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Heavy metal exposure has been reported to be correlated with lipid profile alteration and dyslipidemia. While the associations between serum cobalt (Co) with lipid profile levels and risk of dyslipidemia have not been explored in elderly population, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. All eligible 420 elderly people were recruited in three communities of Hefei City in this cross-sectional study. Peripheral blood samples and clinical information were collected. The level of serum Co was detected through ICP-MS. The biomarkers for systemic inflammation (TNF-α) and lipid peroxidation (8-iso-PGF2α) were measured with ELISA. Each 1-unit increase of serum Co was related with 0.513 mmol/L, 0.196 mmol/L, 0.571 mmol/L, and 0.303 g/L in TC, TG, LDL-C, and ApoB, respectively. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses indicated that the prevalence of elevated TC, elevated LDL-C, and elevated ApoB were gradually increased according to tertiles of serum Co concentration (all P trend < 0.001). The risk of dyslipidemia was positively correlated with serum Co (OR = 3.500; 95% CI 1.630 ~ 7.517). Moreover, the levels of TNF-α and 8-iso-PGF2α were gradually risen in parallel with elevating serum Co. The elevation of TNF-α and 8-iso-PGF2α partially mediated Co-caused elevation of TC and LDL-C. Environmental Co exposure is associated with elevated lipid profile levels and dyslipidemia risk among elderly population. Systemic inflammation and lipid peroxidation partially mediate the associations of serum Co with dyslipidemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Combining thermochromic glass and bifacial PV for building facade surfaces. • Preparation of thermochromic glass with a transition temperature of 35.8 °C. • The power generation efficiency of BPVW-TC reaches 23.64 % in the indoor experiment. • The maximum solar energy utilisation of the BPVW-TC system is 38.8 %. In this study, we innovatively propose a bifacial PV wall system combined with thermochromic materials (BPVW-TC). The system combines thermochromic materials and bifacial PV technology on a building facade to passively and adaptively improve the overall solar efficiency of the building facade by taking advantage of the passive temperature response properties of the thermochromic materials and the power generation benefits of bifacial PV. The designed thermochromic glass with a transition temperature of 35.8 °C maintains a high visible light transmittance of 88.6 % in the transparent state, while the transmittance drops sharply to 0.6 % in the opaque state; in addition, a bifacial PV module with a coverage of 70 % is designed, and an experimental setup is set up based on it to validate the power generation gain of the system under indoor steady state conditions. Subsequently, the BPVW-TC system model was tested under different weather conditions in Hefei, China, and the results showed that the system could achieve solar energy utilisation of up to 38.8 % and solar thermal efficiency of up to 83 % on a sunny summer day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A large scale PVT direct-expansion heat pump system is designed. • Triple generation of electricity, heating and domestic hot water. • Equivalent net heat energy is proposed to evaluate the energy production. • Photoelectric conversion efficiency increased by up to 25.0%. • The heat pump of the large scale system has an average COP of 4.96. The comprehensive utilization of photovoltaic and solar-thermal (PVT) is an important approach to achieve the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, and can realize the generation of electricity and thermal energy cleanly and efficiently. In order to satisfy the basic living demands including electricity, space heating and domestic hot water of Chinese rural residents, a large scale direct expansion PVT heat pump (DX-PVT-HP) system used plate-tube evaporator has been proposed in the present paper. An experimental platform with a solar panel installation area of 32.47 m2 is installed on the roof of a dormitory in Hefei, and its operation characteristics including electricity and thermal performance are field tested and analyzed in winter. The data indicates that during the operation of the heat pump, the cooling effect of the plate-tube evaporator on the solar panel can maximum increase the photoelectric conversion efficiency by 25.0% in comparison with that of the conventional solar panel. In the process of heating 1500 L water from 5.5 °C to 45 °C on a sunny day, the average coefficient of performance (COP) of the system reaches 4.96, and the power generation of the system is greater than the power consumption. Finally, the concept of equivalent net thermal energy is proposed to unify the output of electricity and thermal energy to evaluate the comprehensive performance of the system. The results demonstrate that it is feasible to adopt the designed PVT heat pump system to meet the basic living needs of rural residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a novel hybrid solar gradient utilization photocatalytic-thermal-catalytic-Trombe (PTC-Trombe) wall, which can realize dual functions of air purification and space heating. Firstly, based on the previous studies on photocatalytic-Trombe (PC-Trombe) and thermal-catalytic-Trombe (TC-Trombe) walls, a thermal and mass model of PTC-Trombe wall is established. Secondly, the performance comparisons among three Trombe walls are conducted based on the experimental results in daytime. Thirdly, the effect of solar radiation intensity on the system performance of PTC-Trombe wall is discussed. Finally, the energy saving performance of three walls in Hefei is calculated. Results are: (1) PTC-Trombe wall behaves the best performance for formaldehyde degradation compared with other walls; (2) The effect of solar radiation intensity on the catalytic oxidation rate in PTC-Trombe wall can be divided into three regions with different catalytic oxidation mechanisms; (3) The total reduced heat loads for PC-Trombe wall, TC-Trombe wall and PTC-Trombe wall are 309.8, 204.7 and 296.1 MJ/m2, while the total generated volume of clean air is 4764.9, 6608.9 and 9482.2 m3/m2, respectively. • A novel photocatalytic-thermal-catalytic-Trombe wall. • The performance comparisons among three purified Trombe walls. • Effect of solar radiation intensity on formaldehyde degradation. • The system energy saving potential in Hefei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional flat PV heat pumps has low irradiation density, large PV area, and the PV evaporators are always fixed, causing large area occupation and lots of irradiation missing, which limit the application and system efficiency. To solve the problems, a novel concentrated PV-air dual-source heat pump system (CPV-DSHP) was proposed in the previous paper, but the annual performance and economic comparison with flat PV-DSHP (FPV-DSHP) are still blank, which are extremely concerning to researchers. Besides, the paper also fills related content about the impact of irradiation composition on the system performance and economics, as well as the irradiation comparison on tracking CPV and fixed FPV surface. From the calculation of the validated model, it's found that the CPV-DSHP system could capture 6098 MJ and 2213 MJ more solar energy, and produce 282.21 kWh and 100.16 kWh more electricity in Garze and Hefei in a year. The annual concentration efficiency is 82.73 % in Garze where direct irradiation accounts for 68.89 %, which is only 73.15 % in Hefei with 39.84 %.The COP PVT is annually lifted by 0.40 in Garze. Although the two systems could both get payback in 5∼6 years, the CPV-DSHP only shows economic advantages in places with good direct irradiation conditions like Garze. • A novel concentrated PV-air dual-source heat pump system (CPV-DSHP) is presented. • The annual performance and economic comparison in different cities are supplemented. • The CPV-DSHP could produce 282.21 kWh more electricity in Garze in a year. • The annual concentration efficiency is 82.73 % in Garze with better direct irradiation. • Payback time is 5∼6 years but CPV-DSHP only shows economic advantage in Garze. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the characteristics of photovoltaic power generation and radiative cooling, a novel strategy of PVRC-TE (incorporation of radiative cooling with solar photovoltaic-thermoelectric cooler) system that enhancing sky radiative cooling by solar photovoltaic-thermoelectric cooler was proposed. Photovoltaic cells convert part of the sun's radiation into electricity, reducing the solar incidence and heat absorption, and enhancing diurnal radiant cooling. At the same time, PV cells drive TEC module to generate cooling energy. The system makes full use of the characteristics of PV cells and radiative cooling, promotes each other, and realize 24-h all day operation. A mathematical model is established, and its performance is analyzed and parameterized by the validated model. The influences of design parameters and the common environmental effects on the performance of system, such as ambient temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and sunshine hours are included in the study. Taking Hefei city as an example, the influence of different meteorological parameters on the system performance is discussed. The simulation results show that the area with drought and long sunshine time in middle latitude is more suitable for high performance system. In PVRC-TE system, the area of photovoltaic and radiant cooling has the best geometric ratio. When the ratio of photovoltaic and radiation cooling area is 1, the maximum cooling energy gain in a day of the system is 285.57 MJ/m2. • A novel strategy of enhancing sky radiative cooling by PV-TEC is original. • PV powered TE cooling and radiative cooling (PVRC-TE) system was proposed. • The PVRC-TE system shows considerable performance for both electricity and cooling gains. • A validated model of the system was used to analyze the performance of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]