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"Solar power plants History."
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Temperature-history method for characterizing thermophysical properties of phase change materials: a critical review
Phase change materials are widely used for thermal energy storage media for different thermal energy storage applications ranging from building heating and cooling, transportation of heat-sensitive products, electronic cooling, solar water heaters, and waste heat recovery to concentrating solar power plants for their enhanced performance and efficiency. The precise measurement of thermophysical properties is essential for these phase change materials to design efficient thermal systems. The temperature-history (T-history) method has advantages over techniques like differential scanning calorimetry and differential thermal analysis, allowing for the evaluation of properties such as enthalpy, latent heat of fusion, solid and liquid phase specific heat, useful enthalpy in working temperature range, supercooling, and thermal stability. Despite its effectiveness, T-history remains laboratory-based, with no commercial system available, highlighting the need for advancements in experimental setups and analysis protocols since its inception.
Journal Article
Experimental study for the effect of dust cleaning on the performance of grid-tied photovoltaic solar systems
One of the challenges facing investment in photovoltaic (PV) energy is the accumulation of dust on the surface of the PV panels due to frequent dust storms in many countries, including Iraq. Surface dust particles reduce solar irradiance which declining the electrical performance of the PV solar systems. Therefore, this paper proposes an experimental study to analyze and evaluate the power efficiency of a PV system installed in Baghdad city, Iraq. The performance of dusty solar PV array is compared with that of the clean array of the same PV system. The clean solar array is equipped with an automatic-sprayer cleaning system that is powered by the PV system. The automatic cleaning system utilized in the test system reduces human effort by cleaning the PV array using closed-cycle water with low energy consumption (less than 10 Wh). The PV array under test is part of a 15 kW grid-tied PV system. The experimental results show significant improvement in the performance parameters of efficiency, performance ratio, and the energy gain compared to the clean array. Furthermore, the experimental study contributes to a reduction in CO2 emission, which is substantial for the Iraqi environment that suffers from predominate fossil-fuel power plants.
Journal Article
Direct environmental impacts of solar power in two arid biomes : an initial investigation
According to recent national energy plans and policy documents, the number of renewable energy developments is expected to increase in South Africa, thus contributing to the diversification of the country’s energy system. Consequently, numerous solar power developments are being deployed in the sunny arid interior – areas generally represented by the Nama-Karoo and Savanna Biomes. These developments come with a range of novel environmental impacts, providing opportunities for multidimensional exploratory research. Here, a mixed-method approach was used to identify and investigate possible environmental impacts associated with two types of solar power plants: concentrating solar power and photovoltaic. Structured interviews conducted with experts and experienced professionals, together with observations from site visits generated complementary findings. In addition to the risk of cumulative ecological impacts associated with individual solar plant developments, landscape impacts of multiple power plants and the direct impact on avifauna were found to be the most significant environmental impacts. These direct impacts appear to be most significant during the construction stage, which represents an intensive 10% of the total power plant lifespan. This investigation provides an early, broad and informative perspective on the experienced and expected impacts of solar power in South African arid regions as well as insights to possible future research areas. Significance: • Solar power represents a large component of the needed diversification of South Africa’s electricity system. • Research on the environmental impacts of solar power developments in the arid biomes of South Africa still is relatively scarce. • Increased energy developments in the arid biomes will require knowledge of the associated impacts for conservation planning. • Identification of environmental impacts throughout solar power lifespans enables informed management.
Journal Article
Synthesis and Characterization of Molten Salt Nanofluids for Thermal Energy Storage Application in Concentrated Solar Power Plants—Mechanistic Understanding of Specific Heat Capacity Enhancement
Molten salts mixed with nanoparticles have been shown as a promising candidate as the thermal energy storage (TES) material in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. However, the conventional method used to prepare molten salt nanofluid suffers from a high material cost, intensive energy use, and laborious process. In this study, solar salt-Al2O3 nanofluids at three different concentrations are prepared by a one-step method in which the oxide nanoparticles are generated in the salt melt directly from precursors. The morphologies of the obtained nanomaterials are examined under scanning electron microscopy and the specific heat capacities are measured using the temperature history (T-history) method. A non-linear enhancement in the specific heat capacity of molten salt nanofluid is observed from the thermal characterization at a nanoparticle mass concentration of 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%. In particular, a maximum enhancement of 38.7% in specific heat is found for the nanofluid sample prepared with a target nanoparticle mass fraction of 1.0%. Such an enhancement trend is attributed to the formation of secondary nanostructure between the alumina nanoparticles in the molten salt matrix following a locally-dispersed-parcel pattern. These findings provide new insights to understanding the enhanced energy storage capacity of molten salt nanofluids.
Journal Article
A Struggle to Remake the Market: Feed-in Rates and Alternative Energy in 1980s West Germany
Drawing on government documents as well as the papers of renewable energy advocates, this article looks at debates over alternative energy in West Germany during the 1980s. It shows that because West Germany's monopolistic electricity market was dominated by utilities companies reticent to invest in alternatives, struggles over access to the electric grid and the rates independent producers received for their electricity were essential to efforts to add renewables into the German energy mix after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The legislated ‘feed-in tariff’ for electricity generated by individuals from renewable sources, which emerged from these debates in 1990, cemented the idea that individual Germans, not utilities or the state, were responsible for the fate of renewable energy in Germany and paved the way towards an ‘economically viable’ renewables sector.
Journal Article
Long-term cost-effectiveness of interventions for loss of electricity/industry compared to artificial general intelligence safety
Extreme solar storms, high-altitude electromagnetic pulses, and coordinated cyber attacks could disrupt regional/global electricity. Since electricity basically drives industry, industrial civilization could collapse without it. This could cause anthropological civilization (cities) to collapse, from which humanity might not recover, having long-term consequences. Previous work analyzed technical solutions to save nearly everyone despite industrial loss globally, including transition to animals powering farming and transportation. The present work estimates cost-effectiveness for the long-term future with a Monte Carlo (probabilistic) model. Model 1, partly based on a poll of Effective Altruism conference participants, finds a confidence that industrial loss preparation is more cost-effective than artificial general intelligence safety of ~ 88% and ~ 99+% for the 30 millionth dollar spent on industrial loss interventions and the margin now, respectively. Model 2 populated by one of the authors produces ~ 50% and ~ 99% confidence, respectively. These confidences are likely to be reduced by model and theory uncertainty, but the conclusion of industrial loss interventions being more cost-effective was robust to changing the most important 4–7 variables simultaneously to their pessimistic ends. Both cause areas save expected lives cheaply in the present generation and funding to preparation for industrial loss is particularly urgent.
Journal Article
History and state of solar engineering in Uzbekistan
A brief review of the history and state of solar engineering in Uzbekistan is given.
Journal Article
Climate Change, Nuclear Economics, and Conflicts of Interest
Merck suppressed data on harmful effects of its drug Vioxx, and Guidant suppressed data on electrical flaws in one of its heart-defibrillator models. Both cases reveal how financial conflicts of interest can skew biomedical research. Such conflicts also occur in electric-utility-related research. Attempting to show that increased atomic energy can help address climate change, some industry advocates claim nuclear power is an inexpensive way to generate low-carbon electricity. Surveying 30 recent nuclear analyses, this paper shows that industry-funded studies appear to fall into conflicts of interest and to illegitimately trim cost data in several main ways. They exclude costs of full-liability insurance, underestimate interest rates and construction times by using “overnight” costs, and overestimate load factors and reactor lifetimes. If these trimmed costs are included, nuclear-generated electricity can be shown roughly 6 times more expensive than most studies claim. After answering four objections, the paper concludes that, although there may be reasons to use reactors to address climate change, economics does not appear to be one of them.
Journal Article