The highest efficiency of 24.4% for the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) energy conversion was obtained in an outdoor field test by combining concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules with InGaP/GaAs/Ge three-junction cells and polymer-electrolyte electrochemical (EC) cells. The high efficiency was obtained by using the high-efficiency CPV modules (>31% under the present operation conditions) and the direct connection between the CPV modules and the EC cells with an almost optimized number of elements in series. The STH efficiency bottleneck was clarified to be the efficiency of the CPV modules, the over-potential of the EC cells, and matching of the operation point to the maximal-power point of the CPV modules.

The energy yield of vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV) differs from that of standard photovoltaics (PV). It is mainly by the difference of the solar irradiance onto the car roof and car bodies as well as its curved shape. Both meaningful and practical modeling and measurement of solar irradiance for VIPV need to be established, rather than the extension of the current technologies. The solar irradiance is modeled by a random distribution of shading objects and car orientation with the correction of the curved surface of the PV modules. The measurement of the solar irradiance onto the car roof and car body is done using five pyranometers in five local axes on the car for one year. The measured dynamic solar irradiance onto the car body and car roof is used for validation of the solar irradiance model in the car.

The competitive exclusion (CE) action of Aviguard (AG) and its effects on the antibody response of chicks were evaluated in this study. We observed that AG protected the chicks from overwhelming colonization. Fourteen days after infection, fewer AG-pretreated than nonpretreated chicks shed salmonellae from their coloaca in both infected groups, although much less from SE-infected chicks. Antibody titers of sera produced to Salmonella typhimurium (ST) and SE in pretreated and non-pretreated chicks were not significantly different. Immunoblotting showed that these antibodies reacted with SDS-PAGE-separated 71.4, 67.7, 44.0, and 30.3 kDa proteins detectable in the test strains. Few weak bands of doubtful significance were observed in the cross-reaction between the sera of ST- and SE-infected chicks with ST and SE antigens, respectively. Our study showed that AG protected chicks from overwhelming colonization by salmonellae, and neither altered the antigenic proteins of infecting salmonellae nor their recognition by specific antibodies produced in response to the infection.

Because semiconductors absorb wavelengths dependent on the light absorption coefficient, photovoltaic (PV) energy output is affected by the solar spectrum. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the solar spectrum for highly accurate PV output estimation. Bird’s model has been used as a general spectral model. However, atmospheric parameters such as aerosol optical depth and precipitable water have a constant value in the model that only applies to clear days. In this study, atmospheric parameters were extracted using the Bird’s spectrum model from the measured global spectrum and the seasonal fluctuation of atmospheric parameters was examined. We propose an overcast spectrum model and calculate the all-weather solar spectrum from clear to overcast sky through linear combination. Three types of PV modules (fixed Si, two-axis tracking Si, and fixed InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs triple-junction solar cells) were installed at the University of Miyazaki. The estimated performance ratio (PR), which takes into account incident angle and spectral variations, was consistent with the measured PR. Finally, the energy yield of various PVs installed across Japan was successfully estimated.

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