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Flexible floating thin film photovoltaic (PV) array concept for marine and lacustrine environments
Get PDFThe focus of the research is on the development of the concept of floating flexible thin film arrays for renewable electricity generation, in marine and lacustrine application areas. This research was motivated by reliability issues from wave energy converters which are prone to large loads due to the environment which they are exposed in; a flexible system would not need to withstand these loads but simply yield to them. The solid state power take off is an advantage of photovoltaic (PV) technology which removes failure risks associated with mechanical machinery, and also potential environmental hazards such as hydraulic oil spillage. The novelty of this technology requires some development before it could even be considered feasible for large scale installation. Techno-economics are a big issue in electricity developments and need to be scoped in order to ensure that they would be cost-competitive in the market and with other technologies.
Other more technical issues relate to the change in expected electrical yield due to the modulation of the PV array according to the waves and the electrical performance of the PVs when in wet conditions. Results from numerical modelling of the modulating arrays show that there is not expected variation in electrical yield at central latitudes (slightly positive), although at higher latitudes there could be considerable depreciation. With regards to the electrical performance a notable improvement was measured due to the cooling effect, slight decrease in performance was also estimated due to water absorption (of ~ 1.4%) within the panels. Overall results from both economic and technical analysis show the feasibility of the concept and that it is a possibility for future commercialisation
Quantitative differences in participants exposed to patterned, weak-intensity electromagnetic fields: investigating the shiva
Get PDFDirect and indirect stimulation of the brain have produced a range of perceptual, motor,
and cognitive experiences, including experiences historically ascribed to religious or
spiritual domains. Weak intensity, extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields
patterned after physiological processes have been the subject of much research and
controversy. The current study examined the Shiva technology, a unique method of field
production that utilizes the same fields used in previous research. Quantitative changes in
brain activity were measured using quantitative electroencephalograph and subjective
reports of experiences were examined. The investigation included two different
configurations of the Shiva technology. Results indicated that individuals exposed to
specific patterned fields exhibited different patterns of neural activity and greater reports
of unusual experiences compared to a sham condition. The importance of particular
enhancement of power in regions of the brain due to the sequence of different patterns of
magnetic fields was a key discovery. Personality characteristics, particularly those
involved with the Default Mode Network, and their relation to baseline
electroencephalographic data were also examined
