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Abstract This paper presented a novel method of dissipating solar photovoltaic heat based on the technology of micro-heat-pipe array and the utilization of photovoltaic-cell waste heat. This novel technology solved the problems of low PV electrical efficiency and thermal failure caused by high cell temperature, greatly increased the comprehensive utilization efficiency of solar energy, and extended the service life of photovoltaic modules. One-year experiments were conducted to investigate the electrical and thermal performance of a forced-circulation, household-type photovoltaic/thermal system based on micro-heat-pipe array in Beijing, China. Test results showed that on the four typical days in different seasons, the average electrical efficiencies were 13.76%, 11.92%, 13.71%, and 14.65%; the average thermal efficiencies were 31.62%, 33.07%, 24.99%, and 17.24%; and the average total efficiencies were 45.38%, 44.99%, 38.70%, 31.89%, respectively. The system met the demand of power supply on sunny days and the demand of hot water between March and November, except in cloudy days. These experimental results can provide basis and reference for practical applications of the system.

A fundamental objective of rangeland managers all over the world is to take measures to ensure that the rangeland being managed stays away from irreversible states in which it provides little or no consumptive and non-consumptive services to humans. Nevertheless, despite a manager's best attempts, the rangeland under study may still hit an irreversible state. Accordingly, given a particular management regime, it is useful to know the length of time taken to hit an irreversible state. In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis of this hitherto unstudied question. We first provide a probabilistic description of two range management regimes. Next, we calculate the mean time until an irreversible state is hit for both these regimes. Finally, we provide a numerical example to demonstrate the working of our model and then we discuss the ramifications of our findings for rangeland management in general.

Understanding the system of connections between societal contexts and policy outcomes in municipal governments provides important insights into how community sustainability happens, and why it happens differently in various communities. A growing body of research in recent years has focused on understanding the socio-economic characteristics of communities and cities that are recognized as policy leaders in sustainability. In this paper, we expand the focus beyond the leaders in sustainability as we apply a selection of socio-demographic influences of community sustainability to a large sample of U.S. communities using community classification analytics to identity a range of community types and levels of engagement with sustainability. Our typology presents an integrated and comprehensive perspective on the structure of community sustainability in the United States, highlighting key points of comparison between human capital factors such as population size and density, affluence, home ownership, and adoption of sustainability policy. The analysis provides new insights not only about community leaders in sustainability, but also communities with the civic and social capacity to do more, and the challenges that may inhibit sustainability efforts in others.

Abstract In demand of remote control of photographic equipment, we design a remote-control system for photographic equipment. The system uses the stabilizer as the platform to realize the transmission of the state parameters of photographic equipment and stabilizer to the mobile device by the self-designed wireless communication interaction protocol and control protocol. It can also control the camera equipment and stabilizer according their states. The test results show that the remote-control system of the photographic equipment designed in this paper meets the design requirements, facilitates the user’s surveillance filming work and harmonizes the user experience.

The classical approach to load modeling is to divide the load by customer class and then identify and model the load components corresponding to each customer class. This work explores an alternative way to break down the load using readily available data. Namely, using historical usage data and historical weather data the load can be first divided into temperature-dependent and temperature-independent portions. A simple thermal model of the structure(s) served by the electrical circuit forms the theoretical and mathematical basis of this separation. During summer peaking conditions, the temperature-dependent load is generally composed of air conditioners, which must be modeled properly in order to analyze delayed voltage recovery or other dynamic phenomenon. Once the temperature-dependent fraction of the load has been characterized, the size of compressor, fan, and pump motors can be inferred by the customer class.

The hydraulic balance of heating network is considered as a pre-condition for the implementation of low temperature district heating (LTDH). Its imbalance result into high energy consumption and heat-losses in the network. In this study, a novel hydraulic model is presented which investigates hydraulic imbalance in the LTDH network, using real weather and hourly monitored operational heating data from an existing boiler based building. Analysis of delta t in space-heating system shows that the delta t is maximum when the outside air temperature is lowest and it decreases with increase in outside air temperature. Furthermore, the hydraulic imbalance is analysed for four different control scenarios with the aim to find an optimum scenario with minimum pumping power, energy consumption and heat-losses in the LTDH network. Results show that the hydraulic imbalance is due to the absence of flow-limiters and balancing valves on the return pipe and thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) alone are unable to maintain hydraulic balance in the space-heating system of buildings. Moreover, the control scenario with variable flow-rate and fixed supply water temperature from the sub-station is found to be optimum. Compared to the constant flow-rate scenario, the pumping power, energy consumption and heat-losses in the LTDH network are reduced by approximately 2%, 63% and 14%, respectively.

Abstract In a passive nuclear plant, the main control room must provide self-support functions for 72 h after an accident occurs. In this isolation mode, the heat generated by indoor occupants and equipment should be removed by using concrete walls that are 610 mm thick, and the finned ceiling made of concrete should maintain thermal habitability. However, the finned ceiling design has not been studied in normal buildings, and the cooling storage effect of plate-shaped fins is usually ignored during the design phase. In this study, a novel parametric resistance–capacitance thermal network is proposed to simulate the thermal performance of different fin-plate layout forms in the case of an accident. An experiment was conducted on a 1200 mm × 1200 mm × 610 mm fin-concrete module for 72 h to validate the model under constant air temperature conditions. Based on the model, multi-objective optimization was conducted to obtain optimal solution sets by using a radial basis function approximation model. The results show that the optimal performance indicators can be classified into unsteady and quasi-steady states, in which the dominant factors for heat transfer include the heat transfer area and the thickness of the finned plate, respectively. Further, the optimal solution sets for different convection and heating conditions obtained through an optimization process are used to design a fin layout based on actual temperature control demands and cooling storage.