Sun Side Research Articles

Balance of efficiency and stability of silicon heterojunction solar cells

Consideration must be given to both surface passivation and stability for the design of intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H(i)) films for silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. Although the underdense a-Si:H(i) films could offer outstanding surface passivation and lead to a high cell efficiency, it was hard for such a porous structure to prevent the intrusion of sodium-ion (Na + ) and moisture during Na + aging test, resulting in the serious degradation of cell efficiency. Hence, we replaced the a-Si:H(i) film at the sun side with the a-SiO x :H(i) film and applied 20-s hydrogen plasma treatment to the underdense a-Si:H(i) film at the rear side in order to reduce the porosity of the a-Si:H(i) films without epitaxial growth. Additionally, an 80-nm SiO x layer was capped on the rear side of the optimized SHJ solar cells as a protective layer, leading to a high efficiency of 22.23% and the negligible degradation of only 0.27% abs after 3-h Na + aging test. This work offers a valid approach to balancing both the high efficiency and high stability of SHJ solar cells, which may guide the optimization of SHJ solar cells for real applications. • Different structure and porosity of a-Si:H(i) films are applied in SHJ solar cells. • Na + aging test is to assess the stability of cells encapsulated by soda-lime glass. • Dense a-SiO x :H(i) films suppress epitaxy and provide better Na + damp-heat stability. • H 2 plasma treatment reduces porosity of a-Si:H(i) films and improves cell stability. • This work offers a strategy to balances efficiency and stability of SHJ solar cells.

Effects of Total Solar Eclipse on Ionospheric Total Electron Content over Antarctica on 2021 December 4

The effects of a total solar eclipse that occurred on 2021 December 4 on ionospheric total electron content (TEC) over Antarctic stations were studied. The study was based on GPS data obtained over Antarctica on the day of the eclipse and the days before and after the eclipse over six GPS stations. The findings of this study show that a total solar eclipse lowers the amount of ionization reaching the Earth’s surface with TEC values dropping across the stations. Finally, the enhancement of ΔTEC is quite different from one station to another station. This may also be due to the effect of solar heating conditions and the density of the Sun as exerted over the stations with the Sun side over one station and the clouded part over the others.

Dangerous Weather

Dangerous Weather Natalie Teal McAllister (bio) Jim wanted the ceiling fan and you wanted the window unit and Jim won until the baby was born. Jim won everything until the baby was born, and then the baby won everything thereafter. The baby had been born in August. The first night she was home neither the fan nor the window unit could keep up. She screamed and thrashed until Jim had her in just a diaper and you hovered over her and hoped she would cry herself to sleep because to touch her would surely have made the situation worse. Jim had central air installed within the week, but that was his idea, too. Thirty years later with the same unit outside, you should have known you were in trouble when you woke up to the sound of robins in the mulberry tree. In the still-dark morning, you can hear the last handful of crickets in the yard and a car on the main road three streets over. What you can’t hear is that air conditioner. ________ When you wake again the sun is up and even the birds are too hot to sing. It’s near 90 in the bedroom. You shuffle to the thermostat and let it confirm what you suspected. The dial reads closer to 85, but the bedroom is on the sun side of the house and stays warmer in every month of the year. You slide the knob as far to the left as it will go and wait for the machine to kick on. You tell yourself to give it five minutes. Be patient with the old thing. Two minutes later you slide into your flip flops and push open the back door. The unit is tucked into an odd corner of the house. Maybe it has been a few years since you’ve actually looked at it. You nudge the bottom of your flip flop into it. When that doesn’t work, you clap the palm of your hand against the metal grate. Then you do it again. The second time your hand comes up with a coat of rust and you give the unit up for dead. ________ You keep a collection of magnets on the refrigerator. Names of repair men and plumbing companies. People who want to sell you insurance. You peel off one for Randy Mr. Fix It. He picks up on the third ring. “Randy Mr. Fix It,” he says. “You break it, I fix it.” You tell him the situation with the unit. “Alright. I can fix that. Let me get you on the schedule.” You ask him what he means by schedule. “I mean yours isn’t the only one that’s broken.” You pull back the curtain on the back door and look over at your neighbor’s unit. As far as you can tell, it’s working. “The news said there’s an excessive heat warning,” you say. “That’s got to mean something.” You say it but you don’t believe it means anything to people like Randy. What else is this world but [End Page 156] a place where men can promise to care for you, to watch out for you, and never mean a second of it. Still you find the smallest part of your heart wants to believe otherwise. “I’m getting through them as fast as I can. I can try to get you in at 4:30. Last call of the day.” They said on TV it would be 110 by then. “If I get done sooner, I’ll get there sooner. I’ll do what I can.” “I could die in here before then,” you say. “That’s what they said.” He takes what feels like a full minute to answer. You spend that minute wondering—if you did die, when would they find you? Would it be come winter? Or would they notice when your mail piled up? What if you didn’t have much mail to speak of? Then it comes to you: it would be the overgrown lawn. That’s how they would know you were dead. “If I were you,” he says, “I...

Size does matter – susceptibility of apple for grey mould is affected by cell size

Apple is a seasonal product that is stored for long periods of time, during which fungal‐caused decay can occur. Previous infection experiments of intact Jonagored apple with Botrytis cinerea displayed apparent differences in lesion expansion rate with respect to inoculation position on the fruit (on, above or below the equator). The goal of this study was to investigate whether these differences are consistent or not and if so, to relate them to fruit characteristics. The study involved measuring the hue angle of the intended inoculation spots prior to inoculation, and firmness and total soluble solids content of fruit from the same batch. Results showed that firmness correlated somewhat (−0.55 and −0.72 for shadow and sun side, respectively) with lesion diameter expansion rate. In a subsequent step, X‐ray imaging was carried out for samples from each position. Analysis of 3D reconstructions by microcomputed tomography of these diffraction images showed that cell size was strongly correlated (0.996) to lesion diameter expansion rate. Finally, it was investigated if cell size could also be used to rank different apple cultivars for their susceptibility to B. cinerea. The result shows that there is a clear distinction between Jonagold and Golden Delicious (non‐blushing variety), which have a smaller cell size, and Braeburn and Kanzi, which have a larger cell size (overall correlation of 0.87). This indicates that cell size may also be an important factor in determining susceptibility across cultivars.

Mechanism of dyeing technique of Xiang-yun-sha and bioaugmentation of its coating mud with iron reducing bacteria

The dyeing technique of Xiang-yun-sha , with a history of more than 600 years, is a kind of unique hand-made dyeing process that combines both plant dyeing (immersed with Juliang extract) and mineral dyeing (mud coating). It has been included in the national intangible cultural heritage. However, the scientific mechanism of this heritage has not been systematically explained. In this study, the composition and structure of Juliang were analyzed with ionizing-spray high-resolution mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy, and the interaction mechanism of the Juliang with silk protein was explored. The mud-coating process was explained from the molecular level through a chemical simulation method, and the maintenance effect of microbes on characteristics of river mud was examined. Results showed that there are phenol and quinone of catechin condensed tannin in the Juliang extract, and they were combined with silk protein peptide bonds through multi-sites hydrogen bonds. The gial pigments on the silk surface after exposure further reacted with Fe(II) in the mud to form soluble condensed tannin complex, and then this complex was rapidly oxidized to form black precipitate containing Fe(III). Eventually, lustrous dark brown was formed on sun side, brown on the other side. Further, it was found that microbial iron reduction played a key role on maintaining the mud properties, because the addition of Shewanella decolorationis S12 with iron reducing function can significantly improve the dyeing performance of unqualified mud. This study provides reliable scientific support to protect inheritance of dyeing technique and promote the standardized production of the industry.

ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИИ ИМЕН СОБСТВЕННЫХ КАК ОДИН ИЗ СПОСОБОВ ВЫРАЖЕНИЯ ОСНОВ МИРОЗДАНИЯ ЛИЧНОСТИ (ПО МАТЕРИАЛАМ РОМАНА Д. РУБИНОЙ «НА СОЛНЕЧНОЙ СТОРОНЕ УЛИЦЫ»)

The article examines the proper names used by D. Rubina in her novel “Sun Side of the Street”. The analyzed proper names were chosen by the continuous sampling method and distributed into groups according to thematic orientation. The author analyzes proper names of both animate and inanimate objects, considers their different interpretations paying special attention to personal names - from full names to the diversity of their shortened versions - which provides deeper understanding of the individual’s image among surrounding people and his place in the surrounding world.

Space System for Detecting Hazardous Celestial Bodies Approaching Earth from the Daytime Sky (SODA)

The concept of the System for the Observation of Daytime Asteroids (SODA system) has been developed, the purpose of which is to detect at least 95% of hazardous celestial bodies larger than 10 m in size that fly towards Earth from the Sun side. Spacecraft, equipped with the optimum version, which has three wide-angle optical telescopes of small aperture (20–30 cm) will be placed in a halo orbit around the L1 libration point of the Sun–Earth system. This will provide a warning on the hazardous object, approaching from the Sun side, and will allow one to determine the orbit and the point of body entering Earth atmosphere to a sufficient accuracy, at least a few hours before the body collides with Earth. The requirements to the system are considered, the results of a preliminary design of the set of instruments have been described, the areas of visibility are calculated, and the versions of data transmission modes have been proposed. It has been shown that, in cooperation with other (particularly ground-based) projects aimed to observing objects flying from the night sky side, it is possible to detect in advance all hazardous bodies in the near-Earth space larger than 10 m in size that approach Earth from almost any direction.

Variable chlorophyll fluorescence of apple skin during ripening and storage

This paper considers the method of control over apple maturation in an orchard based on the photosynthetic activity measured by the variation of induction of chlorophyll fluorescence in the apple skin. It is shown that the highest information value is inherent to the shadow side of the apple fruit, where the variation of induction of chlorophyll shows the rate of apple maturity, whereas the photosynthetic activity on the sun side is minimal due to the almost complete absence of chlorophyll. During maturation in the orchard, there are seven-day periods related to endogenous physiological processes that take place in the fruit independently of external factors. The revealed mechanism will make it possible to develop the method for determination of optimum harvest date in the orchard as well as to control fruit ripening during storage at low temperatures.

Photographic observation of a natural fourth-order rainbow

We report what is believed to be the first photographic recording of a quaternary rainbow in nature. It appears on the Sun side of the sky with its red arc at a radius of about 45° from the Sun. The original pictures have been subjected to various forms of image processing to reveal the tertiary rainbow as well as the quaternary rainbow, which are separated by only a few degrees with their colors reversed and their red arcs adjacent to each other.

Sunburn Browning Decreases At-Harvest Internal Fruit Quality of Apples (Malus domestica Borkh.)

Changes in internal fruit quality associated with increasing severity of sunburn browning of apples were investigated at harvest in five cultivars. Apples were sorted into five classes ranging from no sunburn (Sb-0) to severe sunburn browning (Sb-4). Fruit quality of flesh tissue was compared beneath the sunburned area, the shaded side, and the shoulder side of each apple. All two-way interactive effects (i.e., sunburn classes vs. sides of fruit, sunburn classes vs. cultivars, and cultivars vs. sides of fruit) were significant (P ≤ 0.05) for all fruit quality traits. For the treatment combination of sunburn class and side of fruit, flesh firmness, and soluble solids concentration increased on the sun side, but titratable acidity averaged over cultivars for the sun side generally declined as sunburn severity increased from Sb-1 to Sb-4. Starch cleared more quickly on the shaded and shoulder sides as compared to the sun-exposed side of all fruit with sunburn browning. Starch also generally cleared more rapidly in apples with more severe sunburn browning, suggesting that sunburned apples were more mature than nonsunburned apples harvested on the same day. For the treatment combination of side of fruit and cultivar, the sun side was higher than shade or shoulder sides in firmness and soluble solids concentration for all cultivars when averaged over sunburn classes. Starch index was lowest for the sun side. For the treatment combination of sunburn class and cultivar, firmness, soluble solids concentration, and starch index, when averaged over sides of fruit, generally increased in all cultivars as severity of sunburn increased; titratable acidity decreased.

Magneto-plasma sail: An engineering satellite concept and its application for outer planet missions

The magneto-plasma sail (mini-magnetospheric plasma propulsion) produces the propulsive force due to the interaction between the artificial magnetic field around the spacecraft inflated by the plasma and the solar wind erupted from the Sun with a speed of 300–800 km/s. The principle of the magneto-plasma sail is based on the magnetic sail whose original concept requires a huge mechanical coil structure, which produces a large magnetic field to capture the energy of the solar wind. Meanwhile in the case of the magneto-plasma sail, the magnetic field will be expanded by the inertia of plasma flow to a few tens of kilometer in diameter, resulting in a thrust of a few Newton R. Winglee's group of the University of Washington originally proposed the idea of magnetic field inflation by the plasma. This paper investigates the characteristics of the magneto-plasma sail by comparing it with the other low-thrust propulsion systems (i.e., electric propulsion and solar sail), and the potential of its application to near future outer planet missions is studied. Furthermore, an engineering validation satellite concept is proposed in order to confirm the propulsion system specification and operation methodology. The main features are summarized as: (1) The satellite mass is around 180 kg assuming the H-IIA piggyback launch. (2) Since the magnetopause of the Earth magnetosphere is about 10 Re at Sun side and the bow shock is located at about 13 Re from the Earth, the satellite is injected into an orbit with 250 km perigee altitude and 20 Re apogee distance where apogee is located at the Sun side. (3) The magneto-plasma sail is turned on only in the vicinity of apogee outside the Earth's magnetosphere. (4) The thrust is estimated by the orbit determination result, and the plasma wind monitor is installed on the satellite to establish the relationship between the solar wind and the thrust.

Calculation of canopy bidirectional reflectance using the Monte Carlo method

For a calculation of the plant canopy bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) the Monte Carlo method is used. The plant architecture is given by a rather universal mathematical model which allows to consider such structural parameters as canopy density and height, the number of leaves per plant, distance between leaves, dimensions and orientations of leaves and stems, etc., and their influence on the shape of the BRDF as a function of solar and view directions. To quantify these effects, a series of numerical experiments has been carried out. The information content of the BRDF about canopy architecture is the largest, if it is determined in the principal plane. The change of the BRDF in the region of “hot spot” characterizes leaf dimensions by increasing the leaf area or by decreasing the distance between leaves, the region of the “hot spot” increases. The change of the BRDF near nadir view direction is influenced by soil brightness and by arrangement of the leaves on the stem. The presence of vertical stems or nonhorizontal mat leaves increases the asymmetry of BRDF relative to nadir, in the opposite side of the sun the canopy reflectance is several times smaller than on the sun side. Adding the effect of multiple scattering to the BRDF changes the shape of BRDF only a little. The BRDF as a function of view directions contains information about canopy architecture and can be used for future progress of the remote sensing technique.

Interaction between an interplanetary shock and the Earth's magnetosphere on August 27, 1978: ISEE 1 electric field and ISEE 2 plasma observations

An interplanetary shock caused a rapid compression of the magnetosphere on August 27, 1978. The ISEE 1/ISEE 2 pair of satellites were in the frontside magnetosphere before the shock, and subsequently a magnetosonic wave front, the magnetopause, and the bow shock passed the ISEE satellites in a very short time. Previous papers determined boundary velocities from magnetic time delay measurements. These papers form a starting point for the study of electric field data during these events. By a combination of electric and magnetic field data it is possible to determine both the magnetosonic velocity and the magnetopause velocity, in good agreement with the magnetic time delay measurements. Furthermore, it is possible to establish with good confidence that during this compressional motion the E × B velocity was toward the magnetopause from both sides, ∼75 km s−1 from the earth side and ∼50 km s−1 from the sun side. A power conversion flux close to +400 W km−2 could be determined for the magnetopause. A sunward potential drop of 135–280 V was detected near the bow shock, and in this case the power conversion flux was negative, and in the range −(80–160 W km−2), or ∼10% of the solar wind kinetic energy flux.

三次散乱における偏向角理論(I)

Let us take at random three points F, T and E in the earth's atmosphere, and a point O′ on its surface. Define a system of rectangular coordinates X1, Y1, Z1 with its center at F, with X1 axis drawn towards the Sun. Let us resolve the direct insolation reaching F into two plane polarized rays : the one travels to X, and oscillates in Z, direction, which is named by (1), the other travels to X1 and oscillates in Y1, which is named by (2). The primarily scattered ray generated at T when (1) encounters one air particle at T tarvels to FT direction and oscillates in a direction normal to it. FT direction is named by X2. This direction of oscillation is named by Z2 and determined by X1, Y1, Z1 and the positions of F and T. This scattering is named by E1. The primarily scattered ray generated at T when (2) encounters one air particle at T travels to FT direction and oscillates in a direction normal to FT. This direction is named by Z'2 and determined by X1, Y1, Z1 and F1 T. This scattering is named by E'1. E1 travels to TE direction and oscillates in a direction normal to it at the point T. This direction of oscillation is named by Z3. E1 scattering generates a secondarily scattered ray at E when it encounters one air partticle at E. This secondary scattering is named by E2. In the same way, E'1 travels to TE direction and oscillates in a direction normal to it at the point T. This direction of oscillation is named by Z'3. E', scattering generates a secondarily scattered ray at E when it encounters one air particle at E. This secondary scattering is named by E'2. Further, E2 and E'2 will generate tertiary scattering at O' when they reach at O' and encounter one air particle at O'. Let ω1, ω1', ω2, ω2', ω3, ω3' be respectively the angle between FT and Z1, FT and Y1, TE and Z2, TE and Z2', EO' and Z3, EO' and Z3', then the phase function in the tertiary scattering is expressed by 98 Takao Sato・Kimio Arao Let O be the earth's center. Define a system of rectangular coordinate X′ Y′Z′ with its center at O′. Z is drawn towards OO′, X′ is in the vertical plane containing the Sun' centre and in the Sun's side. Let E, T and F be in the plane X′ Z′ in the Sun's side and use the notation ∠E O′ X′ θ, ∠TEO =θ1, ∠EOT = θ2, ∠OTF=θ3, h=the Sun's altitude. Then the phase function are calculated as follows in the case when E approaches infinitely to O′ with a definite value of θ. D+D'=1 +〓sin2(θ+θ1), here 〓 being a

Comparison of the Spectra of the Limb and of the Centre of the Sun *

A COMPARISON of the spectrum of the edge of the sun with that of its centre is of great theoretical interest; but any comparison other than by direct juxtaposition must be very unsatisfactory, and the more so as the differences are less. In order to obtain spectra of two different portions of the sun side by side, where the slightest variations may be detected, I have constructed a small prism with four polished sides, its bases being parallelograms. This is so placed that one face rests upon the slit plate of the telespectroscope, and has its acute edge perpendicular to the slit at its middle point. The instrument may then be directed so that the image of the sun falls with its centre on the uncovered portion of the slit, while the light which forms the edge of the sun, falling perpendicularly upon the first surface of the prism, suffers two interior total reflections and a displacement depending upon the form of the prism. A glance the figure, in which s s′ is the slit, L L′ the diameter of the sun's image, and P the prism, shows that no light from the covered part of the slit will reach the collimating lens except that which has been reflected from the two sides of the prism. The relation of the acute angle (v) and the distance between the reflecting sides (t) to the focal length of the great telescope (F) and the width of the spectrum (a) is given by the formula,