[en] Recently, the interest in building-integrated photovoltaic installations has started to increase within governmental and municipality authorities, as well as some industrial companies. To serve a national public-awareness program of solar electricity promotion and education, the indigenous solar energy potential, optimization of possible PV installation, and three test cases of building-integrated grid-connected experimental facilities have been studied. The results showed the feasibility and performance of the proposed concepts. (Original)

[en] Between the systems that operate as of solar energy, the solar collectors to heat water have had wide use and application in the Country. Basically, a solar collector is constituted by: Box, thermal insulator, ducts and transparent roof. Generally, the used materials are the following: As thermal insulator: Polyurethane or glass fiber; as absorbent plate: Copper or aluminum, painting in dull black or selective surfaces; for the ducts: Generally it is used copper pipeline; and for the cover: Common glass or temperate glass

[en] This article argues that photovoltaic (PV) technology is already economically viable contrary to current opinion. A table of world PV module shipments for 1990 to 1998 by market sector is presented, and use of PV modules in consumer electronics such as calculators, battery trickle chargers, and garden lights; in communications and signals (eg. microwave repeaters, cellular communication); and in the residential sector in fluorescent lights, radios etc. are discussed. The early adopters of PV technology, and the value placed on PV devices by consumers are considered. Details of PV manufacturing costs for 1997, and forecasts for 2000 and 2010 are tabulated

[en] The analysis of existing and planned noise barriers along rails and roads has been carried out by the national partners together with national authorities, which are experts and responsible for the required data. The methodical approach of this study includes the set-up of a grid along longitude and latitudes with 1 by 1 degrees for Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom and 0.5 by 0.5 degrees for the Netherlands and Switzerland. For each degree the length and orientation of rails and roads, the existing and planned noise barriers are registered and grouped according to their orientations. The solar radiation is based on data of a METEONORM data set. This includes the solar radiation on horizontal orientation as well as various inclination angles for all possible orientations. Moreover, possible shading has been considered. The technical specifications of noise barriers (PVNB) are based on the comprehensive knowledge of TNC GmbH and TNC AG with various plants realised. Technologies have been considered for both state-of-the-art and innovative concepts such as bifacial PVNB. In bifacial PVNB the PV-module is mounted vertically on both sides and is used at the same time as noise reflecting material. Installed PV power and produced electricity have been calculated for: 1. theoretical potential 2. technical potential 3. short-term resp. European extrapolated potential 4. anticipated potential 5. EU-member assessment The result of this study confirms the current activities to implement PV on noise barriers as an important share in the PV market.The report is subdivided into two volumes: Volume 1 contains the main topics and results, and Volume 2 contains additional information on the solar radiation, typical concepts as an excerpt of the various potentials and all country maps with the required explanations. 95 refs

[en] As part of its energy management program, the National Park Service (NPS) has been actively promoting energy conservation and the greater use of renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaics (PV). PV is proving to be a very effective way to produce electricity in our parks

[en] This report describes work performed to provide details of the microstructure in high-quality hydrogenated amorphous silicon and related alloys for the nanometer size scale. The materials studied were prepared by current state-of-the-art deposition methods, as well as new and emerging deposition techniques. The purpose was to establish the role of microstructural features in controlling the opto-electronic and photovoltaic properties. The approach centered around the use of the uncommon technique of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), which is highly sensitive to microvoids and columnar-like microstructure. Nanovoids of H-rich clusters with 1 to 4 nm sizes in a-Si:H at the 1 vol.% level correlate with poor solar-cell and opto-electronic behavior. Larger-scale features due either to surface roughness or residual columnar-like structures were found in present state-of-the-art device material. Ge alloying above about 10 to 20 at.% typically leads to significant increases in heterogeneity, and this has been shown to be due in part to non-uniform Ge distributions. Ge additions also cause columnar-like growth, but this can be reduced or eliminated by enhanced ion bombardment during growth. In contrast, C alloying typically induces a random nanostructure consisting of a narrow size distribution of 1-nm-sized objects with a high density, consistent with the notably poorer opto-electronic behavior of these alloys

[en] Building-integrated PV started receiving attention in the Netherlands around 1990. Attention has ever since been focusing on the integration of PV into new dwellings. Efforts have resulted in cost reductions, performance improvements, the development of new integration products and the creation of a network with utilities, property developers, architects, building companies and local authorities. PV system costs have been reduced by one third, to 5 Euro in 2000. System performance has gone up slightly during the reporting period, further reducing the cost per unit energy produced. Inverter costs have gone down from 1.5 Euro/Wp in 1991 to 0.5 Euro/Wp in 2000. Concerning integration into buildings and the building process, the Netherlands PV programme has been concentrating on developing products for low-cost integration into sloped roofs of new buildings. Watertight profile systems have been developed, tested, and applied in projects on a growing scale. The costs for building integration have came down due to improvements in integration systems, the electric system and in installation procedures. Projects have also been carried out on an increasing scale to learn about the integration of PV into the building process. In total, a capacity of more than 8 MW was installed by the end of the year 1999, with projects ranging from individual dwellings and offices to solar cities such as the Nieuw Sloten project in Amsterdam (250 kWp) and Nieuwland in Amersfoort (1 MW). Now, at the turn of the century, plans are being derived to give PV the 'boost' to become commercially viable within the next 7 to 10 years. For this, an ambitious goal is being formulated by government together with the PV industry, utilities, the building sector and others involved in PV in the Netherlands. Already in the mid-1990s, the long-term energy programme of the ministry of Economic Affairs set the target at an installed PV capacity of 250 MWp by the year 2010. In order to achieve a commercially viable market within the next 7 to 10 years, however, a goal of 500 MWp installed PV capacity would be required. Recent research shows that such a target is ambitious, but achievable if supported by dedicated government programmes, investments by industry and contributions of the building and utility sector. (Author)

[en] Sodium benzene sulfonate (BS) was decomposed in aqueous TiO₂ dispersions under highly concentrated solar light illumination to examine the photocatalytic characteristics of a parabolic round concentrator (PRC) reactor to degrade the pollutant without visible light absorption. The effects of such operational parameters as initial concentration, volume of the aqueous BS solution, oxygen purging, and TiO₂ loading on the kinetics of decomposition of BS were investigated. An effective photodegradation necessitates a suitable combination of initial volume and concentration of BS solution. Relative to atmospheric air, oxygen purging significantly accelerates the degradation process at high initial concentrations of BS (0.40 mM or 1.0 mM). Optimal TiO₂ loading was 9 gl ^-1, greater than previously reported. Elimination of TOC (total organic carbon) followed pseudo first-order kinetics in the initial stages of the photodegradation process. The relative photonic efficiency for the photodegradation of BS is ζ_rel=1.0. (Author)

[en] A solar simulator has been designed and constructed for indoor testing for solar collectors. The simulator consists of 45 halogen lamps. Each lamp has a rated power of a 300 watts. The lamps in ten rows where each row consists of 4 to 5 lamps. The lamps occupied area 6 m². Dimmers are used to control the amount of lamp intensities. The spacing between the lamps and the collector is about 150 cm. The intensities of the lamps are measured using a pyranometer. The intensity contours or mappings for minimum and maximum average pyranometer readings about 280 to 640 W/m² are produced, with errors are about of 3.16 % to 4.5 %. (Author)

[en] Solar plants are increasingly used not only for hot tap water heating but also for the assistance of space heating. These plants produce much more energy in summer than needed, which often results in stagnation. Because of stagnation-temperatures of todays selective collectors up to 200 deg. C, the collector fluid evaporates. In several plants a high noise level and a vibration of the plant during this evaporation phase is reported. This is due to the occurrence of water hammers in the system, when liquid collector fluid passes areas where the fluid was already evaporated and superheated. The remaining vapor bubbles deflate rapidly and the liquid phases collide with high velocity, which results in a rapid pressure increase. This paper describes the theory of condensate-induced water hammers and conditions of solar plants, under which this can happen. A simulation model for the evaporation phase of the collector is presented to give a deeper understanding about the influences of solar radiation, the size of the tubing, and the size of the expansion device on the process of the evaporation. Three hydraulic layouts of the collector area are discussed for there possibilities producing water hammers. (au)