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DOE OSTI2026

Performance Modeling of Tandem Photovoltaics: A Yearlong Outdoor Degradation Analysis of a Ga⁢As//Si Minimodule

We present a performance modeling and degradation analysis framework for tandem photovoltaic modules, building upon established procedures for crystalline silicon devices and adapting them to account for the spectral sensitivity of multijunction technologies. The methodology employs filter criteria to select outdoor measurements close to standard test conditions (STC) under stable spectral and ambient conditions, followed by normalization of power production data with corrections for temperature, irradiance, and precipitable water vapor. We demonstrate this framework using a mechanically stacked four-terminal gallium arsenide (Ga⁢As) // silicon (Si) tandem solar minimodule deployed outdoors from October 2019 to January 2021 in Golden, Colorado, USA. We determined degradation rates of −4.1 ±0.2%/year for the Ga⁢As subcell and −2.5 ±0.9%/year for the Si subcell, with analysis of individual performance metrics indicating that packaging degradation, particularly delamination, was the dominant failure mode. Simulations using PVcircuit, an open-source equivalent-circuit solver, confirmed these findings. The presented methodology provides a reproducible foundation for performance modeling and degradation analysis of emerging tandem technologies.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2024

Artificial ground reflector size and position effects on energy yield and economics of single‐axis‐tracked bifacial photovoltaics

Abstract Artificial ground reflectors improve bifacial energy yield by increasing both front and rear‐incident irradiance. Studies have demonstrated an increase in energy yield due to the addition of artificial reflectors; however, they have not addressed the effect of varying reflector dimensions and placement on system performance and the impact of these parameters on the reflectors' financial viability. We studied the effect of high albedo (70% reflective) artificial reflectors on single‐axis‐tracked bifacial photovoltaic systems through ray‐trace modeling and field measurements. In the field, we tested a range of reflector configurations by varying reflector size and placement and demonstrated that reflectors increased daily energy yield up to 6.2% relative to natural albedo for PERC modules. To confirm the accuracy of our model, we compared modeled and measured power and found a root mean square error (RMSE) of 5.4% on an hourly basis. We modeled a typical meteorological year in Golden, Colorado, to demonstrate the effects of artificial reflectors under a wide range of operating conditions. Seventy percent reflective material can increase total incident irradiance by 1.9%–8.6% and total energy yield by 0.9%–4.5% annually after clipping is considered with a DC–AC ratio of 1.2. Clipping has a significant effect on reflector impact and must be included when assessing reflector viability because it reduces reflector energy gain. We calculated a maximum viable cost for these improvements of up to $2.50–4.60/m 2 , including both material and installation, in Golden. We expanded our analysis to cover a latitude range of 32–48°N and demonstrated that higher‐latitude installations with lower energy yield and higher diffuse irradiance content can support higher reflector costs. In both modeling and field tests, and for all locations, the ideal placement of the reflectors was found to be directly underneath the module due to the optimized rear irradiance increase.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2015

8D likelihood effective Higgs couplings extraction framework in h → 4ℓ

We present an overview of a comprehensive analysis framework aimed at performing direct extraction of all possible effective Higgs couplings to neutral electroweak gauge bosons in the decay to electrons and muons, the so called ‘golden channel’. Our framework is based primarily on a maximum likelihood method constructed from analytic expressions of the fully differential cross sections for h → 4l and for the dominant irreducible $ q\overline{q} $ → 4l background, where 4l = 2e2μ, 4e, 4μ. Detector effects are included by an explicit convolution of these analytic expressions with the appropriate transfer function over all center of mass variables. Utilizing the full set of observables, we construct an unbinned detector-level likelihood which is continuous in the effective couplings. We consider possible ZZ, Zγ, and γγ couplings simultaneously, allowing for general CP odd/even admixtures. A broad overview is given of how the convolution is performed and we discuss the principles and theoretical basis of the framework. This framework can be used in a variety of ways to study Higgs couplings in the golden channel using data obtained at the LHC and other future colliders.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Multi-pollutant Monitoring in a Rehabilitated Estuary: Elements and Radionuclides

The Golden Horn Estuary, Istanbul, Turkey, had been exposed to untreated industrial discharges and municipal wastewater for over fifty years; however, during the last fifteen years pollution has been reduced due to an extensive rehabilitation campaign. Since sediment is the main accumulation matrix of marine ecosystems, surface sediment samples were collected from the estuary and analyzed for concentrations of some elements and radioactivity. The elements of predominant anthropogenic origin such as As, Cu, Pb, Sb, Sn and Zn and {sup 137}Cs were observed in the mid-estuary. Also, elevated geoaccumulation indices for Ag, Cd, Cu and Sb showed that pollution was still occurring in the estuary despite the rehabilitation. There is a huge residential area near the estuary; therefore, people living in this area are affected due to the pollution of the estuary. Thus, the obtained data of the elements and radionuclides are very important for the ecosystem of the Golden Horn.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2014

Modeling time-coincident ultrafast electron transfer and solvation processes at molecule-semiconductor interfaces

Kinetic models based on Fermi's Golden Rule are commonly employed to understand photoinduced electron transfer dynamics at molecule-semiconductor interfaces. Implicit in such second-order perturbative descriptions is the assumption that nuclear relaxation of the photoexcited electron donor is fast compared to electron injection into the semiconductor. This approximation breaks down in systems where electron transfer transitions occur on 100-fs time scale. Here, we present a fourth-order perturbative model that captures the interplay between time-coincident electron transfer and nuclear relaxation processes initiated by light absorption. The model consists of a fairly small number of parameters, which can be derived from standard spectroscopic measurements (e.g., linear absorbance, fluorescence) and/or first-principles electronic structure calculations. Insights provided by the model are illustrated for a two-level donor molecule coupled to both (i) a single acceptor level and (ii) a density of states (DOS) calculated for TiO{sub 2} using a first-principles electronic structure theory. These numerical calculations show that second-order kinetic theories fail to capture basic physical effects when the DOS exhibits narrow maxima near the energy of the molecular excited state. Overall, we conclude that the present fourth-order rate formula constitutes a rigorous and intuitive framework for understanding photoinduced electron transfer dynamics that occur on the 100-fs time scale.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2015

Coherent quantum transport in disordered systems: A unified polaron treatment of hopping and band-like transport

Quantum transport in disordered systems is studied using a polaron-based master equation. The polaron approach is capable of bridging the results from the coherent band-like transport regime governed by the Redfield equation to incoherent hopping transport in the classical regime. A non-monotonic dependence of the diffusion coefficient is observed both as a function of temperature and system-phonon coupling strength. In the band-like transport regime, the diffusion coefficient is shown to be linearly proportional to the system-phonon coupling strength and vanishes at zero coupling due to Anderson localization. In the opposite classical hopping regime, we correctly recover the dynamics described by the Fermi’s Golden Rule and establish that the scaling of the diffusion coefficient depends on the phonon bath relaxation time. In both the hopping and band-like transport regimes, it is demonstrated that at low temperature, the zero-point fluctuations of the bath lead to non-zero transport rates and hence a finite diffusion constant. Application to rubrene and other organic semiconductor materials shows a good agreement with experimental mobility data.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2015

Energy Yield Determination of Concentrator Solar Cells using Laboratory Measurements: Preprint

The annual energy conversion efficiency is calculated for a four junction inverted metamorphic solar cell that has been completely characterized in the laboratory at room temperature using measurements fit to a comprehensive optoelectronic model of the multijunction solar cells. A simple model of the temperature dependence is used to predict the performance of the solar cell under varying temperature and spectra characteristic of Golden, CO for an entire year. The annual energy conversion efficiency is calculated by integrating the predicted cell performance over the entire year. The effects of geometric concentration, CPV system thermal characteristics, and luminescent coupling are highlighted. temperature and spectra characteristic of Golden, CO for an entire year. The annual energy conversion efficiency is calculated by integrating the predicted cell performance over the entire year. The effects of geometric concentration, CPV system thermal characteristics, and luminescent coupling are highlighted.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2015

Ring-polymer instanton theory of electron transfer in the nonadiabatic limit

We take the golden-rule instanton method derived in the previous paper [J. O. Richardson, R. Bauer, and M. Thoss, J. Chem. Phys. 143, 134115 (2015)] and reformulate it using a ring-polymer instanton approach. This gives equations which can be used to compute the rates of electron-transfer reactions in the nonadiabatic (golden-rule) limit numerically within a semiclassical approximation. The multidimensional ring-polymer instanton trajectories are obtained efficiently by minimization of the action. In this form, comparison with Wolynes’ quantum instanton method [P. G. Wolynes, J. Chem. Phys. 87, 6559 (1987)] is possible and we show that our semiclassical approach is the steepest-descent limit of this method. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of both methods and give examples of where the new approach is more accurate.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2019

Tolerable ranges of fluid shear for early life-stage fishes: implications for safe fish passage at hydropower and irrigation infrastructure

Egg and larval fish drifting downstream are likely to encounter river infrastructure, increasing mortality. Elevated fluid shear is one likely cause of this. To confirm this and determine tolerable levels, egg and larvae of three Australian species were exposed to elevated shear in a laboratory flume. Mortality was modelled over a broad range of strain rates, allowing critical thresholds to be estimated. Eggs were very susceptible to mortality at low strain rates and 100% of golden and silver perch died once strain rate exceeded 629 and 148 cm s-1 cm-1, respectively. Larvae were less vulnerable than eggs, but mortality increased at higher strain rates and at younger ages. Murray cod larvae were the most susceptible, particularly around 9 days post hatch. Younger golden perch and silver perch were also susceptible but little mortality occurred once maturity reached ~25 days post hatch (nearing juvenile metamorphosis). The results indicate that fluid shear will contribute to the large mortalities of drifting eggs and larvae entrained at river infrastructure, with the impact reducing with age. Minimising turbulent flows and fluid shear should be the objective when designing and operating structures like spillways, turbines and irrigation weirs in areas of significant egg and larval drift.

Navarro, Anna↗

DOE OSTI2023

Wet compaction to a blue nugget: a critical phase in galaxy evolution

ABSTRACT We utilize high-resolution cosmological simulations to reveal that high-redshift galaxies tend to undergo a robust ‘wet compaction’ event when near a ‘golden’ stellar mass of $\sim \!\!10^{10}\, \rm M_\odot$ . This is a gaseous shrinkage to a compact star-forming phase, a ‘blue nugget’ (BN), followed by central quenching of star formation to a compact passive stellar bulge, a ‘red nugget’ (RN), and a buildup of an extended gaseous disc and ring. Such nuggets are observed at cosmic noon and seed today’s early-type galaxies. The compaction is triggered by a drastic loss of angular momentum due to, e.g. wet mergers, counter-rotating cold streams, or violent disc instability. The BN phase marks drastic transitions in the galaxy structural, compositional, and kinematic properties. The transitions are from star forming to quenched inside-out, from diffuse to compact with an extended disc or ring and a stellar envelope, from dark matter to baryon central dominance, from prolate to oblate stellar shape, from pressure to rotation support, from low to high metallicity, and from supernova to AGN feedback. The central black hole growth, first suppressed by supernova feedback when below the golden mass, is boosted by the compaction, and the black hole keeps growing once the halo is massive enough to lock in the supernova ejecta.

Lapiner, Sharon (ORCID:0009000409733232)↗

DOE OSTI2023

Slowly decaying zero mode in a weakly nonintegrable boundary impurity model

The transverse field Ising model (TFIM) on the half-infinite chain possesses an edge zero mode. This work considers an impurity model: TFIM perturbed by a boundary integrability-breaking interaction. For sufficiently large transverse field, but in the ordered phase of the TFIM, the zero mode is observed to decay. The decay is qualitatively different from zero modes where the integrability-breaking interactions are nonzero all along the chain. It is shown that for the impurity model, the zero mode decays by relaxing to a nonlocal quasiconserved operator, the latter being exactly conserved when the opposite edge of the chain has no noncommuting perturbations so as to ensure perfect degeneracy of the spectrum. In the thermodynamic limit, the quasiconserved operator vanishes, and a regime is identified where the decay of the zero mode obeys Fermi's golden rule. Furthermore, a toy model for the decay is constructed in Krylov space and it is highlighted how Fermi's golden rule may be recovered from this toy model.

1-dimensional systems↗

DOE OSTI2017

First observation of low energy electron neutrinos in a liquid argon time projection chamber

Liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) produce remarkable fidelity in the observation of neutrino interactions. Here, the superior capabilities of such detectors to reconstruct the spatial and calorimetric information of neutrino events have made them the detectors of choice in a number of experiments, specifically those looking to observe electron neutrino ($\nu_e$) appearance. The LArTPC promises excellent background rejection capabilities, especially in this "golden" channel for both short and long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. We present the first experimental observation of electron neutrinos and anti-neutrinos in the ArgoNeut LArTPC, in the energy range relevant to DUNE and the Fermilab Short Baseline Neutrino Program. Additionally, we present a demonstration of separation of electrons from gammas using neutrino data.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2014

Probing the Higgs Couplings to Photons in h→4l at the LHC

We explore the sensitivity of the Higgs decay to four leptons, the so-called golden channel, to higher dimensional loop-induced couplings of the Higgs boson to $ZZ$, $Z\gamma$, and $\gamma\gamma$, allowing for general CP mixtures. The larger standard model tree level coupling $hZ^\mu Z_\mu$ is the dominant "background" for the loop induced couplings. However this large background interferes with the smaller loop induced couplings, enhancing the sensitivity. We perform a maximum likelihood analysis based on analytic expressions of the fully differential decay width for $h\to 4\ell$ ($4\ell \equiv 2e2\mu, 4e, 4\mu$) including all interference effects. We find that the spectral shapes induced by Higgs couplings to photons are particularly different than the $hZ^\mu Z_\mu$ background leading to enhanced sensitivity to these couplings. We show that even if the $h\to\gamma\gamma$ and $h\to 4\ell$ rates agree with that predicted by the Standard Model, the golden channel has the potential to probe both the CP nature as well as the overall sign of the Higgs coupling to photons well before the end of high-luminosity LHC running ($\sim$3 ab$^{-1}$).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Photovoltaic Module Imaging for Hail Damage Assessment with Multi-Year Follow Up

Outdoor-aged photovoltaic modules that have experienced golf-ball sized hail are characterized by flash testing and photoluminescence, electroluminescence, thermal, and ultraviolet fluorescence imaging. These measurements were performed immediately after the hailstorm and then again after another two years and four years in the field. The modules originally experienced different ranges of hail damage with some having cracks on approximately half of the cells and some having few to no cracked cells. Flash testing shows that the hail-damaged modules with the most cracked cells have 3 to 4% less power than those with the least damage. After four more years in the outdoor climate of Golden, Colorado since the hailstorm, all of the modules still exhibit similar relative power and amounts of cell cracking, suggesting that the hail damage has only initially reduced power but has not yet increased the degradation rate.

electroluminescence↗

DOE OSTI2014

Flight response of slope‐soaring birds to seasonal variation in thermal generation

Summary Animals respond to a variety of environmental cues, including weather conditions, when migrating. Understanding the relationship between weather and migration behaviour is vital to assessing time‐ and energy limitations of soaring birds. Different soaring modes have different efficiencies, are dependent upon different types of subsidized lift and are weather dependent. We collected GPS locations from 47 known‐age golden eagles that moved along 83 migration tracks. We paired each location with weather to determine meteorological correlates of migration during spring and fall as birds crossed three distinct ecoregions in north‐east North America. Golden eagle migration was associated with weather conditions that promoted thermal development, regardless of season, ecoregion or age. Eagle migration showed age‐ and season‐specific responses to weather conditions that promoted orographic lift. In spring, adult eagles migrated earlier, over fewer days, and under more variable weather conditions than did pre‐adults, suggesting that adults were time limited and pre‐adults made choices to conserve energy. In fall, we found no difference in the time span of migration or when each age class migrates; however, we saw evidence that pre‐adults were less efficient migrants than adults. The decision by soaring birds to migrate when thermals developed allowed individuals to manage trade‐offs between migratory speed and migratory efficiency. When time was limited (i.e. spring movement of adults speeding towards nesting territories), use of whatever lift was available decreased the time span of migration. When migration was not time limited (e.g. spring movements by pre‐adults, all movements in fall), eagles avoided suboptimal flight conditions by pausing migration, thus increasing the time span of migration while reducing energetic costs.

Duerr, Adam E.↗

DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-J-158: Respiratory Motion Resolved, Self-Gated 4D-MRI Using Rotating Cartesian K-Space Sampling

Purpose: Dynamic MRI has been used to quantify respiratory motion of abdominal organs in radiation treatment planning. Many existing 4D-MRI methods based on 2D acquisitions suffer from limited slice resolution and additional stitching artifacts when evaluated in 3D{sup 1}. To address these issues, we developed a 4D-MRI (3D dynamic) technique with true 3D k-space encoding and respiratory motion self-gating. Methods: The 3D k-space was acquired using a Rotating Cartesian K-space (ROCK) pattern, where the Cartesian grid was reordered in a quasi-spiral fashion with each spiral arm rotated using golden angle{sup 2}. Each quasi-spiral arm started with the k-space center-line, which were used as self-gating{sup 3} signal for respiratory motion estimation. The acquired k-space data was then binned into 8 respiratory phases and the golden angle ensures a near-uniform k-space sampling in each phase. Finally, dynamic 3D images were reconstructed using the ESPIRiT technique{sup 4}. 4D-MRI was performed on 6 healthy volunteers, using the following parameters (bSSFP, Fat-Sat, TE/TR=2ms/4ms, matrix size=500×350×120, resolution=1×1×1.2mm, TA=5min, 8 respiratory phases). Supplemental 2D real-time images were acquired in 9 different planes. Dynamic locations of the diaphragm dome and left kidney were measured from both 4D and 2D images. The same protocol was also performed on a MRI-compatible motion phantom where the motion was programmed with different amplitude (10–30mm) and frequency (3–10/min). Results: High resolution 4D-MRI were obtained successfully in 5 minutes. Quantitative motion measurements from 4D-MRI agree with the ones from 2D CINE (<5% error). The 4D images are free of the stitching artifacts and their near-isotropic resolution facilitates 3D visualization and segmentation of abdominal organs such as the liver, kidney and pancreas. Conclusion: Our preliminary studies demonstrated a novel ROCK 4D-MRI technique with true 3D k-space encoding and respiratory motion self-gating. The technique leads to high-resolution and artifacts-free 4D images for improved abdominal organ motion studies. K.S acknowledges funding support from NIH R01CA188300.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

TH-AB-209-07: High Resolution X-Ray-Induced Acoustic Computed Tomography

Purpose: X-ray radiographic absorption imaging is an invaluable tool in medical diagnostics, biology and materials science. However, the use of conventional CT is limited by two factors: the detection sensitivity to weak absorption material and the radiation dose from CT scanning. The purpose of this study is to explore X-ray induced acoustic computed tomography (XACT), a new imaging modality, which combines X-ray absorption contrast and high ultrasonic resolution to address these challenges. Methods: First, theoretical models was built to analyze the XACT sensitivity to X-ray absorption and calculate the minimal radiation dose in XACT imaging. Then, an XACT system comprised of an ultrashort X-ray pulse, a low noise ultrasound detector and a signal acquisition system was built to evaluate the X-ray induced acoustic signal generation. A piece of chicken bone and a phantom with two golden fiducial markers were exposed to 270 kVp X-ray source with 60 ns exposure time, and the X-ray induced acoustic signal was received by a 2.25MHz ultrasound transducer in 200 positions. XACT images were reconstructed by a filtered back-projection algorithm. Results: The theoretical analysis shows that X-ray induced acoustic signals have 100% relative sensitivity to X-ray absorption, but not to X-ray scattering. Applying this innovative technology to breast imaging, we can reduce radiation dose by a factor of 50 compared with newly FDA approved breast CT. The reconstructed images of chicken bone and golden fiducial marker phantom reveal that the spatial resolution of the built XACT system is 350µm. Conclusion: In XACT, the imaging sensitivity to X-ray absorption is improved and the imaging dose is dramatically reduced by using ultrashort pulsed X-ray. Taking advantage of the high ultrasonic resolution, we can also perform 3D imaging with a single X-ray pulse. This new modality has the potential to revolutionize x-ray imaging applications in medicine and biology.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2014

Comments on Different techniques for finding best-fit parameters

A common data analysis problem is to find best-fit parameters through chi-square minimization. Levenberg-Marquardt is an often used system that depends on gradients and converges when successive iterations do not change chi-square more than a specified amount. We point out in cases where the sought-after parameter weakly affects the fit and cases where the overall scale factor is a parameter, that a Golden Search technique can often do better. The Golden Search converges when the best-fit point is within a specified range and that range can be made arbitrarily small. It does not depend on the value of chi-square.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗