Early degradation of PV modules and guaranty conditions

CIEMAT PVLabDER has largely increased its demand on testing and characterizing PV plants, according to the fast growth of PV installed capacity in Spain. One of the topics in which manufacturers, promoters, and owners of the plants are more interested in, is the possible degradation of PV modules and its relationship to guarantee contracts, as it is related to subsidies. This paper presents some findings in campaigns of PV plants evaluation carried out during last years. This evaluation usually consists of visual inspection, I-V curve measurement in the fields (the whole plant or selected areas), thermal evaluation by IR imaging, and, in some cases, measurement of the I-V characteristic and thermal behaviour of selected modules in the plant, chosen by the laboratory. It must be noticed that new defects that grow when the module is into operation may appear in modules initially free of them (named as hidden manufacturing defects). Usually some of these hidden defects that only appear in normal operation are not detected in reliability tests (EN61215 or EN 61646) [4][5] due to the different operational conditions of the module in the standard tests and in the field (serial-parallel connection of many PV modules, power inverter influence, over voltage on wires, etc.

Influence of initial power stabilization over crystalline-Si photovoltaic modules maximum power

Measurements that suppliers offer in specification sheets are not always close to the actual power measured in independent laboratories such as CIEMAT. Independent measurements tend to be lower than those printed on the label sometimes even lower than the allowed tolerance indicated by the manufacturer on the same label. Furthermore, a potentially significant power reduction has been reported when Standard EN50380 (which requires photovoltaic (PV) modules to be exposed to more than 20 kWh/m2 of sunlight prior to taking the measurements that appear on the label) is followed. This is the initial power stabilization and this work studies the power stabilization that tends to appear in crystalline PV modules. Crystalline PV modules usually decrease in power around 1%, but decreases >4% have also been reported. These power losses are only detected after the mentioned power stabilizatio

Analysis of air mass dependence of three photovoltaic arrays

The solar spectrum, which is also could be described by air mass factor, has a significant relationship with the performance of photovoltaic modules. The air mass dependence has been investigated by a theoretical method as well as an actual case of three different photovoltaic arrays: polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon and cadmium telluride, at the EUIT Agrícola-UPM (Madrid, Spain, 40.4426oN, 3.7295oW). The calculating results show that: AM dependence of poly-Si array is positive because an elevating AM-value indicates a red shift and poly-Si module is more red sensitive; On the contrary, as a-Si module and CdTe module are more blue sensitive, their AM dependences are negative. Furthermore, the outdoor AM dependences of three arrays are corresponding to the calculating results although the thermal annealing effect could be superimposed on spectral effect in the case of a-Si. Keywords: PV system, spectral response, polycrystalline silicon, a-Si, CdT

Evaluación del uso de paneles solares como elemento de sombreo en invernaderos

El objetivo principal de este trabajo experimental, es evaluar el uso de paneles solares como opción de elemento de sombreo en viveros, tanto de gran escala como de pequeña superficie. Esta opción podría elegirse tanto en el caso de no disponer de red de suministro eléctrico cercano así como en el caso de preferir no depender de una fuente de energía eléctrica exterior. Como hecho novedoso, se ha elegido paneles solares flexibles de capa fina y poco peso, que serían situados en la cubierta del invernadero. Dicha elección permite que los paneles se adapten a la forma de la cubierta, sea cual fuere

Practical issues for testing thin film PV modules at standard test conditions.

Thin film photovoltaic (TF) modules have gained importance in the photovoltaic (PV) market. New PV plants increasingly use TF technologies. In order to have a reliable sample of a PV module population, a huge number of modules must be measured. There is a big variety of materials used in TF technology. Some of these modules are made of amorphous or microcrystalline silicon. Other are made of CIS or CdTe. Not all these materials respond the same under standard test conditions (STC) of power measurement. Power rates of the modules may vary depending on both the extent and the history of sunlight exposure. Thus, it is necessary a testing method adapted to each TF technology. This test must guarantee repeatability of measurements of generated power. This paper shows responses of different commercial TF PV modules to sunlight exposure. Several test procedures were performed in order to find the best methodology to obtain measurements of TF PV modules at STC in the easiest way. A methodology for indoor measurements adapted to these technologies is described

Mechanical control of nuclear import by Importin-7 is regulated by its dominant cargo YAP.

Mechanical forces regulate multiple essential pathways in the cell. The nuclear translocation of mechanoresponsive transcriptional regulators is an essential step for mechanotransduction. However, how mechanical forces regulate the nuclear import process is not understood. Here, we identify a highly mechanoresponsive nuclear transport receptor (NTR), Importin-7 (Imp7), that drives the nuclear import of YAP, a key regulator of mechanotransduction pathways. Unexpectedly, YAP governs the mechanoresponse of Imp7 by forming a YAP/Imp7 complex that responds to mechanical cues through the Hippo kinases MST1/2. Furthermore, YAP behaves as a dominant cargo of Imp7, restricting the Imp7 binding and the nuclear translocation of other Imp7 cargoes such as Smad3 and Erk2. Thus, the nuclear import process is an additional regulatory layer indirectly regulated by mechanical cues, which activate a preferential Imp7 cargo, YAP, which competes out other cargoes, resulting in signaling crosstalk.We thank Miguel Sánchez for text editing. We thank Erika R. Geisbrecht, Kenneth Irvine, and Ariberto Fassati for kindly providing reagents. This study was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIIN)/Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)/European Regional Development Fund (ARDF/FEDER) “A way to make Europe” (PID2020-118658RB-I00, SAF2017-83130-R, IGP-SO grant MINSEV1512-07-2016, CSD2009-0016 and BFU2016-81912-REDC), Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (Tec4Bio-CM, S2018/NMT¬4443), Fundació La Marató de TV3 (201936-30-31), “La Caixa” Foundation (HR20-00075) and AECC (PROYE20089DELP) all to M.A.d.P. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 641639. M.G.G. and L.S. are sponsored by FPU fellowships (FPU15/ 03776 and FPU18/05394, respectively). The CNIC is supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICIIN) and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence CEX2020- 001041-S.S

Phosphorous pentoxide-free bioactive glass exhibits dose-dependent angiogenic and osteogenic capacities which are retained in glass polymeric composite scaffolds

Bioactive glasses (BGs) are attractive materials for bone tissue engineering because of their bioactivity andosteoinductivity. In this study, we report the synthesis of a novel phosphorous pentoxide-free, silicatebasedbioactive glass (52S-BG) composed of 52.1% SiO2, 23.2% Na2O and 22.6% CaO (wt%). The glasswas thoroughly characterized. The biocompatibility and osteogenic properties of 52S-BG particles wereanalyzed in vitro with human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AdMSCs) and human osteoblasts.52S-BG particles were biocompatible and induced mineralized matrix deposition and the expression ofosteogenic markers (RunX2, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, osteopontin, collagen I) and the angiogenicmarker vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Angiogenic properties were additionallyconfirmed in a zebrafish embryo model. 52S-BG was added to poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) to obtain acomposite with 10 wt% glass content. Composite PCL/52S-BG scaffolds were fabricated by additive manufacturingand displayed high porosity (76%) and pore interconnectivity. The incorporation of 52S-BG particlesincreased the Young’s modulus of PCL scaffolds from 180 to 230 MPa. AdMSC seeding efficiencyand proliferation were higher in PCL/52S-BG compared to PCL scaffolds, indicating improved biocompatibility.Finally, 52S-BG incorporation improved the scaffolds’ osteogenic and angiogenic properties byincreasing mineral deposition and inducing relevant gene expression and VEGF protein secretion. Overall,52S-BG particles and PCL/52S-BG composites may be attractive for diverse bone engineering applicationsrequiring concomitant angiogenic properties

Therapeutic Potential of EWSR1-FLI1 Inactivation by CRISPR/Cas9 in Ewing Sarcoma.

Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive bone cancer affecting children and young adults. The main molecular hallmark of Ewing sarcoma are chromosomal translocations that produce chimeric oncogenic transcription factors, the most frequent of which is the aberrant transcription factor EWSR1-FLI1. Because this is the principal oncogenic driver of Ewing sarcoma, its inactivation should be the best therapeutic strategy to block tumor growth. In this study, we genetically inactivated EWSR1-FLI1 using CRISPR-Cas9 technology in order to cause permanent gene inactivation. We found that gene editing at the exon 9 of FLI1 was able to block cell proliferation drastically and induce senescence massively in the well-studied Ewing sarcoma cell line A673. In comparison with an extensively used cellular model of EWSR1-FLI1 knockdown (A673/TR/shEF), genetic inactivation was more effective, particularly in its capability to block cell proliferation. In summary, genetic inactivation of EWSR1-FLI1 in A673 Ewing sarcoma cells blocks cell proliferation and induces a senescence phenotype that could be exploited therapeutically. Although efficient and specific in vivo CRISPR-Cas9 editing still presents many challenges today, our data suggest that complete inactivation of EWSR1-FLI1 at the cell level should be considered a therapeutic approach to develop in the future.This research was funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, grant numbers PI20CIII/00020, DTS18CIII/00005, PI16CIII/00026; Asociación Pablo Ugarte, grant numbers TRPV205/18, TPI-M 1149/13; Asociación Candela Riera, Asociación Todos Somos Iván & Fundación Sonrisa de Alex, grant numbers TVP333-19, TVP-1324/15; ASION, grant number TVP141/17, and by the Spanish Center for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER, ER19P5AC728/2021, grant to M.M.), and by the Regional Government of Madrid (CAM, B2017/BMD3721, grant to M.A.M.-P.). R.M.M-F.d.M. was supported by a grant from the Spanish Center for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER).S