<span>Solar energy is a natural source of energy and is tremendously abundant. The concept of floating solar is to fulfil and to support the existing energy supply in order to enhance the human life. The floating solar exploits the massive availability of ocean region and the severe unavailability of land. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the potential of floating solar to be deployed in coastal or infield in Malaysia. It was predicted that such system could generate around 14,530 MWh per annum in Malaysia. It can be concluded that floating solar could be one of the most important ocean structures in the future because it is reliable, flexible and has virtually low cost production comparing with other ocean structures</span>

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Solar energy has become a matter of global attention in the past few years. This paper explores the use and benefit of solar concentrators in the solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. First, a short literature review of previous research on the usage of solar concentrators in improving solar PV system performance and reducing the cost of implementation is presented. This is followed by an overview of SolarBrane, an example of a Building Integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system which uses an optical concentrator in the solar PV design. An optimised design of the SolarBrane is also discussed afterwards. A financial benefit study is conducted to compare the average return of investment of using the optimised SolarBrane and traditional solar PV installed in Malaysia’s environment. SolarBrane has proven to be a good alternative to achieve costeffective solar PV system. The financial analysis simulated under the new Malaysian Feed–In Tariff scheme indicates that the optimised SolarBrane could potentially reduce the initial cost of implementation by 40% and generate higher return, close to 20%, when compared to traditional solar PV systems. Key words: Solar photovoltaic; solar concentrator; solarBrane; dielectric totally internally reflecting concentrator; financial analysis

<span>With growing demand in renewable energy, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is becoming more popular. A number of research has been carried out to increase the efficiency of the PV system. One of them is improving the Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS) performance to ensure maximum solar energy extraction. This paper looks at buck type SMPS suitability for use in solar PV installed in residential houses. The main issues that affect the response from the output are identified. The work will utilise the LT SPICE software to carry out the simulation. The primary objective of the study is to design an improved converter controller which is more robust and is able to maintain constant output. The emphasis is on good efficiency, stability and low output voltage ripple. This could be achieved by using the current mode control (CMC) techniques – an alternative design to the voltage mode control technique (VMC). Results obtained via simulations reveal strong evidence of CMC superiority over the VMC.</span>

Different membranes covering the macroporous to nano-pororous range and having different porosities have been used to study the mass transfer of methane and carbon dioxide single gases. The effect of flow parameters on the transport mechanisms through porous membranes were reviewed in detail. The characteristics of gas transport through the macroporous, microporous, and nano-porous membranes were investigated with several gas diffusion models in the range of 20–100 ◦C and at pressure differences ranging from 0.2 to 3 bar. The experimental gas permeation data of the membranes were analyzed using the Darcy flow model. The results clearly showed good agreement between the model analysis and the experimental data. The experimental data showed that the permeation followed a parallel flow model in which the behavior of gases was governed by viscous and Knudsen diffusion, although to varied degrees. Permeation of the gases through each membrane varies considering the viscosity of the gases at the same temperature. Furthermore, the membranes followed the configurational diffusion model in which the permeance increased with increasing pressure and decreasing temperature. For the gas flow measurements through macroporous and nano-porous membranes with diameters ranging from 6000nm to 15nm, the results indicate that the experimental flux agrees well with the calculated (model) flux through which gas flows from the bulk stream in the shell side to the membrane outer surface where viscous flow and Knudsen diffusion coexist. The study shows that experimental flux is larger than Knudsen diffusion, and the contribution of Knudsen diffusion to the experimental flux increases with the decrease in the diameter. On the other hand, the effects of gas slippage are considerable as gas velocity near the wall is higher than zero. The slip length effects are inversely proportional to pore size and with driving pressure.