The book is devoted to the spatial characterization of solar cells and PV modules. It is written both as a monograph as well as a succinct guide for the state-of-the-art spatial characterization techniques and approaches. Amongst the approaches discussed are visual imaging, electro- and photo-luminescence imaging, thermography, and light beam induced mapping techniques. Emphasis is given on the luminescence image acquisition and interpretation due to its great potential. Characterization techniques are accompanied by simulation tools. The contents are aimed at a readership of students and senior researchers in R&D as well as engineers in industry who are newcomers to the spatial characterization of either solar cells or PV modules. The concepts and approaches presented herein are based on but not limited to case studies of real thin-film PV devices. Key features: Review of spatially resolved characterization techniques and accompanying SPICE simulations in photovoltaics Use of spatially resolved characterization techniques and their combinations for the identification of inhomogeneities in small area CdTe and dye-sensitized solar cells Case studies of electroluminescence imaging of commercial PV modules (c-Si, CIGS, CdTe, a-Si, tandem and triple junction thin-film-Si) The contents are aimed at a readership of students and senior researchers in R&D as well as engineers in industry who are newcomers to the spatial characterization of either solar cells or PV modules. The concepts and approaches presented herein are based on but not limited to case studies of real thin-film PV devices. Key features: Review of spatially resolved characterization techniques and accompanying SPICE simulations in photovoltaics Use of spatially resolved characterization techniques and their combinations for the identification of inhomogeneities in small area CdTe and dye-sensitized solar cells Case studies of electroluminescence imaging of commercial PV modules (c-Si, CIGS, CdTe, a-Si, tandem and triple junction thin-film-Si)

The re-engineering of power transmission systems is crucial to meeting the objectives of such regulators as the European Union. In addition to its market, organisational and regulatory aspects, this re-engineering will also involve technical issues dealing with the progressive integration of innovative transmission technologies in the daily operation of transmission system operators. In this context, Advanced Technologies for Future Transmission Grids provides an overview of the most promising technologies, likely to be of help to planners of transmission grids in responding to the challenges of the future: security of supply; integration of renewable generation; and creation of integrated energy markets (using the European case as an example). These issues have increased importance because of administrative complication and the fragmentation of public opinion expressed on the build up of new infrastructure. For each technology discussed, the focus is on the technical-economic perspective rather than on purely technological points of view. A transmission-system-operator-targeted Technology Roadmap is presented for the integration of promising innovative power transmission technologies within power systems of the mid-long term. Although the primary focus of this text is in the sphere of the European energy market, the lessons learned can be generalized to the energy markets of other regions.

Voltage references represent important VLSI structures, having multiple appli- tions in analog and mixed-signal circuits: measurement equipment, voltage re- lators, temperature sensors, data acquisition systems, memories, or AD and DA converters. Operating as a subcircuit in a complex system, an important requi- ment for this class of circuits is represented by the possibility of implementation in the existing technology, using the available active and passive devices. The most important performances of a voltage reference circuit are represented by temperature behavior, power supply rejection ratio, transient response and, for the latest designs, by low-power low-voltage operation. Depending on the load - quirements, the output of the circuit can be regulated or unregulated. In order to reduce the sensitivity of the reference voltage with respect to the supply voltage variations, modi?ed cascode structures can be implemented, a trade-off between line regulation and low-voltage operation being necessary in this case. A large bandwidth of the voltage reference improves the transient behavior of the circuit, implying also a good noise rejection. Referringtothe possibilities ofimplementinga voltagereferencecircuit,two d- ferent approaches could be identi?ed: voltage-mode and current-mode topologies, being also possible to design a mixed-mode voltage reference.

Power Conversion of Renewable Energy Systems presents an introduction to conventional energy conversion components and systems, as well as those related to renewable energy. This volume introduces systems first, and then in subsequent chapters describes the components of energy systems in detail. Readers will find examples of renewable and conventional energy and power systems, including energy conversion, variable-speed drives and power electronics, in addition to magnetic devices such as transformers and rotating machines. Applications of PSpice, MATLAB, and Mathematica are also included, along with solutions to over 100 application examples. Power Conversion of Renewable Energy Systems aims to instruct readers how to actively apply the theories discussed within. It would be an ideal volume for researchers, students and engineers working with energy systems and renewable energy.

This textbooks demonstrates the application of software tools in solving a series of problems from the field of designing power system structures and systems. It contains four chapters: The first chapter leads the reader through all the phases necessary in the procedures of computer aided modeling and simulation. It guides through the complex problems presenting on the basis of eleven original examples. The second chapter presents application of software tools in power system calculations of power systems equipment design. Several design example calculations are carried out using engineering standards like MATLAB, EMTP/ATP, Excel & Access, AutoCAD and Simulink. The third chapters focuses on the graphical documentation using a collection of software tools (AutoCAD, EPLAN, SIMARIS SIVACON, SIMARIS DESIGN) which enable the complete automation of the development of graphical documentation of a power systems. In the fourth chapter, the application of software tools in the project management in power systems is discussed. Here, the emphasis is put on the standard software MS Excel and MS Project.

The twin challenge of meeting global energy demands in the face of growing economies and populations and restricting greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most daunting ones that humanity has ever faced. Smart electrical generation and distribution infrastructure will play a crucial role in meeting these challenges. We would need to develop capabilities to handle large volumes of data generated by the power system components like PMUs, DFRs and other data acquisition devices as well as by the capacity to process these data at high resolution via multi-scale and multi-period simulations, cascading and security analysis, interaction between hybrid systems (electric, transport, gas, oil, coal, etc.) and so on, to get meaningful information in real time to ensure a secure, reliable and stable power system grid. Advanced research on development and implementation of market-ready leading-edge high-speed enabling technologies and algorithms for solving real-time, dynamic, resource-critical problems will be required for dynamic security analysis targeted towards successful implementation of Smart Grid initiatives. This books aims to bring together some of the latest research developments as well as thoughts on the future research directions of the high performance computing applications in electric power systems planning, operations, security, markets, and grid integration of alternate sources of energy, etc.

This book is a collection of papers presented by renowned researchers, keynote speakers, and academicians in the International Conference on VLSI, Communication, Analog Designs, Signals & Systems and Networking (VCASAN-2013), organized by B.N.M. Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India during July 17-19, 2013. The book provides global trends in cutting-edge technologies in electronics and communication engineering. The content of the book is useful to engineers, researchers, and academicians as well as industry professionals.

The understanding of hydrogen/lithium insertion phenomena is of great importance for the development of the next generation of functional electrochemical devices such as rechargeable batteries, electrochromic devices, and fuel cells. This volume introduces a variety of viable electrochemical methods to identify reaction mechanisms and evaluate relevant kinetic properties of insertion electrodes. The authors also outline various ways to analyze anomalous behaviour of hydrogen/lithium transport through insertion electrodes.

This book provides a detailed analysis of all aspects of capacitive DC-DC converter design: topology selection, control loop design and noise mitigation. Readers will benefit from the authors' systematic overview that starts from the ground up, in-depth circuit analysis and a thorough review of recently proposed techniques and design methodologies. Not only design techniques are discussed, but also implementation in CMOS is shown, by pinpointing the technological opportunities of CMOS and demonstrating the implementation based on four state-of-the-art prototypes.

As power systems develop to incorporate renewable energy sources, the delivery systems may be disrupted by the changes involved. The grid's technology and management must be developed to form Smart Grids between consumers, suppliers and producers. Conducted Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) in Smart Grids considers the specific side effects related to electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated by the application of these Smart Grids.
Conducted Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) in Smart Grids presents specific EMI conducted phenomena as well as effective methods to filter and handle them once identified. After introduction to Smart Grids, the following sections cover dedicated methods for EMI reduction and potential avenues for future development including chapters dedicated to:

potential system services,
descriptions of the EMI spectra shaping methods,
methods of interference voltage compensation, and theoretical analysis of experimental results.

By focusing on these key aspects, Conducted Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) in Smart Grids provides a concise and comprehensive coverage of an extensive subject matter. It constitutes a key resource for any industry practitioners, researchers or system designers with interest in Smart Grids, particularly their electromagnetic compatibility in the conducted EMI frequency range.
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This SpringerBrief provides an in-depth look at the key issues that affect the performance of heterogeneous networks and presents schemes that can effectively tackle these issues. In particular, this book discusses unbalanced traffic load among the macro and micro Base Stations (BSs) caused by the transmit power disparity, and a load-balancing based mobile association scheme to balance the traffic load among the macro and micro BSs. This book also introduces a fractional frequency reuse (FFR) scheme with proper power control to help reduce interference at the UEs which are most vulnerable to such intra-cell interference. The last section investigates radio resource allocation issues for heterogeneous networks with cooperative relays, and proposes a resource allocation framework that could achieve proportional fairness among the UEs. Numerical results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solutions in tackling the problem and improving network performance. Resource Management for Heterogeneous Networks in LTE-A Systems is designed for researchers and professionals working in networking and resource management. The content is also valuable for advanced-level students in computer science and electrical engineering.

Power quality describes a set of parameters of electric power and the load's ability to function properly under specific conditions. It is estimated that problems relating to power quality costs the European industry hundreds of billions of Euros annually. In contrast, financing for the prevention of these problems amount to fragments of these costs. Power Theories for Improved Power Quality addresses this imbalance by presenting and assessing a range of methods and problems related to improving the quality of electric power supply.
Focusing particularly on active compensators and the DSP based control algorithms, Power Theories for Improved Power Quality introduces the fundamental problems of electrical power. This introduction is followed by chapters which discuss:

'Power theories' including their historical development and application to practical problems,

operational principles of active compensator's DSP control based algorithms using examples and results from laboratory research, and

the key areas of application for these methods and suggested practical solutions.

Power Theories for Improved Power Quality is a key study resource for students in engineering and technical degrees as well as a reference for professional and practitioners in the electrical energy sector working with power quality.
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Semiconductor power devices are the heart of power electronics. They determine the performance of power converters and allow topologies with high efficiency. Semiconductor properties, pn-junctions and the physical phenomena for understanding power devices are discussed in depth. Working principles of state-of-the-art power diodes, thyristors, MOSFETs and IGBTs are explained in detail, as well as key aspects of semiconductor device production technology. In practice, not only the semiconductor, but also the thermal and mechanical properties of packaging and interconnection technologies are essential to predict device behavior in circuits. Wear and aging mechanisms are identified and reliability analyses principles are developed. Unique information on destructive mechanisms, including typical failure pictures, allows assessment of the ruggedness of power devices. Also parasitic effects, such as device induced electromagnetic interference problems, are addressed. The book concludes with modern power electronic system integration techniques and trends.

This brief examines issues of spectrum allocation for the limited resources of radio spectrum. It uses a game-theoretic perspective, in which the nodes in the wireless network are rational and always pursue their own objectives. It provides a systematic study of the approaches that can guarantee the system's convergence at an equilibrium state, in which the system performance is optimal or sub-optimal. The author provides a short tutorial on game theory, explains game-theoretic channel allocation in clique and in multi-hop wireless networks and explores challenges in designing game-theoretic mechanisms for dynamic channel redistribution. Since designing a completely secure mechanism is extremely expensive or impossible in most of distributed autonomous systems, it is more beneficial to study misbehavior of the nodes and develop light-weighted game-theoretic channel allocation mechanisms. With a mix of theoretical and hands-on information, the brief traces the concepts of game theory, the current state of spectrum allocation in wireless networks and future competition for resources. Thorough yet accessible, the content is ideal for researchers and practitioners working on spectrum redistribution. It is also a helpful resource for researchers and advanced-level students interested in game theory and wireless communications.

Superconductors offer high throughput with low electric losses and have the potential to transform the electric power grid. Transmission networks incorporating cables of this type could, for example, deliver more power and enable substantial energy savings. Superconductors in the Power Grid: Materials and Applications provides an overview of superconductors and their applications in power grids. Sections address the design and engineering of cable systems and fault current limiters and other emerging applications for superconductors in the power grid, as well as case studies of industrial applications of superconductors in the power grid.

This book provides a clear, systematic and exhaustive exposition of the various dimensions of electrical power systems, both at basic and advanced levels, explained and illustrated through solved examples. This book covers: fundamentals of power systems, line constant calculations and performance of overhead lines; mechanical design of lines, HVDC lines, corona, insulators and insulated cables; voltage control, neutral grounding and transients in power systems; fault calculation, protective relays including digital relays and circuit breakers; power systems synchronous stability and voltage stability; insulation coordination and over voltage protection; modern topics like load flows, economic load dispatch, load frequency control and compensation in power system; state estimation in power systems, unit commitment, economic scheduling of hydrothermal plants and optimal power flows; and zbus formulation, power transformers and synchronous machines as power system elements. It includes large number of solved examples, practice problems and multiple choice questions. With all these features, this is an invaluable textbook for undergraduate electrical engineering students and practicing engineers.

Modern power electronic converters are involved in a very broad spectrum of applications: switched-mode power supplies, electrical-machine-motion-control, active power filters, distributed power generation, flexible AC transmission systems, renewable energy conversion systems and vehicular technology, among them. Power Electronics Converters Modeling and Control teaches the reader how to analyze and model the behavior of converters and so to improve their design and control. Dealing with a set of confirmed algorithms specifically developed for use with power converters, this text is in two parts: models and control methods. The first is a detailed exposition of the most usual power converter models: * switched and averaged models; * small/large-signal models; and * time/frequency models. The second focuses on three groups of control methods: * linear control approaches normally associated with power converters; * resonant controllers because of their significance in grid-connected applications; and * nonlinear control methods including feedback linearization, stabilizing, passivity-based, and variable-structure control. Extensive case-study illustration and end-of-chapter exercises reinforce the study material. Power Electronics Converters Modeling and Control addresses the needs of graduate students interested in power electronics, providing a balanced understanding of theoretical ideas coupled with pragmatic tools based on control engineering practice in the field. Academics teaching power electronics will find this an attractive course text and the practical points make the book useful for self tuition by engineers and other practitioners wishing to bring their knowledge up to date.

Digital Signal Processing in Power System Protection and Control bridges the gap between the theory of protection and control and the practical applications of protection equipment. Understanding how protection functions is crucial not only for equipment developers and manufacturers, but also for their users who need to install, set and operate the protection devices in an appropriate manner. After introductory chapters related to protection technology and functions, Digital Signal Processing in Power System Protection and Control presents the digital algorithms for signal filtering, followed by measurement algorithms of the most commonly-used protection criteria values and decision-making methods in protective relays. A large part of the book is devoted to the basic theory and applications of artificial intelligence techniques for protection and control. Fuzzy logic based schemes, artificial neural networks, expert systems and genetic algorithms with their advantages and drawbacks are discussed. AI techniques are compared and it is also shown how they can be combined to eliminate the disadvantages and magnify the useful features of particular techniques. The information provided in Digital Signal Processing in Power System Protection and Control can be useful for protection engineers working in utilities at various levels of the electricity network, as well as for students of electrical engineering, especially electrical power engineering. It may also be helpful for other readers who want to get acquainted with and to apply the filtering, measuring and decision-making algorithms for purposes other than protection and control, everywhere fast and on-line signal analysis is needed for proper functioning of the apparatus.

Small Wind Turbines provides a thorough grounding in analysing, designing, building, and installing a small wind turbine. Small turbines are introduced by emphasising their differences from large ones and nearly all the analysis and design examples refer to small turbines. The accompanying software includes MATLAB (R) programs for power production and starting performance, as well as programs for detailed multi-objective optimisation of blade design. A spreadsheet is also given to help readers apply the simple load model of the IEC standard for small wind turbine safety. Small Wind Turbines represents the distilled outcome of over twenty years experience in fundamental research, design and installation, and field testing of small wind turbines. Small Wind Turbines is a suitable reference for student projects and detailed design studies, and also provides important background material for engineers and others using small wind turbines for remote power and distributed generation applications.

This SpringerBrief focuses on the network capacity analysis of VANETs, a key topic as fundamental guidance on design and deployment of VANETs is very limited. Moreover, unique characteristics of VANETs impose distinguished challenges on such an investigation. This SpringerBrief first introduces capacity scaling laws for wireless networks and briefly reviews the prior arts in deriving the capacity of VANETs. It then studies the unicast capacity considering the socialized mobility model of VANETs. With vehicles communicating based on a two-hop relaying scheme, the unicast capacity bound is derived and can be applied to predict the throughput of real-world scenarios of VANETs. The downlink capacity of VANETs is also investigated in which access infrastructure is deployed to provide pervasive Internet access to vehicles. Different alternatives of wireless access infrastructure are considered. A lower bound of downlink capacity is derived for each type of access infrastructure. The last section of this book presents a case study based on a perfect city grid to examine the capacity-cost trade-offs of different deployments since the deployment costs of different access infrastructure are highly variable.

This reference collects all relevant aspects electronic tap-changer and presents them in a comprehensive and orderly manner. It explains logically and systematically the design and optimization of a full electronic tap-changer for distribution transformers.

The book provides a fully new insight to all possible structures of power section design and categorizes them comprehensively, including cost factors of the design. In the control section design, the authors review mechanical tap-changer control systems and they present the modeling of a full electronic tap-changer as well as a closed-loop control of the full-electronic tap-changer.

The book is written for electrical engineers in industry and academia but should be useful also to postgraduate students of electrical engineering.

The present study has attempted to apply the advantage of neuro-genetic algorithms for optimal decision making in maximum utilization of natural resources. Hydro-power is one of the inexpensive, but a reliable source of alternative energy which is foreseen as the possible answer to the present crisis in the energy sector. However, the major problem related to hydro-energy is its dependency on location. An ideal location can produce maximum energy with minimum loss. Besides, such power-plant also requires substantial amount of land which is a precious resource nowadays due to the rapid and uncontrolled urbanization observed in most of the urban centres in the World. The feasibility of such plants also depends on social acceptance as well as the level of environmental casualty and economic benefit, all of which is also spatially dependent. Decision making algorithms are applied to identify better solution if a problem has more than one alternative explication. Nature based algorithms are found to be efficient enough to catalyze such kind of decision making analysis. That is why the present study tries to utilize nature based algorithms to solve the problems of location selection for hydropower plants. The study employed six different types of nature based algorithms to select one of the locations among many available for installation of hydropower plant in the North Eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. The locations are selected based on their in stream resources and included in the decision making as alternatives. A methodology of criteria selection, determination of weightage and applications of bioinspired algorithms are adopted to produce utmost exertion of the available natural resources with minimum hostility and wastage of the same.

Electrical grids are, in general, among the most reliable systems in the world. These large interconnected systems, however, are subject to a host of challenges - aging infrastructure, transmission expansion to meet growing demand, distributed resources, and congestion management, among others. Innovations in Power Systems Reliability aims to provide a vision for a comprehensive and systematic approach to meet the challenges of modern power systems. Innovations in Power Systems Reliability is focused on the emerging technologies and methodologies for the enhancement of electrical power systems reliability. It addresses many relevant topics in this area, ranging from methods for balancing resources to various reliability and security aspects. Innovations in Power Systems Reliability not only discusses technological breakthroughs and sets out roadmaps in implementing the technology, but it also informs the reader about current best practice. It is a valuable source of information for academic researchers, as well as those working in industrial research and development.

Taking into account the present day trends and the requirements, this Brief focuses on smart metering of electricity for next generation energy efficiency and conservation. The contents include discussions on the smart metering concepts and existing technologies and systems as well as design and implementation of smart metering schemes together with detailed examples.

The Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROI or EROEI) is the amount of energy acquired from a particular energy source divided by the energy expended, or invested, in obtaining that energy. EROI is an essential and seemingly simple measure of the usable energy or energy profit from the exploitation of an energy source, but it is not so easy to determine all of the energy expenditures that should be included in the calculation. Because EROI values are generally low for renewable energy sources, differences in these estimates can lead to sharply divergent conclusions about the viability of these energy technologies. This book presents the first complete energy analysis of a large-scale, real-world deployment of photovoltaic (PV) collection systems representing 3.5 GW of installed, grid-connected solar plants in Spain. The analysis includes all of the factors that limit and adjust the real electricity output through one full-year cycle, and all of the fossil fuel inputs required to achieve these results. The authors comprehensive analysis of energy inputs, which assigns energy cost estimates to all financial expenditures, yields EROI values that are less than half of those claimed by other investigators and by the solar industry.Sensitivity analysis is used to test various assumptions in deriving these EROI estimates. The results imply that the EROI of current, large-scale PV systems may be too low to seamlessly support an energy and economic transition away from fossil fuels. Given thepervasiveness offossil fuel subsidies in the modern economy, a key conclusion is that all components of the system that brings solar power to the consumer, from manufacturing to product maintenance and life cycle, must be improved in terms of energy efficiency. The materials science of solar conversion efficiency is only one such component.
Sunny Spain represented an ideal case study as the country had the highest penetration of solar PV energy at 2.3 percent of total national demand as well as state-of-the-art expertise in solar power including grid management of intermittent, modern renewable systems. This book, written by a uniquely qualified author team consisting of the chief engineer for several major photovoltaic projects in Spain and the world s leading expert on the concept and application of EROI, provides a comprehensive understanding of the net energy available to society from energy sources in general and from functioning PV installations under real-world conditions in particular. The authors provide critical insight into the capacity of renewable energy sources to fill the foreseeable gap between world energy demand and depletion rates for fossil fuels.

.Presents the first comprehensive study of the EROI of large-scale solar PV systems in a developed country

.Uses real-world operational data rather than laboratory approximations and extrapolations

.Describes the dependence of one alternative energy source on the goods and services of a fossil-fueled economy

.Has global implications for the potential of renewable energy sources to replace dwindling reserves of fossil fuels

.Written with the first-hand knowledge of the chief, on-site engineer formany solar installations in Spain together with the leader in the development and application of the concept of EROI