• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2019

Solar hot water system produces hot water using solar energy. If it is not used effectively, overheating occurs during the summer. Therefore, a lot of research is being done to solve this. This study develops thermoelectric power module applicable to solar hot water system. A thermoelectric material can directly convert thermal energy into electrical energy without additional power generation devices. If there is a temperature difference between high and low temperature, it generate power by Seebeck effect. The thermoelectric module generates electricity using temperature differences through the heat exchange of hot and cold water. The water used for cooling is heated and stored as hot water as it passes through the module. It can prevent overheating of Solar hot water system while producing power. The thermoelectric module consists of one absorption and two radiation part. There path is designed in the form of a water jacket. As a result, a temperature of the absorption part was $134.2^{\circ}C$ and the radiation part was $48.6^{\circ}C$. The temperature difference between the absorption and radiation was $85.6^{\circ}C$. Also, The Thermoelectric module produced about 122 W of irradiation at $708W/m^2$. At this time, power generation efficiency was 2.62% and hot water conversion efficiency was 62.46%.

• Plant Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.26-32
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• 2020

The performance monitoring system in the power plant should have the capability to estimate power generation efficiency accurately. Several power generation efficiency models have been proposed for the combined heat and power (CHP) plant which produces both electricity and process steam(or heating energy, hereinafter expressed by process steam only). However, most of the models are not sufficiently accurate due to the wrong evaluation of the process steam value. The study suggests Electricity Conversion Efficiency (ECE) model with determination of the heat rate of process steam using operational data. The suggested method is applied to the design data and the resulted trajectory curve of power generation efficiency meets the data closely with R2 99.91%. This result confirms that ECE model with determination of the model coefficient using the operational data estimate the efficiency so accurately that can be used for performance monitoring of CHP plant.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.305-305
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• 2010

It is known that a pulse of electrons of high kinetic energy (1-3 eV) in metals can be generated with the deposition of external energy to the surface such as in the absorption of light or in exothermic chemical processes. These energetic electrons are not in thermal equilibrium with the metal atoms and are called "hot electrons" The concept of photon energy conversion to hot electron flow was suggested by Eric McFarland and Tang who directly measured the photocurrent on gold thin film of metal-semiconductor ($TiO_2$) Schottky diodes [1]. In order to utilize this scheme, we have fabricated metal-semiconductor Schottky diodes that are made of Pt or Au as a metallic layer, Si or $TiO_2$ as a semiconducting substrate. The Pt/$TiO_2$ and Pt/Si Schottky diodes are made by PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) for $SiO_2$, magnetron sputtering process for $TiO_2$, e-beam evaporation for metallic layers. Metal shadow mask is made for device alignment in device fabrication process. We measured photocurrent on Pt/n-Si diodes under AM1.5G. The incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE) at different wavelengths was measured on the diodes. We also show that the steady-state flow of hot electrons generated from photon absorption can be directly probed with $Pt/TiO_2$ Schottky diodes [2]. We will discuss possible approaches to improve the efficiency of photon energy conversion.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2020

The present study discussed the thermodynamic analysis of the hydrogen liquefaction process to build a hydrogen liquefaction pilot plant with a small capacity (0.5 ton/day). A 2-stage Brayton cycle utilizing LNG/LN2 cold energy was suggested to be built in Korea for the hydrogen liquefaction pilot plant with a small capacity. Thermodynamic analysis on the effect of various variables on the efficiency of hydrogen liquefaction process was performed. As a result, the CASE in which the ortho-para conversion catalyst was infiltrated inside the heat exchanger showed the best process efficiency. Finally, thermodynamic analysis was performed on the effect of turbo expander compression ratio on the hydrogen liquefaction process and it was confirmed that an optimal turbo expander compression ratio exists.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.32 no.spc3
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• pp.194-198
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• 2012

Crystalline silicon solar cell remains the major player in the photovoltaic marketplace with 80% of the market, despite the development of various thin film technologies. Silicon's excellent efficiency, stability, material abundance and low toxicity have helped to maintain its position of dominance. However, the cost of silicon materials remains a major barrier to reducing the cost of silicon photovoltaics. Using the crystalline silicon wafer with thinner thickness is the promising way for cost and material reduction in the solar cell production. However, the thinner the silicon wafer is, the worse bow phenomenon is induced. The bow phenomenon is observed when two or more layers of materials with different temperature expansion coefficiencies are in contact, in this case silicon and aluminum. In this paper, the solar cells were fabricated with different thicknesses of Al layer in order to reduce the bow phenomenon. With less amount of paste applications, we observed that the bow could be reduced by up to 40% of the largest value with 120 micron thickness of the wafer even though the conversion efficiency decrease by 0.5% occurred. Since the bowed wafers lead to unacceptable yield losses during the module construction, the reduction of bow is indispensable on thin crystalline silicon solar cell. In this work, we have studied on the counterbalance between the bow and conversion efficiency and also suggest the formation of enough back surface field (BSF) with thinner Al layer application.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.434-435
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• 2009

The crystalline silicon solar cell where the solar cell market grows rapidly is occupying of about 85% or more. high-efficiency and low cost endeavors many crystalline silicon solar cells. the fabrication processes of high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells necessitate complicated fabrication processes and Ti/Pd/Ag contact, however, this contact formation processed by expensive materials. Ni/Cu contact formation is good alternative. in this paper, according to temperature Ni silicide makes, produced Ni/Cu contact solar cell and measured conversion efficiency.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.1 no.1 s.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2005

High-efficiency silicon solar cells have potential applications on mobile electronics and electrical vehicles. The fabrication processes of the high efficiency cells necessitate com placated fabrication precesses and expensive materials. Ti/Pd/Ag metal contact has been used only for limited area In spite of good stability and low contact resistance because of Its expensive material cost and precesses. Screen printed contact formed by Ag paste causes a low fill factor and a high shading loss of commercial solar cells because of high contact resistance and a low aspect ratio. Low cost Ni/Cu metal contact has been formed by using a low cost electroless and electroplating. Nickel silicide formation at the interface enhances stability and reduces the contact resistance resulting In an energy conversion efficiency of $20.2\%\;on\;0.50{\Omega}cm$ FZ wafer. Tapered contact structure has been applied to large area solar cells with $6.7\times6.7cm^2$ in order to reduce power losses by the front contact The tapered front metal contact Is easily formed by the electroplating technique producing $45cm^2$ solar cells with an efficiency of $21.4\%$ on $21.4\%\;on\;2{\Omega}cm$ FZ wafer.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.77-99
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• 2017

Offshore oscillating water columns (OWC) represent one of the most promising forms of wave energy converters. The hydrodynamic performance of such converters heavily depends on their interactions with ocean waves; therefore, understanding these interactions is essential. In this paper, a fully nonlinear 2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on RANS equations and VOF surface capturing scheme is implemented to carry out wave energy balance analyses for an offshore OWC. The numerical model is well validated against published physical measurements including; chamber differential air pressure, chamber water level oscillation and vertical velocity, overall wave energy extraction efficiency, reflected and transmitted waves, velocity and vorticity fields (PIV measurements). Following the successful validation work, an extensive campaign of numerical tests is performed to quantify the relevance of three design parameters, namely incoming wavelength, wave height and turbine damping to the device hydrodynamic performance and wave energy conversion process. All of the three investigated parameters show important effects on the wave-pneumatic energy conversion chain. In addition, the flow field around the chamber's front wall indicates areas of energy losses by stronger vortices generation than the rear wall.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.31-55
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• 2017

In the present study, PV/T collector was modeled via analysis of governing equations and physics of the problem. Specifications of solar radiation were computed based on geographical characteristics of the location and the corresponding time. Temperature of the collector plate was calculated as a function of time using the energy equations and temperature behavior of the photovoltaic cell was incorporated in the model with the aid of curve fitting. Subsequently, operational range for reaching to maximal efficiency was studied using Genetic Algorithm (GA) technique. Optimization was performed by defining an objective function based on equivalent value of electrical and thermal energies. Optimal values for equipment components were determined. The optimal value of water flow rate was approximately 1 gallon per minute (gpm). The collector angle was around 50 degrees, respectively. By selecting the optimal values of parameters, efficiency of photovoltaic collector was improved about 17% at initial moments of collector operation. Efficiency increase was around 5% at steady condition. It was demonstrated that utilization of photovoltaic collector can improve efficiency of solar energy-based systems.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.5-14
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• 2008

The target for the reduction of $CO_2$ emissions, as specified in the Kyoto Protocol, can only be achieved by an extended use of renewable fuels and the increasing of the energy efficiency. The energy generation from waste gases with a reasonable content of methane like biogas can significantly contribute to reach this target. A further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is possible by increasing the electrical efficiency using progressive technologies. Fuel cells can be highly energy conversion devices. Utilizing biogas as the fuel for fuel cell systems offers an option that is technically feasible, potentially economically attractive and greenhouse gas neutral. High temperature fuel cells that are able to operate with carbon monoxide in the feed are well suited to these applications. Furthermore, because they do not require noble metal catalysts, the cost of high-temperature fuel cells has the greatest potential to become competitive in the near future compared to other types of fuel cells.