Study of physical models of a monolayer of a fiber composite by the eddy-current method
An experimental study is made of physical models of a monolayer of a composite consisting of unidirectional strands of conducting carbon fibers separated by layers of a nonconducting binder. In the models, the strands of carbon fibers are replaced by copper conductors of the corresponding diameter which are covered by a thin dielectric film. It is determined that the parameters introduced to describe a rectangular eddy-current transducer are independent of its orientation relative to the direction of the conductors but do depend to a large extent on the reinforcement coefficient. The monolayer is shown to be equivalent to a plate composed of a homogeneous conducting material of equal thickness. The equivalent electrical conductivity of the plate is determined and is found to be more than an order lower than the conductivity of the material of the conductors in the model.
This paper shows that an enhancement in the performance of commercial screen-printed multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules can be achieved via luminescent down-shifting of the incident light. Using fluorescent organic dyes dissolved in the pre-existing poly-ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulation layer, an increase in the short-wavelength external quantum efficiency of over 10% absolute, which results in 0.18% absolute higher efficiency, is reported. This approach offers the opportunity for prompt application at production scale, since it neither requires any modification to the module manufacturing process nor does it add to the cost of power generation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.