Advanced fibers and textiles for energy conversion and storage

太阳能光伏发电对加拿大经济和社会具有重要意义，它是减少我们对化石燃料的依赖和减轻现有能源发电技术对环境的负面影响的可能手段之一。虽然硅基技术很可能在不久的将来将主导大规模的光伏安装，但为了提高加拿大利用清洁能源生产的能源量，有许多应用可以而且应该被探索。在这项提案中，我们针对的是这样一个未得到充分利用的领域，即使用先进纺织品收集太阳能。窗户是任何房子的重要组成部分；然而，它们也是冬天能量损失或夏天多余热量的主要渠道。因此，遮阳隔热窗帘越来越受到消费者的欢迎。百叶窗或窗帘等光反射覆盖物将阳光反射到室外，因此能够显著降低室内温度，从而减少对空调的需求和相关的能源需求。然而，目前所有可用的产品和解决方案都不利用光，只是反射或消散它，而收集这种光并将其转化为电能将是非常有利的。这将进一步减少不需要的热量，同时为家庭的需要提供额外的电力，并在最需要的时间(使用时间、电价以及电力需求在夏季下午达到最高水平)。该提案旨在开发光伏纤维和织物，作为一种非传统的太阳能收集方法。另一项研究旨在开发用于电能储存的光纤电池，并将其集成到光伏织物中，为加拿大制造商创造创新的绿色消费产品新系列。

Solar photovoltaics is of great importance to Canadian economy and society as one of possible means to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and mitigate the negative environmental impact of existing energy generation technologies. While it is likely that silicon based technologies will dominate large-scale photovoltaic installations in the near future, there are numerous applications that can and should be explored in order to boost the amount of energy produced in Canada from clean sources. In this proposal, we target one of such underused areas, solar light harvesting using advanced textiles. Windows are essential part of any house; however, they are also a prime channel for energy losses in winter or unwanted heat in summer. Therefore, sun and heat blocking window coverings are increasingly popular with consumers. Light reflective coverings such as blinds or curtains reflect sunlight back outside and thus are capable to significantly reduce the inside temperature thus decreasing the need in air conditioning and the associated energy demand. However, all the currently available products and solutions do not make any use of the light and just reflect or dissipate it, while it would be very advantageous to harvest this light and convert it into electricity. This would further reduce the amount of unwanted heat at the same time providing additional electricity for the needs of the household and at the time when it is most needed (the time of use tariffs as well as electricity demand are at their highest during summer afternoons). The proposal is aimed at development of photovoltaic fibers and fabrics as a non-traditional approach to harvesting solar energy. A further line of research is aimed at development of fiber-based batteries for electrical energy storage and their integration into the photovoltaic fabrics to create new line of innovative green consumer products for Canadian manufacturers.