Dependability analysis of stand‐alone photovoltaic systems

Long‐term performance of PV stand‐alone systems is analysed in this work in terms of dependability. On one side, the quality of a PV system, the energy service supplied to the users, depends on the initial design and sizing and on the component ageing that progressively decreases the availability of supply on demand (energy reliability). On the other side, technical failures lead to system stoppage until repairing is performed (technical reliability), which is crucial in real rural electrification applications. All those factors are analysed together with the basis of an extended field, laboratory and bibliographic review work. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Six‐element circuit for maximum power point tracking in photovoltaic‐motor systems with variable‐frequency drives

A low‐cost circuit was developed for stable and efficient maximum power point (MPP) tracking in autonomous photovoltaic‐motor systems with variable‐frequency drives (VFDs). The circuit is made of two resistors, two capacitors, and two Zener diodes. Its input is the photovoltaic (PV) array voltage and its output feeds the proportional‐integral‐derivative (PID) controller usually integrated into the drive. The steady‐state frequency–voltage oscillations induced by the circuit were treated in a simplified mathematical model, which was validated by widely characterizing a PV‐powered centrifugal pump. General procedures for circuit and controller tuning were recommended based on model equations. The tracking circuit presented here is widely applicable to PV‐motor system with VFDs, offering an efficient open‐access technology of unique simplicity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Revitalization and analysis of operation of the autonomous photovoltaic system of the Uacari Floating Lodging House,Amazon‐Brazil

This paper presents the main problems found in photovoltaic systems in the Amazon Region and the actions to be performed for restructuring and correcting the operation of such systems. These problems and solutions are exemplified on the basis of the diagnosis and revitalization of the 2.5‐kWp photovoltaic installation that belongs to the central module of the Uacari Floating Lodging House. The paper was accomplished as part of the agreement between the Group of Studies and Development of Energy Alternatives (GEDAE) and the Mamirauá Institute of Sustainable Development to assess several photovoltaic facilities in the area covered by the institute. Concluding the paper, some operational results of the revitalized system are presented. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

System memory effects in the sizing of stand‐alone PV systems

Models based on daily energy balance (or long‐term models) have been widely used as a tool in the stand‐alone photovoltaic (PV) system sizing, mainly with the purpose of obtaining analytical expressions of the relation between the generator size and the storage capacity of the battery. The system can then be designed to meet the reliability requirements of the specific case. However, such models represent the complex operation of a stand‐alone system in an oversimplified way. There is little research so far on the reliability and improvement of such models. Validation and possible modification of a long‐term system model requires comparison of the simulated state of charge (SOC) of the battery with that obtained from an experimental system. In this work, experimental data from a 6‐month operation of a basic stand‐alone PV system have been analysed and compared with modelling results. One obvious improvement that could be applied to the long‐term system model is to account for a charging efficiency of the battery, and this possibility is examined in the present work. However, comparison with the modelling results shows that the data cannot be fitted by simply taking into account battery inefficiency. A method to account for system memory effects in the increase of the battery SOC, imposed by the operation of the regulator, is necessary to accurately model the macroscopic diurnal charging/discharging process. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the specification and testing of inverters for stand‐alone PV systems

Inverter features are reviewed from a PV systems perspective, with a view to contributing to possible codes, procurement specifications and testing procedures, in order to assure the technical quality of these systems. A laboratory testing campaign has been carried out on a representative set of 16 currently available inverters and a set of the most common AC appliances. The results of the tests are discussed with the aim of divulging the particular features of operating AC appliances in PV systems and the provisions to be taken into account in PV system design. The development of testing procedures has followed the motto ‘keep it as simple as possible’, in order to make their application easier in conventional laboratories in developing countries. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reflector materials for two‐dimensional low‐concentrating photovoltaic systems: the effect of specular versus diffuse reflectance on the module efficiency

Photovoltaic modules in two‐dimensional low‐concentrating systems with specular parabolic reflectors often experience high local irradiance that causes high local currents and cell temperatures. This generally results in power losses. The use of low‐angle scattering reflectors gives a smoother irradiance distribution, which results in a higher fill factor. In order to study how the choice of reflector material influences system performance, two different reflector materials (anodised aluminium and lacquered rolled aluminium laminated on a plastic substrate) were compared. The total and diffuse reflectance spectra of the reflector materials were measured, the integrated hemispherical and specular solar reflectance values calculated, and the angular distributions of scattered light investigated. Two geometrically identical 3× concentrating photovoltaic systems with semi‐parabolic over edge reflectors of the different materials were tested outdoors. While the anodised aluminium reflector, which had higher hemispherical and specular solar reflectance, resulted in a higher short‐circuit current, the low‐angle scattering lacquered foil gave a higher fill factor, due to a smoother image of the sun on the module surface, and an equally high calculated annual electricity production. Given its low price, the latter reflector should thus be more cost‐effective in low‐concentrating photovoltaic systems. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reactive power consumption in photovoltaic inverters: a novel configuration for voltage regulation in low‐voltage radial feeders with no need for central control

High photovoltaic (PV) system generation in low‐voltage feeders can cause voltage rise especially in low demand conditions. The conventional way of coping with voltage violation is disconnection of the PV systems or curtailment of the generated power. To address this issue, a novel configuration for voltage management in a radial feeder via regulated reactive power capability in PV inverters is presented. The novelty of the proposed configuration is based on the fact that all the PV inverters with the ability to consume reactive power are involved in voltage regulation without being centrally controlled. In order to apply the configuration, a reference voltage is initially estimated for each PV system, and the PV inverters are calibrated accordingly. These settings depend on the feeder topology and can be calculated by the distribution network operator with a simple power flow modelling tool. Finally, this paper presents a sensitivity analysis in order to examine how reactive power consumption in a single inverter influences PV penetration and inverter sizing at various PV topologies along the feeder. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The performance of PV‐t systems for residential application in Bangkok

This paper focused on the performance of photovoltaic‐thermal (PVT) systems working in Bangkok for residential applications. The PVT system is one which produces both electricity and low temperature heat at the same time. This paper investigated the performance of PVT systems that use different types of commercial solar PV panels. The characteristics of the PV panels were used as input parameters in the simulation. Each system comprises 2 m² of PVT collector area. Water draw patterns are those with a typical consumption of medium size houses in Bangkok, and the measured monthly average city water temperature of Bangkok has been used to estimate the energy output. The results show that the optimum water flow rate is 20 kg/h for all types of PVT collectors and the effect of water flow can improve the cell efficiency of PV cells. Moreover, the total energy output from the PVT collectors, which had glass covers is very significantly higher than those without one. The c‐Si PVT panel gave the best performance with the highest rate of primary energy reduction. The payback time of each system is 6.4, 11.8, and 13.4 years for a‐Si, mc‐Si, and c‐Si types of PVT system, respectively. This investigation concludes that from the viewpoint of system performance, c‐Si PVT is the most promising type than whereas from the viewpoint of economy, a‐Si PVT has the fastest payback time. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Relation Between Open‐Circuit Voltage and the Onset of Photocurrent Generation by Charge‐Transfer Absorption in Polymer : Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

Photocurrent generation by charge‐transfer (CT) absorption is detected in a range of conjugated polymer–[6,6]‐phenyl C₆₁ butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) based solar cells. The low intensity CT absorption bands are observed using a highly sensitive measurement of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) spectrum by means of Fourier‐transform photocurrent spectroscopy (FTPS). The presence of these CT bands implies the formation of weak ground‐state charge‐transfer complexes in the studied polymer–fullerene blends. The effective band gap (E_g) of the material blends used in these photovoltaic devices is determined from the energetic onset of the photocurrent generated by CT absorption. It is shown that for all devices, under various preparation conditions, the open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) scales linearly with E_g. The redshift of the CT band upon thermal annealing of regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene):PCBM and thermal aging of poly(phenylenevinylene)(PPV):PCBM photovoltaic devices correlates with the observed drop in open‐circuit voltage of high‐temperature treated versus untreated devices. Increasing the weight fraction of PCBM also results in a redshift of E_g, proportional with the observed changes in V_oc for different PPV:PCBM ratios. As E_g corresponds with the effective bandgap of the material blends, a measurement of the EQE spectrum by FTPS allows us to measure this energy directly on photovoltaic devices, and makes it a valuable technique in the study of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells.     

Assessment of the adequacy of EN ISO 15927‐4 reference years for photovoltaic systems

The long‐term performance prediction of photovoltaic systems requires representative meteorological data from a particular location. Among the numerous proposals in the field of solar energy, most of them include procedures oriented towards the generation of test reference years (TRYs). These synthetic years are composed of the concatenation of 12 actual months of the time series of meteorological measurements. Using TRYs to simulate the performance of different types of solar energy systems reduces the computational effort of the simulation and simplifies the analysis of the results. In this sense, the technical standard EN ISO 15927‐4 describes a procedure for constructing a reference year suitable for evaluation of the annual heating and cooling long‐term needs in buildings. In this work, the adequacy of the EN ISO 15927‐4 reference year for photovoltaic systems was studied. The electricity production obtained by simulation with this TRY was compared with that obtained by the Weather Year for Solar Systems. This latter reference year only uses the monthly thermal energy collected by the system as a selection parameter of typical months. This comparison was performed for seven locations in the USA considering two 5.6 kWp grid‐connected photovoltaic systems that only differ in the solar tracking system. The suitability of the EN ISO 15927‐4 reference year for the estimation of the electrical energy generated by a photovoltaic system has been proved, showing good results in the annual and daily predictions in most of the cases studied. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elucidating the role of current injection on the influence of open-circuit voltage in small-molecule organic photovoltaic devices: From the aspects of charge transfer and electroluminescent spectrum

We demonstrate that the open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices composed of rubrene and C₆₀ can be considerably different when the anode and active layer are changed. Two types of anodes and active layers were compared. In plasma-treated indium-tin-oxide (ITO) OPV devices, the parameter V_OC exhibits an improvement from 0.68 V to 0.76 V when the device structure is varied from a bilayer to a mixed structure. However, in the OPV devices that use ITO/MoO₃ as the anode, a similar V_OC is observed regardless of the device structure. A series of temperature-dependent measurements are conducted to investigate these results. The calculation of barrier height at the rubrene/C₆₀ (or rubrene:C₆₀) interface yields the prediction of V_OC, suggesting that an excess energetic loss occurs in the mixed structures. The electroluminescent (EL) spectra of these devices show that the mixed structure can completely quench the EL of rubrene single layer. A broad band of the charge transfer (CT) emission is observed clearly. A temperature-dependent measurement for the extracting injection barrier is conducted and shows that the mixed structure is favorable for the hole current injection. The CT properties are obtained using the external quantum efficiency and EL spectra of the OPV devices. We find that the nonradiative recombination loss is highly correlated with the injected current; the lower the injection barrier induced the less the nonradiative recombination loss. Therefore, the parameter V_OC can be improved when the injected current is increased.     

A novel wideband space‐time channel simulator based on the geometrical one‐ring model with applications in MIMO‐OFDM systems

In this paper, we extend the geometrical one‐ring multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) channel model with respect to frequency selectivity. Our approach enables the design of efficient and accurate simulation models for wideband space‐time MIMO channels under isotropic scattering conditions. Two methods will be provided to compute the parameters of the simulation model. Especially, the temporal, frequency and spatial correlation properties of the proposed wideband space‐time MIMO channel simulator are studied analytically. It is shown that any given specified or measured discrete power delay profile (PDP) can be incorporated into the simulation model. The high accuracy of the simulation model is demonstrated by comparing its statistical properties with those of the underlying reference model with specified correlation properties in the time, frequency and spatial domain. As an application example of the new MIMO frequency‐selective fading channel model, we study the influence of various channel model parameters on the system performance of a space‐time coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system. For example, we investigate the influence of the antenna element spacings of the base station (BS) antenna as well as the mobile station (MS) antenna. It turns out that an increasing of the antenna element spacing at the BS side results in a higher diversity gain than an increasing of the antenna element spacing at the MS side. Furthermore, the diversity gain brought in by space‐time block coding schemes is investigated by simulation. Our results show that transmitter diversity can significantly reduce the symbol error rate (SER) of multiple antenna systems. Finally, the influence of the Doppler effect and the impact of imperfect channel state information (CSI) on the system performance is also investigated. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The battery voltage distribution: a possible tool for surveying the state of health of stand‐alone PV systems

Degradation phenomena can remain unnoticed over long periods in stand‐alone PV systems, before eventually causing service interruption. Problems include battery capacity reduction because of ageing, PV array capacity reduction because of wiring corrosion or excessive dirtiness, and mis‐adjustment of controller set‐points. This underlines the practical interest of an easily applicable method of early detection, so that preventive measures can be taken in good time. This paper proposes the use of the battery voltage distribution, as a tool for surveying the state of health of stand‐alone PV systems. Expected distributions can be derived by judicious modelling; while observed distributions can easily be obtained from systematic voltage measurements which are already made in many PV systems worldwide. Comparison between expected and observed distributions allows relatively simple diagnosis rules to be derived. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Micrometer‐Sized RuO2 Catalysts Contributing to Formation of Amorphous Na‐Deficient Sodium Peroxide in Na–O2 Batteries

The results obtained herein demonstrate that the oxygen electrode plays a critical role in determining the morphology and chemical composition of discharge products in Na–O₂ batteries. Micrometer‐sized cubic NaO₂, film‐like NaO₂, and nano‐sized amorphous spherical Na_2‐xO₂ are characterized as the main discharge products on the surface of reduced graphite oxide (rGO), boron‐doped rGO (B‐rGO), and micrometer‐sized RuO₂ catalyst‐coated B‐rGO (m‐RuO₂‐B‐rGO) cathodes, respectively. The Na–O₂ battery with m‐RuO₂‐B‐rGO as the cathode exhibits a much longer cycle life than those with the other cathodes, maintaining an unchanged capacity (0.5 mAh cm^‐2) after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.05 mA cm^‐2. A good rate capability and deep discharge–charge energy efficiency are also obtained. The excellent electrochemical performance of the battery is attributed to the effect of the micrometer‐sized RuO₂ catalyst. Owing to the high affinity of RuO₂ for oxygen, the amorphous phase Na_2‐xO₂ discharge product, which has good electrical contact with the RuO₂ particles, can decompose completely under 3.1 V without a sudden voltage jump. Meanwhile, the micrometer‐sized RuO₂ catalysts also provide enough active sites and space for the reactions, and effectively minimize the occurrence of side reactions between discharge products and carbon defects.     

Organic Field‐Effect Transistors: A 3D Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulation of the Current Characteristics in Micrometer‐Sized Devices

The electrical properties of organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) are usually characterized by applying models initially developed for inorganic‐based devices, which often implies the use of approximations that might be inappropriate for organic semiconductors. These approximations have brought limitations to the understanding of the device physics associated with organic materials. A strategy to overcome this issue is to establish straightforward connections between the macroscopic current characteristics and microscopic charge transport in OFETs. Here, a 3D kinetic Monte Carlo model is developed that goes beyond both the conventional assumption of zero channel thickness and the gradual channel approximation to simulate carrier transport and current. Using parallel computing and a new algorithm that significantly improves the evaluation of electric potential within the device, this methodology allows the simulation of micrometer‐sized OFETs. The current characteristics of representative OFET devices are well reproduced, which provides insight into the validity of the gradual channel approximation in the case of OFETs, the impact of the channel thickness, and the nature of microscopic charge transport.     

Towards understanding consumption in multi‐user solar energy systems: the cases of villages in Argentina and Cuba

Research on the electrification of remote villages by means of decentralized renewable energy systems increasingly requires consideration of the characteristics of the user communities. Particularly for communities with multi‐user systems (MUS), in order to achieve optimal design and sizing of the system and efficient energy distribution among users, it is important to consider the social characteristics of the community in addition to technical and economic aspects. The solar energy supply is always limited, and distribution of the energy among the users is mainly a matter of coordinating who can use how much at what time, which is influenced by various factors. What we need first of all is knowledge of the actual power needs of each household over a period of time. With the aim of determining typical patterns of energy consumption in households with similar characteristics, the present preliminary research study uncovers the factors that determine energy consumption in five solar power villages in Cuba and Argentina. Correlation and regression analysis of data from surveys and energy consumption measurements showed that type and number of electrical appliances are the most important, but not sufficient, factors for explaining differences in household energy consumption. Demographic factors, occupations, daily routine and other social factors also have an impact on the development of a household's energy consumption. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of SER of MIMO‐MRC systems with imperfect channel estimation in the presence of non‐Rayleigh CCIs

In this paper, we study the average symbol error rate (SER) for a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) maximal ratio combining (MRC) system with Rayleigh fading desired signal in the presence of non‐Rayleigh fading co‐channel interferers (CCIs) and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). To simulate the actual environments of wireless transmission, we assume that the transceiver only obtains imperfect channel estimation (ICE). For the cases of Nakagami and Rician fading CCIs, analytic expressions for the SER have been derived approximately by introducing the modified signal‐to‐interference and noise power ratio (SINR) that can be obtained by averaging the CCI term in the original SINR over the distribution of ICE of intended user. These formulas can provide important reference of design of MIMO diversity systems. Numerical simulations verify the effectiveness of these formulas. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of the underneath cavity on buoyant‐forced cooling of the integrated photovoltaic panels in building roof: a thermography study

Airflow around building‐integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) has a significant impact on their hygrothermal behavior and degradation. The potential of reducing the temperature of BIPV using an underneath cavity is experimentally and numerically investigated in literature. Most of the models are oversimplified in terms of modeling the impact of 3D flow over/underneath of PV modules, which can result in a non‐uniform surface temperature and consequently a non‐homogenous thermal degradation. Moreover, the simultaneous presence of radiation and convection related to upstream wind, in addition to the combined impact of back‐ventilation and surface convection, is barely addressed in literature. However, these simplifications can result in the unrealistic loading climate conditions. This paper aims to present a unique experimental setup to provide more realistic climate conditions for investigating the ventilation potential of the underneath. The setup consists of a solar simulator and a building prototype with installed PV, placed inside an atmospheric wind tunnel to control upstream wind velocity. Thermography is performed using an infrared camera to monitor the surface temperature of the BIPV. The potential of an underneath cavity with various cavity heights and PV arrangement is further investigated in this paper. The outcome would be eventually useful in the development of practical guidelines for BIPV installation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.