One of the most efficient ways to prepare nonlinear optical polymer channel waveguides is by photobleaching. To control the index profile precisely and to design and improve the performance of active electro-optical devices, modeling of the photobleaching process is important. We report our phenomenological bleaching model, which uses a stretched exponential time dependency technique that predicts the index profile for polymer channel waveguides and present design rules for active optical switches and modulators. One way to verify the bleaching model is to calculate the effective index and compare this with our measured effective index obtained with prism-coupling techniques. The bleaching model shows good agreement with experiments.
A multi functional demand-side management (DSM) system is required to fully take advantage of the Smart Grid, which is a combination of metering, control, communication and other technologies. This report first gives an overview of the features, advantages, development obstacles and application prospects of the DSM technology and its potential use for the future "smart homes". Then we describe the structural design of a universal and highly efficient DSM system, including communication modules for home area network and the Internet, local and remote control modules, and information collection and processing modules. This DSM system also takes advantage of the latest development in web and IT technologies including cloud computing and social networks, and will be accessible and controllable by smart phones using APPs. The advantages of the DSM system in promoting energy saving and combating climate change are also discussed.
We presented a family of new 3D concentrators. Simulations showed they could significantly increase the illumination on objective plane compared with 2D trough concentrators. A 3D concentrator prototype with a nominal 35° half acceptance angle was made. Its performance was tested under an indoor solar simulator and by on-site experiment. Under solar simulator, a low cost poly-silicon solar cell coupled with a 3D concentrator achieved a 2.25 times of maximum output power compared with a similar bare solar cell. In the on-site experiment, poly-silicon solar cell with a 3D compound parabolic based reflective concentrator gained an average of 1.4 times maximum output power when the incidence sunlight within the critical angle.
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