scholarly journals Solar irradiances measured using SPN1 radiometers: uncertainties and clues for development

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 8149-8191
Author(s):  
J. Badosa ◽  
J. Wood ◽  
P. Blanc ◽  
C. N. Long ◽  
L. Vuilleumier ◽  
...  

Abstract. The fast development of solar radiation and energy applications, such as photovoltaic and solar thermodynamic systems, has increased the need for solar radiation measurement and monitoring, not only for the global component but also for the diffuse and direct. End users look for the best compromise between getting close to state-of-the-art measurements and keeping low capital, maintenance and operating costs. Among the existing commercial options, SPN1 is a relatively low cost solar radiometer that estimates global and diffuse solar irradiances from seven thermopile sensors under a shading mask and without moving parts. This work presents a comprehensive study of SPN1 accuracy and sources of uncertainty, which results from laboratory experiments, numerical modeling and comparison studies between measurements from this sensor and state-of-the art instruments for six diverse sites. Several clues are provided for improving the SPN1 accuracy and agreement with state-of-the art measurements.

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 4267-4283 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Badosa ◽  
J. Wood ◽  
P. Blanc ◽  
C. N. Long ◽  
L. Vuilleumier ◽  
...  

Abstract. The fast development of solar radiation and energy applications, such as photovoltaic and solar thermodynamic systems, has increased the need for solar radiation measurement and monitoring, for not only the global but also the diffuse and direct components. End users look for the best compromise between getting close to state-of-the-art measurements and keeping low capital, maintenance and operating costs. Among the existing commercial options, SPN1 is a relatively low cost solar radiometer that estimates global and diffuse solar irradiances from seven thermopile sensors under a shading mask and without moving parts. This work presents a comprehensive study of SPN1 accuracy and sources of uncertainty, drawing on laboratory experiments, numerical modelling and comparison studies between measurements from this sensor and state-of-the art instruments for six diverse sites. Several clues are provided for improving the SPN1 accuracy and agreement with state-of-the art measurements.


1986 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Zapf-Gilje ◽  
S. O. Russell ◽  
D. S. Mavinic

When snow is made from sewage effluent, the impurities become concentrated in the early melt leaving the later runoff relatively pure. This could provide a low cost method of separating nutrients from secondary sewage effluent. Laboratory experiments showed that the degree of concentration was largely independent of the number of melt freeze cycles or initial concentration of impurity in the snow. The first 20% of melt removed with it 65% of the phosphorus and 90% of the nitrogen from snow made from sewage effluent; and over 90% of potassium chloride from snow made from potassium chloride solution. Field experiments with a salt solution confirmed the laboratory results.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1977
Author(s):  
Ricardo Oliveira ◽  
Liliana M. Sousa ◽  
Ana M. Rocha ◽  
Rogério Nogueira ◽  
Lúcia Bilro

In this work, we demonstrate for the first time the capability to inscribe long-period gratings (LPGs) with UV radiation using simple and low cost amplitude masks fabricated with a consumer grade 3D printer. The spectrum obtained for a grating with 690 µm period and 38 mm length presented good quality, showing sharp resonances (i.e., 3 dB bandwidth < 3 nm), low out-of-band loss (~0.2 dB), and dip losses up to 18 dB. Furthermore, the capability to select the resonance wavelength has been demonstrated using different amplitude mask periods. The customization of the masks makes it possible to fabricate gratings with complex structures. Additionally, the simplicity in 3D printing an amplitude mask solves the problem of the lack of amplitude masks on the market and avoids the use of high resolution motorized stages, as is the case of the point-by-point technique. Finally, the 3D printed masks were also used to induce LPGs using the mechanical pressing method. Due to the better resolution of these masks compared to ones described on the state of the art, we were able to induce gratings with higher quality, such as low out-of-band loss (0.6 dB), reduced spectral ripples, and narrow bandwidths (~3 nm).


Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Thanh-Lieu Thi Le ◽  
Lam Tan Nguyen ◽  
Hoai-Hue Nguyen ◽  
Nguyen Van Nghia ◽  
Nguyen Minh Vuong ◽  
...  

Nanostructures of titanium nitride (TiN) have recently been considered as a new class of plasmonic materials that have been utilized in many solar energy applications. This work presents the synthesis of a novel nanostructure of TiN that has a nanodonut shape from natural ilmenite ore using a low-cost and bulk method. The TiN nanodonuts exhibit strong and spectrally broad localized surface plasmon resonance absorption in the visible region centered at 560 nm, which is well suited for thermoplasmonic applications as a nanoscale heat source. The heat generation is investigated by water evaporation experiments under simulated solar light, demonstrating excellent solar light harvesting performance of the nanodonut structure.


Robotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Majid Yekkehfallah ◽  
Ming Yang ◽  
Zhiao Cai ◽  
Liang Li ◽  
Chuanxiang Wang

SUMMARY Localization based on visual natural landmarks is one of the state-of-the-art localization methods for automated vehicles that is, however, limited in fast motion and low-texture environments, which can lead to failure. This paper proposes an approach to solve these limitations with an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based on a state estimation algorithm that fuses information from a low-cost MEMS Inertial Measurement Unit and a Time-of-Flight camera. We demonstrate our results in an indoor environment. We show that the proposed approach does not require any global reflective landmark for localization and is fast, accurate, and easy to use with mobile robots.


Electronics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Roberto Vincenti Gatti ◽  
Riccardo Rossi ◽  
Marco Dionigi

In this work, the issue of limited bandwidth typical of microstrip antennas realized on a single thin substrate is addressed. A simple yet effective design approach is proposed based on the combination of traditional single-resonance patch geometries. Two novel shaped microstrip patch antenna elements with an inset feed are presented. Despite being printed on a single-layer substrate with reduced thickness, both radiators are characterized by a broadband behavior. The antennas are prototyped with a low-cost and fast manufacturing process, and measured results validate the simulations. State-of-the-art performance is obtained when compared to the existing literature, with measured fractional bandwidths of 3.71% and 6.12% around 10 GHz on a 0.508-mm-thick Teflon-based substrate. The small feeding line width could be an appealing feature whenever such radiating elements are to be used in array configurations.


Author(s):  
Jonas Austerjost ◽  
Robert Söldner ◽  
Christoffer Edlund ◽  
Johan Trygg ◽  
David Pollard ◽  
...  

Machine vision is a powerful technology that has become increasingly popular and accurate during the last decade due to rapid advances in the field of machine learning. The majority of machine vision applications are currently found in consumer electronics, automotive applications, and quality control, yet the potential for bioprocessing applications is tremendous. For instance, detecting and controlling foam emergence is important for all upstream bioprocesses, but the lack of robust foam sensing often leads to batch failures from foam-outs or overaddition of antifoam agents. Here, we report a new low-cost, flexible, and reliable foam sensor concept for bioreactor applications. The concept applies convolutional neural networks (CNNs), a state-of-the-art machine learning system for image processing. The implemented method shows high accuracy for both binary foam detection (foam/no foam) and fine-grained classification of foam levels.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueqiao Li ◽  
Na Sun ◽  
Zhanfeng Li ◽  
Jinbo Chen ◽  
Qinjun Sun ◽  
...  

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have reached their highest efficiency with the state-of-the-art hole-transporting material (HTM) spiro-OMeTAD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-619
Author(s):  
Li Kong ◽  
Yunpeng Zhang ◽  
Zhijian Lin ◽  
Zhongzhu Qiu ◽  
Chunying Li ◽  
...  

Abstract The present work aimed to select the optimum solar tracking mode for parabolic trough concentrating collectors using numerical simulation. The current work involved: (1) the calculation of daily solar radiation on the Earth’s surface, (2) the comparison of annual direct solar radiation received under different tracking modes and (3) the determination of optimum tilt angle for the north-south tilt tracking mode. It was found that the order of solar radiation received in Shanghai under the available tracking modes was: dual-axis tracking &gt; north-south Earth’s axis tracking &gt; north-south tilt tracking (β = 15°) &gt; north-south tilt tracking (β = 45) &gt; north-south horizontal tracking &gt; east-west horizontal tracking. Single-axis solar tracking modes feature simple structures and low cost. This study also found that the solar radiation received under the north-south tilt tracking mode was higher than that of the north-south Earth’s axis tracking mode in 7 out of 12 months. Therefore, the north-south tilt tracking mode was studied separately to determine the corresponding optimum tilt angles in Haikou, Lhasa, Shanghai, Beijing and Hohhot, respectively, which were shown as follows: 18.81°, 27.29°, 28.67°, 36.21° and 37.97°.


2005 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Muneer ◽  
S. Munawwar

Solar energy applications require readily available, site-oriented, and long-term solar data. However, the frequent unavailability of diffuse irradiation, in contrast to its need, has led to the evolution of various regression models to predict it from the more commonly available data. Estimating the diffuse component from global radiation is one such technique. The present work focuses on improvement in the accuracy of the models for predicting horizontal diffuse irradiation using hourly solar radiation database from nine sites across the globe. The influence of sunshine fraction, cloud cover, and air mass on estimation of diffuse radiation is investigated. Inclusion of these along with hourly clearness index, leads to the development of a series of models for each site. Estimated values of hourly diffuse radiation are compared with measured values in terms of error statistics and indicators like, R2, mean bias deviation, root mean square deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. A new method called “the accuracy score system” is devised to assess the effect on accuracy with subsequent addition of each parameter and increase in complexity of equation. After an extensive evaluation procedure, extricate but adequate models are recommended as optimum for each of the nine sites. These models were found to be site dependent but the model types were fairly consistent for neighboring stations or locations with similar climates. Also, this study reveals a significant improvement from the conventional k-kt regression models to the presently proposed models.


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