The thesis engage in structure of solar collectors in theoretical part. Secondly, theory of thermal spraying coating and anodizing is subscribed. In practical part of thesis is proposition of producing a spectral selective surface suitable for solar absorbers. Finally the properties of the samples are checked by thermographic camera shots.

Circular polarization is valuable for many electromagnetic radiation applications such as wireless and satellite communication, radars, RFID, global positioning systems, etc. Many efforts have been made to manipulate and control polarization by using linear-to-linear or linear-to-circular transmission or reflection polarization converters. Most of the existing linear-to-circular single-layer polarizers have been found to be narrowband. Some attempts have been made to improve the bandwidth of these polarizers including using multiple layered structures at the expense of a bulkier device. There was, however, still a requirement for thin single-layer linear-to-circular polarizers with enhanced bandwidth. The purpose of this research was to design two thin single-layer linear-to-circular polarizers, one for transmission and the other for reflection, with enhanced bandwidth. A thin single-layer linear-to-circular transmission polarizer with a 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth of 34% is presented. The bandwidth of this polarizer is significantly better than that of previously published polarizers of the same type. The unit cell of the polarizer consists of an I-shaped strip and a perpendicular linear strip printed on the one side of a thin dielectric substrate and two additional capacitive coupling strips printed on the other side of the substrate. Experimental results were found to agree well with the simulated results. A thin single-layer reflective linear-to-circular polarizer with a 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth of 57% is also presented. The unit cell of the polarizer consists of an I-shaped strip and a perpendicular linear strip printed on the one side of a substrate and a ground plane on the other side of the substrate. Experimental results for this polarizer were also found to agree well with the simulated results. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

Yes / A Novel design of a curved single-layered frequency selective surface with an 11 × 11 array of a 13 × 13 mm-sized unit cell has been merged with a miniaturized, CPW-fed ultra-wideband monopole of dimensions (20 × 25 mm2) for gain enhancement. The suggested prototype, crafted on an FR-4 dielectric substrate and demonstrates a very broad bandwidth starting from 2.66 to 17.98 GHz (148%), which covers the entire UWB frequency band. The combined antenna-curved FSS reflector shows a very important gain improvement from 0.2–5.4 dB to 8.8–14.9 dB, having a peak gain increase of 10 dB at 10.6 GHz. Basic design features were studied and discussed through simulations, yielding promising results The proposed structure can be used in UWB and GPR applications. / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 31 Oct 2024.

<p>One of the traditional approaches to reduce costs of solar energy is to use inexpensive reflectors to focus the light onto highly efficient solar cells. Several research projects have resulted in designs, where the excess heat is used as solar thermal energy.</p><p>Unlike a solar thermal system, which has a selective surface to reduce the radiant heat loss, a CPV/T (Concentrating PhotoVoltaic/Thermal) system uses a receiver covered with solar cells with high thermal emittance.</p><p>This project analyzes whether the heat loss from the receiver can be reduced by covering parts of the receiver surface, not already covered with solar cells, with an optically selective coating. Comparing different methods of applying such a coating and the long-term stability of low cost alternatives are also part of the objectives of this project.</p><p>To calculate the heat loss reductions of the optically selective surface coating a mathematical model was developed, which takes the thermal emittances and the solar absorptances of the different surfaces into account. Furthermore, a full-size experiment was constructed to verify the theoretical predictions.</p><p>The coating results in a heat loss reduction of approximately 20 % in such a CPV/T system and one of the companies involved in the study is already changing their design to make use of the results.</p>

This thesis describes the development of antennas suitable for mobile coinmunication systems based on a dielectric rod antenna fed from circular waveguide. Pattern control of the antenna is implemented using a combination of Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) elements and metallic endcaps placed on the antenna Both linear and circular polarised feeds have been made for these antennas to ensure they are suitable for a wide range of applications. The suitability of the dominant and next, higher order, waveguide mode were investigated and conclusions drawn as to their suitability for this type of antenna. The antennas were extensively modelled using a commercial TLM based solver and the results of these simulations were compared to the comprehensive set of antenna pattern measurements and S-parameter measurements obtained for the prototype antennas.

Submitted by Márcio Maia (marciokjmaia@gmail.com) on 2016-08-08T11:50:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 4720590 bytes, checksum: c0e901cb90be3c102d0bd3f7a4bce0bd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-08T11:50:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 4720590 bytes, checksum: c0e901cb90be3c102d0bd3f7a4bce0bd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-04 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / The development of new materials and technologies have been shown to be very important when the goal is to make solar energy will be more economically attractive. One way to promote this attractiveness is increasing the efficiency of solar collectors, which can be done by use of so-called selective surfaces, or deposited coatings on absorbing plate solar radiation, which allow a maximum of absorbance in the solar spectrum while maintaining a minimum emittance in the infrared. Absorbers for producing films, it is necessary to use materials technology, energy and environmental efficiency, such as inorganic polymers (geopolymers). In the Earth's tropical regions, such as the state of Paraiba, there are materials with potential use for the synthesis of inorganic polymers that have not been evaluated, the Sugar Cane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) is one of them. So that this study sought to assess the SCBA's potential use as raw material for production of solar absorbing films. Through the use of two deposition techniques in three types of substrates, it was concluded that the SCBA has intrinsic selectivity, having potential use for the production of solar absorbing films. So that the best result set (film + substrate) exhibited peak and average absorption of respectively 88% and 65%. This surface was obtained from the SCBA.5.250 diluted in 10 g of H2O deposited by painting techniques on the glass substrate. / O desenvolvimento de novos materiais e tecnologias tem se mostrado de extrema importância quando o objetivo é fazer com que a energia solar venha a ser mais atrativa economicamente. Um dos modos de promover essa atratividade é aumentando a eficiência dos coletores solares, o que pode ser feito por meio da utilização das chamadas superfícies seletivas, ou seja, revestimentos depositados sobre placas absorvedoras de radiação solar, que permitem um máximo de absortância no espectro solar enquanto mantêm um mínimo de emitância no infravermelho. Para a produção de filmes absorvedores, faz-se necessário a utilização de materiais com eficiência tecnológica, energética e ambiental, tais como os polímeros inorgânicos (geopolímeros). Nas regiões tropicais da Terra, como é o caso do Estado da Paraíba, há materiais com potencial de utilização para a síntese de polímeros inorgânicos que ainda não foram avaliados, a Cinza do Bagaço da Cana-de-açúcar (CBC) é um deles. De forma que o presente trabalho procurou avaliar o potencial de uso da CBC como matéria-prima para produção de filmes absorvedores solares. Através da utilização de duas técnicas de deposição em três tipos de substratos, concluiu-se que a CBC apresenta seletividade intrínseca, tendo potencial de uso para produção de filmes absorvedores solares. De maneira que o melhor resultado do conjunto (filme+substrato) exibiu pico e média de absorção de, respectivamente, 88% e 65%. Essa superfície foi obtida a partir da CBC.5.250 diluída em 10 g de H2O depositada pela técnica de Pintura sobre o substrato de vidro.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / The using of alternatives materials to replace selective surfaces is a natural trend, because it usually looks for improvements on efficiency of surfaces at the same time that it tries to reduce costs. Composites are already used on obtainment of some selective surfaces, however, if the possibility to use residue that would be discarded was associated to these characteristics, providing an added-value, it would brings some benefits like a possible reduction of manufacturing costs. Thus, this thesis proposes the obtainment and study of selective surfaces for flat plate solar collectors for low cost by using residue from granite industry. Three different surfaces was studied, two of them of obtained on the laboratory, one is granite powder made and the other is a surface composed by a mixture of granite powder and CRFO (Cr0,75Fe1,25O3); the third surface is a commercial one, known as TiNOX. To perform the tests of the surfaces it was built an experimental stand, it allows simulating a solar collector conditions. The tests was performed in a stagnation condition, in other words, there wasnât any water flow inside tubes. Through this experimental apparatus it was possible to test the three surfaces simultaneously. The field tests showed that the highest temperatures were reached by granite powder surface, which reached an average temperature of 119 ÂC, while the granite powder and CRFO mixture surface reached an average of 96 ÂC. The TiNOX achieve an average temperature of 101 ÂC. The three surfaces was compared each other through an equation that gives a global heat loss coefficient. The granite powder surface was the one which achieved the lowest global heat loss coefficient. / O uso de materiais alternativos com objetivo de substituir superfÃcies seletivas à uma tendÃncia natural, pois geralmente se busca melhorias na eficiÃncia das superfÃcies ao mesmo tempo em que se tenta diminuir os custos. SubstÃncias compÃsitas jà sÃo utilizadas na obtenÃÃo de algumas superfÃcies seletivas, no entanto, se for associado a estas caracterÃsticas a possibilidade de utilizar resÃduos que iriam ser descartados, conferindo aos mesmos um valor agregado, isso traria alguns benefÃcios, como uma possÃvel reduÃÃo de custos de fabricaÃÃo. Desta forma, o presente trabalho propÃe a obtenÃÃo e o estudo de superfÃcies seletivas para aplicaÃÃes em coletores solares de placa plana de baixo custo originÃrio do resÃduo da indÃstria de granito. Foram estudadas trÃs diferentes superfÃcies, duas delas foram obtidas no laboratÃrio, a superfÃcie a base de pà de granito e a superfÃcie composta pela mistura de pà de granito e CRFO (Cr0,75Fe1,25O3); e a terceira superfÃcie foi uma superfÃcie comercial, conhecida como TiNOX. Para a realizaÃÃo dos testes foi construÃda uma bancada experimental de madeira, de forma que fosse possÃvel simular as condiÃÃes de um coletor solar de placa plana. Os testes foram feitos em condiÃÃo de estagnaÃÃo, ou seja, nÃo havia fluxo de Ãgua atravÃs de tubos no coletor. AtravÃs desse aparato experimental foi possÃvel testar as trÃs superfÃcies seletivas simultaneamente. Os testes de campo mostraram que a superfÃcie composta por pà de granito foi a que atingiu as maiores temperaturas, com uma mÃdia de atà 119 ÂC, enquanto a superfÃcie obtida com uma mistura de pà de granito e CRFO chegou a temperatura mÃdia de 96 ÂC, jà a superfÃcie comercial atingiu uma mÃdia de 101 ÂC. As superfÃcies foram comparadas atravÃs de uma equaÃÃo que fornece o coeficiente global de perda de energia tÃrmica. Os menores coeficientes foram obtidos pela superfÃcie de pà de granito

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / O estudo de superfÃcies seletivas para coletores solares tÃrmicos, hà alguns anos, enfoca o uso de pastas e tintas para recobrir chapas de cobre ou alumÃnio, formando a placa absorvedora do coletor. Essas tintas ou pastas sÃo eletrodepositadas em placas metÃlicas, sendo este processo muitas vezes responsÃvel pelo levado custo de superfÃcies seletivas. O uso de compÃsitos obtidos a partir do Ãxido de cromo, Ãxido de ferro e Ãxido de titÃnio em um processo cerÃmico, utilizando a tÃcnica de deposiÃÃo por screen-printing pode ser uma alternativa para a obtenÃÃo de novas superfÃcies seletivas que tenham eficiÃncia prÃxima Ãs tintas e pastas jà comercializadas e com baixo custo de fabricaÃÃo. O objetivo deste trabalho à obter e caracterizar superfÃcies seletivas à base de cromo, ferro e titÃnio e comparÃ-las com outras superfÃcies jà comercializadas (Ãxidos metÃlicos), encontrar os valores da absortividade e caracterizar as mesmas por espectroscopÃa raman e infavermelho. / The study of selective coating for thermal solar collectors has been carried out with focus on the use of selective paints and coatings for copper and aluminum plates, which are used to manufacture the absorber plate. The processes, such as electrodeposition, used in these paints and coatings are expensive and they increasing the price of the final product. The use of composite obtained from chromium oxide, iron oxide, and titanium oxide in a ceramic process using the screen-printing deposition technique is an alternative to develop new selective coating with approximately the same thermal efficiency, but at a lower cost than the commercial ones. The results show that the absorptivity values measured with the new coatings are close to those presented by the manufacturers in the commercial sufaces. The objective is to obtain and characterize selective surfaces based on chromium, iron and titanium and compares them to other areas already marketed (metal oxides), find the values of absorptivity and characterize them by raman and infrared spectroscopy.

One of the traditional approaches to reduce costs of solar energy is to use inexpensive reflectors to focus the light onto highly efficient solar cells. Several research projects have resulted in designs, where the excess heat is used as solar thermal energy. Unlike a solar thermal system, which has a selective surface to reduce the radiant heat loss, a CPV/T (Concentrating PhotoVoltaic/Thermal) system uses a receiver covered with solar cells with high thermal emittance. This project analyzes whether the heat loss from the receiver can be reduced by covering parts of the receiver surface, not already covered with solar cells, with an optically selective coating. Comparing different methods of applying such a coating and the long-term stability of low cost alternatives are also part of the objectives of this project. To calculate the heat loss reductions of the optically selective surface coating a mathematical model was developed, which takes the thermal emittances and the solar absorptances of the different surfaces into account. Furthermore, a full-size experiment was constructed to verify the theoretical predictions. The coating results in a heat loss reduction of approximately 20 % in such a CPV/T system and one of the companies involved in the study is already changing their design to make use of the results.

A fast and efficient method for the design of multi-layered circuit analog absorbing structures is developed. The method is based on optimization of specular reflection coefficient of a multi-layered absorbing structure comprising of lossy FSS layers by using Genetic Algorithm and circuit equivalent models of FSS layers. With the introduced method, two illustrative absorbing structures are designed with -15 dB reflectivity for normal incidence case in the frequency bands of 10-31 GHz and 5-46 GHz, respectively. To the author&rsquo / s knowledge, designed absorbers are superior in terms of frequency bandwidth to similar studies conducted so far in the literature. For broadband scattering characterization of periodic structures, numerical codes are developed. The introduced method is improved with the employment of developed FDTD codes to the proposed method. By taking the limitations regarding production facilities into consideration, a five-layered circuit analog absorber is designed and manufactured. It is shown that the manufactured structure is capable of 15 dB reflectivity minimization in a frequency band of 3.2-12 GHz for normal incidence case with an overall thickness of 14.2 mm.