• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.292-301
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• 2014

This paper presents a new configuration for a three-phase multilevel voltage source inverter. The main bridge is built from a classical three-phase two-level inverter and three bidirectional switches. A variable DC-link employing two unequal DC voltage supplies and four switches is connected to the main circuit in such a way that the proposed inverter produces four levels in the output voltage waveform. In order to obtain the desired switching gate signals, the fundamental frequency staircase modulation technique is successfully implemented. Furthermore, the proposed structure is extended and compared with other types of multilevel inverter topologies. The comparison shows that the proposed inverter requires a smaller number of power components. For a given number of voltage steps N, the proposed inverter requires N/2 DC voltage supplies and N+12 switches connected with N+7 gate driver circuits, while diode clamped or flying capacitor inverters require N-1 DC voltage supplies and 6(N-1) switches connected with 6(N-1) gate driver circuits. A prototype of the introduced configuration has been manufactured and the obtained simulation and experimental results ensure the feasibility of the proposed topology and the validity of the implemented modulation technique.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.99-125
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• 2013

Renewable energy industry not only has a promising future but also has more risk than conventional energy industry because of its characteristics. Therefore, in this study, an analysis of domestic renewable energy company risk has been performed. The risk of domestic wind and photovoltaic energy companies has been analyzed by using time varying beta model. The model has been constructed based on risk factors like firm size, firm diversification index, domestic installation, and so on. The principal result of analysis can be summarized as follows. First, risk factors affect domestic renewable energy companies have been discovered. Variables like firm size, growth rate of debt ratio, firm diversification index are statistically significant. I found that large firms are less riskier than small firms. It is also confirmed that companies with high diversification index and high debt ratio have high risk. Second, I got the result that policy factors like domestic renewable energy installation and government R&D expenditure could decrease risk of domestic renewable energy company. Third, relative sensitivity of each risk factor have been discovered. The effect of each variable gets bigger in this order: growth rate of domestic installation, firm size or diversification index, growth rate of debt ratio, growth rate of government R&D expenditure.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.22-30
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• 2007

An expansion device plays an important role in optimizing the heat pumps by controlling refrigerant flow and balancing the system pressures. Conventional expansion devices are being gradually replaced with electronic expansion valves due to increasing focus on comfort, energy conservation, and application of a variable speed compressor. In addition, the amount of refrigerant charge in a heat pump is another primary parameter influencing system performance. In this study, the flow characteristics of the expansion devices are analyzed, and the effects of refrigerant charge amount on the performance of the heat pump and the variation of compressor speed are investigated at various operating conditions. Mass flow rate through capillary tube, short tube orifice, and EEV was strongly dependent on the upstream pressure and subcooling. The heat pump system is very sensitive with a variation of refrigerant charge amount. The performance of it can be optimized by adjusting the flow rate through expansion device to maintain a constant superheat at all test conditions.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.195-213
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• 2014

Recently, the horizontal axis rotor performance optimizer (HARP_Opt) tool was developed in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA. This innovative tool is becoming more popular in the wind turbine industry and in the field of academic research. HARP_Optwas developed on the basis of two fundamental modules, namely, WT_Perf, a performance evaluator computer code using the blade element momentum theory; and a genetic algorithm module, which is used as an optimizer. A pattern search algorithm was more recently incorporated to enhance the optimization capability, especially the calculation time and consistency of the solutions. The blade optimization is an aspect that is highly dependent on experience and requires significant consideration on rotor control strategies, wind data, and generator type. In this study, the effects of rotor control strategies including fixed speed and fixed pitch, variable speed and fixed pitch, fixed speed and variable pitch, and variable speed and variable pitch algorithms on optimal blade shapes and rotor performance are investigated using optimized blade designs. The effects of environmental wind data and the objective functions used for optimization are also quantitatively evaluated using the HARP_Opt tool. Performance indices such as annual energy production, thrust, torque, and roof-flap moment forces are compared.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.60-72
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• 2022

The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) score is gaining recognition as important nonfinancial investment criteria. With climate change emerging as a global issue, energy companies must pay attention to the ESG impact on corporate performance. In this study, the ESG impact on the performance of energy companies was analyzed based on 23 companies selected from the S&P 500. The panel corrected standard error methodology was used. The Refinitiv ESG score was the independent variable, and financial performance metrics, such as Tobin's Q, return on assets, and return on equity, were the dependent variables. It was found that the ESG score is positively associated with long-term corporate value but not with short-term profitability in the electricity utility industry. Among the subcategories of ESG, the environmental and social scores also showed positive correlations with long-term corporate value. A direct incentive policy is recommended that can offset expenses for ESG activities to reduce carbon emission in the energy sector.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.61-71
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• 2023

The necessity of energy utilization using livestock manure has been proposed with the decrease in domestic agricultural land. Livestock manure solid fuel has been investigated as a promising energy resource owing to its convenient storage and use in agricultural and livestock fields. Additional electricity production is possible through the integration of a biomass combustion boiler with the organic Rankine cycle (ORC). In this study, a mathematical system model of the cattle manure solid fuel boiler integrated with the ORC was developed to analyze the components' performance under variable operating conditions. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to confirm the electrical efficiency of the ORC turbine and the applicability of this system. The minimum required waste heat recovery rate was derived considering the system marginal price and levelized cost of electricity of the ORC. The simulation results showed that, in Korea, more than 77.98% of waste heat recovery and utilization in ORC turbines is required to achieve economic feasibility through ORC application.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.3 no.1 s.9
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• pp.13-19
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• 2007

A triangular fin with variable fin base thickness and base height is analyzed and optimized for the fixed fin base height using a two-dimensional analytical method. At the middle of the fin length, the variation of the temperature along the fin height is listed. The influences of the fin length, base thickness and base height on the heat loss and fin efficiency are analyzed, The optimum heat loss, corresponding optimum efficiency and optimum fin length as a function of the fin base thickness are presented. The optimum heat loss and optimum fin tip length as a function of the convection characteristic number are represented.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.229-253
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• 2016

To achieve the socially optimum level of renewable generation, governments should design renewable policies to induce renewable technologies competitive with conventional generation technologies. And to do that, it is needed to understand how each policy has been effective in promoting renewables for power sector. In most of the literatures, there are two key limitations that they did not considered autocorrelation problem using the amount of generation from renewables as a dependent variable and technology innovation which needs to be preceded technology adoption. In this study, I try to overcome these two problems by using dynamic panel model and adding an additional variable for technology innovation. According to the result, FIT has been effective rather than RPS in promoting renewables for generation and I found the possibility that the counterintuitive results which commonly appeared in existing studies might be due to the two limitations mentioned above.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.209-233
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• 2018

This study investigates the question of how political and economic factors may affect the export of renewable energy technologies. The relationships are tested using panel data for 19 OECD member countries over the period 1992-2012. Before establishing the empirical model, the current study checks the characteristics of the panel data, which includes various panel framework analyses, such as tests for the presence of normality, structural breaks, first-order autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity, cross-sectional dependence, panel unit-root. From the panel framework analyses, a dynamic panel model is established to test the relationship between the variables examined in this study. In order to reduce the bias of the estimation of the dynamic panel model and obtain efficient parameters, this study uses the bias-corrected least square dummy variable(LSDVC) estimator to estimate the empirical model. The results of this study show that governmental policies expressed as coercive pressure and market size positively affect the export growth of renewable energy technologies. However, public pressure and traditional energy industry have no significant effects on export performance. Policy implications are presented based on the results of this study.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.290-296
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• 2006

Control algorithms and implementation issues for a wind turbine simulator are presented for realistic emulation of variable wind characteristics using a lab-scale motor and generator set. When the average wind speed nd turbulence level is given, the torque reference of prime mover is decided through various blocks, such as random wind speed generator, blade characteristic curves, and tower effect compensation. The variable nature of wind can be implemented and tested by not only the computer simulation but also the hardware-in-loop-simulator (HILS). Some application examples of HILS include the development and test of turbine control software for more efficient and stable operation. Feasibility of the proposed simulator has verified by computer simulations and experiment.