Related papers: Spectrally Selective Solar Absorbers with High-tem…
A galvanic displacement reaction-based, room-temperature "dip-and-dry" technique is demonstrated for fabricating selectively solar-absorbing plasmonic nanostructure-coated foils (PNFs). The technique, which allows for facile tuning of the…
Thermal radiation is the dominant heat loss mechanism for receiver units on a parabolic solar collector plant at high temperatures. Reduction of these losses is traditionally achieved through the use of an optically selective coating on the…
Parabolic trough mirror plants are a popular design for the conversion of solar energy to electricity via thermal processes. The absorber of concentrated solar radiation can reach high temperatures (> 500 degrees Celsius) and is responsible…
Thin crystalline silicon solar photovoltaics holds great potential for reducing the module price by material saving and increasing the efficiency by reduced bulk recombination loss. However, the module efficiency decreases rather…
Enabling perfect light absorption in ultrathin materials promises the development of exotic photonic devices. Here we demonstrate new strategies that can provide capabilities to rationally design ultrathin (thickness <…
Among several solutions to exploit solar energy, thermophotovoltaics (TPV) have been popularized and have known great breakthroughs during the past two decades. Yet, existing systems still have low efficiencies since the wavelength range of…
Topological insulator films are promising materials for optoelectronics due to a strong optical absorption and a thickness dependent band gap of the topological surface states. They are superior candidates for photodetector applications in…
We propose a solar thermal energy conversion system consisting of a solar absorber, a thermoradiative cell or negative illumination photodiode, and a photovoltaic cell. Because it is a heat engine, this system can also be paired with…
We theoretically demonstrate the fundamental limit in volume for given materials (e.g. Si, a-Si, CdTe) to fully absorb the solar radiation above bandgap, which we refer as solar superabsorption limit. We also point out the general…
Through passively emitting excess heat to the outer space, radiative cooling has been demonstrated as an efficient way for energy saving applications. Selective surface with unity emittance only within the atmospheric window as well as zero…
The total emissivity of the absorbing surfaces is a critical parameter in the calculation of the radiative thermal losses in solar thermal collectors. This is because the radiative heat losses have a significant economic impact on the final…
Understanding the maximal enhancement of solar absorption in semiconductor materials by light trapping promises the development of affordable solar cells. However, the conventional Lambertian limit is only valid for idealized material…
Historically, the design of hybrid solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems has focused on cooling crystalline silicon (c-Si)-based photovoltaic (PV) devices to avoid temperature-related losses. This approach neglects the associated…
The absorption of electromagnetic radiation by a planar structure, consisting of a three-layer dielectric-metal-dielectric coating on a metal back-reflector is analysed. The conditions for total absorption are derived. Our analysis shows…
Ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) are interesting materials for a large variety of applications under extreme conditions. This paper reports on the production and extensive characterization of highly dense, pure zirconium and tantalum…
Panchromatic absorbing materials are widely regarded as a key strategy for enhancing solar energy utilization and photocurrent generation. However, in artificial molecular systems, broadening the absorption spectrum is often accompanied by…
An ultrabroad absorber based on double-ring-shaped titanium nitride (TiN) nanoresonators, which can work in high temperatures, is proposed and numerically studied. The absorber with some optimal parameters exhibits an averaged absorption of…
We present results of an extensive suite of numerical simulations that probe square-tiled microwave absorber performance as a function of material properties, frequency, geometry, and unit cell size. The work, which probes both specular…
Alumina is proposed for Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI)-based solar radiation modification due to its presumed ability to scatter sunlight strongly while absorbing weakly. Alumina is assigned negligible solar shortwave absorption in…
Silica aerogels are nanoporous materials with exceptional optical and physical properties, making them promising candidates to enhance solar cell efficiency as antireflective coatings. This study synthesized hydrophobic silica aerogel thin…