With the development of solar energy, power conversion systems responsible for energy delivering from photovoltaic (PV) modules to ac or dc grid attract wide attentions and have significantly increased installations worldwide. Modular power conversion system has the highest efficiency of maximum power point tacking (MPPT), which can transfer more solar power to electricity. However, this system suffers the drawbacks of low power conversion efficiency and high cost due to a large number of power electronics converters. High-power density can provide potentials to reduce cost through the reduction of components and potting materials. Nowadays, the power electronics converters with the conventional silicon (Si) based power semiconductor devices are developed maturely and have limited improvements regarding in power conversion efficiency and power density. With the availability of wide bandgap devices, the power electronics converters have extended opportunities to achieve higher efficiency and higher power density due to the desirable features of wide bandgap devices, such as low on-state resistance, small junction capacitance and high switching speed. This dissertation focuses on the application of wide bandgap devices to the dc-dc power conversion for the modular PV applications in an effort to improve the power conversion efficiency and power density. Firstly, the structure of gallium-nitride (GaN) device is studied theoretically and characteristics of GaN device are evaluated under testing with both hard-switching and soft-switching conditions. The device performance during steady-state and transitions are explored under different power level conditions and compared with Si based devices. Secondly, an isolated high-efficiency GaN-based dc-dc converter with capability of wide range regulation is proposed for modular PV applications. The circuit configuration of secondary side is a proposed active-boost-rectifier, which merges a Boost circuit and a voltage-doubler rectifier. With implementation of the proposed double-pulse duty cycle modulation method, the active-boost-rectifier can not only serve for synchronous rectification but also achieve the voltage boost function. The proposed converter can achieve zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) of primary side switches and zero-current-switching (ZCS) of secondary side switches regardless of the input voltages or output power levels. Therefore, the proposed converter not only keeps the benefits of highly-efficient series resonant converter (SRC) but also achieves a higher voltage gain than SRC and a wide range regulation ability without adding additional switches while operating under the fixed-frequency condition. GaN devices are utilized in both primary and secondary sides. A 300-W hardware prototype is built to achieve a peak efficiency of 98.9% and a California Energy Commission (CEC) weighted efficiency of 98.7% under nominal input voltage condition. Finally, the proposed converter is designed and optimized at 1-MHz switching frequency to pursue the feature of high-power density. Considering the ac effects under high frequency, the magnetic components and PCB structure are optimized with finite element method (FEM) simulations. Compared with 140-kHz design, the volume of 1-MHz design can reduce more than 70%, while the CEC efficiency only drops 0.8% at nominal input voltage condition. There are also key findings on circuit design techniques to reduce parasitic effects. The parasitic inductances induced from PCB layout of primary side circuit can cause the unbalanced resonant current between positive and negative half cycles if the power loops of two half cycles have asymmetrical parasitic inductances. Moreover, these parasitic inductances reflecting to secondary side should be considered into the design of resonant inductance. The parasitic capacitances of secondary side could affect ZVS transitions and increase the required magnetizing current. Because of large parasitic capacitances, the dead-time period occupies a large percentage of entire switching period in MHz operations, which should be taken into consideration when designing the resonant frequency of resonant network. / Doctor of Philosophy / Solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energies to replace the conventional fossils. Power electronics converters are necessary to transfer power from solar panels to dc or ac grid. Since the output of solar panel is low voltage with a wide range and the grid side is high voltage, this power converter should meet the basic requirements of high step up and wide range regulation. Additionally, high power conversion efficiency is an important design purpose in order to save energy. The existing solutions have limitations of narrow regulating range, low efficiency or complicated circuit structure. Recently, the third-generation power semiconductors attract more and more attentions who can help to reduce the power loss. They are named as wide band gap devices. This dissertation proposed a wide band gap devices based power converter with ability of wide regulating range, high power conversion efficiency and simple circuit structure. Moreover, this proposed converter is further designed for high power density, which reduces more than 70% of volume. In this way, small power converter can merge into the junction box of solar panel, which can reduce cost and be convenient for installations.

Ce travail se focalise sur l’étude de cellules solaires organiques modèles basées sur le mélange de poly(3-hexylthiophène) (P3HT) et de l'ester méthylique de l'acide [6,6]-phényl C61 butyrique (PCBM). La corrélation entre la morphologie de la couche active, les paramètres de mises en œuvre et le rendement photovoltaïque a été soigneusement étudiée afin d’obtenir l’optimisation de l’efficacité de tels dispositifs. Une méthode originale pour contrôler la séparation de phases dans ces mélanges a été proposée et consiste à l'intégration de copolymères blocs comme additifs. Trois copolymères séquencés ont été utilisés en tant qu’agents de nanostructuration et/ou d'agents de nucléation. Il a notamment été montré que l'incorporation de P3HT-b-PI permet l'augmentation du nombre de cristallites de P3HT tout en limitant l’agglomération du PCBM. D'autre part, l'incorporation de P3HT-b-P4VP dans les mélanges de P3HT:PCBM a permis de contrôler l'orientation des cristallites de P3HT, améliorant par ce fait le transport de charge dans les dispositifs. / This work investigates organic solar cells made of a blend of polymeric materials based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as model system. The correlation between the photovoltaic active layer morphology and the performance of the organic solar cell is thoroughly investigated. The chosen method for controlling phase separation in the polymeric blends is to incorporate block copolymers as additives. Three systematically selected block copolymers were used as nanostructuring and/or nucleating agents. Indeed, the incorporation of P3HT-b-PI induces the increase in the number of P3HT crystallites as well as suppresses the growth of PCBM aggregates. On the other hand, the incorporation of P3HT-b-P4VP into P3HT:PCBM decreases the crystallization of P3HT but increases its face-on orientation, a requirement for an enhanced charge transport in organic PV devices.

Switched mode power supplies (SMPS) have found wide spread acceptance in all power processing applications. The design demand is moving towards higher power densities. For reduction in size and weight, it is imperative to process the power at a higher switching frequency. High switching frequency requires soft switching techniques to reduce the switching losses. Several families of soft switching converters have emerged in the past two decades. Analysis and modelling methods have been proposed in relation with these topologies. Active clamp converters are the recently introduced soft switching topologies. Steady state analysis and model of these converters have been reported in literature. This thesis presents a unified equivalent circuit oriented model for the family of active clamp converters. Analytical expressions for DC conversion ratio in terms of pole current and throw voltage are derived for all the DC-DC converters with active clamp. The special feature is that, the conversion ratio exhibits a load dependent drop (IRd), where I is the pole current and Rd is the damping resistance. The damping resistance Rd is a mathematical artifact to represent the voltage loss on account of delay in the turn-on of the active switch. There is no energy loss associated with this load dependent drop. This is conveniently expressed as an appropriate lossless resistance in the equivalent circuit model. The proposed equivalent circuit models are valid for both steady-state and dynamic performance. A spread sheet based design is presented for the basic DC-DC converters with active clamp. A prototype design following the spreadsheet is made. The performance of the same is validated and verified by simulation and measurements. Steady state and dynamic results are presented. The stability criterion for the active clamp converters under current programming is investigated. The same is verified through simulation and validated on a current programmed active clamp converter prototype. The active clamp converters suffer from a few disadvantages: Higher VA ratings of switches, load dependent ZVS performance and increased component count. Several soft switching topologies have been reported in literature. Efficiency improvement and increase in switching frequency are obtained to different degrees. This thesis proposes a new family of soft switching converters. This family of converters switch at constant frequency and maintains the advantages of traditional PWM converters. The proposed topology employs an auxiliary circuit to achieve soft switching. The auxiliary circuit consists of a dependent voltage source, an auxiliary switch, a series diode and a set of resonant elements (Inductor and capacitor). The switching transitions of both the active switch and the auxiliary switch are lossless. The novelty in the proposed circuit is the method of generating the dependent source required to enable zero current switching of the auxiliary switch. The dependent source is realized by a coupled winding in the energy storage inductor or tapped from the energy transfer transformer of non-isolated and isolated converters respectively. The proposed topology is applicable to most of the isolated and non-isolated DC-DC converters. The circuit equations governing the sub-intervals of the converter are expressed in terms of pole current and throw voltage. With such a definition, performance results and the design equations are identical for all types of DC-DC converters. Equivalent circuit models are obtained for the whole family of DC-DC converters. The proposed model is valid for steady state and dynamic performance. Analytical expressions of DC conversion ratio for all topologies, in terms of pole current and throw voltage are derived. The special feature is that, the conversion ratio exhibits a load dependent drop (IRd), where I is the pole current and Rd is the damping resistance. The damping resistance Rd is a mathematical artifact to represent the voltage loss on account of delay in the turn-on of the active switch. There is no energy loss associated with this load dependent drop. This is conveniently expressed as an appropriate lossless resistance in the equivalent circuit model. Design guidelines are established for the whole family of proposed converters; the same are validated through prototype converters.

?rea de concentra??o: Produtos e coprodutos. / Submitted by Jos? Henrique Henrique (jose.neves@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2017-10-03T14:42:21Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) wayler_silva_santos.pdf: 9149649 bytes, checksum: 7d300a18f29fb2d1bfa9a3ab5c806ad3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2017-10-09T14:02:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) wayler_silva_santos.pdf: 9149649 bytes, checksum: 7d300a18f29fb2d1bfa9a3ab5c806ad3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-09T14:02:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) wayler_silva_santos.pdf: 9149649 bytes, checksum: 7d300a18f29fb2d1bfa9a3ab5c806ad3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017 / Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM) / Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) / A convers?o da energia da radia??o solar em H2(g), combust?vel verde, usando-se c?lulas fotoeletroqu?micas (PEC) ? uma estrat?gia atraente para armazenar energia e minimizar o uso extensivo de combust?veis f?sseis. Neste trabalho, foram fabricados fotoeletrodos por deposi??o spray pyrolysis de um comp?sito de BiVO4/Bi4V2O11 puro ou dopado com W, depositado diretamente sobre um substrato condutor FTO (sigla para fluorine-doped tin oxide) ou sobre uma camada de SnO2 previamente depositada sobre o substrato FTO. Inicialmente, os materiais foram testados na clivagem molecular da ?gua. Verificou?se a forma??o de uma camada de invers?o de buracos induzida pela perovskita ferroel?trica Bi4V2O11 na interface com BiVO4 de tipo?n criando uma jun??o p?n virtual. A fotovoltagem de sa?da elevada da jun??o, em rela??o a uma heterojun??o p?n convencional, que pode ser ainda aumentada alterando-se a polariza??o e dopando-se o material ferroel?trico com tungst?nio, acarreta diminui??o da recombina??o dos pares el?tron?buracos fotogerados na superf?cie e aumenta a fotocorrente em at? 180%. O comportamento de semicondutores de tipo?p e n quando iluminados sugere o uso potencial da heterojun??o como fotoanodo e fotocatodo em uma c?lula PEC (ou photoelectrochemical cell) com dois fotoeletrodos. Este conceito foi comprovado pela conex?o do fotoanodo BiVO4/Bi4V2O11 dopado com 1% em massa de tungst?nio com o fotocatodo BiVO4/Bi4V2O11 n?o dopado. O sistema formado pelo acoplamento fotoanodo-fotocatodo produziu uma fotovoltagem de 1,54 V, e 0,36% de efici?ncia STH (solar-to-hydrogen efficiency). Um fotoeletrodo BiVO4/Bi4V2O11 dopado com 2% em massa de W foi otimizado. Evidenciou-se a forma??o da camada de invers?o de buracos na interface semicondutora no filme mais denso. Este ?ltimo foi testado em diferentes solu??es, obtendo-se elevadas densidades de corrente em NaAc 0,5 mol L-1, ? medida que se adicionou glicerina e vinha?a. Obteve?se a menor resist?ncia na transfer?ncia de cargas na interface eletrodo/eletr?lito 1,16 k? sob ilumina??o, utilizando a solu??o NaAc 0,5 mol L-1 contendo 20 %v/v de vinha?a. Nessas condi??es, a efici?ncia da convers?o de energia foi aumentada em aproximadamente 100%, e dependendo do potencial aplicado a efici?ncia aumentou cerca de 30% em solu??o contendo 10 %v/v de glicerina, com rela??o ? solu??o NaAc 0,5 mol L-1 pura, demonstrando que glicerina e vinha?a atuam como agentes de sacrif?cio eficazes no sequestro de buracos eletr?nicos, para evitar a recombina??o dos pares de el?tron?buraco, no processo de foto?oxida??o acionado por buracos. / Tese (Doutorado) ? Programa de P?s-gradua??o em Biocombust?veis, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, 2017. / The conversion of solar energy into green fuel H2(g) using photoelectrochemical cells (PEC) is an attractive strategy for storing energy and minimizing the extensive use of fossil fuels. In this work, photoelectrodes were prepared by pyrolysis spray deposition from a pure or W?doped BiVO4/Bi4V2O11 composite deposited directly onto an FTO (fluorine-doped tin oxide) electron-conductive substrate or onto a SnO2 layer previously deposited on an FTO substrate. Initially, these materials were tested for molecular water cleavage. It was observed a hole inversion layer induced by the ferroelectric perovskite Bi4V2O11 at the interface of the n?type BiVO4; a virtual p?n junction with high output photovoltage in relation to a conventional p?n heterojunction was also created. Altering the polarization and doping the ferroelectric material with tungsten may increase the p-n heterojunction. This polarization also reduces the recombination of the photogenerated electron?hole pairs on the surface, to increase the photocurrent to as much as 180%. This characteristic behavior of the p?type and n?type semiconductors when illuminated suggests the use of such a heterojunction as photoanode and photocatode in a PEC cell with two coupled photoelectrodes. This concept was proved to effectively work, by connecting the photovoltaic BiVO4/Bi4V2O11 doped with 1 mass% of W to the non?doped BiVO4/Bi4V2O11 photocathode, which produced a high photovoltage of 1.54 V, and 0.36% STH (solar-to-hydrogen) efficiency. A BiVO4/Bi4V2O11 photoelectrode doped with 2 mass% tungsten was optimized, evidencing the inversion of the hole layer at the semiconductor interface in the resulting denser film. This film tested in different liquid solutions revealed to produce high current densities in 0.5 mol L-1 sodium acetate (NaAc), if glycerol and vinasse were added. The electric resistance in the charge transfer at the electrode/electrolyte interface was relatively low, or 1.16 k? under illumination using 0.5 mol L-1 NaAc solution containing 20 %v/v vinasse. Adding vinasse meant an increase of the energy conversion efficiency corresponding to approximately 100%, and depending on the applied potential efficiency increased by about 30% in solution containing 10% v/v glycerin, relatively to the pure 0.5 mol L-1 NaAc solution. These results evidence that glycerin and vinasse act as effective sacrificing agents, to sequester holes and avoid the recombination of electron?hole pairs in the photo?oxidation driven by holes.

Abstract The qualitative and quantitative characteristics of each component layer constituting the structure of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells (OSC-BHJ) contribute significantly towards its overall performance. One of the prevalent issues resulting in reduced device efficiency is due to the conformational inhomogeneities in the active and buffer layers. The mechanical stress, extended thermal exposure and presence of mutually reactive component layers etc., affects negatively on the device stability. Effective methods to address these issues will be extensively benefited by the industry since the current commercialisation of the technology is hindered owing to the lower efficiency and stability of these devices. This dissertation focuses on methods to coherently enhance the performance and longevity of the OSC-BHJ devices. The efficiency enhancements of the devices in this work were achieved through two main routes. The first route was through morphological improvement of the active layer. The second route was through boosting the electrical characteristics of hole transporting conducting polymer layer (HTL) by controlled annealing conditions. The introduction of a suitable additive in the active layer was found to reduce unfavourable phase segregation thus resulting in enhanced morphology. Further, the annealing conditions in different atmospheres (air, nitrogen and vacuum) were found to have a clear influence on the optimum functioning of the HTL in the device. Regarding the stability improvement study done in this work, a method of employing suitable interlayer was developed to effectively abate the internal degradation occurring in the device due to etching reaction on the indium tin oxide (ITO) anode by the HTL. Moreover, experimental investigations were carried out for drawing fundamental understanding of stability degenerating issues such as the influence of mechanical defects on transparent conducting metal oxide (ITO) anode on the performance of the device and heat induced degradations in the low band gap polymer-fullerene active layer. The highlight of this research is that the discovered methods are inexpensive, efficient, and easy to adopt. The results of the study could help the technology to overcome some of its limitations and accelerate its progress towards commercialisation. / Tiivistelmä Orgaanisten heteroliitosaurinkokennojen kerrosrakenteen ominaisuudet ja laatu vaikuttavat merkittävästi aurinkokennojen toiminnallisuuteen. Erityisesti rakenteelliset epähomogeenisuudet aktiivi- ja puskurikerroksissa heikentävät kennon hyötysuhdetta. Kennojen stabiilisuutta tarkasteltaessa myös mekaanisella rasituksella, pitkittyneellä lämpöaltistuksella ja materiaalien reagoinneilla keskenään kerrosten välillä, on selkeä negatiivinen vaikutus kennojen stabiilisuuteen. Orgaanisen aurinkokennoteknologian kaupallistamisen rajoitteina ovat kennojen heikko hyötysuhde ja stabiilisuus, joten menetelmät jotka tarjoavat ratkaisuja edellä mainittuihin ongelmiin, ovat erittäin tärkeitä teknologiaa kaupallistavalle teollisuudelle. Tämä väitöskirja keskittyy johdonmukaisesti selvittämään tapoja, joilla voidaan parantaa heteroliitosaurinkokennojen hyötysuhdetta ja elinikää. Hyötysuhteen tehostamiseksi valittiin kaksi eri lähestymistapaa, joista ensimmäisessä keskityttiin aktiivikerroksen morfologian parantamiseen ja toisessa aukkoja kuljettavan kerroksen sähköisten ominaisuuksien parantamiseen lämpökäsittelyprosessin avulla. Sopivan lisäaineen avulla aktiivikerroksen ei-toivottua kiteytymistä voidaan pienentää ja parantaa näin kerroksen morfologiaa. Lisäksi työssä todettiin, että lämpökäsittelyn aikaisella ympäristöolosuhteella (ilma, typpi, tyhjiö) on merkittävä vaikutus puskurikerroksen optimaaliseen toimintaan aurinkokennossa. Stabiilisuuden parantamiseksi kehitettiin välikerroksen hyödyntämiseen perustuva menetelmä, jolla voidaan tehokkaasti vähentää kennojen sisäisessä rakenteessa tapahtuvaa toiminnallisuuden heikkenemistä, joka aiheutuu aukkoja kuljettavan kerroksen syövyttävästä vaikutuksesta indiumtinaoksidi (ITO) pohjaiseen anodiin. Tämän lisäksi työssä tutkittiin kokeellisesti stabiilisuuteen heikentävästi vaikuttavia tekijöitä, kuten mekaanisen rasituksen aiheuttamia vaurioita metallioksidi (ITO) anodissa ja lämpöaltistuksesta aiheutuvia vikoja polymeeri-fullereeni rakenteeseen perustuvassa aktiivikerroksessa. Tutkimuksen keskeisin tulos on, että esitellyt keinot aurinkokennojen hyötysuhteen ja stabiilisuuden parantamiseen ovat edullisia, tehokkaita ja helppoja hyödyntää. Tulokset voivat merkittävästi edistää orgaanisten aurinkokennojen teknistä kehitystä ja kiihdyttää niiden tuloa kaupallisiksi tuotteiksi.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-07-11T12:39:13Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Dissertação Mestrado M276 - Gilberto.pdf: 3559945 bytes, checksum: e0e92cec09c72c5a7b8b98260c3b9a8e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-11T12:39:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Dissertação Mestrado M276 - Gilberto.pdf: 3559945 bytes, checksum: e0e92cec09c72c5a7b8b98260c3b9a8e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-22 / Este trabalho apresenta um estudo comparativo de conversores monofásicos aplicados a sistemas fotovoltaicos sem transformador. Topologias de inversores sem transformador têm menores custos, tamanho e peso. Contudo, a não utilização do transformador pode ser responsável por consideráveis valores de correntes de fuga. A associação em série de vários módulos fotovoltaicos se faz necessária para alcançar o nível de tensão desejado no barramento c.c.. Com o intuito de reduzir o número de módulos fotovoltaicos em série, topologias com característica de elevação de tensão (boost) podem ser utilizadas. Portanto, topologias que possuem estas características e que possam apresentar baixos valores de correntes de fuga devem ser escolhidas para o estudo. As topologias presentes neste trabalho são: o conversor de dois estágios, o inversor fonte Z monofásico com diodo adicional, e o inversor fonte Z de três estados. / This work presents a comparative study of single-phase converters applied to transformerless photovoltaic systems. Topologies of transformerless inverters have lower costs, size and weight. However, not using it may cause considerable amounts of leakage currents. The association in series of several PV modules is needed to achieve the voltage level desired in d.c. bus. In order to reduce the number of photovoltaic modules in series, topologies with voltage boost characteristic can be used. Therefore, topologies that have voltage boost characteristic and can have low leakage current values are chosen for the study. Topologies present in this work are: the two stages single-phase converter, the single-phase Z-source inverter with additional diode, and the single-phase three switch three state Z-source inverter.

The topic of this work is the passivation of the active layer of perovskite solar cells with an inverted structure. The work is divided into theoretical and experimental part. The theoretical part describes in particular the passivation and modification of the perovskite layer as well as the characteristic properties of perovskite, including structure and stability. The experimental part deals with the preparation of photovoltaic cells with an inverted structure. For the characterization of photovoltaic cells, reference samples were prepared and their active layer was modified by plasma. The most used deposition technique for the preparation of layers was the spin coating method. From the performed experiments it can be concluded that the preparation of samples and their subsequent modification under laboratory conditions does not lead to the improvement of the final parameters of photovoltaic conversion. By transferring the sample preparation and passivation of the active layer to an inert atmosphere, it was possible to produce cells with higher efficiencies (compared to the reference sample), around 10 %. Another advantage of this plasma treatment of the active layer is that it also improves the stability of the prepared structures, which even after a few days in air show almost 80 % of the original efficiency.

Diploma thesis deals with the use of organic materials in photovoltaic applications and the study of their electric and dielectric properties. The theoretical part of thesis deals issue of the use of organic polymeric materials in photovoltaics and their advantages and disadvantages. Next are the results of various studies of organic solar cells by other authors. In the practical part of the work are shown experimental results (volt-ampere characteristics and impedance spectra) of samples of organic semiconductors and their evaluation.

Solar Bora AB is a Linköping based company that provides end to end solution for clean and reliable energy. System developed by them generates high power 230V AC to run electrical appliances. The system consist of string of batteries which are charged by rooftop solar cells and the energy stored in the batteries is converted to AC to provide a grid voltage like experience even though the system is not connected to a grid. Energy stored in the batteries need to be converted from DC to AC efficiently. Inverter used for conversion should be efficient enough to reduce losses. This master thesis deals with optimization and Up-gradation of Half-Bridge inverter board so that switching loss can be minimized to increase efficiency. Initial part of the thesis involves investigation of different parameters which contribute to losses in inverter. Based on that some improvements were suggested in existing design of half-bridge board. Another task involved in the thesis was complete re-design of half-bridge. More efficient and robust components were selected for complete re-design. Based on new components and its specifications a new circuit and PCB was designed in Altium Designer. Lab testing was performed to verify the functionality of new Half-bridge.

No description available.