Perception of plant species richness by people with different nationalities—an experimental study

This study investigates with the help of a manipulative experiment how people with different nationalities perceive meadow-like arrays of different species richness (1, 8, 16, 32, 64 species). Participants (n = 187) were all residents of the canton of Zurich and originated from 43 different countries. Overall valuation of the meadow-like arrays increased with species richness. However, while participants from high-income countries (measured by GDP per capita) clearly liked species-rich meadows most and species-poor ones least, participants from low-income countries did not have such clear preferences. Preferences were not related to the length of time a participant had already spent in Switzerland (on average seven years), but to perceived familiarity with a meadow-like array. Sex and education did not influence valuations. Environmental expertise fostered participants’ dislike of species-poor arrays, as did age.     

Enhanced electrical and photocurrent characteristics of sol-gel derived Ni-doped PbTiO3 thin films

Partial substitution of group 10 metal for titanium is predicted theoretically to be one of the most effective ways to decrease the band gap of PbTiO₃-based ferroelectric photovoltaic materials. It is therefore of interest to experimentally investigate their ferroelectric and photovoltaic properties. In this work, we focus on the electrical and photocurrent properties of Ni-doped PbTiO₃ thin films prepared via a sol-gel route. The nickel incorporation does not modify the crystalline structure of PbTiO₃ thin film, but it can increase the dielectric constant, ferroelectric polarization and photocurrent, and simultaneously decrease the band gap. The maximum remnant polarization (P_r) of 58.1 μC/cm² is observed in PbTi_0.8Ni_0.2O₃ thin film, and its photocurrent density is improved to be approximately one order larger than that of PbTiO₃ thin film and simultaneously exhibits the polarization-dependent switching characteristic, which may be a promising choice for ferroelectric photovoltaic applications.     

Priority load control algorithm for optimal energy management in stand-alone photovoltaic systems

In stand-alone PV System facilities no grid connection exists, therefore the solar generator and battery bank have to be carefully sized in order to supply the energy demand for a given period of time. Batteries are considered as a weak component of the system, comprising an important part of the total cost and are usually replaced one or two times during PV system lifetime. A priority load control algorithm has been developed in order to gain an optimal energy management over system loads and the battery storage, and therefore provides a better energy management efficiency and guarantee the energy supply for critical loads. This will increase the reliability of the system and the end-user satisfaction. This article describes a stand-alone PV system model used for the development of a priority load control algorithm and explains and implements the algorithm. The results of several test scenario simulations are shown and discussed.     

Inverted organic photovoltaic device with a new electron transport layer

We demonstrate that there is a new solution-processed electron transport layer, lithium-doped zinc oxide (LZO), with high-performance inverted organic photovoltaic device. The device exhibits a fill factor of 68.58%, an open circuit voltage of 0.86 V, a short-circuit current density of −9.35 cm/mA² along with 5.49% power conversion efficiency. In addition, we studied the performance of blend ratio dependence on inverted organic photovoltaics. Our device also demonstrates a long stability shelf life over 4 weeks in air.     

Perturbation sensitivity analysis of azimuth estimation of the acoustic source for the planar microphone array

Aiming at the requirements of quantitative analysis of the array scheme and positioning performance of a practical compact acoustic detection node system, the upper bound of the far-field azimuth estimation error for an arbitrary small-size planar array is derived and the four elements of the corresponding perturbation sensitivity factor with explicit physical significance are determined. It is proved that the perturbation sensitivity of the source direction-finding algorithm to the time difference of arrival (TDOA) estimates between microphones can be lowered obviously by means of increasing the number of distinct microphone pairs as well as employing spatially uniform distribution of array elements. Simulation results demonstrate that this study provides a quantitative approach to evaluating and comparing the azimuth estimation performance of different planar arrays.     

Molecular design of interfacial layers based on conjugated polythiophenes for polymer and hybrid solar cells

In the past two decades, bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices have emerged as attractive candidates for solar energy conversion due to their lightweight design and potential for low‐cost, high‐throughput, solution‐phase processability. Interfacial engineering is a proven efficient approach to achieve OPV devices with high power conversion efficiencies. This mini‐review provides an overview of the key structural considerations necessary when undertaking the molecular design of conjugated polyelectrolytes, for application as interfacial layers (ILs). The different roles of ILs are outlined, together with the advantages and disadvantages of competing classes of IL materials. Particular emphasis is placed on the design and synthesis of water‐soluble polythiophene‐based IL materials and the influence of their structural characteristics on their performance as a promising class of IL material. Finally, the challenges and opportunities for polythiophenes as IL materials for OPV devices and other solution‐processed solar cell technologies (e.g. perovskite solar cells) are discussed. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of vacuum treatment in diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) based copolymer with ratio controlled toluene- and benzene- functional groups for efficient organic photovoltaic cells: Morphological and electrical contribution

Solution-processed organic bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic cells using random copolymeric donor materials have been extensively reported due to their suitable film-forming characteristics and phase-separated nano-morphology. Here, ratio-controlled toluene-versus benzene-chemical group based diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) donor polymers mixed with a fullerene acceptor were investigated to fabricate an efficient photovoltaic active layer with improved electrical properties through a vacuum treatment. The vacuum process leads to an increase in the phase-separation with a low surface roughness and nanoscale-distributed crystallinity due to securing the dry time of the residual solvent and solvent additive within the active layer. Moreover, the optimized DPP-based donor with toluene (T) versus benzene (B) linkers and electron transporting layer leads to an improvement in the power conversion efficiencies of up to 6.31% under AM 1.5G illumination due to the contributions of an efficient charge transfer and reduced series resistance. Therefore, the organic semiconductor obtained with the ratio-controlled molecular structure and proper solvent drying process plays an important role in increasing the electrical and morphological properties to produce efficient organic solar cells.     

An analytical-numerical approach for parameter determination of a five-parameter single-diode model of photovoltaic cells and modules

Parameter extraction of the five-parameter single-diode model of solar cells and modules from experimental data is a challenging problem. These parameters are evaluated from a set of nonlinear equations that cannot be solved analytically. On the other hand, a numerical solution of such equations needs a suitable initial guess to converge to a solution. This paper presents a new set of approximate analytical solutions for the parameters of a five-parameter single-diode model of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. The proposed solutions provide a good initial point which guarantees numerical analysis convergence. The proposed technique needs only a few data from the PV current-voltage characteristics, i.e. open circuit voltage V_oc, short circuit current I_sc and maximum power point current and voltage I_m; V_m making it a fast and low cost parameter determination technique. The accuracy of the presented theoretical I–V curves is verified by experimental data.     

Day‐Ahead Global Solar Radiation Forecasting Using Binary Trees and Factor Analysis

A method is proposed for forecasting global solar radiation. The method is based on weather information using binary trees and factor analysis. The feature of this method is that it is possible to use a simple linear forecasting equation. The method has been tested on meteorological and global solar radiation data obtained at several observation sites, and the results show that it is a promising means of maintaining the balance between demand and supply of electric power in power systems of the near future with a large number of photovoltaic systems installed.