1,720,995 research outputs found
Solar-hydrogen generation and solar concentration (Conference Presentation)
Full text linkWe successfully demonstrated and reported the highest solar-to-hydrogen efficiency with crystalline silicon cells and Earth-abundant electrocatalysts under unconcentrated solar radiation. The combination of hetero-junction silicon cells and a 3D printed Platinum/Iridium-Oxide electrolyzer has been proven to work continuously for more than 24 hours in neutral environment, with a stable 13.5% solar-to-fuel efficiency. Since the hydrogen economy is expected to expand to a global scale, we demonstrated the same efficiency with an Earth-abundant electrolyzer based on Nickel in a basic medium. In both cases, electrolyzer and photovoltaic cells have been specifically sized for their characteristic curves to intersect at a stable operating point. This is foreseen to guarantee constant operation over the device lifetime without performance degradation. The next step is to lower the production cost of hydrogen by making use of medium range solar concentration. It permits to limit the photoabsorbing area, shown to be the cost-driver component. We have recently modeled a self-tracking solar concentrator, able to capture sunlight within the acceptance angle range +/-45°, implementing 3 custom lenses. The design allows a fully static device, avoiding the external tracker that was necessary in a previously demonstrated +/-16° angular range concentrator. We will show two self-tracking methods. The first one relies on thermal expansion whereas the second method relies on microfluidic
Scalable, epitaxy-free fabrication of super-absorbing sparse III-V nanowire arrays for photovoltaic applications
No full textIII-V compound semiconductor nanowire arrays are promising candidates for photovoltaics applications due to their high volumetric absorption. Uniform nanowire arrays exhibit high absorption at certain wavelengths due to strong coupling into lossy waveguide modes. Previously, simulations predicted near-unity, broadband absorption in sparse semiconductor nanowire arrays (<5% fill fraction) with multi-radii and tapered nanowire array designs [1]. Herein, we experimentally demonstrate near-unity broadband absorption in InP nanowire arrays via a scalable, epitaxy-free fabrication method, using nanoimprint lithography and ICP-RIE to define nanowire arrays in bulk InP wafers. In addition to mask pattern design (wire radius and spacing) and etch chemistry (wire taper), appropriate selection of a hard mask for the InP etch is critical to precise dimension control and reproducibility. Polymer-embedded wires are removed from the bulk InP substrate by a mechanical method that facilitates extensive reuse of a single bulk InP wafer to synthesize many polymer-embedded nanowire array thin films. Arrays containing multiple nanowire radii and tapered nanowires were successfully fabricated. For both designs, the polymer-embedded arrays achieved ~90% broadband absorption (λ=400-900 nm) in less than 100 nm planar equivalence of InP. The addition of a silver back reflector increased this broadband absorption to ~95%. The repeatable process of imprinting, etching and peeling to obtain many nanowire arrays from one single wafer represents an economical manufacturing route for high efficiency III-V photovoltaics
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Si and Other Group IV Quantum Dot Based Materials for Tandem Solar Cells
No full textAbstractQuantum dot materials, in which Si QDs are embedded in a dielectric matrix, offer the potential to tune the effective band gap, through quantum confinement, and allow fabrication of optimised tandem solar cell devices in one growth run in a thin film process. Such cells can be fabricated by sputtering of thin layers of silicon rich oxide sandwiched between a stoichiometric oxide that on annealing crystallise to form Si QDs of uniform and controllable size. For approx. 2nm diameter QDs these result in an effective band gap of 1.8eV. Introduction of phosphorous or boron during the growth of the multilayers results in doping and a rectifying junction, which demonstrates photovoltaic behaviour with an open-circuit voltage of almost 500mV. However, the doping behaviour of P and B in these QD materials is not well understood. In addition P and B have large but opposite effects on QD crystallisation, with P (B) doped material forming larger (smaller) QDs than for undoped material. Alternative materials for quantum dots are Ge and Sn. These allow lower processing temperatures to be used, more compatible with underlying layers. Alternative matrices to SiO2 such as SiNx or SiC offer higher tunnelling probability and hence lower resistance. These alternative matrix materials can also be used as hetero interlayers to improve the transport in the growth direction whilst maintaining quantum confinement. Group IV alloys can also be used to modify band gap. GeC in particular looks to have useful band gap and sputtering properties. Such alloy materials could be used in hetero-junction or homojunction devices in combination with SiQD based materials to fabricate all thin film tandem cells
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Tandem and Multiple-junction Devices Based on Thin-film Silicon Technology
No full textThis book chapter presents an overview of thin-film silicon (both amorphous and microcrystalline) technology and its application to the fabrication of tandem and multiple-junction solar cells. It reviews the material relevant properties for this application and discuss the critical points for achieving high device efficiency. The state-of-the-art, current limitations and prospective concepts are discussed in details.PV-LABIMT-Number : 80
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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