Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Solar Potential”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Foundations of Off-Grid Solar in Haiti: 6. Installation, Operations, and Maintenance of Off-Grid Solar Systems

This training lends insight into key information and concepts for off-grid solar in Haiti, building foundational knowledge and an ability to catalyze interest in off-grid solar for rural electrification in Haiti. This self-paced course is offered in both English and French and covers a variety of topics related to energy access in Haiti including off-grid solar products, market potential in Haiti, supply and demand side considerations, system design, installation and maintenance, off-grid solar business models, financial modeling, gender and energy access, productive use of energy, and climate adaptation. The training is intended for university students, government partners, NGOs, funders, development partners, professionals, and more. No prior knowledge of off-grid solar or Haiti is required to benefit from this training. See NREL/PR-7A40-89260 for the French translation of this document.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY,SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Foundations of Off-Grid Solar in Haiti: 7. Elements of Business Models for Off-Grid Solar

This training lends insight into key information and concepts for off-grid solar in Haiti, building foundational knowledge and an ability to catalyze interest in off-grid solar for rural electrification in Haiti. This self-paced course is offered in both English and French and covers a variety of topics related to energy access in Haiti including off-grid solar products, market potential in Haiti, supply and demand side considerations, system design, installation and maintenance, off-grid solar business models, financial modeling, gender and energy access, productive use of energy, and climate adaptation. The training is intended for university students, government partners, NGOs, funders, development partners, professionals, and more. No prior knowledge of off-grid solar or Haiti is required to benefit from this training. See NREL/PR-7A40-89261 for the French translation of this document.

business↗
DOE OSTI2024

Guide de base pour l'energie solaire hors reseau en Haiti

This training lends insight into key information and concepts for off-grid solar in Haiti, building foundational knowledge and an ability to catalyze interest in off-grid solar for rural electrification in Haiti. This self-paced course is offered in both English and French and covers a variety of topics related to energy access in Haiti including off-grid solar products, market potential in Haiti, supply and demand side considerations, system design, installation and maintenance, off-grid solar business models, financial modeling, gender and energy access, productive use of energy, and climate adaptation. The training is intended for university students, government partners, NGOs, funders, development partners, professionals, and more. No prior knowledge of off-grid solar or Haiti is required to benefit from this training. See NREL/PR-7A40-88999 for the English translation of this document.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY,SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Foundations of Off-Grid Solar in Haiti: 11. Climate Adaptation and Resilience

This training lends insight into key information and concepts for off-grid solar in Haiti, building foundational knowledge and an ability to catalyze interest in off-grid solar for rural electrification in Haiti. This self-paced course is offered in both English and French and covers a variety of topics related to energy access in Haiti including off-grid solar products, market potential in Haiti, supply and demand side considerations, system design, installation and maintenance, off-grid solar business models, financial modeling, gender and energy access, productive use of energy, and climate adaptation. The training is intended for university students, government partners, NGOs, funders, development partners, professionals, and more. No prior knowledge of off-grid solar or Haiti is required to benefit from this training. See NREL/PR-7A40-89265 for the French translation of this document.

adaptation↗
DOE OSTI2024

Foundations of Off-Grid Solar in Haiti

This training lends insight into key information and concepts for off-grid solar in Haiti, building foundational knowledge and an ability to catalyze interest in off-grid solar for rural electrification in Haiti. This self-paced course is offered in both English and French and covers a variety of topics related to energy access in Haiti including off-grid solar products, market potential in Haiti, supply and demand side considerations, system design, installation and maintenance, off-grid solar business models, financial modeling, gender and energy access, productive use of energy, and climate adaptation. The training is intended for university students, government partners, NGOs, funders, development partners, professionals, and more. No prior knowledge of off-grid solar or Haiti is required to benefit from this training. See NREL/PR-7A40-89000 for the French translation of this document.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY,SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Analysis of Solar Receiver Performance for Chemical-Looping Integration With a Concentrating Solar Thermal System

This paper introduces a chemical-looping configuration integrated with a concentrating solar thermal (CST) system. The CST system uses an array of mirrors to focus sunlight, and the concentrated solar flux is applied to a solar receiver to collect and convert solar energy into thermal energy. The thermal energy then drives a thermal power cycle for electricity generation or provides an energy source to chemical processes for material or fuel production. Considerable interest in CST energy systems has been driven by power generation, with its capability to store thermal energy for continuous electricity supply or peak shaving. However, CST systems have other potential to convert solar energy into fuel or to support thermochemical processes. Thus, we introduce the concept of a chemical-looping configuration integrated with the CST system that has potential applications for thermochemical energy storage or solar thermochemical hydrogen production. The chemical-looping configuration integrated with a CST system consists of the following: a solar-receiver reactor for solar-energy collection and conversion, thermochemical energy storage, a reverse reactor for energy release, and system circulation. We describe a high-temperature reactor receiver that is a key component in the chemical-looping system. We also show the solar-receiver design and its performance analyzed by solar-tracing and thermal-modeling methods for integration within a CST system.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Photonic Crystal Waveguides for >90% Light Trapping Efficiency in Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Luminescent solar concentrators are currently limited in their potential concentration factor and solar conversion efficiency by the inherent escape cone losses present in conventional planar dielectric waveguides. Here, we demonstrate that photonic crystal slab waveguides tailored for luminescent solar concentrator applications can exhibit >90% light trapping efficiency. This is achieved by use of quantum dot luminophores embedded within the waveguide that absorb light at photon energies corresponding to photonic crystal leaky modes that couple to incoming sunlight. The luminophores then emit at lower photon energies into photonic crystal bound modes that enable highly efficient light trapping in slab waveguides of wavelength-scale thickness. Photonic crystal waveguides thus nearly eliminate escape cone losses, and overcome the performance limitations of previously proposed wavelength-selective dielectric multilayer filters. We describe designs for hole-array and rod-array photonic crystals comprised of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide using CdSe/CdS quantum dots. Our analysis suggests that photonic crystal waveguide luminescent solar concentrators using these materials these can achieve light trapping efficiency above 92% and a concentration factor as high as 100.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Opportunities and challenges for tandem solar cells using metal halide perovskite semiconductors

Metal halide perovskite semiconductors possess excellent optoelectronic properties, allowing them to reach high solar cell performances. They have tunable bandgaps and can be rapidly and cheaply deposited from low-cost precursors, making them ideal candidate materials for tandem solar cells, either by using perovskites as the wide-bandgap top cell paired with low-bandgap silicon or copper indium diselenide bottom cells or by using both wide- and small-bandgap perovskite semiconductors to make all-perovskite tandem solar cells. This Review highlights the unique potential of perovskite tandem solar cells to reach solar-to-electricity conversion efficiencies far above those of single-junction solar cells at low costs. Here, we discuss the recent developments in perovskite-based tandem fabrication, and detail directions for future research to take this technology beyond the proof-of-concept stage.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Perovskite solar cells can take the heat

Solar panels must endure extreme conditions during their service lifetime. There are few other products, let alone pristine semiconductor electronics, that are manufactured today and expected to withstand decades of abuse from full exposure to outdoor elements, including harsh ultraviolet sunlight, rain and hail, and daily and seasonal thermal cycles. Over the past decade, a new class of semiconductors, known as metal halide perovskites, has emerged, which constitutes the light-absorbing material in solar panels and has made incredible advancements, potentially taking photovoltaics in new directions. Perovskite materials have been touted as a potential game changer for solar energy production.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1989

The impact of solar cell technology on planar solar array performance

The results of a study into the potential impact of advanced solar cell technologies on the characteristics (weight, cost, area) of typical planar solar arrays designed for low, medium and geosynchronous altitude earth orbits are discussed. The study considered planar solar array substrate designs of lightweight, rigid-panel graphite epoxy and ultra-lightweight Kapton. The study proposed to answer the following questions: Do improved cell characteristics translate into array-level weight, size and cost improvements; What is the relative importance of cell efficiency, weight and cost with respect to array-level performance; How does mission orbital environment affect array-level performance. Comparisons were made at the array level including all mechanisms, hinges, booms, and harnesses. Array designs were sized to provide 5kW of array power (not spacecraft bus power, which is system dependent but can be scaled from given values). The study used important grass roots issues such as use of the GaAs radiation damage coefficients as determined by Anspaugh. Detailed costing was prepared, including cell and cover costs, and manufacturing attrition rates for the various cell types.

Mills, Michael W.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Models and Measurements Quantify Photon Recycling, Charge-Carrier Diffusion and Photon Scattering Contributions to Photoluminescence in InP Nanowire Arrays

Nanowire arrays present many unique advantages for solar-to-chemical energy conversion. One possible advantage is that photon recycling between neighboring nanowires has the potential to increase solar energy conversion efficiencies. Here, in this work, we explore three underlying mechanisms of optical and electronic coupling between neighboring nanowires─incident photon scattering, photon recycling, and charge-carrier transport from the photoexcited nanowire to the neighboring nanowire via the underlying substrate─using single nanowire-level microscopy and spectroscopy measurements. We present a comprehensive analysis of light absorption and emission of a single nanowire at open circuit, and subsequent re-absorption and re-emission by a neighboring nanowire. We developed a novel correlated single nanowire microspectroscopy and widefield imaging methodology to spatially resolve photon communication pathways between neighboring nanowires and selectively image re-emitted and reflected photons. We developed unique multiphysics models to couple wave optics and semiconductor photophysics to especially isolate contributions from photon recycling and electronic transport to photon emission from neighboring nanowires. By systematically varying the morphologies of the nanowires modeled, we identified pathways to maximize photon recycling between neighboring nanowires. We concluded that the measured photoluminescence is more strongly influenced by the diffusion of charge carriers as compared to photon recycling in materials with moderate-to-large charge-carrier mobilities (>10 cm 2 V –1 s –1 ), and that photon recycling dictates photoluminescence intensity only when the charge-carrier mobility is low (<1 cm 2 V –1 s –1 ). The experimental and simulation platforms developed herein for photon management strategies can be leveraged by the semiconductor photocatalysis community to enhance solar-to-chemical conversion efficiencies in semiconductor nanowire arrays.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Low Temperature Solution‐Processed Sb:SnO 2 Nanocrystals for Efficient Planar Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract Inorganic metal oxide electron‐transport layers (ETLs) have the potential to yield perovskite solar cells with improved stability, but generally need high temperature to form conductive and defect‐less forms, which is not compatible with the fabrication of flexible and tandem solar cells. Here, we demonstrate a facile strategy for developing efficient inorganic ETLs by doping SnO 2 nanocrystals (NCs) with a small amount of Sb using a low‐temperature solution‐processed method. The electrical conductivity was remarkably enhanced by Sb‐doping, which increased the carrier concentration in Sb:SnO 2 NCs. Moreover, the upward shift of the Fermi level owing to doping results in improved energy level alignment, which led to reduced charge recombination, and thus longer electron recombination lifetime and improved open‐circuit voltage ( V OC ). Therefore, Sb‐doping of SnO 2 significantly enhanced the photovoltaic performance of planar perovskite devices by increasing the fill factor and V OC , and reducing photocurrent hysteresis, extending the potential application of low‐temperature‐processed ETLs in future flexible and tandem solar cells.

Bai, Yang↗
DOE OSTI2015

Geographic smoothing of solar PV: Results from Gujarat

We examine the potential for geographic smoothing of solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation using 13 months of observed power production from utility-scale plants in Gujarat, India. To our knowledge, this is the first published analysis of geographic smoothing of solar PV using actual generation data at high time resolution from utility-scale solar PV plants. We use geographic correlation and Fourier transform estimates of the power spectral density (PSD) to characterize the observed variability of operating solar PV plants as a function of time scale. Most plants show a spectrum that is linear in the log–log domain at high frequencies f, ranging from f -1.23 to f -1.56 (slopes of -1.23 and -1.56), thus exhibiting more relative variability at high frequencies than exhibited by wind plants. PSDs for large PV plants have a steeper slope than those for small plants, hence more smoothing at short time scales. Interconnecting 20 Gujarat plants yields a f -1.66 spectrum, reducing fluctuations at frequencies corresponding to 6 h and 1 h by 23% and 45%, respectively. Half of this smoothing can be obtained through connecting 4-5 plants; reaching marginal improvement of 1% per added plant occurs at 12-14 plants. The largest plant (322 MW) showed an f -1.76 spectrum. Furthermore, this suggests that in Gujarat the potential for smoothing is limited to that obtained by one large plant.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Potential of a Very High Efficiency Solar-Assisted Heat Pump Water Heater

Reducing energy use for heating hot water remains a major challenge around the world. This paper describes a novel solar photovoltaic-assisted heat pump water heater (PV-HPWH which achieved an 83% reduction (COP 5.4) in water heating energy compared with electric resistance. This technology demonstrates very large potential residential energy savings around the United States.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS1981

The development and utilization of solar photovoltaic cells: An assessment of the potential for a new energy technology

The Government set the goal of accelerating the adaptation of photovoltaics by reducing system costs to a competitive level and overcoming the technical, institutional, legal, environmental, and social barriers impeding the diffusion of photovoltaic technology. The technology of silicon solar arrays was examined and the status of development efforts are reviewed. The political, legal, economic, social, and environmental issues are discussed, and several methods for selecting development projects are described. A number of market forecasting techniques, including time trend, judgemental, and econometric methods, were reviewed, and the results of these models are presented.

Cyr, K. J.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Novel Materials, Processing and Device Technologies for Space Exploration with Potential Dual-Use Applications

We highlight results of a broad spectrum of efforts on lower-temperature processing of nanomaterials, novel approaches to energy conversion, and environmentally rugged devices. Solution-processed quantum dots of copper indium chalcogenide semiconductors and multiwalled carbon nanotubes from lower-temperature spray pyrolysis are enabled by novel (precursor) chemistry. Metal-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured components of photovoltaic cells have been grown in solution at low temperature on a conductive indium tin oxide substrate. Arrays of ZnO nanorods can be templated and decorated with various semiconductor and metallic nanoparticles. Utilizing ZnO in a more broadly defined energy conversion sense as photocatalysts, unwanted organic waste materials can potentially be repurposed. Current efforts on charge carrier dynamics in nanoscale electrode architectures used in photoelectrochemical cells for generating solar electricity and fuels are described. The objective is to develop oxide nanowire-based electrode architectures that exhibit improved charge separation, charge collection and allow for efficient light absorption. Investigation of the charge carrier transport and recombination properties of the electrodes will aid in the understanding of how nanowire architectures improve performance of electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Nanomaterials can be incorporated in a number of advanced higher-performance (i.e. mass specific power) photovoltaic arrays. Advanced technologies for the deposition of 4H-silicon carbide are described. The use of novel precursors, advanced processing, and process studies, including modeling are discussed from the perspective of enhancing the performance of this promising material for enabling technologies such as solar electric propulsion. Potential impact(s) of these technologies for a variety of aerospace applications are highlighted throughout. Finally, examples are given of technologies with potential spin-offs for dual-use or terrestrial applications.

solid state devices↗
NASA NTRS1991

An inertial fusion propulsion scheme for solar system exploration

The paper analyzes a novel fusion scheme that combines the favorable aspects of both inertial and magnetic confinement approaches as a propulsion device for potential application in solar system exploration. An appropriate set of equations for the plasma dynamics and the magnetic nozzle is used to assess the system's propulsive capability by applying the results to a round trip mission to Mars. It is found that such a device would allow a massive vehicle to make the journey in less than five months. It is shown that catalyzed deuterium-deuterium fuel results in a somewhat poorer propulsion performance than deuterium-tritium though at a significantly lower neutron production. The velocity increment generated by this system and the corresponding trip time are in excellent agreement with the predictions of Irving and Blum (1959).

Kammash, Terry↗