Energy performance evaluation of a photovoltaic window

A photovoltaic window specially built by a manufacturer has been studied. An amorphous silicon photovoltaic module encapsulated between two transparent glass sheets, an air chamber and a second double glass sheet with an air chamber forms the photovoltaic window. Everything is framed in a PVC structure. The effective dimensions of the a-Si photovoltaic module are 0.57x1.17 m2, equivalent to a standard measurement of 0.60x1.20 m2. To know the electrical characteristics of PV window in standard test conditions, a test in accordance with IEC standard 61646 it has carried out. A peak power of 50.74 Wp was obtained. Measurements of energy production in real sunlight were carried out. The window was placed vertically facing south on a test bench. Measurements of the energy produced by the photovoltaic window were made in several sunny days of August and September 2016 from sunrise to sunset. On average, the irradiance received on the plane of the photovoltaic window was 4114 Wh/m2 and the energy produced 71.2 Wh each day. These results match those obtained using the Malaga radiation databases. For one square meter of the window studied, 79.868 kWh/m2/year are obtained, when an overall efficiency of 0.8 is considered. Integrating this PV window in a building in Malaga (Spain), an annual electric production of 345030 kWh is obtained when a glazing surface of 4320 m2 is considered. This energy is enough to meet the annual electricity needs of the 68 household of the building.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucia Tech. This work is partially derived from the contract nº 8.06/5.31.4644 Libre Evolución de Energía S.L

Exergy analysis of a solar photovoltaic module

PV energy is the direct conversion of solar radiation into electricity. In this paper, an analysis of the influence of parameters such as global irradiance or temperature in the performance of a PV installation has been carried out. A PV module was installed in a building at the University of Málaga, and these parameters were experimentally determined for different days and different conditions of irradiance and temperature. Moreover, IV curves were obtained under these conditions to know the open-circuit voltage and the short-circuit current of the module. With this information, and using the first law of thermodynamics, an energy analysis was performed to determine the energy efficiency of the installation. Similarly, using the second law of thermodynamics, an exergy analysis is used to obtain the exergy efficiency. The results show that the energy efficiency varies between 10% and 12% and the exergy efficiency between 14% and 17%. It was concluded that the exergy analysis is more suitable for studying the performance, and that only electric exergy must be considered as useful exergy. This exergy efficiency can be improved if heat is removed from the PV module surface, and an optimal temperature is reached.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Monte Carlo simulation of the treatment of uveal melanoma using measured heterogeneous 106Ru plaques

Background/Aims: Ruthenium plaques are used for the treatment of ocular tumors. The aim of this work is the comparison between simulated absorbed dose distributions tallied in an anthropomorphic phantom, obtained from ideal homogeneous plaques, and real eye plaques in which the actual heterogeneous distribution of 106Ru was measured. The placement of the plaques with respect to the tumor location was taken into consideration to optimize the effectiveness of the treatment. Methods: The generic CCA and CCB, and the specific CCA1364 and CCB1256 106Ru eye plaques were modeled with the Monte Carlo code PENELOPE. To compare the suitability of each treatment for an anterior, equatorial and posterior tumor location, cumulative dose-volume histograms for the tumors and structures at risk were calculated. Results: Eccentric placements of the plaques, taking into account the inhomogeneities of the emitter map, can substantially reduce the dose delivered to structures at risk while maintaining the prescribed dose at the tumor apex. Conclusions: The emitter map distribution of the plaque and the computerized tomography of the patient used in a Monte Carlo simulation allow an accurate determination of the plaque position with respect to the tumor with the potential to reduce the dose to sensitive structures. © 2018 S. Karger AG, BaselPostprint (published version

The effects of immigration on the productive structure of Spanish regions

Immigrants have increased their participation in Spanish labour supply from less than 3 percent in 1996 to more than 13 percent in 2005. Using the factor proportion model of production, this paper analyses whether this labour supply shock has affected the industrial structure of Spanish regions. Our best specification suggests the need to include time varying region-specific effects to capture differences in technology and prices across regions. Our results confirm that, first, labour endowment differences across regions help to explain the pattern of industry specialisation across region. Second, immigrants and natives act as complementary factors in most industries. Third, the importance of factor endowment changes is relatively small compared to production technique changes and idiosyncratic industry changes in explaining the overall changes in industrial structure over 1996-2005, being only important in the case of Building, a sector where foreign workers represent an important share of its total labour force.

Observed modes of sea surface temperature variability in the South Pacific region

The South Pacific (SP) region exerts large control on the climate of the Southern Hemisphere at many times scales. This paper identifies the main modes of interannual sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the SP which consist of a tropical-driven mode related to a horseshoe structure of positive/negative SST anomalies within midlatitudes and highly correlated to ENSO and Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) variability, and another mode mostly confined to extratropical latitudes which is characterized by zonal propagation of SST anomalies within the South Pacific Gyre. Both modes are associated with temperature and rainfall anomalies over the continental regions of the Southern Hemisphere. Besides the leading mode which is related to well known warmer/cooler and drier/moister conditions due to its relationship with ENSO and the IPO, an inspection of the extratropical mode indicates that it is associated with distinct patterns of sea level pressure and surface temperature advection. These relationships are used here as plausible and partial explanations to the observed warming trend observed within the Southern Hemisphere during the last decades.The authors would like to thank Scott Power for his comments on an earlier version of the manuscript and the two anonymous reviewers whose suggestions led to a substantial improvement of the paper. This study was supported by Grants UBACyT-20020100100803, UBACyT-20020120300051, PIP-11220120100586 and the SPECS (GA 308378) EU-funded Project. JG-S was partially supported by the H2020-funded MSCA-IF-EF DPETNA project (GA No. 655339). The authors acknowledge the Red Española de Supercomputación (RES) and PRACE for awarding access to MareNostrum 3 at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center through the HiResClim project. The support of Virginie Guémas and Oriol Mula-Valls at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center is warmly appreciated.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Discapacidad y medios de comunicación; entre la información y el estereotipo

La discapacidad ha dado en España un paso significativo hacia delante durante la última década. El compromiso de las instituciones, la existencia de una legislación específica y la progresiva vertebración del colectivo a través de un incipiente movimiento social ha posibilitado la conducción de sus demandas hasta los círculos donde se producen las tomas de decisiones y su aparición entre las noticias de actualidad de los distintos medios de comunicación. La superación de un formato periodístico caduco para la discapacidad, basado en el estereotipo y fáciles generalizaciones, es el gran reto del colectivo en estos momentos en su relación con los medios.The disability has given forward in Spain a significant sep during the last decade. The commitment of the public institutions, the existence of a specific legislation and the progressive organization of the disabled community through an incipient social movement have facilitated the conduction of their demands until the circles where the taking of decisions and their appearance take place among the news of present time of the different mass media. The overcome of a journalistic format expires for the disability, based on the stereotype and easy generalizations it is the great challenge of the community in these moment in its relationship whit the mass media

City competitiveness and attractiveness: a new approach to evaluate economic development in Mexican cities

This research attempts to build a model to evaluate the economic development level of cities using a set of factors associated to the concepts of competitiveness and attractiveness. Traditionally competitiveness has only been related to rankings with a very limited contribution to regional and urban economics. At the same time, the concept of attractiveness is gaining more attention from economists who now define it in terms of competition for capital, people and government resources. Attractiveness is now linked to stages of economic growth to provide a broader framework to analyse the process in which cities are immersed to reach a higher standards of quality of life for their inhabitants. It is claimed that cities do compete with each not just for resources or people, but also for great events, resources from international organisations and institutions, prizes, infrastructure of high calibre, and even for an image among the public. On the other, attracting investment is not just reduced to companies from any economic sector. The theory suggests that making the city more attractive implies a competitive process to create the appropriate conditions for business to work in a stable environment. “Redefining” the cities’ image is useless if it is not accompanied by a total reengineering of the government’s activities, where support for business plays an important role. The empirical analysis begins with the presentation of the economic asymmetries among the sample of 40 Mexican cities. It is concluded that the economic policies of the central government in the last ten years have benefited those places which were already rich. Evidence is presented using the factors and variables of competitiveness and attractiveness with secondary data in order to illustrate the magnitude of the asymmetries among cities. In the second part of the analysis, two econometric models are presented. The first one intends to “capture” the variance of the 72 variables used in the experiment. The objective is to build an equation portraying urban economic development. However, as it was expected, the high statistical correlation among the variables led to a model including only 9, very few if the model is intended for simulating the impacts of decisions made by local authorities. The second model is constructed using all the factors and variables with the idea of being able to simulate as many as possible urban policies in a dynamic context. The results provided by the model are consistent with the results presented in the first part of the empirical analysis and seem to fit well the data for the sample selected