Humic substances (HS) and natural organic matter (NOM) are natural organic compounds ubiquitous in the environment. However, some studies indicate that both HS and NOM can act as xenobiotics, e.g. induce hormone-like effects in fish, amphibians and invertebrates. Molecules of these substances contain a number of aromatic rings and conjugated double bonds--the so called chromophores. Irradiation...

Two explanations exist for the short-lived radionuclides (T 1 2 ≤ 5 Ma) present in the solar system when the calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) first formed. They originated either from the ejecta of a supernova or by the in situ irradiation of nebular dust by energetic particles. With a half-life of only 53 days, Beryllium-7 is then the key discriminant, since it can be made only by irrad...

An information system, called HelioClim, is available for answering the needs for long-term time-series of solar radiation data. Daily irradiation values are available over Europe, Africa and Atlantic Ocean, from 1985 onwards. This database is accessible through the Soda Web service (http://www.soda-is.com) on a free basis. Meteosat satellites images are used to produce this climatological data...

This paper investigates the stability of dilution series of pin and nip microcrystalline silicon solar cells under low-energy proton irradiation (E = 405 keV). Variation of electrical parameters, defect-related absorption and Urbach parameter are investigated as a function of irradiation and annealing steps. Highly microcrystalline cells show a relative efficiency loss of up to 80 % after proto...

The SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is equipped with a suite of instruments capable of observing the Sun from the core to the outer corona. Several of these instruments observe radiation in the vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) wavelength range, where precise and accurate radiometric measurements are of extreme significance for solar and terrestrial investigations, but, at the same time, are v...

The solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency of a traditional mono-photoelectrode photoelectrochemical water splitting system has long been limited as large external bias is required. Herein, overall water splitting with STH efficiency exceeding 2.5% was achieved using a self-biased photoelectrochemical-photovoltaic coupled system consisting of an all earth-abundant photoanode and a Si-solar-cell-bas...

Metal oxide semiconductors are promising photoelectrode materials for solar water splitting due to their robustness in aqueous solutions and low cost. Yet, their solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiencies are still not high enough for practical applications. Here we present a strategy to enhance the efficiency of metal oxides, hetero-type dual photoelectrodes, in which two photoanodes of differe...