Energy shortage has become a worldwide issue in the 21st century (Lior, 2008). The urge to look for renewable energy to replace fossil fuel has driven substantial research effort into the energy sector (Hottel, 1989). The solar energy has enormous potential to take the place due to its vast energy stock and availability worldwide (Balzani et al., 2008). Conventional solar energy conversion devi...

A counter-electrode comprised of large-pore sized mesoporous carbon exhibits low charge transfer resistance in iodide/triiodide redox electrolyte, thus liquid and quasi-solid dye sensitized solar cells show 8.18% and 3.61% solar to electric energy conversion efficiency, respectively.

Organic solar cells made of polymers are an attractive alternative to the conventional solar cells which are commercially used today. The polymer solar cell is cheap to produce, due to the high absorption coefficients which limits the needed thickness of the material and due to the simple manufacturing process, which doesn’t demand high temperatures. However, the efficiencies of polymer solar c...

A crucial issue facing polymer-based solar cells is how to manage the energetics of the polymer/fullerene blends to maximize short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage at the same time and thus the power conversion efficiency. Here we demonstrate that the use of a naphthobisoxadiazole-based polymer with a narrow bandgap of 1.52 eV leads to high open-circuit voltages of approximately...

Challenges with cost, cyclability, and/or low energy density have largely prevented the development of solar thermal fuels, a potentially attractive alternative energy technology based on molecules that can capture and store solar energy as latent heat in a closed cycle. In this paper, we present a set of novel hybrid photoisomer/template solar thermal fuels that can potentially circumvent thes...

3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene and bis[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]thiophene bridged donor-acceptor molecules for dye-sensitized solar cells have been synthesized, one of which achieved a solar-to-energy conversion efficiency of 7.3%, compared to 7.7% optimized for N719 dye.

This paper deals with the design and execution of a solar tracker system dedicated to the PV conversion panels. The proposed single axis solar tracker device ensures the optimization of the conversion of solar energy into electricity by properly orienting the PV panel in accordance with the real position of the sun. The operation of the experimental model of the device is based on a DC motor in...

Solar-driven organic Rankine cycle (ORC) has been drawing increasing attention due to its high potential in energy conversion efficiency. The two core components of thermal application systems of solar energy are solar collectors and thermal energy storage systems, and many studies have been published. ORC also has attracted much attention in recent years due to its potential in reducing consum...