1.
Malick T K., et al., BioCPVBURD,
EPSRC, £1.4m (PI), 1st Nov 2011 – 31st Oct 2014
Given the threat posed by global warming it is widely accepted
that the reliance on fossil fuels for our energy need must decrease rapidly. To
tackle the global threat and self dependency on fossil fuels, renewable energy
such as solar, wind, wave and biomass gives the pathways to reduce the overall
CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. This project addresses the issues related to
integrated solar photovoltaic system - converting incoming solar energy into
electricity and biomass power technologies - generation of electrical power
from waste materials, for rural electrification. This project seeks to develop
a new class of solar photovoltaic technologies - Concentrating Photovoltaic
(CPV) to integrate with Biomass and waste power generation as a backup source
and develop high efficiency hydrogen generation and storage from the integrated
systems. The integrated system will be installed at Uttar Sehalai
Tribal Hamlet, located in a remote village, 200km west of Calcutta for rural
electrification with key focuses on satellite based remote monitoring
technologies. The village comprised of 80 households and has a population of
approximately 400. It is located very close to Visva-Bharati
University, Santiniketan (a probable World Heritage
Site). The scalable prototype developed in this project will be the first ever
such integrated system (Biomass, CPV and Hydrogen) for the provision of
electricity that will be installed in India. Due to the lack of electricity in
the village, the major fuels currently used are kerosene, firewood and wood
based raw coal. Most of the nearby villages are also without any grid
connections and as a result, children from the poorer families do not have the
motivation and necessary resources to take advantage of basic education and
health. Many of them that start schooling are forced to discontinue their
studies due to the need to work to provide for their families. Availability of
energy is a critical driving factor in economic development, while limited
fossil fuel resources and environmental hazards drive the need for sustainable
and environmental friendly solutions based on renewable energy. Thus, the
project will brings together Biomass, Concentrating Photovoltaic, and Hydrogen
Generation and Storage expertise from University of Leeds, Heriot-Watt
University, University of Nottingham in the UK and Visva-Bharati
University, Santiniketan, Indian Institute of
Technology Madras, PSG College of Technology in India with the goal of
developing a low cost autonomous power generating system for rural
electrification.
2.
Richards B S., Mallick
T K., Wilson J B., Wang W S., “Luminescent
Lanthanide Layers for Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance”, Funded by
EPSRC-CAS, £612k (CI)- 1st Feb 2011 – 31st
Jan 2014.
It is now widely accepted that the world's increasing reliance on
fossil fuels over recent centuries is causing drastic changes in the Earth's
climate. Renewable energy technologies - such as solar, wind and wave energy -
offer a pathway for the generation of clean energy. This project concerns
photovoltaic (PV) technology - the conversion of sunlight to electricity - and,
in particular, involves the application of luminescent materials to PV modules.
Shipments of PV modules have been increasing at a steady rate of >40% per
annum since 1994 and continued strong growth of 20-30% predicted for the next
few years. However, efficiency and price are still the main barriers to
reducing the cost of solar electricity.This project
seeks to develop a new class of PV devices and modules, based on todays semiconducting technology however utilising
luminescent materials to alter the wavelengths contained in the sunlight before
the photons interact with the solar cell. Via two techniques known as
down-conversion (DC) and up-conversion (UC), we are able to greatly address two
of the main loss mechanisms that limit the theoretical performance of a single
junction solar cell to about 30%. With DC, we are able to use luminescent
materials to absorb photons in the range of 300-500nm (UV through to blue-green
light) and for each of these emit TWO photons at about 1000nm, where silicon
solar cells respond very efficiently. Preliminary modelling has indicated that
such a DC layer applied to the front of a silicon solar cell could increase its
absolute energy conversion efficiency (sunlight to electricity) from 16% for a
typical production device to 19%. Thus, a huge step change in performance is
possible! UC layers are able to collect near-infrared (NIR) light that passes
straight through the silicon, and for each of these NIR photons we can emit a
single higher-energy photon that can be harvested by the silicon solar cell.
The performance of UC layers depends on the intensity of sunlight though, and
hence we will design and test these systems under 500-times concentrated sunlight.This project brings together spectral conversion
and PV expertise from Heriot-Watt University (HWU) in the UK and matches this
with luminescent materials expertise from the Fujian Institute of Research on
the Structure of Matter (FJIRSM), one of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS),
with the goal of establishing a new class of PV devices that are able to
promise a step-change in performance for both c-Si and thin film (e.g. a-Si:H) PV technologies.
4. A novel design and
analysis of 3D Building Integrated Concentrating Enhanced
Photovoltaic Thermal system: Funded
by EPSRC
Objectives: The aim of the
proposed project is to investigate the potential use of low cost non-imaging
concentrating Photovoltaic Thermal (CPV/T) system. The project will examine the
use of diffuse and specular reflections to determine
whether diffuse refractors offer potential benefits by more uniform
illumination of the photovoltaic surface. Different concentrator geometries (in
particular three dimensional concentrators) for the photovoltaic/thermal use
will be studied. An elliptical-hyperboloid reflector profile will be developed
to produce 3D concentrating PV/T system. The developed 3D system can be used
either innovative building components (e.g. façade/windows) and/or roof
integration with passive cooling system (e.g. combined PV/T) system). Specific
objectives are as follows:
·
To
develop a static concentrator combined with photovoltaic thermal system for
building integration. The proposed concentrator will not require any complex
tracking system reducing system cost.
·
To
improve the effective electrical efficiency of photovoltaic system to 16%
(current flat plate PV system efficiencies lies in between 12-14%).
·
To
investigate the effective utilisation of concentrating photovoltaic/thermal
system.
·
To
improve the optical efficiency of the concentrator to 96% by developing a 3-D
concentrator which effectively increases the electrical efficiencies of the
system (currently 2-D system have maximum optical efficiency of 85%).
·
To
perform optical, thermal and electrical performances of the concentrating
photovoltaic/thermal system for its optimum utilisation.
·
To
reduce building heating/cooling load and/or promote new PV technology into
affordable energy use to achieve the UK's CO2 reduction target of 60% by 2050.
·
Hence
to complete and validate a design and fabricate a low cost non-imaging Building
Integrated Concentrating Enhanced Photoovoltaic
Thermal (BICEPT) system. The estimated energy cost from such system will be
reduced by 50% compared to flat plate system.
5. Active Solar Panel Initiative: Funded by EU-FP7
Summary: The active solar panel imitative targets development of a fundamentally new, multidisciplinary photovoltaic technology that will enable meeting and exceeding the year 2015 cost targets of the EU photovoltaic strategic research agenda, and will drive European consumer premises power generation to cost parity with grid electricity. The project is co-ordinated by Fraunhofer IPA; Germany. Other participants are:
6. Development of a solar concentrator for solar-water desalination: Funded by UKIERI-DST
Summary: This project aims
to develop a 3-d compound elliptical hyperboloid concentrator with concentration
ratios of 1000x suitable for water desalination and single step thermal
dissociation process. Other collaborator is Indian
Institute of Technology, Madras.