Diseño y validación de cuestionarios para monitorizar el desarrollo de competencias transversales en el Trabajo de Fin de Grado

This study shows the design and validation of the set of questionnaires called IKasGral, the aim of which is to explore students' perceptions of the development of cross-skills deployed in the Final Degree Project Bachelor Thesis) in Education degrees (Pedagogy, Social Education, Early Childhood Education and Primary Education). The article describes (i) the validation process, which was carried out with five experts in the field and a doctoral student related to the subject; and (ii) the reliability of the instrument by 48 students from four Education degrees of the University of the Basque Country at its three campuses. Results were positive with respect to the index of content validity (0.81) and an internal consistency of over 0.6, according to Cronbach's alpha coefficient of reliability. This study concludes by pointing out that these questionnaires can be transferred to other contexts that share the same or similar aims and open up the possibility of monitoring cross-skills in the Final Degree Project subject for the Degrees in Education

Durability testing of a newly developed hydrophilic anti-soiling coating for solar reflectors

Anti-soiling coatings for solar reflectors are one of the most useful technical tools to reduce the amount of soiling accumulated on the reflector surfaces, contributing to reduce the water consumption and to increase efficiency in concentrating solar fields. A new anti-soiling coating formulation based on the hydrophilic effect has been recently developed by Tekniker and Rioglass. Reflector samples with this innovative coating were assessed through an accelerated aging test campaign as well as an outdoor exposition at the PSA by CIEMAT and DLR. According to the results obtained, the coating exhibited an appropriate behavior, which implies that the new product represents a promising solution to reduce water consumption

Water Saving in CSP Plants by a Novel Hydrophilic Anti-Soiling Coating for Solar Reflectors

In this work, results of the outdoor exposure campaign of a newly developed hydrophilic anti-soiling coating for concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) mirrors are presented. The material was exposed for nearly two years under realistic outdoor conditions and the influence of two different cleaning techniques was evaluated. Mirror samples were analyzed during exposure and their reflectance and cleanliness were measured. The performance of the anti-soiling coated mirror samples was compared to conventional uncoated silvered-glass mirrors. The coatings showed appropriate anti-soiling and easy-to-clean behavior, with a mean cleanliness gain of 1 pp and maximum values under strong soiling conditions of up to over 7 pp. Cleanliness of the coated samples stayed higher throughout the whole campaign before and after cleaning, resulting in lower soiling rate compared to the reference material. Taking into account these values and supposing a threshold for cleaning of 96%, the number of cleaning cycles could be decreased by up to 11%. Finally, the coated material showed negligible degradation, not exceeding the degradation detected for the reference material

Electrochemical Evaluation of Different Graphite Felt Electrode Treatments in Full Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

The use of flow batteries for energy storage has attracted considerable attention with the increased use of renewable resources. It is well known that the performance of a flow battery depends, among other factors, on the properties of the electrodes, which are generally composed of graphite felt (GF). In this work, thermal, chemical and plasma treatments have been employed to modify the surface of the graphite felt to improve the electrochemical activity of the redox flow cell. The influence of the variables of each of these processes on the generation of surface functional groups and on changes in the obtained surface area have been examined. In this work, the kinetics of redox reactions relevant to the VO2+/VO2+ reaction have been studied with these treated electrodes and the relationship between the nature of the surface and electrochemical activity of the GF is discussed. As a result, an enhanced electrochemical performance (reduction over 200 mV of the separation between anodic and cathodic peaks and 110 mV of the onset potential) in comparison to the untreated GF is obtained for those GF treatments with low oxygenated groups concentration

Saving water on concentrated solar power plants: The holistic approach of the WASCOP project

International audienc

Saving water on concentrated solar power plants: The holistic approach of the WASCOP project

International audienc