Hybridizing, in general, is the approach of combining multiple technologies, materials, or designs such to mitigate the drawbacks and enhance the benefits. The result of this combination can be referred to as a hybrid. The projects described in this work concern a number of these hybrids. The collection of projects are limited to optical applications, but are otherwise enormously different. There is perhaps no better way to illustrate this breadth than their characteristic length-scale. That is, the general size of the elements being hybridized. Ten orders of magnitude lie between the smallest system described and largest systems. At the several-nanometer scale, a single component of a composite optical material. Diamond possesses a unique combination of refractive and dispersive optical properties, making it an attractive optical material. Unfortunately, the lowest cost diamond available possesses large amounts of impurities and color. In an attempt to remove the visible color from commercially available detonation-origin nanodiamond powders we developed a facile three-step cleaning process. This process and the resulting qualities of the nanodiamond are discussed. At tens to hundreds of nanometers scale, we have worked to optimize a complete composite material system; a combination of Polystyrene-b-poly (2-vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-P2VP), a block co-polymer with self-assembly properties, and controlled size iron platinum (FePt) nanoparticles. The applications in mind are magnetic field sensors, used in medical testing and physical experiments, and fiber optic isolators, used extensively in telecommunications networks. These composites exhibited commercially significant Verdet constants in room temperature Faraday rotation measurements, and possess processing benefits over the current state-of-the-art magneto-optically active materials. Several behaviors with respect to wavelength, particle loading, and primary particle size are discussed. At the micron to centimeter scale, we have designed and characterized a high-speed fiber-optic switch for telecommunications networks capable of reconfiguring 100 times faster than currently available technologies with comparable port counts. The switch is an unconventional hybrid of the micron-scale optics of single-mode fiber modes, and the centimeter scale of free-space holography. Built primarily using off-the-shelf components and a commercially available digital micro-mirror device (DMD), the switch is protocol and bit-rate agnostic, robust against random mirror failure, and provides the basic building block for a fully reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexer (ROADM).Finally, at the scale of several meters, we address a system that hybridizes two established methods for harvesting solar energy. Sunlight can be captured as electricity using photovoltaics (PV), as well as heat, often called concentrated solar power (CSP). Each approach has benefits and drawbacks which will be discussed. A system possessing the peak efficiency of PV, with the deployable storage of CSP, would most effectively meet demand around the clock. In order to combine these technologies, we have developed an approach for designing a dichroic coating to optimize performance of such a system utilizing multi-junction photovoltaic cells while diverting unused light to heat collection. Through careful design substantial improvement to system efficiencies are shown to be possible.

Residential building sector accounts for significant share of primary energy demand in Sweden. Worldwide, generation from photovoltaic (PV) distributed energy resources is increasing, yet their potential in Sweden has been underdeveloped, in particular due to high system costs. Recent drop in module prices could however trigger more interest in such systems. In this thesis, the financial performance of residential PV plant utilizing the most recent data is carried out. The specific aim is to determine whether private investment into a PV system can be cost-effective. In the analysis, a grid-connected PV microgenerator with nominal power of 5.5 kWp, 34 m2 of arrays and 6 kW inverter is assessed. Expected lifetime of the system is 25 years, where 80% of the electricity output is self-consumed and 20% fed back to the main grid. Discount and escalation rates are utilized to calculate simple payback period, net present value, benefit-cost ratio, cost of conserved energy and internal rate of return (IRR) of the investment. Further, a scenario analysis is worked out to determine the change in the microgenerator’s performance outside of baseline set of parameters. The results are presented both under the default market conditions and with the inclusion of government support mechanisms. The PV plant did not financially perform well under the default conditions. State rebates and tax credit significantly enhanced the results and contributed to the cost-effectiveness of the investment. In the baseline scenario with government support, significant positive results in all the metrics used in the financial appraisal were yielded. The IRR also indicated that loans at various interest rates could be obtained to finance the PV system. The study emphasized the necessity of government support if a faster uptake of distributed PV systems is desired in Sweden. The results of this thesis can be utilized by potential investors (consumers) in their decision-making process, especially when they face an opportunity cost of investment. / COMPLEX - Knowledge Based Climate Mitigation Systems for a Low Carbon Economy, a EU FP7 project (2012-2016)

<p> </p><p>This degree project aims at developing a concept for how to use solar energy to pump up water. The target audience is people living in areas where the functioning of the electricity and water network is absent. In these areas, the hand-powered water pump is the most common technology. The degree project's goal is to find an economically viable alternative to the time consuming hand-powered water pumps. The power comes from solar energy. Studies have shown that 90% of the hand pumps that have been installed have broken down within the first three years. This is because of an incorrect basic design that severely shortens lifetime.</p><p>How would a simple and robust design look like? An information seeking phase about the conditions and techniques that exist in these areas, were the basis for the requirements of the concept. Because of this the authors chose a concept similar to a simple steam engine. The pump uses vaporized water, by means of concentrating sunlight to pump up water. In total, 33 different concepts were created. The concepts were filtered in three stages that resulted in a final concept. The final concept contains a reflective dish that concentrates the sunlight to a receiver where the water evaporates. The built up pressure forces up water towards the surface from a tank located below the groundwater. The system is designed to supply 25 families with 2.5 cubic meters of water a day. The pump is working during the daily 8 hours of sunshine. The system will have an expected low efficiency <5.3% which is the theoretical maximum efficiency. Further development of the system requires a detailed analysis of the situation on the ground. Tests should be performed to examine how well the technology works and how sensitive the system is to disturbances.</p><p> </p>

The United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Operations Center obtained American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funding to conduct an ethnographic overview of select proposed solar energy zones (SEZs) to augment the research that had been conducted for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Development in Six Southwestern States (Draft Solar PEIS). The objective of this project was to solicit tribal identification of traditional cultural properties and sacred landscapes, religious and traditional use sites, significant ethnobotanical resources, other sensitive or significant resources (including visual), and tribal perspectives on the direct and indirect effects of solar energy development through oral interviews and on-site visits to proposed SEZs in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) was selected to perform this work, assisted by the University of Arizona’s Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA). As the project progressed, the list of participating tribes was modified to accommodate changing tribal needs and requests. When the tribe that had requested to participate in an ethnographic study for three of the California SEZs (Imperial East, Iron Mountain, and Riverside East) was unable to participate, the scope of the project was modified. In the Draft Solar PEIS, the high cost of conducting Class I archaeological records searches for the four California SEZs had precluded that research; the current project was modified from ethnographic interviews to a Class I records search for all four California SEZs (Imperial East, Iron Mountain, Pisgah, and Riverside East) by SWCA. BARA conducted ethnographic studies for Amargosa Valley, Delamar Valley, Dry Lake, East Mormon Mountain, Gold Point, and Millers in Nevada (inclement weather prevented visits to Dry Lake Valley North), and for Escalante Valley, Milford Flats South, and Wah Wah Valley in Utah.

This thesis applies concepts and techniques in geography in order to contribute to our understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with the transition toward renewable energy. The work is best understood as the sum of two parts. In the first part, the methodological and philosophical underpinnings of the field of energy geography are explored in order to situate the research in the broader constellation of geographical practices surrounding energy. I make the case that energy transitions are not merely shifts in energy supply but are also simultaneously fundamental shifts in prevailing spatial relations, so that energy transition management is best conceived as a spatial strategy with emphasis on regional level land-energy planning. In the second part of the thesis, I aim to provide decision support in favour of this spatial strategy. This begins in Chapter 4 with a comprehensive critical review of how GIScience and remote sensing has been applied in RE assessments and spatial planning. The next three chapters engage key gaps in this literature and are the analytical contributions of the thesis. The focus of the research is on biomass and solar energy in (eastern) Ontario. In Chapter 5 I develop geographically explicit supply-cost curves for forestry and agricultural biomass and assess the relative merits of a mixed biomass feedstock stream. In Chapter 6 I recognize and address the issue that developers of dedicated bioenergy crops and ground-mount solar PV systems prefer the same type of land. Land-energy trade-offs are modeled and their implications in the context of incentivizing RE development are discussed. In Chapter 7 I explore ways in which targeted facility siting can capture ancillary benefits related to RE production. I argue that focusing on the benefits as well as the costs of system siting is critical to linking developer and public interests. Ontario’s feed-in tariff program is evaluated in the light of this claim. Chapter 8 concludes with a summary of key findings and describes the ways in which this thesis can be used as a platform upon which a broader research program can be raised. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2013-07-03 00:36:53.142

A novel and original category of low-cost static solar-daylighting-collectors named Keywo solar energy, solar collectors, daylighting systems, nonimaging optics, Refractive Integrated Nonimaging Solar Collectors (RINSC) has been designed and thoroughly tested. The RINSC category is based on nonimaging optics and integrates several optical elements, such as prismatic arrays and light guides, into a single-structured embodiment made of solid-dielectric material. The RINSC category is sub-divided in this thesis into four distinctive and original sub-categories/systems: Prismatic Solar Collectors (PSC), Multi-Prismatic Solar Collectors (MPSC), Integrated Multi-Prismatic Solar Collectors (IMPSC) and Vertically Integrated Nonimaging Solar Collectors (VINSC). The optical configuration and compact embodiment of these systems allows them to be integrated into a building façade without creating any protrusion, indicating that they can lead to solar collector systems with high building integration potential. Laboratory and outdoor experimental tests conducted with a series of demonstration prototypes made of clear polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and manufactured by laser ablation process, yield peak transmission efficiencies TE varying from 2% to 8%. Computer simulations indicated that transmission efficiencies TE > 30% are possible. The design and development of the innovative optical systems introduced in this thesis were backed-up with extensive computer ray-tracing analysis, rapid-prototyping, laboratory and outdoor experimental tests. Injection moulding computer simulations and surface analysis concerning the development of the RINSC systems were also conducted. Basic theory and comprehensive literature review are presented. This research has also resulted in the design and prototyping of a novel optical instrumentation named Angular Distribution Imaging Device (ADID), specially developed to analyse the spatial distribution of light emerging from the exit aperture of solar collectors/concentrators. The systems and knowledge described in this thesis may find application in areas such as solar collector systems to harvest sunlight for natural illumination in buildings, solar-photovoltaic and solar-thermal.

Simulations are a good method for the verification of the correct operation of solar-powered sensor nodes over the desired lifetime. They do, however, require accurate models to capture the influences of the loads and solar energy harvesting system. Artificial neural networks promise a simplification and acceleration of the modeling process in comparison to state-of-the-art modeling methods. This work focuses on the influence of the modeling process's different configurations on the accuracy of the model. It was found that certain parameters, such as the network's number of neurons and layers, heavily influence the outcome, and that these factors need to be determined individually for each modeled harvesting system. But having found a good configuration for the neural network, the model can predict the supercapacitor's charge depending on the solar current fairly accurately. This is also true in comparison to the reference models in this work. Nonetheless, the results also show a crucial need for improvements regarding the acquisition and composition of the neural network's training set.

The global market for photovoltaics (PV) has increased rapidly: during 2014, 44 times more was installed than in 2004, partly due to a price reduction of 60-70% during the same time period. Economic support schemes that were needed to make PV competitive on the electricity market have gradually decreased and self-consumption of PV electricity is becoming more interesting internationally from an economic perspective. This licentiate thesis investigates self-consumption of residential PV electricity and how more PV power can be allowed in and injected into a distribution grid. A model was developed for PV panels in various orientations and showed a better relative load matching with east-west-oriented compared to south-oriented PV panels. However, the yearly electricity production for the east-west-system decreased, which resulted in less self-consumed electricity. Alternatives for self-consumption of PV electricity and reduced feed-in power in a community of detached houses were investigated. The self-consumption increased more with shared batteries than with individual batteries with identical total storage capacity. A 50% reduction in feed-in power leads to losses below 10% due to PV power curtailment. Methodologies for overvoltage prevention in a distribution grid with a high share of PV power production were developed. Simulations with a case with 42% of the yearly electricity demand from PV showed promising results for preventing overvoltage using centralized battery storage and PV power curtailment. These results show potential for increasing the self-consumption of residential PV electricity with storage and to reduce stress on a distribution grid with storage and power curtailment. Increased self-consumption with storage is however not profitable in Sweden today, and 42% of the electricity from PV is far more than the actual contribution of 0.06% to the total electricity production in Sweden in 2014.

The cost of the present generation of inorganic silicon solar cells is very high and further breakthroughs in cost and efficiency using traditional materials are becoming less and less likely after over 50 years of development. Next generation organic solar cells offer a solution to the limitations of silicon through the vision of low-cost, liquid-based, large area fabrication technology based on polymer and nanomaterials at room temperature. However, most polymers used in solar cells are dissolved in organic solvents such as xylene, toluene, chloroform, and chlorobenzene. Such solvents are harmful to people and environments, leading to higher costs due to complicated waste disposal processing. This is in conflict with the low cost, green, and renewable energy for which we are aiming. To realize a green organic solar cell, a novel solar cell has been created using an environmentally friendly water-soluble thiophene polymer [(Sodium poly[2-(3-thienyl)-ethoxy-4-butylsulfonate])] (PTEBS) and nanocrystalline TiO2. This novel system has shown great potential in photovoltaics the work has garnered the attention of the international community.In our innovative solar cells, the water-soluble polythiophene (PTEBS) is used as electron donor. Nanoparticle TiO2 acts as electron acceptor. PTEBS/TiO2 solar cells with various structures including bilayer heterojunctions, bulk heterojunctions and a hybrid of bilayer and bulk heterojunctions have been developed and explored. These results are comparable to the best polymer/metal-oxide solar cells reported by other groups using organic solvents.In summary, this is the first time that green solar cells have been fabricated from environmentally friendly water-soluble polymers. By using water as the solvent and utilizing liquid-based processing, the cost of the energy generated by this type of solar cell will be further lowered. In addition, the flexible polymer offers the ease of fabrication and integration into different devices.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy has become a topic of intense policy debate at the state level in the United States (U.S.). Solar supporters have pointed to the economic development, environmental, and public health benefits this technology can provide. However, electric utilities and other interests have fought to scale back or cut favorable state PV policies as grid-connected solar PV installations have increased, due to decreased profits, grid complications, and customer fairness, among other reasons. This research first uses a hierarchical regression analysis with cross-sectional data from the years 2012–2013 to examine the suite of state-level policies used to encourage state non-utility PV installations. Comparing the impact of various policy approaches to other factors such as electricity costs, electricity market deregulation, per capita income, and the availability of solar energy resources, this research finds net energy metering to be the most important policy driver of non-utility PV installed capacity. Given this finding, the research shifts its focus to community net energy metering or shared solar, which is an innovative policy approach that allows multiple consumers to share the costs and benefits of ownership in an off-site solar PV facility, opening market access to a wide variety of individuals. Using the punctuated equilibrium framework and semi-structured telephone interviews with policy experts across the U.S. from the solar industry, environmental groups, government, and electric utilities, this research discovers that electric utility lobbying and an overall lack of attention have hindered community solar enabling legislation. However, opportunities exist for future development via increased participation, collaboration, and key events that may alter the policy equilibrium. Finally, this method is utilized in Virginia to more narrowly study why the state has dismissed community solar legislation multiple times. Such an approach is useful in understanding how other historically laggard states may adopt community net energy metering or shared solar legislation in the future.