IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v109y2017icp13-21.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Integration of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) on photobioreactors for improved photoconversion efficiency in microalgal cultivation

Author

Listed:
  • Barbera, Elena
  • Sforza, Eleonora
  • Guidobaldi, Andrea
  • Di Carlo, Aldo
  • Bertucco, Alberto

Abstract

Outdoor industrial-scale microalgae cultivation is limited by several factors, among which a low efficiency of overall light energy conversion plays a key role, mainly due to photosaturation and photoinhibition under high irradiations. This work aims at improving the overall photoconversion efficiency in a microalgal production photobioreactor (PBRs), by exploiting an advanced photovoltaic (PV) technology. A semi-transparent dye sensitized solar cells module (DSC) is placed on the irradiated surface, thus absorbing part of the incident light to produce electricity, while transmitted photons are used by algal cells for photosynthesis. Experiments are carried out in a continuous laboratory scale flat-panel PBR, at different constant light intensities and under a day-night irradiation regime, to ascertain the performances of this combined PV-PBR system in terms of biomass productivity and overall photoconversion efficiency, compared to traditional transparent PBRs. The results obtained show that the configuration proposed, combining biomass production with innovative photovoltaics technology, could be a valuable way to improve light energy utilization and efficiency in microalgal production.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbera, Elena & Sforza, Eleonora & Guidobaldi, Andrea & Di Carlo, Aldo & Bertucco, Alberto, 2017. "Integration of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) on photobioreactors for improved photoconversion efficiency in microalgal cultivation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 13-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:109:y:2017:i:c:p:13-21
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.03.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148117301945
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2017.03.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ramos Tercero, Elia Armandina & Domenicali, Giacomo & Bertucco, Alberto, 2014. "Autotrophic production of biodiesel from microalgae: An updated process and economic analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 807-815.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Talebzadeh, Nima & Rostami, Mohsen & O’Brien, Paul G., 2021. "Elliptic paraboloid-based solar spectrum splitters for self-powered photobioreactors," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1773-1785.
    2. La Notte, Luca & Giordano, Lorena & Calabrò, Emanuele & Bedini, Roberto & Colla, Giuseppe & Puglisi, Giovanni & Reale, Andrea, 2020. "Hybrid and organic photovoltaics for greenhouse applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    3. Zouhri, Khalid, 2018. "The effect of iodide and tri-iodide on the dye sensitized solar cell," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 210-225.
    4. Barbera, Elena & Sforza, Eleonora & Vecchiato, Luca & Bertucco, Alberto, 2017. "Energy and economic analysis of microalgae cultivation in a photovoltaic-assisted greenhouse: Scenedesmus obliquus as a case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 116-124.
    5. Carlos Toledo & Alessandra Scognamiglio, 2021. "Agrivoltaic Systems Design and Assessment: A Critical Review, and a Descriptive Model towards a Sustainable Landscape Vision (Three-Dimensional Agrivoltaic Patterns)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-38, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Jiaxin & Li, Ji & Dong, Wenyi & Zhang, Xiaolei & Tyagi, Rajeshwar D. & Drogui, Patrick & Surampalli, Rao Y., 2018. "The potential of microalgae in biodiesel production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 336-346.
    2. Pawar, Sanjay, 2016. "Effectiveness mapping of open raceway pond and tubular photobioreactors for sustainable production of microalgae biofuel," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 640-653.
    3. de Queiroz Fernandes Araújo, Ofélia & Luiz de Medeiros, José & Yokoyama, Lídia & do Rosário Vaz Morgado, Cláudia, 2015. "Metrics for sustainability analysis of post-combustion abatement of CO2 emissions: Microalgae mediated routes and CCS (carbon capture and storage)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(P3), pages 556-568.
    4. Shrasti Vasistha & Anwesha Khanra & Monika Prakash Rai & Shakeel Ahmad Khan & Zengling Ma & Heli Siti Halimatul Munawaroh & Doris Ying Ying Tang & Pau Loke Show, 2023. "Exploring the Pivotal Significance of Microalgae-Derived Sustainable Lipid Production: A Critical Review of Green Bioenergy Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1, January.
    5. Ling, Jiayin & Tian, Yuan & de Toledo, Renata Alves & Shim, Hojae, 2017. "Cost reduction for the lipid production from distillery and domestic mixed wastewater by Rhodosporidium toruloides via the reutilization of spent seed culture medium," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 135-141.
    6. Arcigni, Francesco & Friso, Riccardo & Collu, Maurizio & Venturini, Mauro, 2019. "Harmonized and systematic assessment of microalgae energy potential for biodiesel production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 614-624.
    7. Faried, M. & Samer, M. & Abdelsalam, E. & Yousef, R.S. & Attia, Y.A. & Ali, A.S., 2017. "Biodiesel production from microalgae: Processes, technologies and recent advancements," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 893-913.
    8. Judd, S.J. & Al Momani, F.A.O. & Znad, H. & Al Ketife, A.M.D., 2017. "The cost benefit of algal technology for combined CO2 mitigation and nutrient abatement," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 379-387.
    9. Feng, Weiliang & Xiong, Huan & Wang, Weiguo & Duan, Xiaoling & Yang, Tong & Wu, Cheng & Yang, Fang & Wang, Teilin & Wang, Cunwen, 2020. "A facile and mild one-pot process for direct extraction of lipids from wet energy insects of black soldier fly larvae," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 584-593.
    10. Lin, Cherng-Yuan & Lu, Cherie, 2021. "Development perspectives of promising lignocellulose feedstocks for production of advanced generation biofuels: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    11. Violeta Makareviciene & Egle Sendzikiene, 2022. "Application of Microalgae Biomass for Biodiesel Fuel Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-33, June.
    12. Aziz, Md Maniruzzaman A. & Kassim, Khairul Anuar & Shokravi, Zahra & Jakarni, Fauzan Mohd & Liu, Hong Yuan & Zaini, Nabilah & Tan, Lian See & Islam, A.B.M. Saiful & Shokravi, Hoofar, 2020. "Two-stage cultivation strategy for simultaneous increases in growth rate and lipid content of microalgae: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:109:y:2017:i:c:p:13-21. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.