Related papers: Where and how is entropy generated in solar energy…
The non-equilibrium process due to irreversible heat exchanges occurring during a temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry experiment is investigated in detail. This enables us to define an experimental frequency dependent…
For efficient photovoltaic conversion, it is important to understand how quantum entropy-related quantities evolve during the photovoltaic process. In this study, using a double quantum dot (DQD) photocell model, we explored the dynamic…
We study the entropy production in non-equilibrium quantum systems without dissipation, which is generated exclusively by the spontaneous breaking of time-reversal invariance. Systems which preserve the total energy and particle number and…
By using entropy and entropy production, we calculate the steady flux of some phenomena. The method we use is a competition method, $S_S/\tau+\sigma={\it maximum}$, where $S_S$ is system entropy, $\sigma$ is entropy production and $\tau$ is…
We analyze the time-resolved energy transport and the entropy production in ac-driven quantum coherent electron systems coupled to multiple reservoirs at finite temperature. At slow driving we formulate the first and second laws of…
Hot-carrier solar cells are envisioned to utilize energy filtering to extract power from photogenerated electron-hole pairs before they thermalize with the lattice, and thus potentially offer higher power conversion efficiency compared to…
We analyze standard theoretical models of solar energy conversion developed to study solar cells and photosynthetic systems. We show that the assumption that the energy transfer to the reaction center/electric circuit is through a decay…
Photon impingement is capable of liberating electrons in semiconductors. When the electron transport is primarily governed by temperature gradients, high irreversibilities will result, thus lowering converters' efficiencies. A fundamental…
The expressions for entropy production, free energy, and entropy extraction rates are derived for a Brownian particle that walks in an underdamped medium. Our analysis indicates that as long as the system is driven out of equilibrium, it…
Given the evolution of an arbitrary open quantum system, we formulate a general and unambiguous method to separate the internal energy change of the system into an entropy-related contribution and a part causing no entropy change,…
Fluctuating entropy production is studied for a set of linearly coupled complex fields. The general result is applied to non-equilibrium fluctuating hydrodynamic equations for coarse-grained fields (density, temperature and velocity), in…
The maximal concentration limit of solar radiation for photovoltaic applications is assumed to be constant, at Cmax\approx46,000 suns. This limit is easily found via a geometrical application of the 2nd law of thermodynamics to a radiation…
Systems driven away from thermal equilibrium constantly deliver entropy to their environment. Determining this entropy production requires detailed information about the system's internal states and dynamics. However, in most practical…
In this note, the equilibrium curve of a thermodynamic system is used to depict entropy production in the process of thermalization with a reservoir. For the given initial and final equilibrium states of the system, the entropy production…
Entropy serves as a central observable in equilibrium thermodynamics. However, many biological and ecological systems operate far from thermal equilibrium. Here we show that entropy production can characterize the behavior of such…
It is well known that collisionless systems are dissipation free from the perspective of particle collision and thus conserve entropy. On the other hand, processes such as magnetic reconnection and turbulence appear to convert large-scale…
Entropy is one of the most fundamental quantities in physics. For systems with few degrees of freedom, the value of entropy provides a powerful insight into its microscopic dynamics, such as the number, degeneracy and relative energies of…
Integration of variable energy resources -- e.g., solar, wind, and hydro -- and end-use electrification increase modern energy systems' weather-dependence. Identifying critical infrastructure constraining the power grid's ability to meet…
We present a comprehensive analysis of a dual, micro-gap thermionic-thermoelectric hybrid energy converter by developing a detailed theoretical model of the system. The Space-charge and near-field effects in thermionic conversion and the…
Entropy is a very useful concept from physics that tries to explain how a system behaves from a point of view of the thermodynamics. However, there are two ways to explain entropy, and it depends on if we are studying a microsystem or a…