As the solar photovoltaic (PV) matures, the economic feasibility of PV projects are increasingly being evaluated using the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) generation in order to be compared to other electricity generation technologies. Unfortunately, there is lack of clarity of reporting assumptions, justifications and degree of completeness in LCOE calculations, which produces widely varying and contradictory results. This paper reviews the methodology of properly calculating the LCOE for solar PV, correcting the misconceptions made in the assumptions found throughout the literature. Then a template is provided for better reporting of LCOE results for PV needed to influence policy mandates or make invest decisions. A numerical example is provided with variable ranges to test sensitivity, allowing for conclusions to be drawn on the most important variables. Grid parity is considered when the LCOE of solar PV is comparable with grid electrical prices of conventional technologies and is the industry target for cost-effectiveness. Given the state of the art in the technology and favorable financing terms it is clear that PV has already obtained grid parity in specific locations and as installed costs continue to decline, grid electricity prices continue to escalate, and industry experience increases, PV will become an increasingly economically advantageous source of electricity over expanding geographical regions.

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Hardware This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. clicking here. colleagues, clients, or customers by , you can order high-quality copies for your If you wish to distribute this article to others here. following the guidelines can be obtained by Permission to republish or repurpose articles or portions of articles ): September 28, 2012 www.sciencemag.org (this information is current as of The following resources related to this article are available online at A rapidly increasing selection of laboratory equipment can be fabricated with open-source three-dimensional printers at low cost.

The high cost of what have historically been sophisticated research-related sensors and tools has limited their adoption to a relatively small group of well-funded researchers. This paper provides a methodology for applying an open-source approach to design and development of a colorimeter. A 3-D printable, open-source colorimeter utilizing only open-source hardware and software solutions and readily available discrete components is discussed and its performance compared to a commercial portable colorimeter. Performance is evaluated with commercial vials prepared for the closed reflux chemical oxygen demand (COD) method. This approach reduced the cost of reliable closed reflux COD by two orders of magnitude making it an economic alternative for the vast majority of potential users. The open-source colorimeter demonstrated good reproducibility and serves as a platform for further development and derivation of the design for other, similar purposes such as nephelometry. This approach promises unprecedented access to sophisticated instrumentation based on low-cost sensors by those most in need of it, underdeveloped and developing world laboratories.

Self-assembled Nafion films of varying thickness were generated on SiO2 terminated silicon wafer by immersion in Nafion dispersions of different concentrations. The impact of solvent/dispersion media was probed by preparing films from two different types of Nafion dispersionsIPA-diluted dispersion and Nafion-in-water dispersion. The thickness of films was ascertained by three different techniques: variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The three techniques yielded consistent nominal thicknesses of 4, 10, 30, 55, 75, 110, 160, and 300 nm for films self-assembled from IPA-diluted Nafion dispersions of concentrations 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, and 5.0 wt %, respectively. Films generated from 0.25–5.0 wt % Nafion-in-water dispersions generated comparable thicknesses. An interesting finding of our work is the observation of bimodal surface wettability, investigated by water contact angle. The sub-55 nm films were found to exhibit hydrophilic surface whereas the thicker films showed hydrophobic surface similar to those reported for Nafion membranes. Employing XDLVO theory, surface energies of the hydrophobic, 160 nm film was found to be similar to that reported for Nafion membrane whereas those for the hydrophilic 4 nm film yielded high electron-accepting/proton-donating parameters resulting in an enhanced surface polarity. It can be concluded that the structure and properties of the ultrathin (<55 nm) Nafion films are distinct from those of the thicker (but still submicrometer) films, which are likely similar to those of the well-studied Nafion membranes. No significant effect of dispersion type was observed for 10–300 nm thick films.

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Please cite this article as: Wittbrodt B, Pearce JM, The Effects of PLA Color on Material Properties of 3-D Printed Components, Addit Manuf (2015), http://dx. AbstractAs the number of prosumer printers has expanded rapidly, they now make up the majority of the 3-D printer market and of these printers those in the open-source lineage of the RepRap also have expanded to dominate. Although still primarily used for prototyping or hobbyist production of low-value products, the RepRap has the capacity to be used for high-value distributed manufacturing. A recent study found that RepRap printed parts printed in realistic environmental conditions can match and even out perform commercial 3-D printers using proprietary FDM in terms of tensile strength with the same polymers. However, tensile strengths of the large sample set of RepRap prints fluctuated. In order to explain that fluctuation and better inform designers on RepRap print properties this study determines the effect of color and processing temperature on material properties of Lulzbot TAZ deposited PLA in various colors. Five colors (white, black, blue, grey, and natural) of commercially available filament processed from 4043D PLA is tested for for crystallinity with XRD, tensile strength following ASTM D638 and the microstructure is evaluated with environmental scanning electron microscope. Results are presented showing a strong relationship between tensile strength and percent crystallinity of a 3-D printed sample and a strong relationship between percent crystallinity and the extruder temperature. Conclusions are drawn about the effects of color and processing temperature on the material properties of 3-D printed PLA to promote the open-source development of RepRap 3-D printing.

We have developed a Kramers-Kronig consistent analytical expression to fit the measured optical functions of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) based alloys, i.e., the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function (⑀ 1 ,⑀ 2) ͑or the index of refraction n and absorption coefficient ␣͒ versus photon energy E for the alloys. The alloys of interest include amorphous silicon-germanium (a-Si 1Ϫx Ge x :H) and silicon-carbon (a-Si 1Ϫx C x :H), with band gaps ranging continuously from ϳ1.30 to 1.95 eV. The analytical expression incorporates the minimum number of physically meaningful, E independent parameters required to fit (⑀ 1 ,⑀ 2) versus E. The fit is performed simultaneously throughout the following three regions: ͑i͒ the below-band gap ͑or Urbach tail͒ region where ␣ increases exponentially with E, ͑ii͒ the near-band gap region where transitions are assumed to occur between parabolic bands with constant dipole matrix element, and ͑iii͒ the above-band gap region where (⑀ 1 ,⑀ 2) can be simulated assuming a single Lorentz oscillator. The expression developed here provides an improved description of ⑀ 2 ͑or ␣͒ in the below-band gap and near-band gap regions compared with previous approaches. Although the expression is more complicated analytically, it has numerous applications in the analysis and simulation of thin film a-Si:H based p-in and n-i-p multilayer photovoltaic devices. First, we describe an approach whereby, from a single accessible measure of the optical band gap, the optical functions can be generated over the full solar spectrum for a sample set consisting of the highest quality intrinsic a-Si:H based alloys prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using the principle of maximal H 2 dilution. Second, we describe quantitatively how such an approach can be modified for sample sets consisting of lower quality alloy materials. Finally, we demonstrate how the generated optical functions can be used in simulations of the absorption, reflection, and quantum efficiency spectra of a-Si:H based single-junction and multijunction solar cells.