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High step-up, high efficiency, low cost DC/DC converters have operated as an interface to make use of the renewable energy system generated power. In order to obtain desired output voltage, the DC/AC voltage conversion to AC mains voltage is an important consideration mainly achieved through inverters. Taking into acoount the performance of the non-isolated high step-up DC/DC converters for the renewable energy systems, the substantial amount of topologies studied in past years are the non-isolated high step-up DC/DC converters. Based on proposed and generalized configurations, the non-isolated high step-up DC/DC converters are classified into several categories and reviewed in this paper. So, to clarify the distinguishing solutions, the key features; topological variations, merits and demerits of these converters are discussed and compared. This review work aims to give a well-informed and a well-detailed general framework about these converters and facilitates to derive the new well topologies in the future. (C) 2021 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University.

In this work, we propose and design a GaN-based diode with a p-doped GaN (p-GaN) multi-well structure for high efficiency betavoltaic (BV) cells. The short-circuit current density (JSC) and open-circuit voltage (VOC) of the devices were investigated with variations of parameters such as the doping concentration, height, width of the p-GaN well region, well-to-well gap, and number of well regions. The JSC of the device was significantly improved by a wider depletion area, which was obtained by applying the multi-well structure. The optimized device achieved a higher output power density by 8.6% than that of the conventional diode due to the enhancement of JSC. The proposed device structure showed a high potential for a high efficiency BV cell candidate.

High-efficiency and high-speed photodetectors with broadband responses are playing pivotal roles for wavelength-division multiplexing optical communications. Germanium photodetectors on silicon platforms exhibit potential cost advantage due to the compatibility for monolithic integration with silicon-based electronic circuits for signal amplification and processing. In this article, we report a normal incidence, germanium photodetector enabled by guided-mode resonances in photonic crystal, which successfully resolved the compromise between quantum efficiency, wavelength coverage and bandwidth requirement, a drawback usually faced by conventional photodetectors operating at normal incidence. The resonant photonic crystal structure is designed to support multiple resonances in the target wavelength range. With an intrinsic absorption layer thickness of 350 nm, the device achieved a high external quantum efficiency of 50% at 1550 nm, along with an enhancement around 300% for the entire C-band. Using a mesa diameter of 14 μm, the fabricated device exhibited a 3-dB bandwidth of 33 GHz and obtained clear eye diagrams at bit rate up to 56 Gbps. This work provides a promising method to design high-efficiency, high-speed, normal incidence germanium photodetectors for optical interconnect systems.

This article presents a low-cost, high-efficiency, and full-metal reflectarray (RA) antenna with mechanical beam-steerable capabilities. A unit cell (UC) implemented by a metal cylinder with a cuboid-shaped notch is proposed to achieve a 1 bit reflection phase (0 and $\pi $ ) for the transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) normal incidence waves. The proposed UCs can be employed to construct an RA antenna with 2-D beam-steerable abilities. For demonstration, the RA antennas with six different beam directions are presented as examples, by simply adjusting the rotations of the UCs. The impedance matches of the RA antenna are all below −10 dB from 22 to 33 GHz, and the measured radiation patterns of the RA antenna are all highly consistent with the simulated counterparts for the six different beam direction scenarios. A 1.5 dB gain drop bandwidth of approximately 20% from 24.7 to 30 GHz and a peak realized gain of 18.9 dBi at 26 GHz are experimentally obtained for the RA antenna with radiation patterns at broadside. Compared to the substrate-based UCs loaded with p-i-n diodes, the proposed UCs have full-metal structures without using any active RF components and dielectric substrates, leading to the high total efficiency of the proposed RA antenna. Due to the low-cost, high-efficiency, and high-power handling properties, the proposed RA antenna can provide a fixed or scanning beam and is a good candidate for 5G millimeter-wave communication applications.

The recent surge of scientific interest for lead halide perovskite semiconductors and optoelectronic devices has seen a mix of materials science sub-fields converge on the same “magical” crystal structure. However, this has ultimately shaped some ambiguity in the definitions shared between researchers across different research areas. For example, scientists aiming to decipher the nature of localized states within metal halide perovskites sometimes over simplify the problem, using identifers such as “defects” or “states”. Herein, we review the topic of charge carrier trapping within lead halide perovskites, overviewing their causes and influences, as well as specifying their potential resolutions. We assess the popular lead triiodide perovskites for case study and examine the origins of both intrinsic and extrinsic defects leading to charge carrier trapping in performant perovskite-based solar cells, and review the state-of-the-art actions being taken to limit their effects and achieve world-record conversion efficiencies. Finally, we also draw brief comparisons to other emerging lead-free systems and highlight promising optical tools and design principles moving forward.

This paper proposes two permanent magnet vernier machines (PMVM) operation modes, for wide-speed and high efficiency operation. In mode-1, the machine operates as a conventional PMVM with a wye connected stator winding mode. In mode-2, the machine stator winding is switched to a wye-delta winding mode. Contrary to the existing dual-inverter PMVM topology with two additional bidirectional thyristor switches, the proposed topology utilizes a single inverter with six additional bidirectional thyristor switches to change mode. A theoretical discussion of the proposed idea is further verified via finite element analysis (FEA) simulations. The basic electromagnetic characteristics, such as the flux linkage, back electromotive force, torque, and phase voltages of the machine are investigated using wye and wye-delta stator winding configurations, and subsequently, compared with the existing topology that used a dual-inverter PMVM. The FEA results show that the proposed PMVM has low over-all losses, consequently resulting in improved efficiency compared to the existing topology. The speed increases by almost 9 times using the proposed single-inverter PMVM. Transient analysis using FEA is also conducted in this paper.

Geometric metasurfaces have shown superior phase control capacity owing to the geometric nature of their phase profile. The existing geometric metasurfaces are generally composed of metal-dielectric composites or all-dielectric subwavelength structures. Here, a novel configuration, all-metallic structure, is proposed to achieve broadband and high-performance electromagnetic wavefront manipulation based on the geometric phase. A catenary model is built to describe the optical dispersion and guide the design of metasurfaces. Two metadevices including a beam deflector and a hologram are designed and experimentally demonstrated in the infrared regime, with the measured optical efficiency up to 84% (the simulated efficiency reaches 93%). Compared to previous metal-insulator-metal structures, this approach can realize higher efficiency and broader operating bandwidth owing to its lower ohmic loss. This design strategy is universal and can be easily scaled to any other spectra without complex optimization. Moreover, since metals have excellent mechanical and physical properties, such as good thermal and electrical conductivity, this all-metallic structure may provide a new thinking on interdisciplinary research.

A fractal metasurface-based ultra-broadband and high conversion efficiency reflective polarization rotator (PR) is proposed. The linearly y-/x-polarized (LP) incident electromagnetic (EM) wave can be rotated over 90oafter reflection by the proposed metasurface. The unit cell of the proposed PR is designed based on the fractal cut-wire resonator. Compared with a typical cut-wire resonator exciting three resonances, the fractal one can generate an extra resonant frequency. An ultra-broad bandwidth with a polarization conversion ratio greater than 0.9 (PCR>0.90) can be obtained from 8.00 to 23.00 GHz (a fractional bandwidth of 96.8%) at normal incidence, which is realized by the combination of the four resonances. The physical working mechanism and the polarization conversion performance of the metasurface are analyzed by surface current and E-field distributions, simulations and explained based on numerical calculations and plasmon resonance modes. Good agreement between the experiments and simulations is obtained. Compared with traditional PRs and other published metasurface-based PRs, the proposed metasurface can achieve an ultra-broad band and a high efficiency with a sub-wavelength size of the unit cell. The use of fractal topologies provides a novel and efficient method to further upgrade resonance characteristics in the design of PR, and the scalable geometry of the design shows its potential applications at optical, terahertz, and microwave frequencies.

Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) is a chemical commodity widely employed as a disinfection agent in water treatment applications. Its production commonly follows electrochemical routes in an undivided reactor. Powering the process with photovoltaic (PV) electricity holds the potential to install stand-alone, independent generators and reduce the NaClO production cost. This study reports the comparative assessment of autonomous, solar-powered sodium hypochlorite generators employing different photovoltaic (PV) technologies: silicon hetero-junction (SHJ) and multi-junction (MJ) solar cells. For Si hetero-junctions, the series connection of either four or five SHJ (4SHJ and 5SHJ, respectively) cells was implemented to obtain the reaction potential required. MJ cells were illuminated by a novel planar solar concentrator that guarantees solar tracking with minimal linear displacements. The three solar-hypochlorite generators were tested under real atmospheric conditions, demonstrating solar-to-chemical conversion efficiencies (SCE) of 9.8% for 4SHJ, 14.2% for 5SHJ and 25.1% for MJ solar cells, respectively. Simulations based on weather databases allowed us to assess efficiencies throughout the entire model year and resulted in specific sodium hypochlorite yearly production rates between 7.2-28 g(NaClO) cm(-2) (referred to the PV surface), depending on the considered PV technology, location, and deployment of electronics converters. The economic viability and competitiveness of solar hypochlorite generators have been investigated and compared with an analog disinfection system deploying ultraviolet lamps. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of off-grid, solar-hypochlorite generators, and points towards the implementation of SHJ solar cells as a reliable technology for stand-alone solar-chemical devices.

This paper presents a fully integrated C-band Doherty power amplifier (DPA) based on a 0.25-μm GaN-HEMT process for the 5G massive MIMO application. The performance degradation caused by nonlinear output capacitance is analyzed, and a novel compensation technique is proposed. A low-Q output network is employed to broaden the bandwidth, and its insertion loss in the back-off region is demonstrated to be mainly decided by the Q-factor of the drain bias inductor of the main PA. Hence, by adopting on-chip transmission lines with high Q-factors for drain biasing, a full integration, and a low loss can be achieved simultaneously. Reversed uneven power splitting and back-off input matching are proposed for gain enhancement. The fabricated DPA demonstrates a small-signal gain of 8.6-11.6 dB, an output power of 40.4-41.2 dBm, a 6-dB back-off drain efficiency (DE) of 47% - 50%, and a saturation DE of 55%-63% across a wide bandwidth from 4.5 to 5.2 GHz, with an ultra-compact size of 2.2 mm × 2.1 mm. Using a 40-MHz LTE signal with a 7.7-dB peak-to-average power ratio at the carrier frequency of 4.9 GHz, the measured average output power and efficiency are 33 dBm and 43%, respectively. The raw adjacent channel power ratio is -29 dBc and is improved to -46 dBc by applying digital predistortion.

This paper presents a large signal theory of multiple cascaded bunching cavities for the design of high-efficiency triaxial klystron amplifiers (TKAs). The theoretical analysis of multiple cascaded bunching cavities is presented, focusing on the relationship between gap voltage and first harmonic current and velocity dispersion, which can exactly describe the clustering state of intense relativistic electron beams. The theoretical results of the first harmonic current and velocity dispersion are basically consistent with its simulation results, which can justify a high degree of confidence in the validity of that theory. This theory can predict the possibility of deep modulation of intense relativistic electron beams when the depth of the first harmonic current is about 150% by multiple cascaded bunching cavities. By properly accounting for this theory, we can design a Ku-band TKA with nearly 60% microwave conversion efficiency, which can provide theoretical and simulation guidance for the design of high-efficiency TKAs. More importantly, when we increase the electron beam voltage from 300 kV to 600 kV and keep the relativistic perveance constant, this device also can obtain more than 50% efficiency and 40 dB gain. As a result, we can design a Ku-band TKA with high average output power of about 1.5 GW, 52% efficiency and 46 dB gain.

Cefepime-induced encephalopathy with associated complications is a relatively rare but known adverse reaction that appears to occur more commonly in the elderly population with concomitant renal dysfunction or pre-existing central nervous system disease. The description of neurological features in pediatric patients secondary to cefepime-induced encephalopathy has rarely been reported, often delaying diagnosis and treatment. We report a 13-year-old female with end-stage renal disease, maintained on hemodialysis, who developed acute neurological symptoms of aphasia, myoclonus, hallucinations, seizures, and altered mental status after two days of cefepime treatment. After prompt discontinuation of cefepime and urgent hemodialysis, the neurological symptoms were resolved. Our patient had complete neurological recovery within 24 hours of the initial presentation of neurological symptoms. Recognizing the possibility of encephalopathy related to cefepime administration in high-risk pediatric patients should prompt close neurological monitoring when under treatment. Hemodialysis may help rapidly reverse the symptoms of cefepime-induced encephalopathy.

A large potential exists in the Southeast Asia region for deployment of high-efficiency, low-emission (HELE) electricity generation technologies. A cost–benefit analysis of HELE technologies compared to the less efficient subcritical electricity generation plants is thus carried out to find a persuasive scenario supporting quicker transition from subcritical stations towards HELE technologies in the region. A levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) analysis is carried out for both technologies under four potential policy scenarios. Scenario 1 does not take into consideration any carbon pricing or costs associated with the desulphurization (deSOx) and denitrification (deNOx) facilities. Scenario 2 (Scenario 3) incorporates carbon pricing (costs associated with the deSOx and deNOx facilities), and Scenario 4 includes both carbon pricing and costs associated with the deSOx and deNOx facilities. Under each scenario, a sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate the uncertainty affecting the future coal prices. This study demonstrates that HELE technologies are competitive against the subcritical plants under all four scenarios and both the technologies derive benefit from lifetime extensions and low coal prices. It is revealed that future deployments of HELE technologies can be best expedited by factoring in carbon pricing in LCOE costs of coal-fired power plants under Scenario 2.

Due to its outstanding features, graphene has become a vital topic in nanotechnology applications such as optoelectronic devices, sensors, batteries, and biomedical applications. This study has been focused on examining a heavily doped semiconductor in order to fabricate Schottky junction solar cell, where p-type graphene with heavily doped n-type silicon (p-G/n(+)-Si) Schottky junction solar cell with a top-window structure and active area of 0.11 cm(2) has been fabricated using simple techniques without photolithography system. High-quality monolayer graphene sheet was synthesized by CVD method, while the back- and front-metal contacts were achieved by thermal evaporation system using Cr, Ag, and Au. The effect of thermal annealing to the transferred graphene sheet and the p-doping of graphene were also investigated. The results indicate that the annealing treatment has significantly reduced the PMMA residue in the graphene sheet by similar to 75% as well as reduction in the PMMA islands' height. On the other hand, doping graphene with GO dispersion showed an enhancement in both J(sc) = 3.65 mA /cm(2) and V-oc = 420 mV which is an indication of larger graphene's work function. The best obtained power conversion efficiency of this cell after annealing treatment and doping was found to be around 2.24%. The results also showed how it is challenging to deal with heavily doped semiconductor in order to make a Schottky junction between graphene and the semiconductor, where the Fill factor was decreased after each processing step.

Emerging photovoltaics (PVs) focus on a variety of applications complementing large scale electricity generation. Organic, dye-sensitized, and some perovskite solar cells are considered in building integration, greenhouses, wearable, and indoor applications, thereby motivating research on flexible, transparent, semitransparent, and multi-junction PVs. Nevertheless, it can be very time consuming to find or develop an up-to-date overview of the state-of-the-art performance for these systems and applications. Two important resources for recording research cells efficiencies are the National Renewable Energy Laboratory chart and the efficiency tables compiled biannually by Martin Green and colleagues. Both publications provide an effective coverage over the established technologies, bridging research and industry. An alternative approach is proposed here summarizing the best reports in the diverse research subjects for emerging PVs. Best performance parameters are provided as a function of the photovoltaic bandgap energy for each technology and application, and are put into perspective using, e.g., the Shockley-Queisser limit. in all cases, the reported data correspond to published and/or properly described certified results, with enough details provided for prospective data reproduction. Additionally, the stability test energy yield is included as an analysis parameter among state-of-the-art emerging PVs., VDI/VD Innovation + Technik GmbH; SAOT - German Research Foundation (DFG)German Research Foundation (DFG); DFGGerman Research Foundation (DFG)European Commission [INST 90/917-1 FUGG, 182849149, SFB 953]; Energy Conversion Systems-from Materials to Devices [IGK 2495]; grant "ELF-PV-Design and development of solution processed functional materials for the next generations of PV technologies" [44-6521a/20/4]; grant "Solar Factory of the Future" [FKZ 20.2-3410.5-4-5]; SolTech Initiative by the Bavarian State Government; FAPESPFundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2017/11986-5]; ShellRoyal Dutch Shell; ANP (Brazil's National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency) through the R&D levy regulation; National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation (NSF) [CBET-1702591]; US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Solar Energy Technologies OfficeUnited States Department of Energy (DOE) [34351]; European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program [742708]; Projekt DEAL, O.A. acknowledges the financial support from the VDI/VD Innovation + Technik GmbH (Project-title: PV-ZUM) and the SAOT funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the framework of the German excellence initiative. C.J.B. acknowledges funding from DFG within INST 90/917-1 FUGG, the SFB 953 (DFG, project no. 182849149) and the IGK 2495 (Energy Conversion Systems-from Materials to Devices). C.J.B. further acknowledges the grants "ELF-PV-Design and development of solution processed functional materials for the next generations of PV technologies" (No. 44-6521a/20/4) and "Solar Factory of the Future" (FKZ 20.2-3410.5-4-5) and the SolTech Initiative by the Bavarian State Government. A.F.N. acknowledges support from FAPESP (Grant 2017/11986-5), Shell and the strategic importance of the support given by ANP (Brazil's National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency) through the R&D levy regulation. R.R.L. gratefully acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation under grant CBET-1702591. N.K. acknowledges funding by the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Solar Energy Technologies Office, Agreement Number 34351. J.N. thanks the European Research Council for support under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 742708).; Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

This paper proposes a bidirectional DC-DC converter with soft-switching capabilities. The main characteristic of this converter is that it can be operated in both boost and buck modes. The major advantages of this converter are high efficiency and reduced switching loss in high-power and high-voltage applications. The soft-switching capability is obtained by additional dual auxiliary resonant circuits connected to the conventional non-isolated bidirectional DC-DC converter. Except for the auxiliary switches, all main switches turn on with zero-voltage switching in this proposed bidirectional DC-DC converter. The auxiliary switches turn off with zero current transition. The principle of operation, theoretical analysis and experimental results of a 175 V/385 V bidirectional DC-DC converter at 2 KW output power with switching frequency of 50 kHz are provided. The experimental results verified the zero-voltage switching operation for boost and buck modes with efficiencies 96.5% and 96%, respectively, at full load. This research has been supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under the project OP VVV Electrical Engineering Technologies with High-Level of Embedded Intelligence CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/18_069/0009855 and project No. SGS-2018-009. Scopus

Since it is designable, metasurface was widely used in various fields, especially the design of polarization converters. However, most of the polarization converters currently designed can only work under normal incidence or small angle incidence, which hugely limits the application of the device. In this paper, a chiral metasurface based on the z-shaped unit cell, which can manipulate circular polarization wave, is proposed. The simulation result shows that this converter can maintain the polarization state of circular polarization after reflection from 8.18 to 13.988 GHz with a polarization conversion ratio of more than 90%. Moreover, the structure is insensitive to the incidence angle, which can keep a stable performance both for left-handed circularly polarized wave and right-handed circularly polarized waves as the incident angle increase to 75°. The proposed metasurface with simple structure and angular stability can be used in communication and polarization manipulating devices.

Stability issue is one of the major concerns that limit emergent perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) techniques. Generally, ion migration is considered as the most important origin of PeLEDs degradation. In this work, an all-inorganic device architecture, LiF/perovskite/LiF/ZnS/ZnSe, is proposed to address this imperative problem. The inorganic (Cs1-xRbx)(1-)(y)K(y)PbBr(3)perovskite is optimized with achieving a photoluminescence quantum yield of 67%. Depth profile analysis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates that the LiF/perovskite/LiF structure and the ZnS/ZnSe cascade electron transport layers significantly suppress the electric-field-induced ion migrations of the perovskite layers, and impede the diffusion of metallic atoms from cathode into perovskites. The as-prepared PeLEDs display excellent shelf stability (maintaining 90% of the initial external quantum efficiency [EQE] after 264 h) and operational stability (half-lifetime of about 255 h at an initial luminance of 120 cd m(-2)). The devices also exhibit a maximum brightness of 15 6155 cd m(-2)and an EQE of 11.05%.

Surface texturing is one of the most important techniques for improving the performance of photovoltaic (PV) device. As an appealing front texture, inverted pyramid (IP) has attracted lots of research interests due to its superior antireflection effect and structural characteristics. In this paper, we prepare high-uniform silicon (Si) IPs structures on a commercial monocrystalline silicon wafer with a standard size of 156 × 156 mm2 employing the metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) and alkali anisotropic etching technique. Combining the front IPs textures with the rear surface passivation of Al2O3/SiNx, we fabricate a novel Si IP-based passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC). Benefiting from the optical superiority of the optimized IPs and the improvement of electrical performance of the device, we achieve a high efficiency of 21.4% of the Si IP-based PERC, which is comparable with the average efficiency of the commercial PERC solar cells. The optimizing morphology of IP textures is the key to the improvement of the short circuit current Isc from 9.51 A to 9.63 A; meanwhile, simultaneous stack SiO2/SiNx passivation for the Si IP-based n+ emitter and stack Al2O3/SiNx passivation for rear surface guarantees a high open-circuit voltage Voc of 0.677 V. The achievement of this high-performance PV device demonstrates a competitive texturing technique and a promising prospect for the mass production of the Si IP-based PERC.

Unveiling the transparency and flexibility in perovskite-based photodetectors with superior photoresponse and environmental stability remains an open challenge. Here we report on guanidinium incorporated metal halide perovskite (MA1-xGuaxPbI3, x = 0 to 0.65) random percolative microstructure (RPM) fabrication using an ultra-fast spray coating technique. Remarkably, RPMs over a large area of 5 × 5 cm2 on flexible substrates with a transparency of ∼50% can be achieved with enriched environmental stability. Transparent photodetectors based on MA1-xGuaxPbI3 (x = 0.12) RPMs manifest excellent performance with a responsivity of 187 A W-1, a detectivity of 2.23 × 1012 Jones and an external quantum efficiency of 44 115%. Additionally, the photodetectors exhibited superior mechanical flexibility under a wide range of bending angles and large number of binding cycles. Integrating features including transparency, high performance, stability, flexibility and scalability within a photodetector is unmatched and holds potential for novel applications in transparent and wearable optoelectronic devices. ispartof: NANOSCALE HORIZONS vol:5 issue:4 pages:696-704 ispartof: location:England status: published

SPECT systems using pinhole apertures permit radiolabelled molecular spatial resolution, good energy resolution, and high sensitivity are required. We designed what we consider the “optimal” radionuclide detector system for this task. It should allow studying both detection of unstable atherosclerotic plaques and monitoring the effect of therapies. Using mice is particularly challenging in situations that require several intravenous injections of radiotracers, possibly for weeks or even months, in chronically ill animals. Thus, alternative routes of delivering the radiotracer in tail vein should be investigated. In this study, we have performed preliminary measurements of detection of atherosclerotic plaques in genetically modified mice with high-resolution prototype detector. We have also evaluated the feasibility of assessing left ventricular perfusion by intraperitoneal distributions to be imaged in vivo in small animals. Nevertheless, studying cardiovascular diseases in small animal models is very challenging, and in particular, submillimeter delivering of MIBI-Tc in healthy mice.

Various sustainable mobility applications adopt bidirectional dc-dc converters to optimally manage the power flow among the power supply, the load and the battery. In this context, the use of Silicon Carbide (SiC) technologies leads many advantages from efficiency and reliability point of view. Copacking the discrete IGBT with SiC diode enables to operate at switching frequency higher than the standard devices. In this work, an automotive-grade TO-247 IGBT copacked with SiC diode has been compared with a standard one, in a bidirectional buck-converter. The experimental results have highlighted that, under the same switching frequency and temperature conditions, the former can handle an extra load with respect to the IGBTs copacked with Si diodes, or a better efficiency being equal the load. The main merit of the work is to highlight the advantages of adopting antiparallel SiC diode in an actual device recently available in the market instead of using the prototypes adopted by previous papers. Moreover, it is also worth to note that these prototypes are not automotive grade.

Hybrid perovskites are currently one of the most active fields of research owing to their enormous potential for photovoltaics. The performance of 3D hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells has increased at an incredible rate, reaching power conversion efficiencies comparable to those of many established technologies. However, the commercial application of 3D hybrid perovskites is inhibited by their poor stability. Relative to 3D hybrid perovskites, low-dimensional — that is, 2D — hybrid perovskites have demonstrated higher moisture stability, offering new approaches to stabilizing perovskite-based photovoltaic devices. Furthermore, 2D hybrid perovskites have versatile structures, enabling the fine-tuning of their optoelectronic properties through compositional engineering. In this Review, we discuss the state of the art in 2D perovskites, providing an overview of structural and materials engineering aspects and optical and photophysical properties. Moreover, we discuss recent developments along with the main limitations of 3D perovskites and assess the advantages of 2D perovskites over their 3D parent structures in terms of stability. Finally, we review recent achievements in combining 3D and 2D perovskites as an approach to simultaneously boost device efficiency and stability, paving the way for mixed-dimensional perovskite solar cells for commercial applications. Combining low-dimensional and 3D perovskites is a promising approach to achieve stable and efficient solar cells. In this Review, we discuss the structural, optical and photophysical properties of low-dimensional perovskites, compare the stability and efficiency of 2D and 3D perovskite devices, and consider 2D/3D composites as a strategy to increase the stability of perovskite solar cells.

During the last years, supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) has attracted a continuously growing number of users. Thanks to the introduction of state-of-the-art equipment, this technique has allowed to run three-to-five times faster separations than in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on columns packed with particles of comparable dimension, at lower pressure drops and without loss of efficiency. Thanks to its high versatility, its high-throughput screening capability, and “green” character of the mobile phase, SFC has become particularly attractive for the separation of chiral drugs in pharmaceutical industries. In this review, we will consider the latest applications of SFC for the analysis of compounds of pharmaceutical interest and/or with biological activity essentially covering main achievements of the last 3 years. We also focus on some very recent, remarkable applications of SFC in ultrafast enantioseparations on chiral columns of the latest generation. Technical improvements needed on commercial equipment to increase the competitiveness of SFC towards highly efficient enantioseparations are discussed.

© 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells are potentially attractive, inexpensive solutions to surpass the power conversion efficiency limits of market-leading silicon solar cells. While such tandem solar cells have been demonstrated to reach high efficiencies, they require advanced light management to utilise the solar spectrum efficiently. Moreover, area upscaling with minimal optical losses is necessary to transfer the properties of lab scale devices to commercial scale products. Here, we demonstrate four-terminal perovskite-silicon tandem solar modules with efficient light management. With rigorous optical simulations of the complete tandem stack, we design light management concepts that minimise overall reflection and enhance complementary absorption of the subcells. The optical optimisation results in four-terminal tandem power conversion efficiencies of 25.3% on 0.13 cm2 and 23.9% on 4 cm2, both exceeding the stand-alone silicon solar cell power conversion efficiency of 23.0%. ispartof: ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE vol:11 issue:6 pages:1489-1498 status: published

This paper proposes a method for optimizing and designing a wireless power transfer system operating at 13.56 MHz. It can be used as guidelines for designing coils for the new-trending technology that enables NFC devices to not only to communicate but also to charge. Since NFC wireless charging is an emerging technology, it is of interest to propose optimizations and a dedicated circuit design for such systems. This work proposes an optimization procedure to calculate the dimensions of a transmitter and receiver pair that assures the highest efficiency while considering all possible positions of a receiver that is placed on a desired surface. This procedure seeks to facilitate and automate the design of rectangular-shaped coils, whereas the literature proposes mainly square-shaped coils. Afterwards, a circuit analysis was conducted, and the series-parallel compensation network is proposed as the most promising topology of the receiver to assure a low efficiency sensibility to load variations for 13.56 MHz wireless power transfer systems. A pair of optimized transmitter and receiver coils is prototyped, and the experimental results are tested against the theory. The transmitter of 7 cm×11.4 cm and receiver of 4 cm ×4 cm are separated by 10 mm. The receiver can move on a surface of 8 cm ×12 cm and the load can vary from 36 Ω to 300 Ω while assuring a minimum and maximum efficiency of 80% and 88.3%, respectively.

The past two years have witnessed heightened interest in metal-halide perovskites as promising optoelectronic materials for solid-state light emitting applications beyond photovoltaics. Metal-halide perovskites are low-cost solution-processable materials with excellent intrinsic properties such as broad tunability of bandgap, defect tolerance, high photoluminescence quantum efficiency and high emission color purity (narrow full-width at half maximum). In this review, the photophysical properties of hybrid perovskites, which relates with light-emission, such as broad tunability, nature of the recombination processes and quantum efficiency are examined. The prospects of hybrid perovskite light-emitting diodes and lasers, and their key challenges are also discussed.

Low-cost solar cells based on solution-processed organic inorganic hybrid perovskites with high photovoltage are highly sought after, especially for their use in tandem cells or for driving electrochemical reactions. Towards this end, we herein present a single-step method for the preparation of regular planar heterojunction solar cells based on formamidinium lead tribromide (FAPbBr(3)), which is fabricated through an antisolvent-assisted crystallization process. This results in the formation of improved film quality of the perovskite layer in terms of uniformity, surface coverage, crystallinity,and light absorption. Devices fabricated using such films utilizing 2,2',7,7'-tetrakis-(N,N-p-dimethoxyphenylamino)-9.9'spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) as the hole-transport layer exhibits an open-circuit voltage (V,) of 1.32 V with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) close to 6%. The de-vice performance is much higher than when using devices based on the conventional one-,step process (i.e., without using an anti solvent), where a Vo, of 1.04 V and a PCE of 1.1 % are obtained. Moreover, the devices,show better reproducibility with very little hysteresis.

A switched capacitor (SC) based inverter that tracks the maximum power point (MPP) of a photovoltaic (PV) source and generates a pure sine output is presented. To enable integration with the PV module, efficiency and compactness are maximized with a single-stage topology that tracks the MPP of the PV source, boosts the input dc voltage, and generates a regulated ac output in a stand-alone configuration with scope for grid-connected applications. The SC inverter is realized with multiple identical SC blocks controlled by sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation and load-dependent output capacitor adjustment. A detailed steady-state analysis is carried out, and a mathematical model is derived to understand the interdependence of various inverter parameters on each other and to optimally choose the inverter components. A hardware prototype of the stand-alone single-stage SC inverter that operates from a 60 V/70 W PV module and delivers a 110 Vrms, 50 Hz output is wired to demonstrate the functioning of the proposed MPP tracking inverter under different operating conditions. An inversion efficiency > 95%, a tracking efficiency > 97%, and a total harmonic distortion (THD)

A dual-broadband and high-efficiency reflective linear polarization converter based on an anisotropic metasurface is presented. The device consists of two symmetrical, double-slotted metallic split-rings and one criss-cross structure, a dielectric layer, and a completely reflective metallic ground. The converter exhibits four resonances and can near-perfectly convert x- or y-polarized incident waves into cross-polarized waves in the frequency ranges of 9.38&ndash, 13.36 GHz and 14.84&ndash, 20.36 GHz. The polarization conversion ratios (PCRs) of the two bands are 98.21% and 99.32%, respectively. The energy conversion ratio (ECR) for energy loss measurement is almost 100% in these frequency bands. The polarization conversion principle is studied. The bandwidths and PCRs of the two bands are determined by varying the dielectric layer thickness. The simulation results are consistent with experimental observations. The designed dual-broadband and high-efficiency metasurface has great potential in the application of electromagnetic polarization control.

Power amplifiers in modern and future communications should be able to handle di erent modulation standards at di erent frequency bands, and in addition, to be compatible with the previous generations. This paper reviews the recent design techniques that have been used to operate dual-band amplifiers and in particular the Doherty amplifiers. Special attention is focused on the design methodologies used for power splitters, phase compensation networks, impedance inverter networks and impedance transformer networks of such power amplifier. The most important materials of the dual-band Doherty amplifier are highlighted and surveyed. The main problems and challenges covering dual-band design concepts are presented and discussed. In addition, improvement techniques to enhance such operations are also exploited. The study shows that the transistor parasitic has a great impact in the design of a dual-band amplifier, and reduction of the transforming ratio of the inverter simplifies the dual-band design. The o set line can be functionally replaced by a P-network in dual-band design rather than T-network.

Industrial silicon solar cells like Passivated Emitter and Rear Cells (PERC) typically apply a screen-printed (Ag) front contact with a single print process using a mesh screen. It has been shown that using stencils instead of screens improves the finger profile leading to slightly higher cell conversion efficiencies. However, so far stencil printing required an extra printing step for the busbars since conventional stencils do not support H-pattern designs. In this paper, we evaluate a novel “single print” stencil from ASM AE that allows to print busbars and fingers in a single print step. We apply the novel single print stencil to high-efficiency PERC solar cells and compare it to today's industrial screen printing processes (single print and dual print) as well as to a high performance dual-printed front side grid applying a stencil for the fingers and a screen for the busbars. The printed finger width ranges from 35.8 ± 2.3μm for 30μm stencil opening to 46.7 ± 3.4μm for 40μm screen opening which leads to an 0.5% abs increased metallized area on the front side of the screen printed fingers compared to the stencil printed fingers. The resulting average finger height is 22.3μm for the stencil groups and 11.9μm for the screen printed Ag finger which leads to a difference in the finger line resistance and an additional series resistance contribution for the screen-printed cells of 0.05Ωcm 2 . We achieve almost identical PERC cell efficiencies with the single print stencil and the dual print stencil process obtaining best values up to 21.1% and average values of 21.0%. In contrast, both screen printed groups achieve 0.2% abs lower average conversion efficiencies mostly due to the lower J sc and FF . The advantage of the dual print process compared to single print is shown in the increased V oc by 1 to 2mV due to the used non-firing through Ag busbar paste. With these results we demonstrate that the single print stencil process saves two process steps compared to dual print using a stencil while obtaining the same PERC cell performance with an efficiency gain of 0.2% abs compared to today's industrial screen print processes.

Perovskite solar cells have attracted enormous interest since their discovery only a few years ago because they are able to combine the benefits of high efficiency and remarkable ease of processing over large areas. Whereas most of research has been carried out on glass, perovskite deposition and synthesis is carried out at low temperatures (

Compared with conventional forward converters, active clamp forward (ACF) converters have many advantages, including lower voltage stress on the primary power devices, the ability to switch at zero voltage, reduced EMI and duty cycle operation above 50%. Thus, it has been the most popular solution for the low bus voltage applications, such as 48 V and 28 V. However, because of the poor performance of Si MOSFETs, the efficiency of active clamp forward converters is difficult to further improved. Focusing on the bus voltage of 28 V with 18~36 V voltage range application, the Gallium Nitride high electron-mobility transistors (GaN HEMT) with ultralow on-resistance, low parasitic capacitances, and no reverse recovery, is incorporated into active clamp forward converters for achieving higher efficiency and power density, in this paper. Meanwhile, the comparative analysis is performed for Si MOSFET and GaN HEMT. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed solution and comparative analysis, two 18~36 V input, 120 W/12 V output, synchronous rectification prototype with different power devices are built and compared in the lab. The experimental results show the GaN version can achieve the efficiency of 95.45%, which is around 1% higher than its counterpart under the whole load condition and the same power density of 2.2 W/cm3.

Beam splitters play important roles in several optical applications, such as interferometers, spectroscopy, and optical communications. In this study, we propose and numerically examine polarization-insensitive beam splitters utilizing two-step phase gradient all-dielectric metasurfaces in the visible spectrum. The metasurface is made of periodically arranged binary unit cells, and phase difference between neighboring unit cells on the surface is 180 deg. The metasurface is shown to have a special phase gradient whose sign changes periodically. The angle of the split beams on both sides and the corresponding total transmission value at 532 nm wavelength are found to be ±46.8° and 0.90, respectively.

Currently, the eco-friendly vehicle market is growing continuously. In the automobile industry, various electric vehicle models are being developed, and several technological innovations are being made. Certain limited vehicle types, such as passenger cars, are being converted to electric vehicles; moreover, a variety of small electric vehicles, including smart mobility vehicles, are being developed. The driving motor of an electric vehicle, e.g., a brushless Direct Current motor (BLDC), is one of the key components that determine its driving performance. However, since the recent hike in prices of the rare earth magnets used in BLDCs, the development of induction motor with lower cost and a simple product structure has become essential. Therefore, this study proposes an optimized design for an outer rotor induction motor with high efficiency in the low-speed section for electric vehicles. The motor designed in this study is efficient for speeds less than 1000 rpm, and our experimental results prove that the prototypes can provide up to 84.8% efficiency. This optimized motor is expected to have widespread application in the eco-friendly vehicle market.

Wide bandgap (WB) organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites (OIHPs) with a bandgap ranging between 1.7 and 2.0 eV have shown great potential to improve the efficiency of single-junction silicon or thin-film solar cells by forming a tandem structure with one of these cells or with a narrow bandgap perovskite cell. However, WB-OIHPs suffer from a large open-circuit voltage (V-oc) deficit in photovoltaic devices, which is associated with the phase segregation of the materials under light illumination. In this work the photoinstability is demonstrated and V-oc loss can be addressed by combining grain crystallization and grain boundary passivation, achieved simultaneously through tuning of perovskite precursor composition. Using FA(0.17)Cs(0.83)PbI(3-x)Br(x) (x = 0.8, 1.2 1.5, and 1.8), with a varied bandgap from 1.72 to 1.93 eV, as the model system it is illustrated how precursor additive Pb(SCN)(2) should be matched with a proper ratio of FAX (I and Br) to realize large grains with defect-healed grain boundaries. The optimized WB-OIHPs show good photostability at both room-temperature and elevated temperature. Moreover, the corresponding solar cells exhibit excellent photovoltaic performances with the champion V-oc/stabilized power output efficiency reaching 1.244 V/18.60%, 1.284 V/16.51%, 1.296 V/15.01%, and 1.312 V/14.35% for WB-OIHPs with x = 0.8, 1.2, 1.5, and 1.8, respectively.

© 1986-2012 IEEE. This paper introduces a non-isolated high step-up DC-DC converter with dual coupled inductors suitable for distributed generation applications. By implementing an input parallel connection, the proposed DC-DC structure inherits shared input current with low ripple, which also requires small capacitive filter at its input. Moreover, this topology can reach high voltage gain by using dual coupled inductors in series connection at the output stage. The proposed converter uses active clamp circuits with a shared clamp capacitor for the main switches. In addition to the active clamp circuit, the leakage energy is recycled to the output by using an integrated regenerative snubber. Indeed, these circuits allow soft-switching conditions, i.e., zero voltage switching and zero current switching for active and passive switching devices, respectively. The mentioned features along with a common ground connection of the input and output make the proposed topology a proper candidate for transformer-less grid-connected photovoltaic systems. The operating performance, analysis and mathematical derivations of the proposed DC-DC converter have been demonstrated in the paper. Moreover, the main features of the proposed converter have been verified through experimental results of a 1-kW laboratory prototype.

Metasurfaces are capable of tailoring the amplitude, phase, and polarization of incident light to design various polarization devices. Here, we propose a metasurface based on the novel dielectric material gallium nitride (GaN) to realize high-efficiency modulation for both of the orthogonal linear polarizations simultaneously in the visible range. Both modulated transmitted phases of the orthogonal linear polarizations can almost span the whole 2π range by tailoring geometric sizes of the GaN nanobricks, while maintaining high values of transmission (almost all over 90%). At the wavelength of 530 nm, we designed and realized the beam splitter and the focusing lenses successfully. To further prove that our proposed method is suitable for arbitrary orthogonal linear polarization, we also designed a three-dimensional (3D) metalens that can simultaneously focus the X-, Y-, 45°, and 135° linear polarizations on spatially symmetric positions, which can be applied to the linear polarization measurement. Our work provides a possible method to achieve high-efficiency multifunctional optical devices in visible light by extending the modulating dimensions.

The power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been certified as ∼22.1%, approaching the best single crystalline silicon solar cells. The improvement in the performance of PSCs could be achieved through the testing of novel materials in the device. This review briefly discusses the systematic introduction about several inorganic and organic electron-transporting materials (ETMs) and hole-transporting materials (HTMs) for efficient PSCs. The transport mechanism of electrons and holes in different ETMs/HTMs is also discussed on the basis of energy band diagrams with respect to the perovskite absorber. Moreover, the introduction of appropriate interfacial materials, hybrid ETMs, and doping is discussed to optimize the interfacial electronic properties between the perovskite layer and the charge-collecting electrode.

For many people, the correct perception of the colors of objects is an important part of life, and today it is being threatened by misinformed policy-making and associated business decisions. Some conservationists and lamp manufacturers have concluded that the accurate color rendering provided by ordinary incandescent lamps is an unaffordable luxury that good citizens should forgo as we employ more energy-efficient alternatives. Though this is not as extreme as suggesting that we should live in cold darkness, it is in the same general direction of deprivation. Yet research has shown that color rendering is important to people and highefficiency lamps can now also provide high color rendering, so there is no longer any need to have lighting that distorts color appearance. This article focuses on the tradeoff between color rendering accuracy and lamp efficiency to show that high color rendering accuracy is appropriate and, contrary to a common misconception, does not intrinsically require greater electrical energy consumption.

In the rapidly developing field of organic photovoltaics, the material design and device engineering are key factors that eventually determine the device efficiency. Design of the active layer material and intermolecular interactions largely determine the efficiency of organic solar cells. In this study, the authors discuss ultrafast photophysics of four star-shaped molecules (SSMs) as benchmark materials with time-resolved photoinduced absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy as experimental tools. The authors show that efficient exciton-to-charge conversion occurs in SSM films even without an external acceptor. This results in the lowering of the Coulomb binding between intermolecular electron- hole polaron pairs which, in turn, can lead to an increased open-circuit voltage. The findings suggest that promoting intermolecular interactions in films of small organic molecules is one of the pathways to highly efficient organic solar cells.

Permanent-magnet vernier machines (PMVMs) have attracted much attention for their high efficiency and output torque in low-speed application. However, the conventional PMVM suffers from the problems of low power factor and high cogging torque. In this paper, a double-stator flux-focusing split-pole permanent-magnet vernier machine (SP-PMVM) with low cogging torque and high power factor has been proposed. The split-pole topology in the vernier motor has been used mainly to modulate the magnetic flux in this paper, although the stator teeth are used for this purpose in some cases. The newly-proposed SP-PMVM topology is characterized by reduced flux leakage through using a flux-focusing topology and staggering approximately half of the pitch angularly between the inner stator and outer stator. Firstly, the vernier principle of the proposed SP-PMVM has been investigated by analytical methods. Secondly, a 12-slot-stator and 22-pole-pair-rotor SP-PMVM has been optimized with the goal of maximum average steady-state torque and the minimum cogging torque and ripple. Thirdly, the overall performance of the newly-proposed SP-PMVM has been analyzed as compared with the conventional PMVM. The results verify that the SP-PMVM can provide higher power factor, higher output torque and lower cogging torque than that of the conventional PMVM in low-speed application.

Small push pull molecules attract much attention as prospective donor materials for organic solar cells (OSCs). By chemical engineering, it is possible to combine a number of attractive properties such as broad absorption, efficient charge separation, and vacuum and solution processabilities in a single molecule. Here we report the synthesis and early time photophysics of such a molecule, TPA-2T-DCV-Me, based on the triphenylamine (TPA) donor core and dicyanovinyl (DCV) acceptor end group connected by a thiophene bridge. Using time-resolved photoinduced absorption and photoluminescence, we demonstrate that in blends with [70]PCBM the molecule works both as an electron donor and hole acceptor, thereby allowing for two independent channels of charge generation. The charge-generation process is followed by the recombination of interfacial charge transfer states that takes place on the subnanosecond time scale as revealed by time-resolved photoluminescence and nongeminate recombination as follows from the OSC performance. Our findings demonstrate the potential of TPA-DCV-based molecules as donor materials for both solution-processed and vacuum-deposited OSCs.

The use of liquid metals in solar power systems is not new. The receiver tests with liquid sodium in the 1980s at the Plataforma Solar de Almer a (PSA) already proved the feasibility of liquid metals as heat transfer fluid. Despite the high efficiency achieved with that receiver, further investigation of liquid metals in solar power systems was stopped due to a sodium spray fire. Recently, the topic has become interesting again and the gained experience during the last 30 years of liquid metals handling is applied to the concentrated solar power community. In this paper, recent activities of the Helmholtz Alliance LIMTECH concerning liquid metals for solar power systems are presented. In addition to the components and system simulations also the experimental setup and results are included. LIMTECH

Metal-halide perovskite materials are crystalline semiconductors that can be processed at room temperature using solution-processible deposition techniques. In only a few years, perovskite-based solar cell efficiencies have seen a huge increase from 3% to 22.1%. These direct-bandgap materials are potential candidates for other optoelectronic de-vice applications such as photodetectors, light-emitting transistors, and light-emitting diodes. In this Review, we present the current state-of-the-art in the research and development of perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) based on metal halide perovskite semiconductors with an emphasis on size of crystallites and its effects on optical properties, device architectures, and Pe-LED performance parameters. A uniform pinhole-free morphology with small grain size is essential for high-performance PeLEDs. For this purpose, a p-i-n type device architecture with a p-type poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophone}:polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) layer was found to be more-suitable than the n-i-p type. In PeLEDs based on hulk-phase perovskites, the average size of the crystallites is in the range 100-500 nm. The efficiency can be improved further by using perovskite nanoparticles with size

When looking for sustainable energy systems, Waste-to-Energy plants play a relevant role. Therefore performance evaluation of these plants in order to increase their efficiency is of great relevance to the field of engineering. In the present paper, highly efficient Waste-to-Energy plants are modeled and analyzed from the thermodynamic and technological points of view. Four existing plants constructed in Amsterdam/the Netherlands, Reo Nord/Denmark, Brescia/Italy and Germany were considered. The different methods aiming at increasing the efficiency adopted in these plants have been discussed and compared by using available data in the literature. The performance evaluation was carried out using a proprietary code developed at Politecnico di Milano. A sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the effects of the plant size, condenser pressure, oxygen content and flue gas temperature at boiler exit on the efficiency of the plants. The results show that adopting a new configuration for steam cycle increases the efficiency of the plant, thus also reducing the corrosion of boiler tubes. It is also demonstrated that the proposed configuration leads to a net lower heating value efficiency of 33%.

This paper describes the design and measured performance of a high-efficiency and linearity-enhanced K-band MMIC amplifier fabricated with a 0.15 &mu, m GaAs pHEMT processing technology. The linearization enhancement method utilizing a parallel nonlinear capacitance compensation diode was analyzed and verified. The three-stage MMIC operating at 20&ndash, 22 GHz obtained an improved third-order intermodulation ratio (IM3) of 20 dBc at a 27 dBm per carrier output power while demonstrating higher than a 27 dB small signal gain and 1-dB compression point output power of 30 dBm with 33% power added efficiency (PAE). The chip dimension was 2.00 mm &times, 1.40 mm.

Silicon remains the material of choice for photovoltaics because of its abundance, non-toxicity, high and stable cell efficiencies, the maturity of production infrastructure and the deep and widespread level of skill available in relation to silicon devices. Rapidly decreasing module prices mean that area-related balance of systems costs are an increasing proportion of photovoltaic systems price. This places a premium on efficient cells. In recent years there have been large improvements in mass production of high quality wafers, the ability to handle thin wafers, maintenance of high minority carrier lifetimes, surface passivation, minimisation of optical losses, device characterisation and in other areas. Many of these improvements are viable in mass production. The upper limit of silicon solar cell efficiency is 29%, which is substantially higher than the best laboratory (25%) [1] and large-area commercial (24%) [2] , [3] cells. Cell efficiencies above 25% appear to be feasible in both a laboratory and commercial environment. Such a cell will have minimal bulk recombination due to a combination of a thin substrate with a very high minority carrier lifetime; superb surface passivation; small-area electrical contacts consistent with low contact recombination, free carrier absorption and contact resistance; excellent optical control through the use of texturing, antireflection coatings and rear surface reflectors; low edge recombination assisted by the use of thinner wafers, larger cells and edge passivation; and sufficient metal coverage to minimise resistive losses. This paper will survey current work in high- performance silicon solar cell design and fabrication, and discuss approaches to efficiency improvements.

This paper evaluates the SuperJunction MOSFET in cascode configuration with a low-voltage silicon MOSFET. The structure combines the good switching performance provided by the cascode configuration with advantages of the silicon technology as the robustness, the maturity and the low-cost. The objective of this paper is to elucidate and to demonstrate the reduction of switching losses of SuperJunction MOSFETs in cascode configuration with respect to their standalone counterparts (directly driven). A detailed simulation analysis of power loss contributions is carried out under hard-switching operation. Eventually, experimental evidence is provided by using a boost converter (100 V-to-400 V) in continuous conduction mode for a wide range of switching frequency (100 kHz-to-400 kHz) and output power (180W-to-500W), Spanish Government under Project MINECO-13-DPI2013-47176-C2-2-R, MINECO-15-DPI2014-56358-JIN, the scholarship FPU14/03268 and the Principality of Asturias under the grants “Severo Ochoa” BP14-140 and by the Project FC-15- GRUPIN14-143 and by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grants