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In recent days CZTS based thin film solar cells have attracted much attention due to their favorable electrical and optical properties, low cost and non-toxicity. A maximum laboratory efficiency of 10-12% has been reported for these types of cells. As the cells are subjected to much higher temperatures during outdoor operation, it is important to understand how CZTS cells will perform outdoor. This work investigates the effect of varying temperature on the different components of the dark current, as well as their effects on the cell performance. Among the different components of the dark current, trap-assisted tunneling recombination, thermionic emission and interface recombination are found to have significant contribution to the dark current while thermionic emission is found to be the dominating loss mechanism at high temperature. A calculation of cell efficiency at different temperatures show that the cell efficiency decreases from about 16.3% at 0°C to about only 7.3% at 75 °C. 35th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 899-902

A measurement of the production of three isolated photons in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV is reported. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb$^{−1}$ collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The differential cross sections are measured as functions of the transverse energy of each photon, the difference in azimuthal angle and in pseudorapidity between pairs of photons, the invariant mass of pairs of photons, and the invariant mass of the triphoton system. A measurement of the inclusive fiducial cross section is also reported. Next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions are compared to the cross-section measurements. The predictions underestimate the measurement of the inclusive fiducial cross section and the differential measurements at low photon transverse energies and invariant masses. They provide adequate descriptions of the measurements at high values of the photon transverse energies, invariant mass of pairs of photons, and invariant mass of the triphoton system. Physics letters / B 781, 55 - 76 (2018). doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2018.03.057 Published by North-Holland Publ., Amsterdam

In this study, the performance of a photovoltaic-thermal solar collector with compound parabolic collector for clear day in winter and summer season was investigated. Phase change material storage unit, compound parabolic collector unit, photovoltaic thermal unit were integrated into one piece to reduce the area to get higher performance and better concentration ratio. The performance of water flow rate, heat removal factor, amount of energy storage of the collector in winter season and comparison of temperature variation, total generated energy, performance factor in summer season by varying different parameters were evaluated. Water flow rate increases up to 0.004 kg/s corresponding to the thermal efficiency of around 42%. Heat removal factor for thermal collector was in the range of 0.94-0.96, which indicates better energy gain of the system and effective outlet water temperature was found 55 0C in winter season. The total generated thermal energy 1500W and maximum performance factor of a collector was 0.0135 kW-1m2 in summer season. Finally total efficiency of a collector varies from 58% -68% in summer season.

The renewable energy sources like wind and solar energies can be combined to increase the total power generation and thereby increase the efficiency of the system. The combination also provides a means to overcome the intermittent nature of the solar and wind renewable energy sources, since one source can be used for power generation when other is not available. AC-DC converters are used convert the alternating voltage of the wind generator to a constant DC value which can be used to charge the batteries or later converted to AC voltage to drive AC loads. A Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) system using boost converter is designed to extract maximum possible power from the sun when it is available. This method provides better harmonic reduction since Harmonic content is detrimental for the generator lifespan, heating issues, and efficiency. Simulations are carried out in PSIM software and MATLAB.

Electricity shortage has become a major challenge to continued economic growth in Bangladesh. The country is growing in terms of GDP growth at a rate of 7% a year. Bangladesh is expected to move towards 23rd position globally by 2050 from its position 31 in 2014, in terms of GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP). The demand for electricity is forecasted to be 61,164 MW within the same period. Currently, electricity generation in Bangladesh is highly dependent on fossil fuels, nearly 59% is produced from natural gas followed by furnace oil, diesel and coal, while only 3% from renewables. Electricity generation is the largest single source of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in Bangladesh, and thus finding alternative energy source has become imperative for the country. Solar and nuclear energy sources have the potentials to be utilized for low-carbon energy sector and thus for a sustainable economic development in Bangladesh. Barriers to solar and nuclear energy will be reduced significantly in coming years with technological advancement. However, energy policies need to be revised to facilitate low-carbon energy technologies. Besides, more international collaboration is highly required not only to import new technologies but also to enhance the capacity of research and development (R&D) as well as overall adoption of the technologies.

Because of the physical properties of heat energy, information about the spatial pattern of building heat demand is important for designing climate protection measures in the heating sector (efficiency improvements and renewable energy integration). Many cities in Germany currently prepare ‘heat demand cadastres’ – thematic maps, depicting building heat demand. The growing trend towards open data points into the direction of making these cadastres public, so that different actors can make use of them. However, making such data public may violate the legal requirement of protecting private data. We present a way of tackling this problem with an approach for the aggregation of spatially represented heat demand. Using an algorithm based on graph theory, we group buildings such that the tracing of energetic characteristics and behaviour to individuals is rendered unfeasible. Our method also allows additional constraints to be introduced, for example, aggregating with respect to plot boundaries. We discuss how the building groups can be visualised in a map by presenting a method of generating customised geometries for each group. Finally, we present a visualisation of both specific heat demand (in kWh/(m2*a)) and total heat demand (in kWh/a) in one and the same map. This aids the analysis of more complex questions involving energy efficiency and heat supply. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, Vol 24 (2019)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine pro-poor urban asset adaptation to climate variability and change. It constructs a conceptual framework that explores the appropriate asset adaptation strategies for extreme poor households as well as the process of supporting these households and groups in accumulating these assets. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data are obtained from life histories, key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus-group discussions (FGDs). These data are collected, coded and themed. Findings – This research identifies that households among the urban extreme poor do their best to adapt to perceived climate changes; however, in the absence of savings, and access to credit and insurance, they are forced to adopt adverse coping strategies. Individual adaptation practices yield minimal results and are short lived and even harmful because the urban extreme poor are excluded from formal policies and institutions as they lack formal rights and entitlements. For the poorest, the process of facilitating and maintaining patron–client relationships is a central coping strategy. Social policy approaches are found to be effective in facilitating asset adaptation for the urban extreme poor because they contribute to greater resilience to climate change. Originality/value – This study analyses the empirical evidence through the lens of a pro-poor asset-adaptation framework. It shows that the asset-transfer approach is an effective in building household-adaptation strategies. Equally important is the capacity to participate in and influence the institutions from which these people have previously been excluded.