Effect of UV-Light Treatment on Efficiency of Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs)

We employed ultra-violet (UV) light treatment on the TiO2 layer prior to coating the perovskite layer to improve the solar conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A laboratory-made UV treatment system was equipped with various UV light sources (8 W power; maximum wavelengths of 254, 302, and 365 nm). The UV light treatment improved the power conversion efficiency (PCE) while coating the uniformity layer and removing impurities from the surface of cells. After the PSCs were exposed to UV light, their PCE developed approximately 10% efficiency; PBI2 decreased without changing the structure.

Performance of solar hot-water installations from roof-constructed solar collectors integrated with a central heating supply for tobacco curing

In view of the abundant solar energy available during the tobacco curing season, a solar hot-water installation to provide auxiliary heating for bulk tobacco-curing operations was developed, based on the original concept of a boiler-driven central heating supply that transported hot water over short distances by pipeline, using solar collectors connected in parallel and installed on the unoccupied flat roofs of 20 curing barns. The results showed that daily solar conversion efficiency ranged from 65% to 67%. During the tobacco curing period from 10:00 hours to 14:00 hours each day, in sunny or partly cloudy weather, heating water temperatures exceeding 75?C were automatically derived for use in the bulk curing barns needed. Use of solar energy as a substitute for coal fuel in tobacco curing, in conjunction with precise automatic control, enabled solar energy to account for 18.4% of the total curing energy consumption in this study. Through comparative analysis, the use of solar hot-water installations can help the local tobacco industry to reduce absolute carbon emissions by more than 10% at the experimental location in the pay-back period.

Thermal vacuum de-oxygenation and post oxidation of TiO2 nanorod arrays for enhanced photoelectrochemical properties

Black TiO2−x NRAs fabricated using a thermal vacuum de-oxygen method yielded an almost doubled photocurrent due to the reduced band gap, lowered charge transport and transfer resistance and improved solar conversion efficiency. Post oxidation process further boosted the NRAs' PEC performance.