Use of Solar Power for Heat Generation for Household Application

The requirement of getting continuous electricity at low cost is essential but challenging. Especially in the undeveloped countries there is no sufficient electricity for the people to do their daily regular works. In order to overcome this problem different renewable energy sources are sought and being explored. One of the approaches is to have a cooking system that is energized from the solar power, not directly using a solar cooker but by storing the energy in the form of heat that can be utilized as per requirement. This paper reports the design and fabrication of an alternative system to generate heat using solar radiation. This chulha is helpful in effective heating with the help of solar radiations at lower costs. A cooking technology is presented consisting of a solar panel directly connected to an electric heater inside of a well-insulated chamber. An insulated container with fixed amount of oil is heated up. The heat is found to be retained in the chamber even after sun set which is sufficient for heating water for making tea. The possible causes of temperature drop and possible remedy has been pointed out and discussed in this paper.     

Emerging Materials for Interfacial Solar-Driven Water Purification

Solar-driven water purification is considered as an effective and sustainable technology for water treatment using green solar energy. One major goal for practical applications is to improve the solar evaporation performance by the design of novel photothermal materials, with optimized heat localization and water transport pathways to achieve reduced energy consumption for water vaporization. Recently, some emerging materials like polymers, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and also single molecules were employed to construct novel solar evaporation systems. In this minireview, we present an overview of the recent efforts on materials development for water purification systems. The state-of-the-art applications of these emerging materials for solar-driven water treatment, including desalination, wastewater purification, sterilization and energy production, are also summarized.     

Solar-Gas Solid Sorption Refrigerator

The general goal of this paper is to present the results of an investigation of a new environmentally friendly refrigerator. In this design a physical adsorption and chemical reactions are used simultaneously for a heat and cold generation. A solar refrigerator is made of a solar collector, adsorbed natural gas vessel (ANG), and compact, portable refrigeration system, which consists of two small adsorbers with heat pipe heat recovery system. An active carbon fiber Busofit saturated with different salts (CaCl₂, BaCl₂, NiCl₂) is used as a sorbent bed and ammonia is used as a working fluid. The main particularity of this refrigerator is consumption of solar energy with methane gas burner as a back-up. The system management consists only in actuating the special type valves to change the direction of the heating circuit and water valves to change the water cooling circuit. The goal of this work is the experimental determination of the main refrigerator parameters using solar/gas high temperature source of energy and air/water as a low temperature source of energy to cool and heat air/water.     

Triplet–Triplet Annihilation Upconversion for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

The solar generation of hydrogen by water splitting provides a promising path for renewable hydrogen production and solar energy storage. Upconversion of low-energy photons into high-energy photons constitutes a promising strategy to enhance the light harvesting efficiency of artificial hydrogen production systems. In the present study, upconversion micelles are integrated with Cd_0.5Zn_0.5S to construct solar energy conversion systems. The upconversion micelle is employed to upconvert red photons to cyan photons. Cd_0.5Zn_0.5S is sensitized by upconverted cyan light to produce hydrogen, but not by incident red light without triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC). The performance of the upconversion photocatalytic system was dramatically affected by the concentration of Cd_0.5Zn_0.5S and the irradiation intensity. This novel system was able to produce about 2.3 μL hydrogen after 5 h of red light (629 nm) irradiation (2.4 mW cm⁻²). The present study provides a candidate for applications using low-energy photons for solar hydrogen generation.     

Influence of Cycle Temperatures on the Thermochemical Heat Storage Densities in the Systems Water/Microporous and Water/Mesoporous Adsorbents

The adsorption equilibrium of water on microporous adsorbents (zeolites of NaA-, NaY- and NaX-type as well as their ion exchanged forms) and on mesoporous adsorbents (different silica gels and composite material i.e. silica gel + salt hydrate) has been studied experimentally and theoretically. Using the Dubinin theory of pore filling the characteristic curves of the adsorption systems and other relevant dependences such as isotherms, isobars, isosteres and the curve of the differential heat of adsorption were calculated. For all systems investigated the adsorption were calculated. A_ads and the desorption potential A_des of the closed heat storage system were estimated. These values define the working range of the adsorption/desorption cycle and allow to calculate the specific heat storage density Δ h_sp. On the basis of Δ h_sp the different adsorbents were compared in order to select the optimal porous storage material for a given application. The presented experimental and theoretical investigations show that the adsorption systems water-zeolite and water-composites are promising working pairs for thermochemical heat storage processes for hot tap water supply and space heating of single family dwellings. The advantage of the water-composite system is the low desorption temperature (solar energy) the main shortcoming the low temperature lift. The advantage of the water zeolite system is the high temperature lift, the shortcoming are the relative high desorption temperatures.     

Thermo-economic optimization of a hybrid photovoltaic and thermoelectric power generator using overall performance index

A thermo-economic assessment of a hybrid concentrated photovoltaic–thermoelectric power generator (CPV–TEG) is performed based on the first law of thermodynamics and principles of costing. This study aims at estimating the optimum water-cooled CPV–TEG design parameters that yield the maximum overall performance. The influence of key parameters (such as direct normal irradiance (DNI), geometric concentration, thermoelectric figure of merit, temperature ratio of thermoelectric junction and heat sink thermal resistance) and their significance on the performance and cost of the system is examined. A performance measure known as the overall performance index (OPI) is used to evaluate the optimum design of the CPV–TEG system operating within the limits of allowable cell temperatures. OPI can incorporate several performance indicators that are crucial for performance estimation of a hybrid system by using a mass coefficient for each indicator based on its priority in the overall system performance. OPI accounts for three performance indicators of the CPV–TEG system, namely: energy efficiency, cost of the solar receiver (COSR) and levelized cost of energy (LCOE). The variation of the OPI provides an indication of the performance of the hybrid system under different design parameters and the selection of the appropriate design of the system to be at a point where the OPI is a maximum. Two scenarios are considered such that different mass coefficients are assigned to the performance indicators when evaluating the system performance. In the first scenario (performance case), energy efficiency is given the highest priority while for the second scenario (economic case), the cost of the solar receiver (CPV–TEG system) is given more emphasis. Optimization is performed for the water-cooled CPV–TEG design such that the PV temperature is kept below the maximum allowable cell temperature of 100 °C. LCOE of 0.0392 $ kWh^?1 was obtained with an optimum OPI of 94.7% for the economic case.

     

Building Polyoxometalate “Nano-Walls” on 3D Porous Carbon Paper: A Solar Steam Generation System for Water Purification

As promising fresh-water purification devices, solar steam generation systems have attracted significant attention recently. However, in practice, the approach often suffers from a poor solar energy conversion efficiency and a low water production rate due to poor material selection and inefficient microscopic structure design. Here, we fabricate an efficient solar steam generation system by “building” polyoxometalate “nano-walls” on rice paper-derived three-dimensional porous carbon paper. In this solar steam generation system, the height of the vertically aligned CoP₄Mo₆ “nano-walls” range from 100 to 150 nm with thicknesses about 15 to 25 nm. Under 1 sun irradiation (1 sun = 1 kW m⁻²), the surface temperature increases from 29 to 50 °C in a short time with a solar thermal conversion efficiency achieving 92.8 %. The stability and durability of this solar steam generation system, which withstands fifteen cycle continuous tests, also offer good prospects. Its attractive solar energy conversion performance originates from the intense sunlight absorption and high conversion ability of the CoP₄Mo₆ “nano-walls”, as well as extremely promising heat localization and water transportation properties of the three-dimensional porous carbon paper. This solar steam generation system, which has produced some inspiring results, is employed for seawater desalination and for purification of water polluted with organic dyes.     

Photocatalytic Enhancement Strategy with the Introduction of Metallic Bi: A Review on Bi/Semiconductor Photocatalysts

Semiconductor photocatalysis has great potential in the fields of solar fuel production and environmental remediation. Nevertheless, the photocatalytic efficiency still constrains its practical production applications. The development of new semiconductor materials is essential to enhance the solar energy conversion efficiency of photocatalytic systems. Recently, the research on enhancing the photocatalytic performance of semiconductors by introducing bismuth (Bi) has attracted widespread attention. In this review, we briefly overview the main synthesis methods of Bi/semiconductor photocatalysts and summarize the control of the micromorphology of Bi in Bi/semiconductors and the key role of Bi in the catalytic system. In addition, the promising applications of Bi/semiconductors in photocatalysis, such as pollutant degradation, sterilization, water separation, CO2 reduction, and N2 fixation, are outlined. Finally, an outlook on the challenges and future research directions of Bi/semiconductor photocatalysts is given. We aim to offer guidance for the rational design and synthesis of high-efficiency Bi/semiconductor photocatalysts for energy and environmental applications.     

Oxide semiconductor materials for solar light energy utilization

Two approaches for harvesting solar light energy effectively using oxide semiconductor materials are introduced. The one is water splitting using new types of oxide semiconductor photocatalyst systems. By Na₂CO₃ addition method, it was firstly demonstrated that water is decomposed to H₂ and O₂ steadily and stoichiometrically using NiO/TiO₂ photocatalyst under the solar light. A new two-step water splitting system using photocatalysis is also introduced. The other is dyesensitized oxide semiconductor solar cells in order to convert visible light energy to electricity. Combinations of various types of oxide semiconductors and organic dyes, such as Eosin-Y, suggests the appearance of promising and cheap solar cells.     

Optimization design of the road unit in a hydronic snow melting system with porous snow

Hydronic snow melting systems are renewable and reliable to eliminate the slippery conditions on the road. In this study, a hydronic snow melting system was implemented in Harbin, China. The characteristics of porous snow were applied to develop a transient two-dimensional model, according to the experimental results. It is the first time that the snow microstructure was considered in the model for the hydronic snow melting system. Three parameters (embedded pipe depth, embedded pipe spacing, and supplied fluid temperature) were compared and analyzed to optimize the design of the hydronic snow melting system in the cold regions. The results indicated that the snow can be cleared in 4.5 h regardless of the fluctuation of parameters. The rank of influence degree was embedded pipe depth?>?supplied fluid temperature?>?embedded pipe spacing when the target was the maximum melting rate. However, the rank of influence degree changed as supplied fluid temperature?>?embedded pipe depth?>?embedded pipe spacing when the target was the average road surface temperature at the heating time of 6 h. The embedded pipe design should be the embedded pipe depth of 80 mm and embedded pipe spacing of 140 mm at the effects of thermal stress and pipe cost. The control strategy was that the supplied fluid temperature should be 298.15 K in the heating period of 0–1 h, then gradually increased to 308.15 K in the heating period of 1–4 h, and eventually decreased to 298.15 K in the heating period of 4–6 h to save energy. This work can offer a good reference for the optimization and design of hydronic snow melting systems in cold regions.

     

Supercritical CO2-assisted atomization for deposition of cellulose nanocrystals: an experimental and computational study

Nanoparticle spray deposition finds numerous applications in pharmaceutical, electronics, manufacturing, and energy industries and has shown great promises in engineering the functional properties of the coated parts. However, current spray deposition systems either lack the required precision in controlling the morphology of the deposited nanostructures or do not have the capacity for large-scale deposition applications. In this study, we introduce a novel spray system that uses supercritical CO₂ to assist the atomization process and create uniform micron-size water droplets that are used as cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) carriers. CNCs are selected in this study as they are abundant, possess superior mechanical properties, and contain hydroxyl groups that facilitate interaction with neighboring materials. We fundamentally investigate the effect of different process parameters, such as injection pressure, gas-to-liquid ratio, the axial distance between the nozzle and substrate, and CNC concentration on the final patterns left on the substrate upon evaporation of water droplets. To this end, we show how tuning process parameters control the size of carrier droplets, dynamics of evaporation, and self-assembly of CNCs, which in turn dictate the final architecture of the deposited nanostructures. We will particularly investigate the morphology of the nanostructures deposited after evaporation of micron-size droplets that has not been fully disclosed to date. Different characterization techniques such as laser diffraction, polarized microscopy, and high-resolution profilometry are employed to visualize and quantify the effect of each process parameter. Numerical simulations are employed to inform the design of experiments. Finally, it is shown that the fabricated nanostructures can be engineered based on the size of the carrier droplets controlled by adjusting spray parameters and the concentration of nanoparticles in the injected mixture. Process parameters can be selected such that nanoparticles form a ring, disk, or dome-shaped structure. Moderate operational conditions, simplicity, and time efficiency of the process, and use of abundant and biodegradable materials, i.e., water, CNCs, and CO₂ promote the scalability and sustainability of this method.

     

Determination and measurement of solid–liquid equilibrium for binary fatty acid mixtures based on NRTL and UNIQUAC activity models

The estimation of solid–liquid phase equilibrium is important for the design, development, and operation of many industrial processes because of application in many manufacturing fields such as cosmetic, pharmaceutic, and biotechnology industries. In this work, we measured solid–liquid phase equilibrium of six fatty acid binary mixtures using the DSC technique and developed thermodynamic approaches for binary fatty acid mixtures to estimate melting temperatures as a function of mole fraction in solid–liquid phase equilibrium. Derivation of NRTL and UNIQUAC activity models was developed to predict melting temperatures and latent heat to achieve eutectic points of undecylic acid, pentadecylic acid, margaric acid, and stearic acid six pairwise binary mixtures. The fatty acids eutectic mixtures are appropriate for heat water systems, phase clothes, concrete, and other similar applications. The results showed low deviations from experimental data measured in this study.

     

Evaluation of adsorbent materials for heat pump and thermal energy storage applications in open systems

The evaluation of solid adsorbents in open sorption systems for heating, cooling and thermal energy storage (TES) applications is crucial for the ecological and economical performance of these systems. An appropriate adsorbent has to reach the temperature limit given by the heating/cooling system of the consumer. It has to provide high energy efficiency and a high energy density for storage applications. A method for an easy evaluation of different adsorbents for a specific application has been developed. The method is based on the adsorption equilibrium of the adsorbent and water vapor. The crucial property for the discussed field of applications is the differential heat of adsorption. Criteria for the evaluation of the adsorbent are the breakthrough curves (responsible for the dynamics of the process), the possible temperature lift (or the dehumidification) of the air, the thermal COP and the storage capacity.     

Covalent Organic Frameworks for Energy Conversion in Photocatalysis

Intensifying energy crises and severe environmental issues have led to the discovery of renewable energy sources, sustainable energy conversion, and storage technologies. Photocatalysis is a green technology that converts eco-friendly solar energy into high-energy chemicals. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are porous materials constructed by covalent bonds that show promising potential for converting solar energy into chemicals owing to their pre-designable structures, high crystallinity, and porosity. Herein, we highlight recent progress in the synthesis of COF-based photocatalysts and their applications in water splitting, CO₂ reduction, and H₂O₂ production. The challenges and future opportunities for the rational design of COFs for advanced photocatalysts are discussed. This Review is expected to promote further development of COFs toward photocatalysis.     

光催化全解水助催化剂的设计与构建

能源和环境危机是当今社会面临的两大关键课题,利用太阳光驱动化学反应、将太阳能转化为化学能是解决上述问题的重要措施。通过光催化分解水是直接利用太阳能生产氢燃料的有效策略。光催化水分解过程可以分为三个基元步骤:光吸收、电荷分离与迁移、以及表面氧化还原反应。助催化剂可有效提高电荷分离效率、提供反应活性位点并抑制催化剂光腐蚀的发生,进而提高水分解效率。助催化剂也可以通过活化水分子以提高表面氧化还原动力学,进而提升整体光催化反应的太阳能转换效率。本文综述了助催化剂在光催化反应中的重要作用以及目前常用的助催化剂类型,详细说明了在光催化全解水过程中双助催化剂体系的构建及作用机理,并根据限制全解水的关键因素提出了新型助催化剂的设计策略。     

Thermodynamics and performance evaluation of encapsulated PCM-based energy storage systems for heating application in building

This communication presents the comparative study of two different types of thermal management systems for room’s heating applications using calcium chloride hexahydrate as the thermal energy storage material encapsulated in panels and balls. During the daytime, TMS was outside the test room to store the solar heat in TMS. The solar heat made available to charge the PCM from solid to liquid and to warm the test room throughout the observation period during night time. As the room temperature drops significantly during the night time, so as the level of comfort. Both the thermal management systems have been used to heat the test room during night time and the temperature of the test room has been maintained at thermal comfort level without any conventional source of energy, i.e. using passive system. Also the experimental values were compared with those of the theoretical values and are found in good agreement with each other. Thus, it can be concluded that the experimental study carried out for both the thermal management systems have been validated by theoretical approach or vice versa and hence found to be satisfactory towards the successful operation of these systems.     

An Interfacial Solar Heating Assisted Liquid Sorbent Atmospheric Water Generator

Harvesting water from air is a promising strategy for fresh‐water production, and it is particularly desirable for areas that lack direct access to clean water. While high‐concentration liquid sorbent is well‐known for high sorption, it has not been widely used for atmospheric water collection, being primarily limited by the difficulty in desorption. Interfacial solar heating based on a salt‐resistant GO‐based aerogel is now shown to enable a high‐concentration liquid sorbent (CaCl₂ 50 wt % solution) based atmospheric water generator. Fresh water (2.89 kg m^?2 day^?1) can be produced at about 70 % relative humidity, with only solar energy input and energy efficiency of desorption as high as 66.9 %. This low‐cost and effective approach provides an attractive pathway to extract water from air, to relieve the thirst of arid, land‐locked, and other areas where fresh water is scarce.     

网状骨架CVD生长碳纳米管用于重盐水脱盐

目前,太阳能海水淡化领域通过光子管理、纳米尺度热调控、开发新型光热转换材料、设计高效光吸收太阳能蒸馏器等方法实现了界面太阳能驱动蒸汽生成,这种绿色、可持续的脱盐技术已成为近年来的研究热点。碳基材料如碳纳米管、石墨烯、炭黑、石墨等都有涵盖整个太阳光光谱的光吸收能力,是一类新型的光热转换材料。本文通过对材料进行微结构设计,使用化学气相沉积(CVD)技术,在不锈钢网状骨架上生长碳纳米管形成光热转换活性区,以实现高效光吸收、光热转换,并进一步设计了房屋型太阳能蒸发器,其中盐水表面被微米网状-碳纳米管蒸发膜覆盖,利用光热转换过程产生的热量驱动重盐水中的水蒸发产生水蒸气,最后对水蒸气进行冷凝回收实现脱盐。实验结果表明,当光照强度为1个太阳光(1 kW·m~(-2))时,膜表面温度迅速升高并稳定于84.37°C,对于重盐水(100 g·L~(-1) NaCl)的脱盐率达到99.92%,可实现稳定持续的重盐水脱盐。这种方法可用于构建多孔界面光热转换脱盐系统,对设计界面光蒸汽转化膜材料及器件,实现规模化海水淡化具有重要的意义。     

Searching the Chemical Space of Bicyclic Dienes for Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Storage Candidates

Photoswitches are molecular systems that are chemically transformed subsequent to interaction with light and they find potential application in many new technologies. The design and discovery of photoswitch candidates require intricate molecular engineering of a range of properties to optimize a candidate to a specific applications, a task which can be tackled efficiently using quantum chemical screening procedures. In this paper, we perform a large scale screening of approximately half a million bicyclic diene photoswitches in the context of molecular solar thermal energy storage using ab initio quantum chemical methods. We further device an efficient strategy for scoring the systems based on their predicted solar energy conversion efficiency and elucidate potential pitfalls of this approach. Our search through the chemical space of bicyclic dienes reveals systems with unprecedented solar energy conversion efficiencies and storage densities that show promising design guidelines for next generation molecular solar thermal energy storage systems.     

Investigation on influence of dimpled surfaces on heat transfer enhancement and friction factor in solar water heater

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The solar water heating system efficiently converts available solar energy into useful thermal energy. The collector is the predominant unit of the...