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We study how to achieve the ultimate power in the simplest, yet non trivial, model of a thermal machine, namely a two-level quantum system coupled to two thermal baths. Without making any prior assumption on the protocol, via optimal…
The purpose of this work is to look for a practical structure for application of quantum dots (QD) in solar cells in order to enhance sub-band gap photon absorption. We focuse on a stack of strain-compensated GaSb/GaAs type-II QDs. We…
We study the optimal performance of Carnot-like heat engines working in low dissipation regime using the product of the efficiency and the power output, also known as the efficient power, as our objective function. Efficient power function…
The spatial collection efficiency portrays the driving forces and loss mechanisms in photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical devices. It is defined as the fraction of photogenerated charge carriers created at a specific point within the…
Based on concepts from quantum thermodynamics the two-level system coupled to a single electromagnetic mode is analyzed. Focusing on the case of detuning, where the mode frequency does not match the transition frequency, effective energies…
We consider a class of quantum heat engines consisting of two subsystems interacting via a unitary transformation and coupled to two separate baths at different temperatures $T_h > T_c$. The purpose of the engine is to extract work due to…
Since its inception about two centuries ago thermodynamics has sparkled continuous interest and fundamental questions. According to the second law no heat engine can have an efficiency larger than Carnot's efficiency. The latter can be…
The molecular photo cell, i.e., a single molecule donor-acceptor complex, beside being technologically important, is a paradigmatic example of a many-body system operating in strong non-equilibrium. The quantum transport and the…
We propose a new concept for the design of high-efficiency photocells based on ultra-thin (submicron) semiconductor films of controlled thickness. Using a microscopic model of a thin dielectric layer interacting with incident…
The limit energy theorem which determines the possibility of transformation the energy flow in power systems in the absence of technical work is investigated and proved for such systems as gas lasers and plasmatrons, chemical gas reactors,…
Distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are projected to be a key contributor to future energy landscape, but are often poorly represented in energy models due to their distributed nature. They have higher costs compared to utility PV,…
Primitive photosynthetic cells appear over three billion years prior to any other more complex life-forms, thus it is reasonable to assume that Nature has designed a photosynthetic mechanism using minimal resources but honed to perfection…
The quantum analog of Carnot cycles in few-particle systems consists of two quantum adiabatic steps and two isothermal steps. This construction is formally justified by use of a minimum work principle. It is then shown, without relying on…
A fundamental, Quantum Mechanical description of photoactivation of a generic photosensitizer and the ensuing transfer of energy to endogenous oxygen as part of the Type II pathway to photodamage during photodynamic therapy (PDT) is…
We want to understand whether and to which extent the maximal (Carnot) efficiency for heat engines can be reached at a finite power. To this end we generalize the Carnot cycle so that it is not restricted to slow processes. We show that for…
In a recent Letter [EPL, 118 (2017) 40003], Polettini and Esposito claimed that it is theoretically possible for a thermodynamic machine to achieve Carnot efficiency at divergent power output through the use of infinitely-fast processes. It…
Understanding and quantifying the main loss factors affecting the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells are urgently needed. In this work, based on semiconductor physics, the expressions of bulk and surface recombination…
Multi-junction photovoltaics provide a logical method of increasing the utilization of solar power for a given area. However, their current design and fabrication methods invoke numerous material and cost complexities that limit their…
Due to the increasing proportion of distributed photovoltaic (PV) production in the generation mix, the knowledge of the PV generation capacity has become a key factor. In this work, we propose to compute the PV plant maximum power starting…
For commercial one-sun solar modules, up to 80% of the incoming sunlight may be dissipated as heat, potentially raising the temperature 20 C - 30 C higher than the ambient. In the long term, extreme self-heating erodes efficiency and…