Submitted by Marco Antônio de Ramos Chagas (mchagas@ufv.br) on 2017-04-20T13:00:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 327861 bytes, checksum: 10b3c4ac9c1fb002cc94c4da4da28d0e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-20T13:00:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 327861 bytes, checksum: 10b3c4ac9c1fb002cc94c4da4da28d0e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2002-12-03 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / A busca de alimentos produzidos sob um sistema de manejo menos agressivo ao meio ambiente vem sendo adotado por um número cada vez maior de produtores. Entretanto, apesar de existirem diversos benefícios na redução ou até eliminação do uso de defensivos, a grande diversidade de doenças em tomateiro (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), capazes de limitar a produção, torna necessária a busca por alternativas viáveis, eficientes e tecnicamente comprovadas. Dentre os organismos mais estudados, bactérias têm sido relatadas como agentes de biocontrole capazes de atuar por meio de mecanismos como antibiose, parasitismo, competição e indução de resistência. O presente trabalho teve como objetivos selecionar bactérias do filoplano do tomateiro, baseado em uma estratégia de seleção in vivo, verificando se há um método de isolamento que permita obter antagonistas eficientes no controle da pinta-preta, causada por Alternaria solani, requeima por Phytophthora infestans, mancha-bacteriana pequena por Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato e mancha-bacteriana por Xanthomonas vesicatoria. Objetivou ainda estudar a possibilidade dos mecanismos de antibiose e indução de resistência serem responsáveis pelo controle destas doenças e se testes de antibiose in vitro são adequados como critério de seleção. Caracterizar aspectos biológicos dos antagonistas que podem otimizar sua aplicação como agente de biocontrole. Determinar a quais produtos antimicrobianos os isolados são insensíveis, visando fornecer subsídios para o desenvolvimento de meios semi-seletivos e estudos de dinâmica populacional. Verificar sua compatibilidade com antibióticos e fungicidas registrados para o controle de enfermidades do tomateiro, a fim de inseri-lo no sistema de manejo integrado e estudar a eficiência de antagonistas selecionados em condições de campo. Os resultados demonstram que, em folíolos mais jovens, os métodos de isolamento que visam obter bactérias da população total e da superfície do filoplano, foram os que permitiram obter a maioria dos antagonistas. O único obtido de folíolos mais velhos foi proveniente da população capaz de habitar sítios protegidos do filoplano e/ou resistir a fatores de estresse. Não se observou relação entre características biológicas dos antagonistas e dos patógenos testados. Nos testes de antibiose com os antagonistas selecionados, o isolado UFV-STB 6 foi capaz de produzir compostos voláteis e inibir a germinação de cistos de Phytophthora infestans, o que possivelmente deve estar envolvido no controle da requeima. O isolado UFV-IEA 6 produziu quitinase, havendo uma tendência em reduzir a taxa de crescimento de Alternaria solani por compostos voláteis. Ficou demonstrado que os testes de antibiose in vitro são inadequados como critério para seleção de agentes de biocontrole do filoplano de tomateiro. A caracterização dos melhores antagonistas demonstrou que três são bactérias Gram-positivas, em forma de bastonete, e uma Gram-negativa, pleiomórfica. Dentre as Gram-positivas todas são anaeróbias facultativas e uma forma endósporos. Nenhum antagonista foi capaz de causar reação de hipersensibilidade (HR) em fumo e produzir pigmento fluorescente in vitro. Os períodos de geração calculados a partir das curvas de crescimento revelaram que três isolados são capazes de se multiplicar rapidamente em meio de cultura, o que é uma característica desejável. Os resultados obtidos a partir dos antibiogramas, mostraram que existem antibióticos que podem ser utilizados para elaboração de meios semi-seletivos, adequados a cada antagonista e os testes de compatibilidade com antibióticos e fungicidas utilizados na cultura do tomateiro revelaram que os antagonistas podem ser expostos aos fungicidas benomyl, enxofre, dimetomorph e tiofanato-metílico. Verificou-se também a inadequação de se utilizarem compostos antimicrobianos em meio de cultura para isolamento de agentes bacterianos de controle biológico, uma vez que os antagonistas selecionados foram sensíveis à maioria dos produtos testados. Os testes com as enzimas indicadoras do estado de indução de resistência, β-1,3-glucanases, Fenilalanina amônia-liase (PAL), Peroxidases (PO), Polifenoloxidases (PPO) e Lipoxigenases (LOX), indicaram que o isolado UFV-IEA 6 foi capaz de promover aumento significativo na atividade das PO, evidenciando a possibilidade do antagonista agir como indutor de resistência. Esse parece ser o primeiro caso que se tem conhecimento de uma bactéria não fitopatogênica do filoplano induzindo resistência na mesma cultura de onde foi obtida. Os testes com os dois antagonistas em condições de campo demonstraram que UFV-STB 6 foi o mais eficiente em reduzir a severidade da requeima no terços médio e superior das plantas, enquanto UFV-IEA 6, somente no terço superior. Houve tendência na redução do progresso da septoriose por UFV-STB 6 e capacidade em diminuir o número de frutos com sintomas de requeima. Os resultados demonstram o potencial de uso dos agentes de biocontrole selecionados para as doenças da parte aérea de tomateiro estudadas. / Farmers are increasingly adapting environmentally less aggressive management systems for food production and there are many benefits in reducing or even eliminating pesticide use. Due to a large number of production limiting diseases on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), it is desirable to find technically viable and proven alternatives for their control. Among the microorganisms, bacteria have been reported as biocontrol agents capable of acting through antibiosis, parasitism, competition and induced resistance. The present study aimed at selecting the tomato phylloplane bacteria, based on in vivo isolation strategy, and to determine if this method permits obtaining efficient antagonists to control Alternaria solani leaf spot, Phytophthora infestans blight, small bacterial leaf spot caused by Pseudomonas syringe pv tomato, and bacterial leaf spot caused by Xanthomonas vesicatoria. The study also aimed at determining mechanisms of action, such as antibiosis and induced resistance, involved in disease control, and to determine if the antibiosis tests are sufficient selection criteria. The study also included biological characterization of the antagonists that may optimize their use. To help develop selective or semi-selective media for population dynamic studies, insensitivity of selected isolates to some antimicrobial compounds was also determined. The compatibility of select antagonists with antibiotics and fungicides registered for control of tomato diseases was elucidated so that the antagonist can be inserted in the integrated management. Field studies were done to determine the efficiency of select antagonists. The isolation method that obtain total bacterial population from the phylloplane of the young leaflets permitted obtaining maximum number of antagonists. The only one isolate obtained from the older leaflets originated from the population capable of inhabiting protected sites of phylloplane and/or that resist stress factors. There was no relation between biological characteristics of the antagonists and of the pathogen tested. In the antibiosis testes, the isolate UFV-STB 6 produced volatile compounds that inhibited germination of P. infestance cyst and may be involved in the control of blight. The isolate UFV-IEA 6 produced chitinase and showed a tendency to reduce A. solani growth by the volatile compounds. In vitro antibiosis testes were inadequate criteria to select biocontrol agents from tomato phylloplane. The characterization of promising antagonists showed that three were Gram positive bacilli and one was gram negative pleiomorphic bacteria. Among the Gram positives all were facultative anaerobes and the one formed endospores. None of the antagonists caused hypersensitive reaction (HR) in tobacco, and did not produce fluorescent pigment in vitro. The generation period calculated from the growth curve revealed that three isolates are capable of multiplying rapidly in the culture media, which is a desirable characteristic. The antibiograms showed that there are antibiotics that can be used for elaboration of semi-selective media for each of antagonists and the compatibility testes with antibiotics and fungicides used on tomato crop revealed that the antagonists can be exposed to fungicides such as benomyl, sulfur, dimethomorph and thiophante-methyl. Many antimicrobial compounds were inhibitory to the selecte antagonists in culture media used for isolation of bacterial biocontrol agents, therefore were inadequate for use in selective media. The analysis of enzymes involved in induced resistance, like -1,3-gluconase, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), peroxidase (PO), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and lipoxigenase (LOX), showed that the isolate UFV-IEA 6 was capable of increasing PO activity, showing the possibility of being a resistance inducer . This appears to be the first case of a non-pathogenic phylloplane bacterium inducing resistance in a plant of origin. The field testes with two antagonists, UFV-STB 6 was more efficient in reducing the blight severity in the middle and upper third of the plant, while UFV-IEA 6 only in the upper third. The latter isolate also showed a tendency for reducing the Septoria leaf spot progress and the number of fruits with the blight symptoms. The results showed these isolates have the potential of use to control tomato diseases of aerial parts. / Tese importada do Alexandria

Submitted by Marco Antônio de Ramos Chagas (mchagas@ufv.br) on 2017-04-24T14:18:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 179014 bytes, checksum: 6dc994175521b9e665bebeec3986f34a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-24T14:18:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 179014 bytes, checksum: 6dc994175521b9e665bebeec3986f34a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-06-27 / Estudos sobre a patologia de sementes de feijão e a dinâmica temporal de epidemias do crestamento bacteriano comum do feijoeiro foram realizados com o objetivo de melhor conhecer a doença nas condições brasileiras. Em um primeiro estudo avaliou-se a incidência de Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli (Xap) em 19 lotes de sementes provenientes, em sua maioria, do Distrito Federal. As sementes foram avaliadas pelos métodos de semeio direto e de inoculação do extrato de sementes em plantas suscetíveis, em duas condições ambientes, casa-de-vegetação e câmara de crescimento (30°C). Em 16 dos 19 lotes avaliados observou-se contaminação com Xap. Os métodos de plantio direto e extrato de sementes foram eficientes e de uso prático em laboratórios de rotina. Em um segundo estudo avaliou-se a transmissão de Xap, das sementes para as plântulas de feijão, em quatro cultivares e uma linhagem de feijão. Estudou-se ainda o efeito da idade de vagens na contaminação das sementes. Ambos os ensaios foram realizados duas vezes. Xap foi transmitida da semente para as plântulas, em todas as cultivares avaliadas. Além disso, com a maturação das vagens, houve redução significativa na produção de sementes sintomáticas. Finalmente, estudou-se a dinâmica temporal de epidemias do crestamento bacteriano comum do feijoeiro, em Viçosa, MG e no Distrito Federal. Foram avaliados os componentes epidemiológicos taxa de progresso, valor máximo de severidade e a área abaixo da curva de progresso da doença. Tentou-se, ainda, correlacionar dados de temperatura, precipitação e umidade aos de severidade da doença no campo. Detectou-se uma relação entre a severidade da doença no campo e a fenologia da cultura de feijão, além da correlação da temperatura, precipitação e a severidade. Porém, a umidade relativa não foi correlacionada aos dados de severidade obtidos. / Seed pathology of beans and temporal dynamics of common halo blight studies were done to better know about the disease in the Brazilian conditions. The first work concerned to the contamination of bean seeds by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli was evaluated in 19 samples from Cerrados Brazilian Savana region, Brazil. Growing- on test and extraction followed by inoculation of suspension in bean susceptible plants were the two techniques used to assess the seeds. Growing-on tests were conducted in two environmental conditions: greenhouse and growing chamber at 30°C. X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli was found in sixteen samples. Seeds were placed in sterilized distilled water for bacterial extraction and the suspension obtained was inoculated in bean susceptible plants. Occurrence of symptoms was observed and the pathogen was detected in 16 samples. In the second work seed transmission of X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli was evaluated in some bean cultivars often used in comercial crops in Brazil. Two assays had been carried out and the results showed high rate of seed transmission of X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli in the cultivars. Rates of transmission ranged from 5,66 to 86,36% according to each cultivar. The effect of phenology of pods in seeds contamination was studied. Results showed that as younger as pods are, higher is the incidence of symptomatic seeds. Finally temporal dynamics of bean halo common blight epidemics were analyzed in two Brazilian locations, Federal District (Cerrados Savanna Region) and Viçosa, MG. Three epidemiological components were compared: disease progress rate (r), maximum intensity of disease (Ymax) and area under the viiidisease progress curve (AUDPC). Among the Gompertz, logistic, and monomolecular models, the monomolecular model fitted better disease severity data over time in Viçosa experiments. Disease severity was related to plant phenology, mean temperature, and rain intensity. However no correlation was found between disease severity and relative humidity. / Tese importada do Alexandria

This thesis aims to design and simulate a building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system for three demo buildings in Ludvika, Sweden, which is part of the Energy- Matching’s project under the European H2020 research scheme. A literature review was firstly conducted in the area of energy scenarios, engineering tools, methodologies and the workflows in design and building energy modelling. Then, this thesis developed the three-dimensional (3D) building models of the demo site, based on the Revit – a building information modelling (BIM) tool. Next, the PVSITES tool was considered as the main approach to simulate and optimize the BIPV system. Results on the energy output of the dedicated BIPV system, as well as financial costs, were finally obtained. It was found that the optimal location for the BIPV system was on the three buildings south and east faced roofs, with a total area of approximately 800 meters squared (m2) and a yearly irradiance potential between 1020 kilowatts hours per meter squared (kWh/m2) and 925 kWh/m2 respectively. The simulation showed that this BIPV system of 615 m2 with a power of 36 kilowatts-peak (kWp) could yield a maximum of 29,000 kilowatts hours per year (kWh), a 5% of the total yearly energy demand of the building and over the summer, this percentage increases considerably. With the estimated standards costs, the BIPV system have a 12 years payback period and 61% investment ratio over a 20 years period, concluding that a BIPV system on the Ludvika demo building is a feasible project, in terms of energy potential and as well as economically. This thesis also concludes that performing the BIPV simulation on the BIM platform is both reliable and flexible, and also has the potential to be reused, refined and scaled up.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:35:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-05-13Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:45:54Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silvajunior_taf_dr_botfca.pdf: 1093180 bytes, checksum: 562817be3d67ef9a5b0d63fa5e506cb7 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / A murcha-de-curtobacterium, causada por Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff), é uma das principais doenças bacterianas da cultura do feijoeiro, acarretando grandes perdas na produção dessa cultura. Até o momento existem poucas informações sobre os diferentes nichos de sobrevivência desta bactéria e de sua gama de hospedeiras. Em vista disso, este trabalho teve por objetivos principais verificar a capacidade de sobrevivência saprofítica de Cff em restos de cultura de feijoeiro mantidos na superfície do solo e enterrados à 20 cm de profundidade; a influência da temperatura, umidade e do tipo de solo no período de sobrevivência da bactéria em solo; determinar a gama de hospedeiras de Cff inoculadas artificialmente, tanto por ferimento no caule, como por aspersão de suspensão bacteriana na parte aérea das plantas; a capacidade de colonização de Cff do rizoplano de plantas de aveia e trigo; e o efeito do pré-plantio de aveia e trigo na ocorrência da murcha-de-curtobacterium. Quanto à capacidade de sobrevivência de Cff em restos de cultura de feijoeiro, foi demonstrado que a bactéria possui menor capacidade de sobrevivência quando os restos vegetais são incorporados ao solo e também em épocas com maiores índices de precipitação e temperaturas mais altas. O período de sobrevivência do patógeno nos restos culturais de feijoeiro mantidos na superfície do solo variou entre 165 e 240 dias e nos restos vegetais enterrados a 20 cm de profundidade, o período de sobrevivência foi inferior a 30 dias. Quanto à sobrevivência de Cff na forma de células livres no solo, foi verificado que a temperatura, a umidade e o tipo do solo têm influencia na capacidade de sobrevivência da bactéria. O tempo de sobrevivência de Cff variou entre dois e quinze dias. Das 30 espécies botânicas inoculadas artificialmente com Cff, a bactéria causou lesões na parte... / Bacterial wilt caused by Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff) is one of the main bacterial diseases affecting bean culture, leading to great losses in its production. So far there is scarce information about the different survival niches and host range of this bacterium. Thus, the present study had as major aims to verify Cff capability of saprophytically surviving in bean debris kept on the soil surface and buried at 20 cm depth; to assess the influence of temperature, humidity and soil type on the survival period of this bacterium in soil; to determine the host range for artificially inoculated Cff, either through stem injury or through bacterial sprinkling onto the shoot of plants; to verify Cff capability of colonizing the rhizoplane of oat and wheat plants; and to assess the effect of oat and wheat pre-planting on the occurrence of bean bacterial wilt. Cff had decreased capability of surviving in bean debris when the latter were incorporated into the soil and during periods of higher rainfall rates and temperatures. The pathogen survival period in bean culture remnants kept on the soil surface ranged from 165 and 240 days, while in plant debris buried at 20 cm depth the survival period was inferior to 45 days. The survival capability of Cff as free cells in soil was influenced by temperature, humidity and soil type. Cff survival time varied between two and fifteen days. Of 30 plant species artificially inoculated with Cff, bean and soy shoot had lesions caused by the bacterium which endophytically colonized wheat leaves and soy and wheat stem and leaves. Cff was also shown to have no capability of colonizing oat and wheat rhizoplane while the pre-planting of these grass plants, before bean culture establishment, had no effect on the occurrence of bean bacterial wilt

abstract: The prevalence of renewable generation will increase in the next several decades and offset conventional generation more and more. Yet this increase is not coming without challenges. Solar, wind, and even some water resources are intermittent and unpredictable, and thereby create scheduling challenges due to their inherent “uncontrolled” nature. To effectively manage these distributed renewable assets, new control algorithms must be developed for applications including energy management, bridge power, and system stability. This can be completed through a centralized control center though efforts are being made to parallel the control architecture with the organization of the renewable assets themselves—namely, distributed controls. Building energy management systems are being employed to control localized energy generation, storage, and use to reduce disruption on the net utility load. One such example is VOLTTRONTM, an agent-based platform for building energy control in real time. In this thesis, algorithms developed in VOLTTRON simulate a home energy management system that consists of a solar PV array, a lithium-ion battery bank, and the grid. Dispatch strategies are implemented to reduce energy charges from overall consumption ($/kWh) and demand charges ($/kW). Dispatch strategies for implementing storage devices are tuned on a month-to-month basis to provide a meaningful economic advantage under simulated scenarios to explore algorithm sensitivity to changing external factors. VOLTTRON agents provide automated real-time optimization of dispatch strategies to efficiently manage energy supply and demand, lower consumer costs associated with energy usage, and reduce load on the utility grid. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Engineering 2015

abstract: This is a two-part thesis: Part 1 characterizes soiling losses using various techniques to understand the effect of soiling on photovoltaic modules. The higher the angle of incidence (AOI), the lower will be the photovoltaic (PV) module performance. Our research group has already reported the AOI investigation for cleaned modules of five different technologies with air/glass interface. However, the modules that are installed in the field would invariably develop a soil layer with varying thickness depending on the site condition, rainfall and tilt angle. The soiled module will have the air/soil/glass interface rather than air/glass interface. This study investigates the AOI variations on soiled modules of five different PV technologies. It is demonstrated that AOI effect is inversely proportional to the soil density. In other words, the power or current loss between clean and soiled modules would be much higher at a higher AOI than at a lower AOI leading to excessive energy production loss of soiled modules on cloudy days, early morning hours and late afternoon hours. Similarly, the spectral influence of soil on the performance of the module was investigated through reflectance and transmittance measurements. It was observed that the reflectance and transmittances losses vary linearly with soil density variation and the 600-700 nm band was identified as an ideal band for soil density measurements. Part 2 of this thesis performs statistical risk analysis for a power plant through FMECA (Failure Mode, Effect, and Criticality Analysis) based on non-destructive field techniques and count data of the failure modes. Risk Priority Number is used for the grading guideline for criticality analysis. The analysis was done on a 19-year-old power plant in cold-dry climate to identify the most dominant failure and degradation modes. In addition, a comparison study was done on the current power plant (framed) along with another 18-year-old (frameless) from the same climate zone to understand the failure modes for cold-dry climatic condition. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Engineering 2015

abstract: This is a two-part thesis. Part 1 of this thesis investigates the influence of spatial temperature distribution on the accuracy of performance data of photovoltaic (PV) modules in outdoor conditions and provides physical approaches to improve the spatial temperature distribution of the test modules so an accurate performance data can be obtained in the field. Conventionally, during outdoor performance testing, a single thermocouple location is used on the backsheet or back glass of a test module. This study clearly indicates that there is a large spatial temperature difference between various thermocouple locations within a module. Two physical approaches or configurations were experimented to improve the spatial temperature uniformity: thermally insulating the inner and outer surface of the frame; backsheet and inner surface of the frame. All the data were compared with un-insulated conventional configuration. This study was performed in an array setup of six modules under two different preconditioning electrical configurations, Voc and MPPT over several clear sunny days. This investigation concludes that the best temperature uniformity and the most accurate I-V data can be obtained only by thermally insulating the inner and outer frame surfaces or by using the average of four thermocouple temperatures, as specified in IEC 61853-2, without any thermal insulation. Part 2 of this thesis analyzes the field data obtained from old PV power plants using various statistical techniques to identify the most influential degradation modes on fielded PV modules in two different climates: hot-dry (Arizona); cold-dry (New York). Performance data and visual inspection data of 647 modules fielded in five different power plants were analyzed. Statistical tests including hypothesis testing were carried out to identify the I-V parameter(s) that are affected the most. The affected performance parameters (Isc, Voc, FF and Pmax) were then correlated with the defects to determine the most dominant defect affecting power degradation. Analysis indicates that the cell interconnect discoloration (or solder bond deterioration) is the dominant defect in hot-dry climate leading to series resistance increase and power loss, while encapsulant delamination is being the most dominant defect in cold-dry climate leading to cell mismatch and power loss. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2015

abstract: Utility scale solar energy is generated by photovoltaic (PV) cell arrays, which are often deployed in remote areas. A PV array monitoring system is considered where smart sensors are attached to the PV modules and transmit data to a monitoring station through wireless links. These smart monitoring devices may be used for fault detection and management of connection topologies. In this thesis, a compact hardware simulator of the smart PV array monitoring system is described. The voltage, current, irradiance, and temperature of each PV module are monitored and the status of each panel along with all data is transmitted to a mobile device. LabVIEW and Arduino board programs have been developed to display and visualize the monitoring data from all sensors. All data is saved on servers and mobile devices and desktops can easily access analytics from anywhere. Various PV array conditions including shading, faults, and loading are simulated and demonstrated. Additionally, Electrical mismatch between modules in a PV array due to partial shading causes energy losses beyond the shaded module, as unshaded modules are forced to operate away from their maximum power point in order to compensate for the shading. An irradiance estimation algorithm is presented for use in a mismatch mitigation system. Irradiance is estimated using measurements of module voltage, current, and back surface temperature. These estimates may be used to optimize an array’s electrical configuration and reduce the mismatch losses caused by partial shading. Propagation of error in the estimation is examined; it is found that accuracy is sufficient for use in the proposed mismatch mitigation application. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2016

abstract: Polycrystalline CdS/CdTe solar cells continue to dominate the thin-film photovoltaics industry with an achieved record efficiency of over 22% demonstrated by First Solar, yet monocrystalline CdTe devices have received considerably less attention over the years. Monocrystalline CdTe double-heterostructure solar cells show great promise with respect to addressing the problem of low Voc with the passing of the 1 V benchmark. Rapid progress has been made in driving the efficiency in these devices ever closer to the record presently held by polycrystalline thin-films. This achievement is primarily due to the utilization of a remote p-n heterojunction in which the heavily doped contact materials, which are so problematic in terms of increasing non-radiative recombination inside the absorber, are moved outside of the CdTe double heterostructure with two MgyCd1-yTe barrier layers to provide confinement and passivation at the CdTe surfaces. Using this design, the pursuit and demonstration of efficiencies beyond 20% in CdTe solar cells is reported through the study and optimization of the structure barriers, contacts layers, and optical design. Further development of a wider bandgap MgxCd1-xTe solar cell based on the same design is included with the intention of applying this knowledge to the development of a tandem solar cell constructed on a silicon subcell. The exploration of different hole-contact materials—ZnTe, CuZnS, and a-Si:H—and their optimization is presented throughout the work. Devices utilizing a-Si:H hole contacts exhibit open-circuit voltages of up to 1.11 V, a maximum total-area efficiency of 18.5% measured under AM1.5G, and an active-area efficiency of 20.3% for CdTe absorber based devices. The achievement of voltages beyond 1.1V while still maintaining relatively high fill factors with no rollover, either before or after open-circuit, is a promising indicator that this approach can result in devices surpassing the 22% record set by polycrystalline designs. MgxCd1-xTe absorber based devices have been demonstrated with open-circuit voltages of up to 1.176 V and a maximum active-area efficiency of 11.2%. A discussion of the various loss mechanisms present within these devices, both optical and electrical, concludes with the presentation of a series of potential design changes meant to address these issues. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2017

abstract: A Multi-input single inductor dual-output Boost based architecture for Multi-junction PV energy harvesting source is presented. The system works in Discontinuous Conduction Mode to achieve the independent input regulation for multi-junction PV source. A dual-output path is implemented to regulate the output at 3V as well as store the extra energy at light load condition. The dual-loop based sliding-mode MPPT for multi-junction PV is proposed to speed up the system response time for prompt irradiation change as well as maximize MPPT efficiency. The whole system achieves peak efficiency of 83% and MPPT efficiency of 95%. The whole system is designed, simulated in Cadence and implemented in PCB platform. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2017