Even before the industrial revolutions human life quality is greatly affected by the availability of energy. The escalated and savage consumption of conventional sources of energy are leading to forecasted energy and environmental crises. Renewable energy sources such as solar energy are considered as a feasible alternative because “More energy from sunlight strikes Earth in 1 hour than all of ...

Improving the efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs), which are far less efficient than inorganic semiconductor solar cells, is of paramount importance to the field of polymer photovoltaics. Current state-of-the-art bulk heterojunction (BHJ) OSCs utilize a homogeneous blend of the semiconducting polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl C61butyric acid me...

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) have recently attracted considerable interest as a promising candidate for applications in the next-generation non-volatile memory technology. In this work, using an ultrathin (3 nm) ferroelectric Sm0.1Bi0.9FeO3 layer as the tunnelling barrier and a semiconducting Nb-doped SrTiO3 single crystal as the bottom electrode, we achieve a tunnelling electroresista...

The paradigm shift in dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs) - towards donor- π bridge-acceptor (D-π-A) dyes - increases the performances of DSCs and challenges established design principles. Framed by this shifting landscape, a series of four diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based sensitizers utilizing the donor-chromophore-anchor (D-C-A) motif were investigated computationally, spectroscopically, and fa...

System efficiency and cost effectiveness are of critical importance for photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper addresses the two issues by developing a novel three-port DC-DC converter for stand-alone PV systems, based on an improved Flyback-Forward topology. It provides a compact single-unit solution with a combined feature of optimized maximum power point tracking (MPPT), high step-up ratio, g...

Solar photovoltaic technology is a major contender in the race for renewable, sustainable and green energy. This paper introduces the characteristics of different PV cell equivalent circuit and its output behaviour. It describes and implements the proposed characterization method by using a selected model. It generates I-V and P-V curve using iterative method. Noise analysis and observation of ...

In this paper, a full-color photovoltaic (PV) module, called the artist PV module, is developed by laser processes. A full-color image source is printed on the back of a protective glass using an inkjet printer, and a brightened grayscale mask is used to precisely define regions on the module where colors need to be revealed. Artist PV modules with 1.1 ˆ 1.4 m2 area have high a retaining power ...

Solar power presents the opportunity for a revolution in worldwide energy generation. However, photovoltaics have yet to be the source of more than 0.1% of the energy generated worldwide. Our research is centered on developing technologies aimed at decreasing the cost/power output of III-V group photovoltaic cells. III-V photovoltaic devices consistently rank as some of the highest in efficienc...

Solar-powered agricultural irrigation is an attractive application of renewable energy. However, to be practical it must be both technically and economically feasible. Here, a method is presented for calculating the feasibility of photovoltaic-powered (PVP) irrigation. The feasibility is expressed as a function of location, which includes climate data, aquifer depth and cost, including local po...