Publications related to Solar thermal energy

Modeling, design and economics of PEC devices

Photo-electrochemical (PEC) devices allow for converting solar energy into chemical energy and for the production of energetically dense solar fuels. Light absorption, charge separation and transport, electrochemical reactions, and ionic transport are requ ...

EPFL2024

Persistent enhancement of exciton diffusivity in CsPbBr3 nanocrystal solids

Seryio Saris

In semiconductors, exciton or charge carrier diffusivity is typically described as an inherent material property. Here, we show that the transport of excitons among CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) depends markedly on how recently those NCs were occup ...

Amer Assoc Advancement Science2024

Polydopamine-coated photoautotrophic bacteria for improving extracellular electron transfer in living photovoltaics

Ardemis Anoush Boghossian, Melania Reggente, Mohammed Mouhib, Fabian Fischer, Hanxuan Wang, Charlotte Elisabeth Marie Roullier, Patricia Brandl

Living photovoltaics are microbial electrochemical devices that use whole cell–electrode interactions to convert solar energy to electricity. The bottleneck in these technologies is the limited electron transfer between the microbe and the electrode surfac ...

2024

Solar-assisted clean steam generator, a cleaner production approach for sustainable healthcare facilities

Fernando Porté Agel, Mohammad Jamshidmofid, Ahmad Arabkoohsar

Healthcare sector buildings, particularly hospitals, significantly contribute to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Hospitals require a substantial amount of steam, including the essential hygienic or " clean steam, " that is currently ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2024

Universal Casimir attraction between filaments at the cell scale

Anne-Florence Raphaëlle Bitbol

The electromagnetic Casimir interaction between dielectric objects immersed in salted water includes a universal contribution that is not screened by the solvent and therefore long-ranged. Here, we study the geometry of two parallel dielectric cylinders. W ...

Iop Publishing Ltd2024

Durable Perovskite Solar Cells with 24.5% Average Efficiency: The Role of Rigid Conjugated Core in Molecular Semiconductors

Michael Graetzel, Shaik Mohammed Zakeeruddin, Felix Thomas Eickemeyer, Peng Wang, Ming Ren

Efficient and robust n-i-p perovskite solar cells necessitate superior organic hole-transport materials with both mechanical and electronic prowess. Deciphering the structure-property relationship of these materials is crucial for practical perovskite sola ...

Wiley-V C H Verlag Gmbh2024

From PV to EV: Mapping the Potential for Electric Vehicle Charging with Solar Energy in Europe

Christophe Ballif, Alejandro Pena Bello, Noémie Alice Yvonne Ségolène Jeannin, Jérémy Dumoulin, Nicolas Würsch

The electrification of the transport sector is a key element in decarbonizing our societies. However, energy systems will have to cope with additional electricity demand due to the charging needs of electric vehicles (EVs) together with the integration of ...

2024

Thermal management for gas lubricated, high-speed turbomachinery

Jürg Alexander Schiffmann, Luis Eric Olmedo Ocampo, Wei Liu, Wanhui Liu

High-speed turbomachinery is commonly designed to achieve high power densities. Limited space for active cooling results in a challenging thermal management. A thermal modeling approach leveraging modern declarative programming capabilities is presented, y ...

2023

Beam radiation penetration in particle b e ds for heat transfer modeling of a centrifugal solar particle receiver

Evan Fair Johnson, Serdar Hiçdurmaz

This article describes a study of beam radiation striking particle beds of randomly packed, spherical par-ticles. The current study is focused on concentrating solar power receivers which use solid particles as a heat transfer medium, but results are appli ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2023

Photoelectrochemical Cell Engineering for Solar Energy Conversion

Dan Zhang

Solar energy is the most abundant energy source, harnessing solar energy holds the solution to the challenge of increasing global energy demand and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Photovoltaics which directly convert solar energy into electricity ...

EPFL2023

Assessment of the technological viability of photoelectrochemical devices for oxygen and fuel production on Moon and Mars

Sophia Haussener, Byron Stuart Ross

Human deep space exploration is presented with multiple challenges, such as the reliable, efficient and sustainable operation of life support systems. The production and recycling of oxygen, carbon dioxide (CO2) and fuels are hereby key, as a resource resu ...

Nature Research2023

Local electrochemical and thermal investigation of a segmented reversible solid oxide fuel cell and electrolyzer

Jan Van Herle, Stefan Diethelm, Audrey Désirée Wesoly, Zacharie Wuillemin, Hamza Moussaoui

A novel setup has been designed and mounted to investigate the local electrochemical and thermal behavior of a cell from a 4-cell short stack under reversible operation solid oxide fuel cell/solid oxide electrolyzer (SOFC/SOE). It consists in the partition ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

Dissecting the photoacidity of spiropyran/merocyanine molecular switches in water

Cesare Berton

Photochemistry is a discipline that studies the interaction between light and matter with the scope to induce chemical transformations. The first conjugation between light and chemistry can be dated back to the lifespan of Giacomo Luigi Ciamician, who is c ...

EPFL2023

Human sitting behavior at office work and its effect on metabolic rate under varying thermal exposure

Dolaana Khovalyg, Ryan Liao

Assessing and optimizing human indoor comfort is challenging as physiological, psychological, and environmental variables influence it. Therefore, it is crucial to understand variability of human physiological parameters and underlying mechanisms. Metaboli ...

2023

Thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of energy barrettes: Field experiments and numerical simulations

Lyesse Laloui, Elena Ravera, Alessandro Francesco Rotta Loria

Over the past two decades, the thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of earth-contact structures such as piles, walls, slabs, and tunnels, which simultaneously provide structural support and energy supply, has been studied through various field experiments and ...

ELSEVIER2023

Transparent structured conductive coating for applications in smart windows

Jérémy Jacques Antonin Fleury

Solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth for a period of one hour contains more energy than that consumed by mankind over an entire year. Some of this solar energy is already collected by photovoltaic cells to cover the electricity needs of buildi ...

EPFL2023

Tuning the Solar Performance of Building Facades through Polymer 3D Printing: Toward Bespoke Thermo-Optical Properties

Stephen William Wasilewski, Arno Schlueter

Facades are the primary interface controlling the flow of solar energy in buildings and affecting their energy balance and environmental impact. Recently, large-scale 3D printing (3DP) of translucent polymers has been explored as a technique for fabricatin ...

Wiley2023

Thermal Conditions in Indoor Environments: Exploring the Reasoning behind Standard-Based Recommendations

Dolaana Khovalyg

Professionals in the building design and operation fields typically look at standards and guidelines as a reliable source of information and guidance with regard to procedural, contractual, and legal scope and requirements that are relevant to accountabili ...

2023

Tungsten oxide-based photoanodes: biomass valorization and the effects of oxygen vacancies

Nukorn Plainpan

Tungsten oxide-based materials have unique and intriguing properties as photoanode materials for solar energy conversion. The first part of the thesis focuses on the use of WO3 photoanodes for the oxidation of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF). Chapter one l ...

EPFL2023

Recyclable flame retardant phosphonated epoxy based thermosets enabled via a reactive approach

Véronique Michaud, Valentin Rougier

The development of reusable fire-safe polymers with a prolonged lifetime heralds the switch for a transition towards circular economy. In this framework, we report a novel phosphonated thermoset which is composed of networked phosphonate esters containing ...

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA2023