•Analyses of the thermal performances of PDLC glazing using indoor characterisation are demonstrated.•Solar heat gain coefficient of the PDLC glazing was 0.68 and 0.63 for the transparent and ...translucent states, respectively.•Overall heat transfer coefficient of the PDLC glazing was 2.79 W/m2 for the transparent and 2.44 W/m2 translucent.•Key factors of the optical properties of PDLC glazing with respect to solar radiation control are evaluated.
A new class of smart window technologies are gaining interest as they have the functionality to control dynamic solar radiation, shading, ventilation and energy production. They are capable of improving buildings’ energy performance by adapting to different climate conditions and bring thermal and visual comfort for occupants. Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) is a smart switchable window that changes its optical transmissions from translucent to transparent when an alternating electric current stimulus is introduced. The present paper discusses the results of an indoor investigation for the optical and thermal performance of a PDLC glazing system. The spectral transmittance of the investigated PDLC was evaluated for both the translucent and transparent states using UV–vis–NIR (1050) spectrophotometer. In addition, the thermal investigation was carried out in an indoor condition utilising a test cell equipped with a small scale of PDLC glazing, which was exposed to (1000, 800, 600, 400 W/m2) solar radiation for 180 min. The optical evaluation showed that the investigated PDLC glazing offered low transmission for UV (8%) and NIR (44%) in the translucent state, respectively. The result of SHGC was 0.68 and 0.63 for the transparent and translucent states, respectively, which indicates that the investigated sample could be more effective in reducing heat loads in a cold dominated climate. The U-value for the PDLC glazing was 2.79 W/m2 for the transparent and 2.44 W/m2 translucent.
Solar walls provide transformative solutions by harnessing solar energy to generate electricity, improve thermal comfort, and reduce energy consumption and emissions, contributing to zero-energy ...buildings and mitigating climate change. In hot and humid regions, solar walls can reduce indoor temperatures by 30% to 50%, significantly improving energy efficiency. Optimizing the performance of solar walls includes factors such as glazing, shading, solar orientation, ventilation, and catalytic techniques, allowing them to be adapted to different climates. Innovative solar wall variants that include photovoltaic panels, water storage, and phase-change materials offer multifunctionality and sustainability in building design and are in line with global energy efficiency and environmentally conscious goals. In addition, innovative solar wall variants that combine photovoltaic panels, water storage, and phase-change materials promise even more sustainability in building design. These multifunctional solar wall systems can efficiently heat, cool, and generate energy, further reducing a building’s environmental impact. Solar walls have the potential to significantly reduce heating energy consumption; align with global goals for energy-efficient, environmentally conscious, and climate-responsive building design; and offer dynamic and adaptable solutions for sustainable architecture.
This paper presents perovskite solar cells employed with WO
nanoparticles embedded carbon top electrode. WO
nanoparticles works as an inorganic hole-transport material (HTM) to promote the ...hole-extraction in the perovskite/carbon interface as revealed by efficiency, electrochemical impedance and external quantum efficiency measurements. As a result, a 40% enhancement of energy conversion efficiency has been achieved compared to the reference devices with the energy conversion efficiency of 10.77% under standard conditions. In addition, the Li-TFSI can modify the interface between electron-transport material (ETM) and perovskite, which may inhibit the recombination at the ETM/perovskite interface. The V
of devices upon the modification of Li-TFSI is increased from 887.9 to 934.2 mV. This work highlights about the enlightenment of the effective performance of carbon-based mesoscopic PSCs by the introduction of HTM and the modification of interfaces.
The emergence of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in a "catfish effect" of other conventional photovoltaic technologies with the massive growth of high-power conversion efficiency (PCE) has given a new ...direction to the entire solar energy field. Replacing traditional metal-based electrodes with carbon-based materials is one of the front-runners among many other investigations in this field due to its cost-effective processability and high stability. Carbon-based perovskite solar cells (c-PSCs) have shown great potential for the development of large scale photovoltaics. First of its kind, here we introduce a facile and cost-effective large scale carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) synthesis from mustard oil assisted cotton combustion for utilization in the mesoporous carbon-based perovskite solar cell (PSC). Also, we instigate two different directions of utilizing the carbon nanoparticles for a composite high temperature processed electrode (HTCN) and a low temperature processed electrode (LTCN) with detailed performance comparison. NiO/CNP composite thin film was used in high temperature processed electrodes, and for low temperature processed electrodes, separate NiO and CNP layers were deposited. The HTCN devices with the cell structure FTO/c-TiO
/m-TiO
/m-ZrO
/high-temperature NiO-CNP composite paste/infiltrated MAPI (CH
NH
PbI
) achieved a maximum PCE of 13.2%. In addition, high temperature based carbon devices had remarkable stability of ~ 1000 h (ambient condition), retaining almost 90% of their initial efficiency. In contrast, LTCN devices with configuration FTO/c-TiO
/m-TiO
/m-ZrO
/NiO/MAPI/low-temperature CNP had a PCE limit of 14.2%, maintaining ~ 72% of the initial PCE after 1000 h. Nevertheless, we believe this promising approach and the comparative study between the two different techniques would be highly suitable and adequate for the upcoming cutting-edge experimentations of PSC.
The transportation sector is the largest consumer of fossil fuels; making it a major producer of greenhouse gases. Due to declining fossil fuel reserves and increasingly stringent vehicle emission ...regulations globally, it is essential to shift to alternative energy sources. Economic and eco-friendly fuel-efficient hybrid, electric, and fuel cell vehicles are regarded as one of the best alternative solutions to cope with the government policies and to reduce the rise in global temperature caused by the automotive sector. Technological advancements in fuel cells, batteries, and chargers have further supported the development of electric vehicles. The major challenges of range and charging time in electric vehicles can be countered by range extension technology and developing all-electric hybrid vehicles. In this review, a comprehensive study of different type of vehicles and their architectures are presented. Insights on energy storage devices and converters of electric vehicles currently in use were also provided. Furthermore, various fuel cell advancements and the technical challenges faced during the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles were highlighted.
•HCPV module attached to a multi-layered microchannel heat sink were characterized experimentally.•Increasing the number of the heat sink layers increases the maximum generated power 10%.•The outdoor ...experiments show a maximum heat extraction of 74.9%.•The maximum solar cell temperature was maintained below 61 °C.
Concentrating Photovoltaic technology is a promising option in power generation using the photovoltaics compared to the conventional flat PV system. This study investigates the performance of a high concentrated photovoltaic single solar cell module attached to a multi-layered microchannel heat sink. The system has been tested the first time experimentally both at indoor and outdoor conditions. The indoor characterization of the system investigated the effect of varying the number of the layers of the heat sink and the flow rate of the fluid electrically and thermally. The experiments show that varying the number of the heat sink layers from 1-layer to 3-layers increase the maximum electrical generation by 10% and reduces the cell temperature by 3.15 °C under the same fluid flow rate of 30 ml/min. The outdoor experiments show the maximum output electrical generation of the system of 4.60 W and the short circuit current of 1.96 A. The maximum solar cell temperature was maintained below 61 °C where the extracted heat of the system was 12.85 W which represents of 74.9% of the total generated power.
The rapid increase in the efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in last few decades have made them very attractive to the photovoltaic (PV) community. However, the serious challenge is related ...to the stability under various conditions and toxicity issues. A huge number of articles have been published in PSCs in the recent years focusing these issues by employing different strategies in the synthesis of electron transport layer (ETL), active perovskite layer, hole transport layer (HTL) and back contact counter electrodes. This article tends to focus on the role and classification of different materials used as HTL in influencing long-term stability, in improving the photovoltaic parameters and thereby enhancing the device efficiency. Hole Transport Materials (HTMs) are categorized by dividing into three primary types, namely; organic, inorganic and carbonaceous HTMs. To analyze the role of HTM in detail, we further divide these primary type of HTMs into different subgroups. The organic-based HTMs are subdivided into three categories, namely; long polymer HTMs, small molecule HTMs and cross-linked polymers and the inorganic HTMs have been classified into nickel (Ni) derivatives and copper (Cu) derivatives based HTMs, p-type semiconductor based HTMs and transition metal based HTMs. We further analyze the dual role of carbonaceous materials as HTM and counter electrode in the perovskite devices. In addition, in this review, an overview of the preparation methods, and the influence of the thickness of the HTM layers on the performance and stability of the perovskite devices are also provided. We have carried out a detailed comparison about the various classification of HTMs based on their cost-effectiveness and considering their role on effective device performance. This review further discusses the critical challenges involved in the synthesis and device engineering of HTMs. This will provide the reader a better insight into the state of the art of perovskite solar devices.
Abstract
Bioactive glass (BG) is an interesting topic in soft tissue engineering because of its biocompatibility and bonding potential to increase fibroblast cell proliferation, synthesize growth ...factors, and stimulate granulation tissue development. The proposed BG with and without sodium (Na), prepared by the sol–gel method, is employed in wound healing studies. The BG/graphene oxide (GO) and BG (Na-free)/GO nanocomposites were investigated against fibroblast L929 cells in vitro; the 45S5 BG nanocomposites exhibited desired cell viability (80%), cell proliferation (30%), cell migration (25%), metabolic activity, and wound contraction due to extracellular matrix (ECM) production and enhanced protein release by fibroblast cells. Additionally, the antioxidant assays for BG, BG (Na-free), GO, and BG/GO, BG (Na-free)/GO were evaluated for effective wound healing properties. The results showed decreased inflammation sites in the wound area, assessed by the (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) (DPPH) assay with ~ 80% radical scavenging activity, confirming their anti-inflammatory and improved wound healing properties.
Perovskite solar cells technology is one of the most advanced and fascinating technologies in the field of photovoltaics due to its low-cost processing and delivering efficient power conversion ...efficiencies. The ability to become transparent is another prolific property of the perovskite solar cells, which this property has been tried to be exploited in recent times by researchers to serve the environmental and energy needs of human beings. Using this transparency and enabling semitransparent perovskite solar cells (ST-PSCs) to be placed on the windows and rooftops of buildings will reduce room temperature along with fulfilling certain requirements of power needs. This review pays attention to the recent developments in the semitransparent perovskite solar cells from the perspective of the structure of ST PSCs, electrodes and others.
Transparent dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) can be coupled within a building's architecture to provide daylighting and electrical power simultaneously. In this work, the relationship between the ...transparency and performance of DSSCs is studied by changing the TiO2 electrode thickness. The 10µm thickness device shows a power conversion efficiency of 5.93% and a Jsc of 12.75mA/cm2 with 37% transparency in the visible range. However, the performance loss in DSSCs during the scale up process is a potential drawback. This can be addressed using an optical concentrator with DSSC to generate more power from small size devices. Here, a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) is coupled with DSSCs and its performance is compared to a scaled-up device (approx. 4 times). Furthermore, the impact of operating temperature on the performance of the bare and concentrator-coupled devices is discussed in this article. An increase of 67% in power conversion efficiency is observed at 36°C for the concentrator-coupled device under 1000W/m2 illumination. Maximum Jsc of 25.55mA/cm2 is achieved at 40°C for the concentrated coupled device compare with the Jsc of 13.06mA/cm2 for the bare cell at the same temperature.
•The relationship between thickness and transparency of the DSSCs.•Comparison of the photovoltaic performance of bare and low concentrator coupled transparent devices.•Scaling up of DSSCs and its performance comparison with low concentrated coupled devices.•Impact of device operating temperature on the photovoltaic performance for bare and concentrator coupled cells.
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