J. Renewable Sustainable Energy - Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy

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Editorial: Welcome to a new, international research journal from the American Institute of Physics—Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy

P. Craig Taylor and John A. Turner

J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 010401 (2009); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3012387 (1 page)

Online Publication Date: 6 November 2008

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84.60.Jt	Photoelectric conversion
85.85.+j	Micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) and devices
01.30.Ww	Editorials
88.00.00	Renewable energy resources and applications
81.15.-z	Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy

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Fabrication of organic solar array for applications in microelectromechanical systems

Jason Lewis, Jian Zhang, and Xiaomei Jiang

J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 013101 (2009); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2998825 (8 pages) | Cited 3 times

Online Publication Date: 6 November 2008

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We have developed an innovative way to fabricate organic solar arrays for application in dc power supplies for electrostatic microelectromechanical systems devices. A solar array with 20 miniature cells interconnected in series was fabricated and characterized. Photolithography was used to isolate the individual cells and output contacts of the array, whereas the thermal-vacuum deposition is employed to make the series connections of the array. With 1 mm² for single cell and a total device area of 2.2 cm², the organic solar array based on bulk heterojunction structure of π-conjugated polymers and C₆₀ derivative [6,6]-phenyl C₆₁ butyric acid methyl ester produced an open-circuit voltage of 7.8 V and a short-circuit current of 55 μA under simulated air mass (AM) 1.5 illumination with an intensity of 132 mW/cm². The procedure described here has the full potential for use in future fabrication of microarray with the size as small as 0.01 mm².

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84.60.Jt	Photoelectric conversion
85.85.+j	Micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) and devices
88.40.jr	Organic photovoltaics
81.15.-z	Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy

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Flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells fabricated using alkali-silicate glass thin layers as an alkali source material

Shogo Ishizuka, Akimasa Yamada, Paul Fons, and Shigeru Niki

J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 013102 (2009); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3005376 (8 pages) | Cited 7 times

Online Publication Date: 6 November 2008

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Flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cells were fabricated using alkali-silicate glass thin layers (ASTL) as an alkali source material deposited on various flexible substrates prior to the Mo backcontact layer deposition. Control of univalent alkali metal incorporation into the CIGS layer with the use of ASTL was demonstrated regardless of the presence of other multivalent metal impurities in ASTL. Dramatic enhancement in cell efficiencies using ASTL was observed though the use of excessively thick ASTL led to a degradation in cell performance. The quantum efficiency curves of CIGS solar cells fabricated using ASTL showed enhanced absorption in the long wavelength region. The photovoltaic performance dependence on a variety of substrate materials is also discussed.

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84.60.Jt	Photoelectric conversion
61.72.up	Other materials
88.40.jn	Thin film Cu-based I-III-VI2 solar cells
88.40.hj	Efficiency and performance of solar cells

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Integration of space vector pulse width modulation controlled STATCOM with wind farm connected to multimachine power system

S. M. Muyeen, Hany. M. Hasanien, Rion Takahashi, Toshiaki Murata, and Junji Tamura

J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 013103 (2009); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3049348 (15 pages)

Online Publication Date: 23 December 2008

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In this work, dynamic and transient characteristics of a multimachine power system connected with two wind farms composed of fixed speed wind turbine generator systems (WTGS) are analyzed. At each wind farm the terminal one space vector pulse width modulation controlled voltage source converter based static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) is considered to be connected. The capacitor bank capacity of fixed speed wind generator is reduced by certain percentages when a STATCOM is integrated at a wind farm terminal. As wind speed is always fluctuating, the terminal voltage of a fixed speed wind generator also fluctuates randomly, which has an adverse effect on the rest of the power system. It is reported that the STATCOM with a reduced capacitor bank can decrease the voltage fluctuations of the multimachine power system as well as wind generator terminals. Moreover, it is shown that a STATCOM can also enhance the transient stability of induction and synchronous generators when a network disturbance occurs in the power system. Since shaft system modeling of a wind turbine has a significant effect on the transient stability analysis of WTGS, a two-mass shaft model is adopted in this study. Both of the symmetrical and the unsymmetrical faults are analyzed in light of the real wind farm grid code. The transient performance of a STATCOM on the network is evaluated by the transient stability index based on the total kinetic energy of generators. For dynamic performance evaluation, real wind speed data are used in the simulation. Finally, it is concluded that the STATCOM can enhance both dynamic and transient stability of wind farms connected with a multimachine power system.

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88.50.J-	Wind farms
88.80.Cd	Grid-connected distributed energy resources
84.60.Ve	Energy storage systems, including capacitor banks

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Effect of wind speed and load power factor variation on optimal sizing of the machine and converters for double output induction generator based stand-alone wind energy conversion systems

T. K. Saha, D. P. Bagarty, and D. Kastha

J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 013104 (2009); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3076056 (17 pages)

Online Publication Date: 10 February 2009

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In this paper, an algorithm for finding out the optimal ratings of the machine and power electronic converters of a wind turbine driven stand-alone double output induction generator based variable speed constant frequency generation system is reported, which seeks to minimize the cost of energy generation. The nonlinear constrained optimization technique employed includes, among others, the reactive power balance constraints, which are not often considered for stand-alone systems. For this purpose, the load power factor is modeled as a random variable with known probability density function. The total energy captured is calculated for a given wind velocity density function and load power factor density function. The proposed method finally finds the optimum combination of machine and converter ratings, which results in minimum cost of energy. The effects of changes in load power factor and wind velocity distribution are also discussed in detail.

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88.50.gj	Modeling, design
88.05.Lg	Economic issues; sustainability; cost trends
84.50.+d	Electric motors

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Proton exchange membrane fuel cell modeling based on adaptive focusing particle swarm optimization

Li Qi, Chen Weirong, Jia Junbo, Cham Yew Thean, and Han Ming

J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 013105 (2009); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3081507 (10 pages) | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: 18 February 2009

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According to the modeling principle of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), adaptive focusing particle swarm optimization (AFPSO), which had preferable ability of global search and search rate was proposed to research a set of optimized parameters in the mechanism model. The comparison between experimental results and simulation results demonstrates that AFPSO can make the simulation results fit the experiment data with higher precision and has manifest superiority and validity for estimating the model parameters. Hence AFPSO achieves significant effect for optimizing the model parameters of PEMFC.

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82.47.Gh	Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells
82.47.Nj	Polymer-electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC)
02.60.Pn	Numerical optimization
88.30.pd	Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEM)
88.30.gg	Design and simulation

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A two junction, four terminal photovoltaic device for enhanced light to electric power conversion using a low-cost dichroic mirror

Sven Rühle, Akiba Segal, Ayelet Vilan, Sarah R. Kurtz, Larissa Grinis, Arie Zaban, Igor Lubomirsky, and David Cahen

J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 013106 (2009); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3081510 (6 pages) | Cited 4 times

Online Publication Date: 24 February 2009

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A low-cost dichroic mirror can be used successfully for solar spectrum splitting to enhance solar to electrical energy conversion. The mirror is optimized for use with a polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic cell (pc-Si). With the dichroic mirror simultaneous excitation of a medium-efficient (11.1%) commercial pc-Si and a custom-made high band gap GaInP cell (12.3%), yields 16.8% efficiency, with both cells operating at maximum power. Our results clearly show that what is missing for this simple low-cost enhancement of Si solar cell efficiency are low-cost high band gap cells.

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84.60.Jt	Photoelectric conversion
42.79.Bh	Lenses, prisms and mirrors
42.79.Ek	Solar collectors and concentrators
88.40.jj	Silicon solar cells
88.40.F-	Solar concentrators

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Conservation and recycling of pomegranate seeds and shells for value addition

Pradeep C. Suryawanshi, Rajesh D. Kirtane, Ambalal B. Chaudhari, and Ramanlal M. Kothari

J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 013107 (2009); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3078510 (6 pages) | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: 27 February 2009

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Anaerobic digestion of de-oiled cake of pomegranate seeds (10% SS) has been carried out at 35 °C over 240 days. It indicated (i) stable pH profile (7.1–7.8), (ii) alkalinity:acidity ratio (6.1–6.8), (iii) healthy volatile fatty acid profile until organic loading rate 3.5, and (iv) biogas production (506 l/kg VS) with maximum 74% methane content. Its scale up to 85 m³ has been successfully achieved to replace liquid petroleum gas cylinders for cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner of about 350 individuals per day, besides use in street lighting. On the other hand, since pomegranate shells showed recalcitrance toward anaerobic digestion, it was composted successfully with and without mixing with banana peels under ambient conditions, 50±5% humidity in 15 days by transformation of C:N ratio from 22.5 to 17.0. It provided excellent germination, root ramification, shoot growth, and high chlorophyll content in leaves.

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89.20.Bb	Industrial and technological research and development
89.60.-k	Environmental studies
88.20.gh	Anaerobic digestion
88.20.dj	Agriculture/forestry residues

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