Solar energy. Solar cells by self-assembly?
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Journal Article↗
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Solar energy. Solar report sets the agenda.
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News↗
Food dehydration by solar energy.
Solar driers that are currently being investigated for drying of agricultural products can be divided into two major divisions, depending upon how they transfer the incident solar energy to the product to be dried. These two divisions are direct and indirect drying, with some work also being done on combination drying procedures. In direct solar driers, the product to be dried is usually either inside a tent, greenhouse, or a glass-topped box, where the product to be dried is heated by the direct rays from the sun and the moist air is removed by ambient wind movement. These dryers do accelerate moisture loss rate and the product is usually safe from inclement weather. These dryers usually do not require fans for forced air circulation. With indirect drying, the opposite is true, where most require powered fans for forced air circulation. With this type of dryer, both flatplate and inflated tube solar heat absorbers are used, with each offering certain advantages. Also, combination dryers have been built that utilize both direct and indirect principles. Product evaluation of solar dried foods indicate that in most cases the physical properties, flavor, and vitamin A and C retention were as good as, or better than, conventional dried foods. The economics of the solar systems indicate that most drying procedures are economically feasible for use in small-scale operations only, with the exception of grain drying.
Agriculture↗
Special sunrise & sunset solar energy stored papers and their clinical applications for intractable pain, circulatory disturbances & cancer: comparison of beneficial effects between Special Solar Energy Stored Paper and Qigong Energy Stored Paper.
Various phases of solar energy were evaluated for possible medical application, using the Bi-Digital O-Ring Test. A 2-4 minute interval of highly beneficial phase during sunrise and sunset which is comparable or is stronger than (+) Qigong Energy was detected. This energy was stored on 3 x 5 inch index cards. The sun energy stored on the exposed surface had a Bi-Digital O-Ring Test extremely strong positive (+) response, and the opposite side of the index card which was not exposed to the sun showed an equally strong negative (-) response. When the Bi-Digital O-Ring Test strong positive side (+) was applied to the patient's skin above various intractable painful areas with circulatory disturbances, including gangrenous pain, muscle pain, joint pain, & migraine headache, most of the pain disappeared or was significantly reduced within between 10 seconds and 5 minutes, with accelerated wound healing compared with Qigong energy stored paper of the same exposure, which caused pain to disappear within between 1.5 minutes and 15 minutes. When this Special Solar Energy Stored Paper was applied either directly to the skin above cancer positive areas or the midline of the upper chest above the thymus gland representation area, or the occipital area above the medulla oblongata, various cancer related parameters returned to close to normal values, with immediate clinical improvement. The beneficial effects of 10-60 seconds of application of the Special Solar Energy Stored Paper lasted for between 7 and 40 days, depending on the individual and their environmental electromagnetic field, how the special solar energy was stored, and how it was applied to the patient.
Adult↗
Powering the planet: chemical challenges in solar energy utilization.
Global energy consumption is projected to increase, even in the face of substantial declines in energy intensity, at least 2-fold by midcentury relative to the present because of population and economic growth. This demand could be met, in principle, from fossil energy resources, particularly coal. However, the cumulative nature of CO(2) emissions in the atmosphere demands that holding atmospheric CO(2) levels to even twice their preanthropogenic values by midcentury will require invention, development, and deployment of schemes for carbon-neutral energy production on a scale commensurate with, or larger than, the entire present-day energy supply from all sources combined. Among renewable energy resources, solar energy is by far the largest exploitable resource, providing more energy in 1 hour to the earth than all of the energy consumed by humans in an entire year. In view of the intermittency of insolation, if solar energy is to be a major primary energy source, it must be stored and dispatched on demand to the end user. An especially attractive approach is to store solar-converted energy in the form of chemical bonds, i.e., in a photosynthetic process at a year-round average efficiency significantly higher than current plants or algae, to reduce land-area requirements. Scientific challenges involved with this process include schemes to capture and convert solar energy and then store the energy in the form of chemical bonds, producing oxygen from water and a reduced fuel such as hydrogen, methane, methanol, or other hydrocarbon species.
Carbon↗
Pasteurization of naturally contaminated water with solar energy.
A solar box cooker (SBC) was constructed with a cooking area deep enough to hold several 3.7-liter jugs of water, and this was used to investigate the potential of using solar energy to pasteurize naturally contaminated water. When river water was heated either in the SBC or on a hot plate, coliform bacteria were inactivated at temperatures of 60 degrees C or greater. Heating water in an SBC to at least 65 degrees C ensures that the water will be above the milk pasteurization temperature of 62.8 degrees C for at least an hour, which appears sufficient to pasteurize contaminated water. On clear or partly cloudy days, with the SBC facing magnetic south in Sacramento, bottom water temperatures of at least 65 degrees C could be obtained in 11.1 liters of water during the 6 weeks on either side of the summer solstice, in 7.4 liters of water from mid-March through mid-September, and in 3.7 liters of water an additional 2 to 3 weeks at the beginning and end of the solar season. Periodic repositioning of the SBC towards the sun, adjusting the back reflective lid, and preheating water in a simple reflective device increased final water temperatures. Simultaneous cooking and heating water to pasteurizing temperatures was possible. Additional uses of the SBC to pasteurize soil and to decontaminate hospital materials before disposal in remote areas are suggested.
Enterobacteriaceae↗
[Life and energy source--from fossil energy source to solar energy].
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Energy Transfer↗
Biotechnological storage and utilization of entrapped solar energy.
Our laboratory has recently developed a device employing immobilized F0F1 adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) that allows synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from adenosine 5'-diphosphate and inorganic phosphate using solar energy. We present estimates of total solar energy received by Earth's land area and demonstrate that its efficient capture may allow conversion of solar energy and storage into bonds of biochemicals using devices harboring either immobilized ATPase or NADH dehydrogenase. Capture and storage of solar energy into biochemicals may also enable fixation of CO2 emanating from polluting units. The cofactors ATP and NADH synthesized using solar energy could be used for regeneration of acceptor D-ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate from 3-phosphoglycerate formed during CO2 fixation.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Adequacy of solar energy to keep babies warm.
OBJECTIVE: Solar energy could be used as an alternate energy source for keeping neonates warm especially in tropical countries. The present study investigated the efficacy of solar powered room heating system. SETTING: Referral center for neonatal care. INTERVENTION: A fluid system heated by solar panels and circulated into a room was used to maintain room temperature. A servocontrolled heating device was used to regulate and maintain desired room temperature. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Neonatal rectal temperature and room temperature. RESULT: Infants between 1750-2250 g were observed to require a mean room temperature of 32.5 degrees C to maintain normothermia. In 85 infants less than 1500 g, of the 5050 infant temperature records, only 3% showed a record less than 36 degrees C. CONCLUSIONS: Solar powered room heating is effective in maintaining infant temperature and is cost-effective as compared to the existing warming devices.
Humans↗
Photosynthesis: a blueprint for solar energy capture and biohydrogen production technologies.
Solar energy capture, conversion into chemical energy and biopolymers by photoautotrophic organisms, is the basis for almost all life on Earth. A broad range of organisms have developed complex molecular machinery for the efficient conversion of sunlight to chemical energy over the past 3 billion years, which to the present day has not been matched by any man-made technologies. Chlorophyll photochemistry within photosystem II (PSII) drives the water-splitting reaction efficiently at room temperature, in contrast with the thermal dissociation reaction that requires a temperature of ca. 1550 K. The successful elucidation of the high-resolution structure of PSII, and in particular the structure of its Mn(4)Ca cluster provides an invaluable blueprint for designing solar powered biotechnologies for the future. This knowledge, combined with new molecular genetic tools, fully sequenced genomes, and an ever increasing knowledge base of physiological processes of oxygenic phototrophs has inspired scientists from many countries to develop new biotechnological strategies to produce renewable CO(2)-neutral energy from sunlight. This review focuses particularly on the potential of use of cyanobacteria and microalgae for biohydrogen production. Specifically this article reviews the predicted size of the global energy market and the constraints of global warming upon it, before detailing the complex set of biochemical pathways that underlie the photosynthetic process and how they could be modified for improved biohydrogen production.
Greenhouse Effect↗
Solar energy conversion by green microalgae: a photosystem for hydrogen peroxide production.
A photosystem for solar energy conversion, comprised of a culture of green microalgae supplemented with methyl viologen, is proposed. The capture of solar energy is based on the Mehler reaction. The reduction of methyl viologen by the photosynthetic apparatus and its subsequent reoxidation by oxygen produces hydrogen peroxide. This is a rich-energy compound that can be used as a nonpollutant and efficient fuel. Four different species of green microalgae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (21gr) C. reinhardtii (CW15), Chlorella fusca, and Monoraphidium braunii, were tested as a possible biocatalyst. Each species presented a different efficiency level in the transformation of energy. Azide was an efficient inhibitor of the hydrogen peroxide scavenging system while maintaining photosynthetic activity of the microalgae, and thus significantly increasing the production of the photosystem. The strain C. reinhardtii (21gr), among the species studied, was the most efficient with an initial production rate of 185 micromol H(2)O(2)/h x mg Chl and reaching a maximum of 42.5 micromol H(2)O(2)/mg Chl when assayed in the presence of azide inhibitor.
Animals↗
Structure of biological solar energy converters - further revelations.
Photosynthetic organisms harvest solar energy by absorbing light and ultimately transferring energy through a cascade of chemical reactions to power all cellular processes. Core components initiating this reaction cascade are the photosynthetic reaction centres Photosystem I and Photosystem II. Two recent publications on the structure of the reaction centres by Adam Ben-Shem et al. and Kristina Ferreira et al. represent a big step towards understanding the evolutionary development of the core energy conversion process and identifying the site of the water oxidation process, the source of atmospheric oxygen.
Oxygen↗
Fresnel lens to concentrate solar energy for the photocatalytic decoloration and mineralization of orange II in aqueous solution.
The decoloration and mineralization of the azo dye orange II under conditions of artificial ultraviolet light and solar energy concentrated by a Fresnel lens in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and TiO(2)-P25 was studied. A comparative study to demonstrate the viability of this solar installation was done to establish if the concentration reached in the focus of the Fresnel lens was enough to improve the photocatalytic degradation reaction. The degradation efficiency was higher when the photolysis was carried out under concentrated solar energy irradiation as compared to UV light source in the presence of an electron acceptor such us H(2)O(2) and the catalyst TiO(2). The effect of hydrogen peroxide, pH and catalyst concentration was also determined. The increase of H(2)O(2) concentration until a critical value (14.7 mM) increased both the solar and artificial UV oxidation reaction rate by generating hydroxyl radicals and inhibiting the (e(-)/h(+)) pair recombination, but the excess of hydrogen peroxide decreases the oxidation rate acting as a radical or hole scavenger and reacting with TiO(2) to form peroxo-compounds, contributing to the inhibition of the reaction. The use of the response surface methodology allowed to fit the optimal values of the parameters pH and catalyst concentration leading to the total solar degradation of orange II. The optimal pH range was 4.5-5.5 close to the zero point charge of TiO(2) depending on surface charge of catalyst and dye ionization state. Dosage of catalyst higher than 1.1 gl(-1) decreases the degradation efficiency due to a decrease of light penetration.
Azo Compounds↗
Mimicking photosynthetic solar energy transduction.
Increased understanding of photosynthetic energy conversion and advances in chemical synthesis and instrumentation have made it possible to create artificial nanoscale devices and semibiological hybrids that carry out many of the functions of the natural process. Artificial light-harvesting antennas can be synthesized and linked to artificial reaction centers that convert excitation energy to chemical potential in the form of long-lived charge separation. Artificial reaction centers can form the basis for molecular-level optoelectronic devices. In addition, they may be incorporated into the lipid bilayer membranes of artificial vesicles, where they function as components of light-driven proton pumps that generate transmembrane proton motive force. The proton gradient may be used to synthesize adenosine triphosphate via an ATP synthase enzyme. The overall energy transduction process in the liposomal system mimics the solar energy conversion system of a photosynthetic bacterium. The results of this research illustrate the advantages of designing functional nanoscale devices based on biological paradigms.
Adenosine Triphosphate↗
Bacteriorhodopsin-based Langmuir-Schaefer films for solar energy capture.
The photovoltaic (PV) solar cell, converting incident solar radiation directly into electrical energy, today represents the most common power source for the earth-orbiting spacecraft, and the utilization of organic materials in this context is here explored in comparison with the present state of the art placing emphasis in organic nanotechnology. Poly[3-3'(vinylcarbazole)] (PVK) was synthesized by oxidative polymerization with ferric chloride of N-vinylcarbazole. The resulting polymer was then deposited on solid support by using the Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) technique. The pressure-area isotherm of PVK revealed the possibility of compact monolayer formation at the air-water interface. Different layers of PVK were doped with iodine vapors. The cyclic voltammetry investigation of PVK-doped I2 showed a distinctive electrochemical behavior. The photoinduced charge transfer across a donor/acceptor (D/A) hybrid interface provided an effective method to study the PV properties of the composite LS films. The results are compared with other approaches within the biological framework, such as bacteriorhodopsin (BR), and organic nanostructured materials.
Bacteriorhodopsins↗
Room-temperature preparation of nanocrystalline TiO2 films and the influence of surface properties on dye-sensitized solar energy conversion.
An extremely easy method is presented for producing surfactant-free films of nanocrystalline TiO2 at room temperature with excellent mechanical stability when deposited on glass or plastic electrodes for dye-sensitized solar energy conversion. Prolonged magnetic stirring of commercial TiO2 nanoparticles (Degussa P25) in either ethanol or water results in highly homogeneous dispersions which are used to prepare TiO2 films with surface properties which depend on the solvent used for dispersing the particles, even after sintering. The optical and mechanical properties of films cast from ethanol and water dispersions are compared, and differences in the extent of surface defects and dye binding are observed. Optical absorption, photoluminescence, and resonance Raman spectra of TiO2 films sensitized with Ru(4,4'-dicarboxylic acid-2,2'-bipyridine)2(NCS)2 ("N3") reveal that the electronic coupling of the dye and semiconductor depends on the surface structure of the film which varies with film preparation. Current-voltage data for illuminated and dark dye-sensitized solar cells are obtained as a function of film preparation, and results are compared to spectroscopic data in order to interpret the microscopic basis for variations in solar cell performance, especially with regard to sintered versus unsintered TiO2 films. The results suggest that surface traps associated with oxygen vacancies play a critical role in determining the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar energy conversion through their influence on the binding and electronic coupling of the dye to the semiconductor.
Journal Article↗
[Effects of straw mulching and irrigation on solar energy utilization efficiency of winter wheat farmland].
The study showed that straw mulching decreased the basic seedlings and tillers of winter wheat and the leaf area index (LAI) at earlier growth stage, but increased the LAI at latter growth stage. Straw mulching and irrigation reduced the transmittance and reflectance of PAR, resulting in the increase of PAR capture ratio mainly at the height of 40-60 cm. The solar energy utilization ratio of grain was decreased by straw mulching, while that of stem and leaf was increased. The total solar energy utilization efficiency of winter wheat could also be increased by straw mulching.
Photosynthesis↗
[Application of GIS and integrated mathematic models on estimating forest land wood productiveness and solar energy use efficiency].
Based on the meteorological elements observation and mountain soil survey in Fujian Province, this paper approached the application of geographic information system (GIS) and integrated mathematic models on estimating the grid wood productiveness and solar energy use efficiency (SEUE) of regional forest land. The results showed that there was a significant quadratic correlation of annual mean temperature, precipitation and total solar radiation energy(TSRE) with longitude, latitude and altitude, and their multiple correlation coefficients ranged from 0.692 to 0.981. The regional annual mean TSRE, temperature and precipitation could be well estimated by GIS and integrated models of quadratic tendency curve, and linear, quadratic and quartic inverse distance weighted interpolation. These annual means estimated by the models did not differ greatly from observed data, and the t test values were 1.29, 0.12 and 0.06, respectively. The grid wood productiveness and SEUE of regional forest land in Fujian could also be well estimated with the aid of GIS and integrated models, which ranged from 2.32 m3 x hm(-2) yr(-1) to 18.61 m3 x hm(-2) yr(-1) and from 0.11% to 0.91%, respectively.
Biomass↗