Background The creation of effective energy conversion technologies has become essential in response to the challenges of integrating diurnally and seasonally intermittent and variable renewable energy resources. Specifically, one of the most important steps toward the economical production of sustainable fuels and organic chemicals is the conversion...

Energy usage in the industrial sector has been increasing since 2007 and has been the largest energy consuming sector in the US (e.g., at nearly 33 quadrillion Btus in 2018). Industrial facilities are not only the largest end-use consumer of energy, but account for one-third of the total peak power demand in the US. This creates several challenges...

The entire human food system is photosynthesis-based, i.e. it originates as plant matter/biomass. Contrary to popular perception, domestic animals are not the most inefficient link in the human food chain, photosynthesis in plants is. While the theoretical energy efficiency of photosynthesis is about 26%, when you take into account nonabsorbable incident...

Photovoltaic (PV) cells are typically formed from semiconductor absorber layers. These absorber layers exhibit absorption of light with photon energy above their bandgap energy to generate electron-hole pairs. The absorber layers can also exhibit non-radiative recombination in the bulk of the absorber material. However, the absorber semiconductor...

­Solar energy systems generate power intermittently, for example based on varying cloud coverage and other conditions. This inherent variability can lead to significant inefficiencies in utilizing the renewable energy source. The conventional approach is to utilize a central power converter in the solar energy system for maximum power point tracking....

Solar energy systems generate power intermittently, for example based on varying cloud coverage and other conditions. This inherent variability can lead to significant inefficiencies in utilizing the renewable energy source. The conventional approach is to utilize a central power converter in the solar energy system for maximum power point tracking....

­Thermochemical reactors provide an effective means for water splitting and carbon dioxide splitting. These reactors are able to produce energized chemicals (e.g., hydrogen and carbon monoxide), which can subsequently be used in other chemical reactions (e.g., to reduce, add functionality, etc.) or from which other chemicals can be made (e.g.,...

There is a need for solar cells with highly efficient light-to-electricity conversion and lower cost. Multijunction cells, which include multiple light-absorbing materials, each of which converts a given wavelength range of the solar spectrum, can be used to provide greater conversion efficiency than single-junction thin-film solar cells. However,...

Background Thermochemical reactors can provide an effective means for splitting water and carbon dioxide. These reactors are able to produce energized chemicals such as H2 and CO, which can be subsequently used in other chemical reactions (e.g., as reductants or as fuels). In water splitting, the main competing technologies are steam-methane reforming...

Artificial neural networks have countless applications with their ability for adaptive learning, recognition, and classification. When implemented in software, the artificial neural network algorithms often use a double-precision format. This can result in large area and power requirements for the hardware. Other approaches can be used to determine...