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A volume transmission phase holographic element was designed and constructed to perform as a building integrated photovoltaic concentrator. The holographic lens diffracts light in the spectral bandwidth to which the cell presents the highest sensitivity with a concentration factor of 3.6X. In this way, the cell is protected from overheating because the infrared for which the solar cell is not sensitive is not concentrated. In addition, based on the asymmetric angular selectivity of the volume hologram and based on the linear concentration, only single-axis tracking is needed. The use of the holographic element increases the efficiency of the PV cell by 3% and the fill factor by 8%.

A volume transmission phase holographic element was designed and constructed to perform as a building integrated photovoltaic concentrator. The holographic lens diffracts light in the spectral bandwidth to which the cell presents the highest sensitivity with a concentration factor of 3.6X. In this way, the cell is protected from overheating because the infrared for which the solar cell is not sensitive is not concentrated. In addition, based on the asymmetric angular selectivity of the volume hologram and based on the linear concentration, only single-axis tracking is needed. The use of the holographic element increases the efficiency of the PV cell by 3% and the fill factor by 8%.

Abstract This paper presents the analysis of the performance of a solar cooling facility along one summer season using a commercial single-effect water–lithium bromide absorption chiller aiming at domestic applications. The facility works only with solar energy using flat plate collectors and it is located at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain. The statistical analysis performed with the gathered data shows the influence of five daily operational variables on the system performance. These variables are solar energy received along the day (H) and the average values, along the operating period of the solar cooling facility (from sunrise to the end of the cold-water production), of the ambient temperature ( T ¯ ), the wind velocity magnitude (V), the wind direction (θ) and the relative humidity (RH). First order correlation functions are given. The analysis of the data allows concluding that the most influential variables on the daily cooling energy produced and the daily averaged solar COP are H, V and θ. The period length of cold-water production is determined mainly by H and T ¯ .

Abstract This paper presents the analysis of the performance of a solar cooling facility along one summer season using a commercial single-effect water–lithium bromide absorption chiller aiming at domestic applications. The facility works only with solar energy using flat plate collectors and it is located at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain. The statistical analysis performed with the gathered data shows the influence of five daily operational variables on the system performance. These variables are solar energy received along the day (H) and the average values, along the operating period of the solar cooling facility (from sunrise to the end of the cold-water production), of the ambient temperature ( T ¯ ), the wind velocity magnitude (V), the wind direction (θ) and the relative humidity (RH). First order correlation functions are given. The analysis of the data allows concluding that the most influential variables on the daily cooling energy produced and the daily averaged solar COP are H, V and θ. The period length of cold-water production is determined mainly by H and T ¯ .

Application of a simplified PV model to large-scale PV installations neglects the current distortion, potential rise and losses in the system as consequence of the capacitive coupling inside the dc electric circuit. These capacitive couplings represent a leakage impedance loop for the capacitive currents imposed by the high frequency switching performance of power converters. This paper proposes a suitable method to reproduce these harmonic currents injected not only into the grid, but also into the dc circuit of the PV installation. The capacitive coupling proposed of PV modules with ground is modeled as a parallel resistance and capacitor arrangement which leads to an accurate approximation to the real operation response of the PV installation. Results obtained are compared with those of simplified models of PV installations used in literature. An experimental validation of the proposed model was performed with field measurements obtained from an existing 1 MW PV installation. Simulation results are presented together with solutions based on the proposed model to minimize the capacitive ground current in this PV installation for meeting typical power quality regulations concerning to the harmonic distortion and safety conditions and to optimize the efficiency of the installation.

Application of a simplified PV model to large-scale PV installations neglects the current distortion, potential rise and losses in the system as consequence of the capacitive coupling inside the dc electric circuit. These capacitive couplings represent a leakage impedance loop for the capacitive currents imposed by the high frequency switching performance of power converters. This paper proposes a suitable method to reproduce these harmonic currents injected not only into the grid, but also into the dc circuit of the PV installation. The capacitive coupling proposed of PV modules with ground is modeled as a parallel resistance and capacitor arrangement which leads to an accurate approximation to the real operation response of the PV installation. Results obtained are compared with those of simplified models of PV installations used in literature. An experimental validation of the proposed model was performed with field measurements obtained from an existing 1 MW PV installation. Simulation results are presented together with solutions based on the proposed model to minimize the capacitive ground current in this PV installation for meeting typical power quality regulations concerning to the harmonic distortion and safety conditions and to optimize the efficiency of the installation.

The trends of the actual distribution networks are moving toward a high penetration of distributed generation and power electronics converters. These technologies modify contribution-to-fault current magnitudes and raise concern about new protection parameters settings to accurately detect faults on distribution networks. This paper proposes a differential phase jump pilot scheme to detect faulted branches in distribution networks. The aim of the proposed scheme is to provide an efficient algorithm with functions of fault detection and isolation, which are part of the self-healing functions used for smart grids. The proposed scheme is based on the current phase jump measured in each node with fault inception. Then, by comparing the phase jump obtained with the prefault conditions and rate changes, it determines the fault direction enabling a trip signal to the corresponding nodes to isolate the branch under fault. A distribution network has been modeled in PSCAD/EMTDC program to verify the proposed algorithm, taking into account distributed generation provided by both wind turbines (doubly fed induction generator and permanent magnet generator with full converter) and solar photovoltaic installations. The behavior of the current phase jump has been studied for both generation and load nodes. This algorithm is not affected by the magnitude of current and voltage and has been tested varying fault location and resistance along the modeled distribution network.