Planar micro-optic concentrators are passive optical structures which combine a lens array with faceted microstructures to couple sunlight into a planar slab waveguide. Guided rays propagate within the slab to edge-mounted photovoltaic cells. This paper provides analysis and preliminary experiments describing modifications and additions to the geometry which increase concentration ratios along ...

Dipicolinic acid was investigated as a new anchoring group for DSSCs. A pilot dye (PD2) bearing this new anchoring group was found to adsorb significantly stronger to TiO2 than its cyanoacrylic acid analogue. The electrolyte composition was found to have a strong effect on the photoelectrochemical properties of the adsorbed dye in the device, allowing the dye LUMO energy to be tuned by 0.5 eV. ...

The growing concern over environmental degradation resulting from combustion of fossil fuels and depleting fossil fuel reserves has raised awareness about alternative energy options. Renewable energy system is perfect solution of this problem. This paper presents a mathematical model of single diode solar photovoltaic (SPV) module. SPV cell generates electricity when exposed to sunlight but thi...

TiO₂ hollow spheres modified with spatially separated Ag species and RuO₂ cocatalysts have been prepared via an alkoxide hydrolysis-precipitation method and a facile impregnation method. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies indicate that Ag species and RuO₂ co-located on the inner and outer surface of TiO₂ hollow spheres, respectively. The resultant catalysts show significan...

We report a scalably synthesized WO3/BiVO4 core/shell nanowire photoanode in which BiVO4 is the primary light-absorber and WO3 acts as an electron conductor. These core/shell nanowires achieve the highest product of light absorption and charge separation efficiencies among BiVO4-based photoanodes to date and, even without an added catalyst, produce a photocurrent of 3.1 mA/cm(2) under simulated...

Persistence of biological control agents against mosquito larvae was tested under simulated field conditions. Mosquito larvicidal activity of transgenic Anabaena PCC 7120 expressing cry4Aa, cry11Aa and p20 from Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis was greater than B. thuringiensis ssp. israelensis primary powder (fun 89C06D) or wettable powder (WP) (Bactimos products) when either mixed with ...

Reactively sputtered nickel oxide (NiOx) films provide transparent, antireflective, electrically conductive, chemically stable coatings that also are highly active electrocatalysts for the oxidation of water to O2(g). These NiOx coatings provide protective layers on a variety of technologically important semiconducting photoanodes, including textured crystalline Si passivated by amorphous silic...

Hierarchical Nanostructures In article number 2212486, Elisa Moretti, Alberto Vomiero, and co-workers, applied TiO2 hollow spheres with defect-engineered surface as highly efficient photocatalysts. The structure results in strongly confined solar light, defects boost the photogeneration of active charges for photocatalytic processes. Advanced spectroscopies revealed presence oxygen vacancies bu...