High-Performance Home Technologies: Solar Thermal & Photovoltaic Systems

Solar energy and ambient heat are two inexhaustible energy sources for addressing the global challenge of energy and sustainability. Solar thermal battery based on molecular switches that can store solar energy and release it as heat has recently attracted great interest, but its development is severely limited by both low energy density and short storage stability. On the other hand, the efficient recovery and upgrading of low-grade heat, especially that of the ambient heat, has been a great challenge. Here we report that solar energy and ambient heat can be simultaneously harvested and stored, which is enabled by room-temperature photochemical crystal-to-liquid transitions of small-molecule photoswitches. The two forms of energy are released together to produce high-temperature heat during the reverse photochemical phase change. This strategy, combined with molecular design, provides high energy density of 320-370 J/g and long-term storage stability (half-life of about 3 months). On this basis, we fabricate high-performance, flexible film devices of solar thermal battery, which can be readily recharged at room temperature with good cycling ability, show fast rate of heat release, and produce high-temperature heat that is >20<sup> o</sup>C higher than the ambient temperature. Our work opens up a new avenue to harvest ambient heat, and demonstrate a feasible strategy to develop high-performance solar thermal battery.

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Efficient Co-Harvesting of Solar Energy and Low-Grade Heat by Molecular Photoswitches for High Energy Density, Long-Term Stable Solar Thermal Battery

10.26434/chemrxiv.9730694 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Zhao-Yang Zhang ◽

Tao LI

Keyword(s):

Energy Density ◽

Solar Energy ◽

High Performance ◽

High Energy ◽

Solar Thermal ◽

High Energy Density ◽

Low Grade ◽

Thermal Battery ◽

Low Grade Heat

Solar energy and ambient heat are two inexhaustible energy sources for addressing the global challenge of energy and sustainability. Solar thermal battery based on molecular switches that can store solar energy and release it as heat has recently attracted great interest, but its development is severely limited by both low energy density and short storage stability. On the other hand, the efficient recovery and upgrading of low-grade heat, especially that of the ambient heat, has been a great challenge. Here we report that solar energy and ambient heat can be simultaneously harvested and stored, which is enabled by room-temperature photochemical crystal-to-liquid transitions of small-molecule photoswitches. The two forms of energy are released together to produce high-temperature heat during the reverse photochemical phase change. This strategy, combined with molecular design, provides high energy density of 320-370 J/g and long-term storage stability (half-life of about 3 months). On this basis, we fabricate high-performance, flexible film devices of solar thermal battery, which can be readily recharged at room temperature with good cycling ability, show fast rate of heat release, and produce high-temperature heat that is >20<sup> o</sup>C higher than the ambient temperature. Our work opens up a new avenue to harvest ambient heat, and demonstrate a feasible strategy to develop high-performance solar thermal battery.

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Nanosecond Laser Patterned Porous Graphene from Monolithic Mesoporous Carbon for High‐Performance Solar Thermal Interfacial Evaporation

Advanced Materials Technologies ◽

10.1002/admt.202101052 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 2101052

Author(s):

Fenghua Liu ◽

Deyuan Lou ◽

Enkang Liang ◽

Yunjiao Gu ◽

Zan Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mesoporous Carbon ◽

High Performance ◽

Solar Thermal ◽

Nanosecond Laser ◽

Porous Graphene

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Templating Synthesis of Natural Cotton-based Hierarchically Structured Carbon Hollow Microfibers for High-performance Solar Vapor Generation

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/d1ta02117f ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shijun Lei ◽

Dali Huang ◽

Shuhao Liu ◽

Mingfeng Chen ◽

Rong Ma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Energy ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

High Performance ◽

Saline Water ◽

Solar Thermal ◽

Vapor Generation ◽

Grand Challenges ◽

Thermal Desalination ◽

Templating Synthesis

Solar-thermal desalination by interfacial evaporation that leverages abundant solar energy to convert saline water into clean freshwater has promised an exciting alternative to meet the grand challenges of water scarcity....

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On the Overall Energy Efficiency of a High-Performance Solar Energy Residential Building

Volume 5: Energy Systems Analysis, Thermodynamics and Sustainability; NanoEngineering for Energy; Engineering to Address Climate Change, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/imece2010-39662 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Adam J. Wong ◽

Jorge E. Gonza´lez ◽

Sergio Escobar ◽

Mark Aschheim

Keyword(s):

Solar Energy ◽

High Performance ◽

Residential Building ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Solar Thermal ◽

Hvac System ◽

Solar Pv ◽

Solar Decathlon ◽

Pv Array

This paper describes the energy performance of a solar house over its first year of monitoring. The 2007 Solar Decathlon house currently sits on Santa Clara University’s campus at 60.4 m2. The house is powered entirely by solar PV and solar thermal off the grid. This solar energy house is heavily instrumented with more than 100 sensors to measure temperatures, humidity, power consumption of electric appliances, lighting, water, and performance of a 7.2 kW solar PV array and a sophisticated HVAC system. The instrumentation includes a full weather station. The house is divided into two interconnected modules, and constructed with high thermal insulation and sustainable materials. The instrumentation also allows quantifying energy performance of individual components as well as the overall energy performance of the house. The paper focuses on the complete energy balance of the house as a function of weather conditions, and of the performance of individual components. Of particular interest is the performance of the solar PV and solar thermal systems. The solar thermal system includes an absorption air conditioning unit, integrated with a thermal storage tank to provide all energy needs for water consumption and heating. The I-V curves of the full PV array are reported, demonstrating peak, off-peak, and seasonal performance and deviations from manufacturers’ conditions. Similarly, the overall COP of the solar-driven HVAC system is reported for both cooling and heating modes. Finally, it is shown how data can be used to demonstrate improvement of simulation tools for solar building energy performance. Although data has been collected since March 2009, this paper focuses on performance during summer 2009.

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