A Building-Integrated Hybrid Photovoltaic-Thermal (PV-T) Window for Synergistic Light Management, Electricity and Heat Generation.

The installation of common solar panels and collectors in the built environment requires access to significant roof space, which is limited. This motivates the development of high-efficiency, building-integrated technologies that can maximize space utilization and energy provision. In this work, a building-integrated hybrid photovoltaic-thermal window (PVTW) is fabricated and tested, composed of a semi-transparent photovoltaic (PV) layer and a selectively absorptive liquid-based thermal absorber.

RS-DFID Africa capacity-building initiative programme grant: harnessing unsteady phase-change heat exchange in high-performance concentrated solar power systems.

The Royal Society and UK Department for International Development supported a consortium of three universities across sub-Saharan Africa and Imperial College London with the aim of developing new knowledge on direct-steam-generation concentrated solar power (CSP) plants and supporting relevant capacity building across the Universities of Lagos, Mauritius and Pretoria. Key research findings from the programme include an improved flow-classification scheme for two-phase, liquid-liquid flows; testing of advanced surfaces with much-improved steady-state heat transfer performance-the commercial nanoFLUX surface showed up to 200% higher heat-transfer coefficients (HTCs) in pool boiling compared with other surfaces with R-134a/R-245fa; first-of-a-kind measurements of transient flow boiling HTCs, which were up to 30% lower in step perturbations than quasi-steady-state expectations in horizontal pipes with R-245fa; error estimation and corrections for laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements, leading to the development of an adapted planar LIF technique with uncertainty <10% for local, instantaneous film thickness measurements in annular flows, and the application of such diagnostic methods to pool, falling-film and flow boiling in pipes; and predictions of an ~80% increase in the net present value of a case-study CSP plant when integrated with solid storage media.

Carbon pricing and system reliability impacts on pathways to universal electricity access in Africa.

Off-grid photovoltaic systems have been proposed as a panacea for economies with poor electricity access, offering a lower-cost "leapfrog" over grid infrastructure used in higher-income economies. Previous research examining pathways to electricity access may understate the role of off-grid photovoltaics as it has not considered reliability and carbon pricing impacts. We perform high-resolution geospatial analysis on universal household electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa that includes these aspects via least-cost pathways at different electricity demand levels.

High-efficiency bio-inspired hybrid multi-generation photovoltaic leaf.

Most solar energy incident (>70%) upon commercial photovoltaic panels is dissipated as heat, increasing their operating temperature, and leading to significant deterioration in electrical performance. The solar utilisation efficiency of commercial photovoltaic panels is typically below 25%. Here, we demonstrate a hybrid multi-generation photovoltaic leaf concept that employs a biomimetic transpiration structure made of eco-friendly, low-cost and widely-available materials for effective passive thermal management and multi-generation.