Plasmonic absorbers have recently become important for a broad spectrum of sunlight-harvesting applications exploiting either heat generation, such as in thermal photovoltaics and solar thermoelectrics, or hot-electron generation, such as in photochemical and solid state devices. So far, despite impressive progress, combining the needed high performance with fabrication simplicity and scalabili...

Adsten, M. 2002. Solar thermal collectors at high latitudes -Design and performance of nontracking concentrators. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 697. 78 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-5545274-4 Solar thermal collectors at high latitudes have been studied, with emphasis on concentrating collectors. A novel design ...

The maximal Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit of 41% for single-junction photovoltaics is primarily caused by heat dissipation following energetic-photon absorption. Solar-thermophotovoltaics concepts attempt to harvest this heat loss, but the required high temperatures (T>2,000 K) hinder device realization. Conversely, we have recently demonstrated how thermally enhanced photoluminescence is ...

The global demand for energy is increasing and the detrimental consequences of rising greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and environmental degradation present major challenges. Solar energy offers a clean and viable renewable energy source with the potential to alleviate the detrimental consequences normally associated with fossil fuel-based energy generation. However, there are two inher...

The thermal performance of a solar system composed of parallel, all-glass (double skin) vacuum tubes has been investigated by using a three-dimensional analytical model. Each vacuum tube is equipped with a coaxial fluid conduit for water to flow through and collect the sun's thermal energy. The space between the exterior of the fluid conduit and the glass tube is filled with antifreeze solution...

A transient simulation model for a hybrid PV/T forced-circulation solar water-heating system is presented, along with algorithms for making quantitative predictions regarding the performance of the system. The model consists of a set of mathematical equations governing the main components in the system; namely, transparent cover, solar cell, absorber plate, operating fluid, storage tank, and co...

The Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) is a linear-concentrating solar thermal energy system currently in the prototype stage at the Liddell power station in the Hunter Valley, NSW. A system-level thermo-fluidic model for the CLFR has been developed in order to predict steady-state operating conditions, required pumping power and pressure, mass transfer around the system and likely startup...

The influence of recycling on double-pass solar air collectors with welding of the V-corrugated absorber has been studied experimentally and theoretically. Welding the V-corrugated absorber and the recycle-effect concept to the solar air collector was proposed to strengthen the convective heat-transfer coefficient due to turbulence promotion. Both the recycle effect and the V-corrugated absorbe...

Thin-film solar cells with CuInxGa1−xSe2 (CIGS) absorber are still far below their efficiency limit, although lab cells reach already 19.9%. One important aspect is the homogeneity of the alloy. Large-scale simulations combining Monte Carlo and density functional calculations show that two phases coexist in thermal equilibrium below room temperature. Only at higher temperatures, CIGS becomes mo...

We present theoretical considerations as well as detailed numerical design of absorber and emitter for Solar Thermophotovoltaics (STPV) applications. The absorber, consisting of an array of tungsten pyramids, was designed to provide near-unity absorptivity over all solar wavelengths for a wide angular range, enabling it to absorb light effectively from solar sources regardless of concentration....