Two related bodies of work are presented, both of which aim to further the rapid development of next generation concentrating photovoltaic systems using high efficiency multi junction solar cells. They are complementary since the characterization of commercial devices and the systematic application of design principles for future designs must progress in parallel in order to accelerate iterative improvements. First addressed, is the field characterization of state of the art concentrating photovoltaic systems. Performance modeling and root cause analysis of deviations from the modeling results are critical for bringing reliable high value products to the market. Two complementary tools are presented that facilitate acceleration of the development cycle. The “Dynamic real-time I V Curve Measurement System…” provides a live picture of the current-voltage characteristics of a CPV module. This provides the user with an intuitive understanding of how module performance responds under perturbation. The “Shutter technique for noninvasive individual cell characterization in sealed concentrating photovoltaic modules,” allows the user to probe individual cell characteristics within a sealed module. This facilitates non-invasive characterization of modules that are in situ. Together, these tools were used to diagnose the wide spread failure of epoxy connections between the carrier and the emitter of bypass diodes installed in sealed commercial modules. Next, the optimization principals that are used to choose energy yield maximizing bandgap combinations for multi-junction solar cells are investigated. It is well understood that, due to differences in the solar resource in different geographical locations, this is fundamentally a local optimization problem. However, until now, a robust methodology for determining the influences of geography and atmospheric content on the ideal design point has not been developed. This analysis is presented and the influence of changing environment on the representative spectra that are used to optimize bandgap combinations is demonstrated. Calculations are confirmed with ground measurements in Ottawa, Canada and the global trends are refined for this particular location. Further, as cell designers begin to take advantage of more flexible manufacturing processes, it is critical to know if and how optimization criteria must change for solar cells with more junctions. This analysis is expanded to account for the differences between cells with up to 8 subcell bandgaps. A number of software tools were also developed for the Sunlab during this work. A multi-junction solar cell model calibration tool was developed to determine the parameters that describe each subcell. The tool fits a two diode model to temperature dependent measurements of each subcell and provides the fitting parameters so that the performance of multi-junction solar cells composed of those subcells can be modeled for real world conditions before they are put on-sun. A multi-junction bandgap optimization tool was developed to more quickly and robustly determine the ideal bandgap combinations for a set of input spectra. The optimization process outputs the current results during iteration so that they may be visualized. Finally, software tools that compute annual energy yield for input multi-junction cell parameters were developed. Both a brute force tool that computes energy harvested at each time step, and an accelerated tool that first bins time steps into discrete bins were developed. These tools will continue to be used by members of the Sunlab.

The description of a novel device to measure the spectral direct normal irradiance is presented. The solar spectral irradiance meter (SSIM) was designed at the University of Ottawa as a cost-effective alternative to a prohibitively expensive field spectroradiometer (FSR). The latter measures highly-varying and location-dependent solar spectrum, which is essential for accurate characterization of a concentrating photovoltaic system’s performance. The SSIM measures solar spectral irradiance in several narrow wavelength bands with a combination of photodiodes with integrated interference filters. This device performs spectral measurements at a fraction of the cost of a FSR, but additional post-processing is required to deduce the solar spectrum. The model was developed to take the SSIM’s inputs and reconstruct the solar spectrum in 280–4000 nm range. It resolves major atmospheric processes, such as air mass changes, Rayleigh scattering, aerosol extinction, ozone and water vapour absorptions. The SSIM was installed at the University of Ottawa’s CPV testing facility in September, 2013. The device gathered six months of data from October, 2013 to March, 2014. The mean difference between the SSIM and the Eppley pyrheliometer was within ±1.5% for cloudless periods in October, 2013. However, interference filter degradation and condensation negatively affected the performance of the SSIM. Future design changes will improve the longterm reliability of the next generation SSIMs.

La formation d’un squelette de CaCO3 par les coraux Scléractiniaires est à la base de l’édification des récifs coralliens. Nombre de ces coraux constructeurs de récif vivent en symbiose avec des Dinoflagellés photosynthétiques. Ces deux processus reposent sur le transport et l’utilisation de carbone inorganique (Ci) provenant de l’eau de mer pour la photosynthèse, et du métabolisme animal pour la calcification. Cette thèse s’est intéressée à l’étude moléculaire et physiologique des mécanismes, permettant l’utilisation de ce carbone inorganique.Malgré l’importance des transports de HCO3-, aucun transporteur n’a été caractérisé à cejour et leur implication dans la physiologie des coraux n’est que suggérée par la pharmacologie. Durant cette thèse nous avons cloné un gène codant pour un transporteur deHCO3- chez le corail Acropora sp. La conversion de ce HCO3- en CO2 pour la photosynthèse est facilitée par l’acidification de l’environnement proche du Dinoflagellé dans la cellule animale. Cette acidification est causée par une H+-ATPase de type P que nous avons caractérisée. Ce gène est le premier à montrer une expression dépendante de la vie en symbiose chez le symbiote.Nous avons aussi cloné et localisé deux anhydrases carboniques (AC). L’une impliquée dans la calcification et l’autre dans la régulation du pH intracellulaire et l’équilibre entre leCO2 et HCO3-. Une étude pharmacologique de ces deux AC, a identifié des molécules inhibitrices et activatrices qui ont permis des expériences de physiologie in vivo. Celles-ci permettent une analyse plus discriminante du rôle des AC dans la calcification. / Coral reefs edification is based on the formation of a calcium carbonate skeleton byscleractinian corals. Many of these reef-building corals establish a symbiotic association with photosynthetic Dinoflagellates. Both processes involve the transport and utilization of inorganic carbon (Ci) coming from seawater for photosynthesis, and from animal metabolismfor calcification. This work focused on the molecular and physiological study of poorlyknown mechanisms that allow the utilization of Ci.Despite the importance of bicarbonate transport, no transporter has been characterized and their role in coral physiology is only suggested by pharmacological experiments. We have cloned a gene encoding a bicarbonate transporter in the coral Acropora sp. The conversion of this bicarbonate into CO2 for photosynthesis is mediated by the acidification of the are asurrounding the Dinoflagellate in the animal cell. This is performed by a P type H+-ATPasethat we characterized here. This is the first gene with a symbiosis-dependent expression in the symbiont.This work also allowed the cloning and the localization of two carbonic anhydrases (CA).The first one is involved in calcification, the second one plays a role in the intracellular pHregulation and the CO2 / HCO3- equilibrium. A pharmacological study of these two enzymes identified inhibitor and activator compounds that have been then used in physiology experiments. This last approach represents a more accurate study of the role of CAs incalcification.

Thermal radiation is a fundamental heat transfer process, with certain basic aspects still not fully understood. Furthermore, tailoring its properties has potential to affect a wide range of applications, particularly thermophotovoltaics (TPV) and radiative cooling. TPV converts heat into electricity using thermal radiation to illuminate a photovoltaic diode, with no moving parts. With its realistic efficiency limit up to 50% (heat source at 1200 ^oC), TPV has garnered substantial interest. However, state-of-the-art TPV demonstrations are still well below theoretical limits, because of losses from generating and efficiently converting or recycling thermal radiation. In this thesis, tailored integrated photonic crystal structures are numerically simulated to enhance the efficiency of solar TPV. Next, a high-temperature thin-film Si-based selective absorber and emitter is designed, fabricated and experimentally characterized. It exhibits great potential to open up new applications, as it lends itself to large-scale production with substantial mechanical flexibility and excellent spectral selectivity for extended time periods, even when operating under high operating temperatures (600 ^oC) for up to 6 hours, with partial degradation after 24 hours. To perform this high-temperature characterization, an emittance measurement setup has been built; its performance agrees well with numerical simulations. Second, a unique passive cooling mechanism known as radiative cooling is developed to reduce the operating temperature of the photovoltaic diode. The significant effect of radiative cooling as a complement for an all-passive-cooling TPV system is proposed and numerically analyzed under a range of conditions. Furthermore, an outdoor experiment has been performed to demonstrate the effect of radiative cooling on a concentrating photovoltaic system, which can potentially be applied to the thermal management of a TPV system. In summary, this work paves the way towards the development of reliable, quiet, lightweight, and sustainable TPV and radiatively cooled power sources for outdoor applications.

The change in climate as a consequence of anthropogenic activities is a subject ofmajor concerns. In order to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions inthe atmosphere, the utilization of renewable, fossil-free power generationapplications becomes inevitable. Geothermal and solar energy play a major rolein covering the increased demand for renewable energy sources of today’s andfuture’s society. A special focus hereby lies on the Concentrating Solar Powertechnologies and different geothermal concepts. The costs for producingelectricity through Concentrating Solar Power and therefore Parabolic Trough Collectorsas well as geothermal conversion technologies are still comparatively high. Inorder to minimize these expenses and maximize the cycle’s efficiency, thepossible synergies of a hybridization of these two technologies becomeapparent. This thesis therefore investigates the thermodynamic and economicbenefits and drawbacks of this combination from a global perspective. For that,a Parabolic Trough Collector system is combined with the geothermal conversionconcepts of Direct Steam, Single and Double Flash, Organic Rankine as well asKalina Cycles. The solar integrations under investigation are Superheat,Preheat and Superheat & Reheat of the geothermal fluid. The thermodynamicanalysis focuses on the thermal and utilization efficiencies, as well as therequired Parabolic Trough Collector area. The results indicate that in the caseof the Superheat and Superheat & Reheat setup, the thermal efficiency canbe improved for all geothermal concepts in comparison to their correspondinggeothermal stand-alone case. The Preheat cases, with the major contributionfrom solar energy, are not able to improve the cycle’s thermal efficiencyrelative to the reference setup. From an exergy perspective the findings varysignificantly depending on the applied boundary conditions. Still, almost allcases were able to improve the cycle’s performance compared to the referencecase. For the economic evaluation, the capital investment costs and thelevelized costs of electricity are studied. The capital costs increasesignificantly when adding solar energy to the geothermal cycle. The levelizedelectricity costs could not be lowered for any hybridization case compared tothe reference only-geothermal configurations. The prices vary between20.04 €/MWh and 373.42 €/MWh. When conducting a sensitivity analysison the solar system price and the annual mean irradiance, the Kalina Superheatand Superheat & Reheat, as well as the Organic Rankine Preheathybridizations become cost competitive relative to the reference cases.Concluding, it is important to remark, that even if the hybridization of the ParabolicTrough and the different geothermal concepts makes sense from a thermodynamicperspective, the decisive levelized costs of electricity could not be improved.It is, however, possible that these costs can be further reduced under speciallocal conditions, making the addition of Parabolic Trough solar heat tospecific geothermal concepts favorable.

An elementary school in the Stockholm suburb Mariehäll, for children aged 6-11 as well as a daycare centre. The school will cater to approximately 700 students and a centre for art and culture, which will be available to the public. The school is located in the new residential area Annedal, adjacent to the local park and Bullerbytorget. This project explores the correlation between architecture and learning, with the purpose of creating an environment that meets the needs of students with difficulties in concentrating. This has influenced the orientation of the building and the classrooms, the organisation of the plan and the materials and colours used in the various rooms. The program is divided into two volumes – one which houses the actual school and daycare centre, and one which consists of administration and the centre for art and culture. These are connected by a souterrain storey which contains the school cafeteria, and entrances from the street and the square. The school grounds are located four meters above street level, which allows the roof of the lower volume to function as a part of the playground. / En grundskola i stadsdelen Mariehäll i Stockholm, för årskurs F-5, samt förskola. Skolan ska inhysa cirka 700 elever samt ett uthyrningsbart kulturcentrum. Skolan är placerad centralt i det nybyggda bostadsområdet Annedal, mellan Annedalsparken, Bullerbytorget och Tappvägen. Detta projekt utforskar samspelet mellan arkitekturen och inlärningsmiljön, och syftar till att skapa en skola som möter de behov som finns hos elever med koncentrationssvårigheter. Detta har påverkat orienteringen av byggnaden och lärosalarna, organisationen av planen, samt färgsättning och materialval i de olika rummen. Programmet är uppdelat i två volymer – en som inhyser själva skolan och förskolan, och en som utgörs av administration samt kulturcentrum. Dessa kopplas samman av ett suterrängplan, som innehåller skolrestaurang, samt entréer från torg och gata. Skolgården ligger fyra meter över gatunivån, och den låga volymens tak blir således en del av skolgården.

No description available.

<p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>Concentrator photovoltaics have demonstrated greater solar energy production efficiency than previous solar electric technologies.  However, recent research reveals that heat management is a significant difficulty in CPV systems, and if left unaddressed, it can have a severe influence on system efficiency and lifetime. Traditional CPV cooling relies on active methods such as forced air convection, or liquid cooling, which might lead to an extremely large parasitic power use. In addition, the moving parts of a cooling system result in a shorter lifespan and higher maintenance expenses. </p> <p><br></p> <p>CPV systems can boost their efficiency and lifespan by adopting passive cooling solutions. This work employed radiative cooling and natural convection to construct an efficient and cost-effective cooling system. The excess heat of a solar cell can be dispersed into space via electromagnetic waves via radiative cooling. Due to the fact that the radiative cooling power is related to the difference between the fourth powers of the solar cell and the ambient temperature, much greater cooling powers can be obtained at higher temperatures. Heat pipes were installed to act as a heat pump by transferring excessive heat from solar cells within a system to the exterior, where it can be dissipated via natural air cooling and thermal radiation. Experiments conducted in this study demonstrate that a temperature reduction of 21 ◦C was accomplished through radiative cooling and natural convection, resulting in an increase of 64 mV, or 17% in the open-circuit voltage of a GaSb solar cell.</p>

Thesis (PhD) -- Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Currently the reduction of the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) is the main goal of concentrating solar power (CSP) research. Central to a cost reduction strategy proposed by the American Department of Energy is the use of advanced power cycles like supercritical steam Rankine cycles to increase the efficiency of the CSP plant. A supercritical steam cycle requires source temperatures in excess of 620°C, which is above the maximum storage temperature of the current two-tank molten nitrate salt storage, which stores thermal energy at 565°C. Metallic phase change materials (PCM) can store thermal energy at higher temperatures, and do not have the drawbacks of salt based PCMs. A thermal energy storage (TES) concept is developed that uses both metallic PCMs and liquid metal heat transfer fluids (HTF). The concept was proposed in two iterations, one where steam is generated directly from the PCM – direct steam generation (DSG), and another where a separate liquid metal/water heat exchanger is used – indirect steam generation, (ISG). Eutectic aluminium-silicon alloy (AlSi12) was selected as the ideal metallic PCM for research, and eutectic sodium-potassium alloy (NaK) as the most suitable heat transfer fluid. Thermal energy storage in PCMs results in moving boundary heat transfer problems, which has design implications. The heat transfer analysis of the heat transfer surfaces is significantly simplified if quasi-steady state heat transfer analysis can be assumed, and this is true if the Stefan condition is met. To validate the simplifying assumptions and to prove the concept, a prototype heat storage unit was built. During testing, it was shown that the simplifying assumptions are valid, and that the prototype worked, validating the concept. Unfortunately unexpected corrosion issues limited the experimental work, but highlighted an important aspect of metallic PCM TES. Liquid aluminium based alloys are highly corrosive to most materials and this is a topic for future investigation. To demonstrate the practicality of the concept and to come to terms with the control strategy of both proposed concepts, a storage unit was designed for a 100 MW power plant with 15 hours of thermal storage. Only AlSi12 was used in the design, limiting the power cycle to a subcritical power block. This demonstrated some practicalities about the concept and shed some light on control issues regarding the DSG concept. A techno-economic evaluation of metallic PCM storage concluded that metallic PCMs can be used in conjunction with liquid metal heat transfer fluids to achieve high temperature storage and it should be economically viable if the corrosion issues of aluminium alloys can be resolved. The use of advanced power cycles, metallic PCM storage and liquid metal heat transfer is only merited if significant reduction in LCOE in the whole plant is achieved and only forms part of the solution. Cascading of multiple PCMs across a range of temperatures is required to minimize entropy generation. Two-tank molten salt storage can also be used in conjunction with cascaded metallic PCM storage to minimize cost, but this also needs further investigation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tans is die minimering van die gemiddelde leeftydkoste van elektrisiteit (GLVE) die hoofdoel van gekonsentreerde son-energie navorsing. In die kosteverminderingsplan wat voorgestel is deur die Amerikaanse Departement van Energie, word die gebruik van gevorderde kragsiklusse aanbeveel. 'n Superkritiese stoom-siklus vereis bron temperature hoër as 620 °C, wat bo die 565 °C maksimum stoor temperatuur van die huidige twee-tenk gesmelte nitraatsout termiese energiestoor (TES) is. Metaal fase veranderingsmateriale (FVMe) kan termiese energie stoor by hoër temperature, en het nie die nadele van soutgebaseerde FVMe nie. ʼn TES konsep word ontwikkel wat gebruik maak van metaal FVM en vloeibare metaal warmteoordrag vloeistof. Die konsep is voorgestel in twee iterasies; een waar stoom direk gegenereer word uit die FVM (direkte stoomopwekking (DSO)), en 'n ander waar 'n afsonderlike vloeibare metaal/water warmteruiler gebruik word (indirekte stoomopwekking (ISO)). Eutektiese aluminium-silikon allooi (AlSi12) is gekies as die mees geskikte metaal FVM vir navorsingsdoeleindes, en eutektiese natrium – kalium allooi (NaK) as die mees geskikte warmteoordrag vloeistof. Termiese energie stoor in FVMe lei tot bewegende grens warmteoordrag berekeninge, wat ontwerps-implikasies het. Die warmteoordrag ontleding van die warmteruilers word aansienlik vereenvoudig indien kwasi-bestendige toestand warmteoordrag ontledings gebruik kan word en dit is geldig indien daar aan die Stefan toestand voldoen word. Om vereenvoudigende aannames te bevestig en om die konsep te bewys is 'n prototipe warmte stoor eenheid gebou. Gedurende toetse is daar bewys dat die vereenvoudigende aannames geldig is, dat die prototipe werk en dien as ʼn bevestiging van die konsep. Ongelukkig het onverwagte korrosie die eksperimentele werk kortgeknip, maar dit het klem op 'n belangrike aspek van metaal FVM TES geplaas. Vloeibare aluminium allooie is hoogs korrosief en dit is 'n onderwerp vir toekomstige navorsing. Om die praktiese uitvoerbaarheid van die konsep te demonstreer en om die beheerstrategie van beide voorgestelde konsepte te bevestig is 'n stoor-eenheid ontwerp vir 'n 100 MW kragstasie met 15 uur van 'n TES. Slegs AlSi12 is gebruik in die ontwerp, wat die kragsiklus beperk het tot 'n subkritiese stoomsiklus. Dit het praktiese aspekte van die konsep onderteken, en beheerkwessies rakende die DSO konsep in die kollig geplaas. In 'n tegno-ekonomiese analise van metaal FVM TES word die gevolgtrekking gemaak dat metaal FVMe gebruik kan word in samewerking met 'n vloeibare metaal warmteoordrag vloeistof om hoë temperatuur stoor moontlik te maak en dat dit ekonomies lewensvatbaar is indien die korrosie kwessies van aluminium allooi opgelos kan word. Die gebruik van gevorderde kragsiklusse, metaal FVM stoor en vloeibare metaal warmteoordrag word net geregverdig indien beduidende vermindering in GLVE van die hele kragsentrale bereik is, en dit vorm slegs 'n deel van die oplossing. ʼn Kaskade van verskeie FVMe oor 'n reeks van temperature word vereis om entropie generasie te minimeer. Twee-tenk gesmelte soutstoor kan ook gebruik word in samewerking met kaskade metaal FVM stoor om koste te verminder, maar dit moet ook verder ondersoek word.

In Swedish dialects we find the terms ris,skäver and skärva referring to illnesses in children. The words are also parts of various compounds which refer to variants of the illnesses. The terms are linguistic expressions denoting two folk categories of illnesses, RIS and SKÄVER/SKÄRVA. These categories are investigated from a cognitive semantic perspective. The cognitive perspective argues that we organize our understanding of reality by using Idealized Cognitive Models (ICM) based on our physical, mental and emotional experiences of the world. The aim is twofold: to demonstrate the bases on which an experienced illness is placed in a certain category, and to show how a folk conception of illness is reflected in the word formation strategies. The word formation strategies emanate from notions of characteristic symptoms, and from notions of causes of illnesses. Both categories, RIS and SKÄVER/SKÄRVA, are based on a number of ICM's. The category RIS is a radial structure, which means that the category is held together although its members have no structural criteria in common. The category SKÄVER/SKÄRVA is a concentrating structure, meaning that all members share all structural criteria. There is a strong connection between word formation strategies and the structures of the categories. Terms related to symptoms refer to members of a category which are part of a radial structure, while terms related to causes refer to members of a category which are part of a concentrating structure. This can be explained by two of the basic assumptions of cognitive semantics: semantic content is structred and symbolized overtly on the surface form of a language and categories are conventional, based on cultural assumptions about the world. / digitalisering@umu