Solar Energy

Challenges for Global Energy

AIChE Webinar

Apr 21, 2009

Dr. Nathan Lewis

This presentation describes and evaluates the technical, political, and economic challenges involved with widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies.

Energy Efficiency, Smart Grids, and Chemical Engineering

AIChE Webinar

Jan 13, 2010

Thomas Edgar

Energy efficiency is beginning to receive increased attention as a way to reduce the use of fossil fuels and the resulting production of greenhouse gases.

Engineering Thermodynamics of Thermal Radiation: for Solar Power Utilization

AccessEngineering

Polysilicon Business Shines Brightly

August

2008

News Feature

Gerald Parkinson

To meet growing demand for solar energy, new polysilicon plants are being built at an unprecedented rate, and several new technologies will play a role in the capacity expansion.

Promising Advances in Photovoltaics

April

2005

Critical Issues

Hydrothermal Fabrication of Ordered SnO2 Nanorod Arrays by Liquid Phase Conversion Process for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Oct 18, 2011

Umang V. Desai

One-dimensional semiconductor materials have attracted significant research interest because of their unique properties for various technological applications. SnO 2 , as a wide band-gap semiconductor material is a promising photoanode material for dye-sensitized solar cells because of its fast...

Rapid Deposition of Titania Nanoparticles for Dye Solar Cells

Oct 18, 2011

Rocco Panella

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), while only having been designed about twenty years ago, are considered to be one of the most promising third-generation solar cell technologies among experts. One of the key features of DSSCs is a mesoporous, 10 micron layer of titania nanoparticles which acts as...

Photoanode Area Dependent Efficiency and Recombination In Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Oct 18, 2011

Venkat Kalyan Vendra

Current-voltage characterization was carried out on dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with different photoanode areas ranging from 0.01 cm 2 to 1 cm 2 . Surprisingly, we found that the short-circuit current density and the efficiency of the solar cells increased exponentially as the photoaonode...

Solar Thermochemical Recycling of CO2 Using ALD Deposited CoFe2O4 On Alumina Supports

Oct 17, 2011

Paul Lichty

Fuels production through metal oxide redox cycling can be completely renewable if reduction temperatures are achieved using concentrated solar energy. Many combinations of metal oxides have been investigated over the years and cobalt ferrites show much promise as they have good thermodynamic...

Solar Thermal Production of Hydrogen Using Alumina Supported Ferrites: Thermodynamic Evaluation and On-Sun Validation

Oct 17, 2011

Paul Lichty

Alumina supports were coated with CoFe 2 O 4 using an alternating atomic layer deposition process. Nano-powder and hollow skeletal shells were used as supports. Large, high surface area polymer particles (~600µm, 43.5 m 2 /g) have been coated via ALD with several layers of alumina. The alumina...

Analysis of Heat Transfer In a Solar Thermochemical Partial-Redox Reactor with Heat Recovery

Oct 17, 2011

Justin L. Lapp

Transient heat transfer is analyzed numerically for a directly-irradiated solar thermochemical reactor realizing a ceria-based partial redox cycle for production of synthesis gas from water and carbon dioxide. The numerical model couples conduction, convection, and radiation heat transfer modes to...

Solar Thermal Power Plant Simulation

Oct 17, 2011

Mohammad Abutayeh

A detailed model of a real solar thermal power plant has been built using a steady state power plant simulation software. The plant includes numerous parabolic trough collectors tracking the sun on a single axis. A heat transfer fluid flows in the focal line of the troughs collecting solar heat...

Computational Modeling and On-Sun Model Validation for a Multiple Tube Solar Reactor with Reflective Cavity Walls

Oct 17, 2011

Janna Martinek

A three-dimensional steady state computational fluid dynamics model is developed for a solar receiver consisting of a reflective cavity with a windowed aperture enclosing an array of five tubes. The computational model couples radiative transfer with fluid flow, heat transfer, mass transfer, and...

Liquid Fuel Production Using Solar-Thermal Energy: Process Development and Technoeconomic Evaluation

Oct 17, 2011

Christos Maravelias

We have previously described a novel solar-based concept for the production of methanol from carbon dioxide and water. This system applies concentrated solar energy to thermochemically reenergize CO 2 into CO, and then water-gas shift (WGS) to produce syngas (a mixture of CO and H 2 ) that is fed...

Solar Grade Silicon Production In Fluidized Bed Reactor

Oct 17, 2011

Juan Du

In this work, we present a multi-scale modeling approach for solar grade silicon production in fluidized bed reactor (FBR) by thermal decomposition of silane. The FBR process has been commercialized by several companies and promises to deliver poly-silicon at reasonable and stable price. Silane...

The Horizontal Ribbon Growth of Solar Silicon Crystals: Process Analysis, Stability, and Control

Oct 17, 2011

Parthiv Daggolu

Present-day photovoltaic technology is predominantly based on the fabrication of solar cells from silicon. The cost and efficiency of silicon-based solar cells depend primarily on the growth rate and degree of single-crystallinity attained by the growth process. Traditional silicon crystal growth...

Search form

Solar Energy

Pages