佳输出电压采用Buck降压的方式对镉镍蓄电池组进行充电。这样系统能实现最大限度的稳定运行，提高了可靠性。本次设计利用DC／DC升压电路提供给电池充电系统，并且利用DSP编程产生PWM来跟踪最大功率（MPPT）输出。本系统电路结构简单、各波形良好，测量结果精确，符合各项设计要求。

Evaluation of a PV Powered EV Charging Station and Its Buffer Battery

This research analyses the operation of a solar PV powered electric vehicle charging station with energy storage, that has been developed and demonstrated at the University of California--Davis, West Village, the largest planned zero-energy consumption community in the U.S. The intelligent energy management approach introduces solar PV electrical energy forecasting and EV （electric vehicle） charging demand projection to optimize the SOC （state of charge） of the buffer battery. The charging station has been operated continuously and routinely used by several EV users for a year. The actual operation shows that, a workplace charging station equipped with a buffer battery and with intelligent energy management can lower and reduce the station＇s peak power demand, and reduce the energy exchange with the utility grid by a factor of 2. The battery recharging power demand was shifted away from the on-peak time periods to the off-peak time periods, which will benefit the charging station owner from less energy use during peak periods when time-of-use rates are higher. The standard cell voltage deviation of the 220 cells was calculated to analyse the battery cell consistency during the resting, charging and discharging periods. The analysis shows that, the 220 50Ah cells show excellent voltage consistency with voltage deviation of less than 0.005 V within the battery SOC of 20%-80%. The voltage deviation doubles when the battery SOC reaches 90%. The comparison of cell voltage deviation at the beginning and after one year operation indicates that, the battery shows perfect cell voltage consistency and there is no obvious consistency deterioration during the battery resting, charging and discharging periods.

Design of High Efficiency DC-DC Converter for Photovoltaic Solar Home Applications

The solar energy conversion system is very interesting alternative on supplement the electric system generation, due to the persistent cost reduction of the overall system and cleaner power generation. To obtain a stable voltage from an input supply （PV cells） that is higher and lower than the output, a high efficiency and minimum ripple DC-DC converter required in the system for residential power production. Buck-boost converters make it possible to efficiently convert a DC voltage to either a lower or higher voltages. Buck-boost converters are especially useful for PV maximum power tracking purposes, where the objective is to draw maximum possible power from solar panels at all times, regardless of the load. This paper analyzes and describes step by step the process of designing, and simulation of high efficiency low ripple voltage buck-boost DC-DC converter for the photovoltaic solar conversion system applicable to a （typical） single family home based on battery-based systems. The input voltage can typically change from （20 V） initially, down to （5 V）, and provide a regulated voltage within the range of the battery （12 V）. PLECS simulation results provide strong evidences about the high efficiency, minimum ripple voltage, high accuracy, and the usefulness of the system of the proposed converter when applied to either residential or solar home applications.

Design of a Photovoltaic Panel Orientation System

This work highlights the design and the realization of an automatic solar-panel orientation system in order to achieve high-performances. The solar panel sensor constitutes the main part of the system, since it ensures the pursuit of the sunbeam. The management of the system, depending on the movements, the presence of sun, and the regular checkup of the system evolution, is ensured by an electronic unit executed around a microcontroller.

Coordination engineering of Cu-Zn-Sn-S aqueous precursor for efficient kesterite solar cells

Aqueous precursors provide an alluring approach for low-cost and environmentally friendly production of earth-abundant Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4(CZTSSe)solar cells.The key is to find an appropriate molecular agent to prepare a stable solution and optimize the coordination structure to facilitate the subsequent crystallization process.Herein,we introduce thioglycolic acid(TGA),which possesses strong coordination(SH)and hydrophilic(COOH)groups,as the agent and use deprotonation to regulate the coordination competition within the aqueous solution.Ultimately,metal cations are adequately coordinated with thiolate anions,and carboxylate anions are released to become hydrated to form an ultrastable aqueous solution.These factors have contributed to achieving CZTSSe solar cells with an efficiency as high as 12.3%(a certified efficiency of 12.0%)and providing an extremely wide time window for precursor storage and usage.This work represents significant progress in the non-toxic solution fabrication of CZTSSe solar cells and holds great potential for the development of CZTSSe and other metal sulfide solar cells.

Nanobowl optical concentrator for efficient light trapping and high-performance organic photovoltaics

Geometrical light trapping is a simple and prom- ising strategy to largely improve the optical absorption and efficiency of solar cell. Nonetheless, implementation of geo- metrical light trapping in organic photovoltaic is challenging due to the fact that uniform organic active layer can rarely be achieved on textured substrate. In this work, squarely ordered nanobowl array （SONA） is reported for the first time and [6,6]- phenyl-C6rbutyric acid methyl ester （PCBM）：poly（3-hexyl- thiophene） （P3HT）-based organic photovoltaic （OPV） device on SONA demonstrated over 28 % enhancement in power conversion efficiency over the planar counterpart. Interestingly, finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） optical simulation revealed that the superior light trapping by SONA originated from optical concentrator effect by nanobowl. Furthermore, aiming at low-cost, solution processible, and resource sus- tainable flexible solar cells, we employed Ag nanowires for the top transparent conducting electrode. This work not only revealed the in-depth understanding of light trapping by nanobowl optical concentrator, but also demonstrated the fea- sibility of implementing geometrical light trapping in OPV.

Energy analysis of a hybrid solar concentrating photovoltaic/concentrating solar power(CPV/CSP) system

This study presents a novel solar concentrating photovoltaic/concentrating solar power （CPV/CSP） hybrid system, which mainly contains CPV modules with an evaporative cooling subsystem, a thermal receiver and an organic Rankine cycle （ORC）. The cooling fluid is boiled when cooling the CPV modules, and superheated vapor that is effective for power generation with an ORC is generated after absorbing low-concentration solar radiation in the thermal receiver. A steady-state physical model is developed to carry out energy analysis of the hybrid sys- tem. The results show that when saturated vapor is fed into the thermal receiver, the peripheral low-concentration solar radiation that is discarded in conventional CPV or CPV/ thermal systems is effective to get a high-temperature superheated vapor （e.g., above 120 ℃）. The overall solar- to-electricity efficiency can be increased from 28.4 % for the conventional CPV system to 44 % for the hybrid sys- tem with 500 suns. Even though the overall efficiency decreases from 44.0 % to 36.8 % when the concentration ratio increases from 500 to 2,000 suns, there is still a considerable efficiency improvement compared with the conventional CPV systems. The results indicate that the proposed hybrid system provides a viable solution for solar power generation with high efficiencies.

Over 15.5% efficiency organic solar cells with triple sidechain engineered ITIC

Bulk-heterojunction(BHJ)organic solar cells(OSCs)showcase great advantages in device fabrication via low-cost and convenient solution-processing techniques for diverse applications(e.g.,flexible and semitransparent devices)[1,2].

Photovoltaic efficiency enhancement of polycrystalline silicon solar cells by a highly stable luminescent film

Si-based solar cells have dominated the entire photovoltaic market,but remain suffering from low power conversion efficiency(PCE),partly because of the poor utilization of ultraviolet(UV)light.Europium(III)(Eu^3+)complexes with organic ligands are capable of converting UV light into strong visible light,which makes them ideal light converter to increase the efficiency of solar cells.However,the low stability of such complexes seriously hampers their practical applications.In this work,we report a highly stable and luminescent ethylene-vinyl acetate(EVA)copolymer film consisting of a Eu^3+complex as a down-shift material,Eu(ND)4 CTAC(ND=4-hydroxy-2-methyl-1,5-naphthyridine-3-carbonitrile,CTAC=hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride),coating of which onto the surface of large area polycrystalline silicon solar cells(active area:110 cm^2)results in an increase of PCE from 15.06%to 15.57%.Remarkable stability of the luminescent film was also demonstrated under lightsoaking test for 500 h,and no obvious luminescence degradation can be observed.The remarkable enhancement of the conversion efficiency by 0.51%absolute on such a large active area,together with the high stability of the luminescent film,demonstrates a prospect for the implementation of the films in photovoltaic industry.

Development of small-molecule materials for high-performance organic solar cells

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.

Replacing indenes on fullerene with CH_2 groups benefits photovoltaic performance

A 54 -electron fullerene acceptor,indene bis-methano[60]fullerene(IBMF),having one indene and two sterically compact CH2 groups was developed.Using P3HT as donor,IBMF solar cells gave a PCE of 5.18%,which is higher than that for solar cells based on IC60TA,which has three indenes.The superior performance of IBMF solar cells originates from higher mobility of IBMF and better morphology for IBMF/P3HT blend films.

Al-doping effects on the photovoltaic performance of inverted polymer solar cells

The properties of Al-doped Zn O(AZO) play an important role in the photovoltaic performance of inverted polymer solar cells(PSCs), which is used as electron transport and hole blocking buffer layers. In this work, we study the effects of Al-doping level in AZO on device performance in detail. Results indicate that the device performance intensely depends on the Al-doping level. The AZO thin films with Al-doping atomic percentage of 1.0% possess the best conductivity. The resulting solar cells show the enhanced short current density and the fill factor(FF) simultaneously, and the power conversion efficiency(PCE) is improved by 74%, which are attributed to the reduced carrier recombination and the optimized charge transport and extraction between AZO and the active layer.

Synergistic high efficiency and low energy loss of all-small-molecule organic solar cells based on benzotriazole-basedπ-bridge unit

Reducing energy loss(V_(loss))is one of the most crucial challenges in organic photovoltaic cells.The V_(loss),determined by the differences between the optical band gap(E_(g))of the active layer material and the open-circuit voltage(V_(oc))of the device,is generally alleviated by lowering the energy difference between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)and highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO)level of the donor(D)and acceptor(A).In this work,we synthesized two A-π-D-π-A-type small-molecule donors(SMDs)SM-benzotriazole(BTz)-1 and SM-BTz-2 by introducing a BTzπ-bridge unit and terminal regulation.The BTzπ-bridge unit significantly lowers the HOMO energy level of SMDs,resulting in high V_(oc)and high mobility,achieving a balance of low energy loss(<0.5 eV)and high efficiency.Ultimately,the organic solar cells based on SM-BTz-2 as the donor and Y6 as the acceptor obtain a high V_(oc)of 0.91 V,J_(sc) of 22.8 mA cm^(−2),fill factor of 68%,and power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 14.12%,which is one of the highest efficiencies based on the SMDs with triazoleπ-bridges to date.What’s more,the BTzπ-bridge unit is a potential unit that can improve mobility and reduce energy loss.