Residential solar systems as an appliance - Plug and Play PV

The DOE SunShot-funded Plug and Play PV project seeks to dramatically reduce the soft costs of US residential solar by simplying the installation and commissioning processes. Adhesive mounting of lightweight (frame-less, glass-less) modules is one technology being studied. Temperature concerns due to the small gap between the shingled roof and the adhered module are examined in field testing in Albuquerque, NM. Compared to a conventional module, a 3% yield loss was measured after one year of data collection. The temperature of shingles underneath the adhered modules are lower than those for exposed shingles indicating that the modules cool the roof during sunlight hours. Modeling of the attic thermal profile demonstrates an average drop in the attic air temperature of 1°C in hot climates

Mechanical load testing of solar panels - beyond certification testing

Mechanical load tests are a commonly-performed stress test where pressure is applied to the front and back sides of solar panels. In this paper we review the motivation for load tests and the different ways of performing them. We then discuss emerging durability concerns and ways in which the load tests can be modified and/or enhanced by combining them with other characterization methods. In particular, we present data from a new tool where the loads are applied by using vacuum and air pressure from the rear side of the panels, thus leaving the front side available for EL and IV characterization with the panels in the bent state. Tightly closed cracks in the cells can be temporarily opened by such a test, thus enabling a prediction of panel degradation in the field were these cracks to open up over time. Based on this predictive crack opening test, we introduce the concept of using a quick load test on each panel in the factory as a quality control tool and potentially as a type of burn-in test to initiate cracks that would certainly form early on during a panel's field life. We examine the stresses seen by the cells under panel load through Finite Element Modeling and demonstrate the importance of constraining the panel motion during testing as it will be constrained when mounted in the field

Effect of Stretching on the Structure of Cylinder- and Sphere-Forming Styrene-Isoprene-Styrene Block Copolymers

Two styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymers Vector 4111 and 4113, exhibiting cylindrical (18 wt % PS) and spherical (16 wt % PS) morphology, respectively, have been examined under uniaxial elongation up to 200% strain. On the basis of stress-strain data, mechanical properties are compared for isotropic and oriented polystyrene domains. The structure at various stages of deformation has been determined from SAXS patterns in three planes and two principal deformation directions with respect to orientation. Samples showed a very high degree of hexagonal packing, resulting in an X-ray pattern taken parallel to the cylinder alignment approaching single crystal ordering. Cylinders were aligned with the closest packed planes parallel to film surface. Particular attention has been paid to a lattice deformation process occurring during the first stretching and relaxation cycle. For a copolymer with oriented cylindrical morphology the deformation was affine up to 120% strain. The microdomain spacing was calculated parallel and perpendicular to the stretching direction. The cylindrical microstructure orientation, quantified by Hermans' orientation factor reduced during elongation of oriented polymer, while the elongation of isotropic sample caused an increase of orientation. Deformation of all studied morphologies was reversible

Synthesis and Characterization of Elastomeric Heptablock Terpolymers Structured by Crystallization

We report the synthesis and characterization of fully saturated hydrocarbon block copolymer thermoplastic elastomers with competitive mechanical properties and attractive processing features, Block copolymers containing glassy poly(cyclohexylethylene) (C), elastomeric poly(ethylene-alt-propylene) (P), and semicrystalline poly(ethylene) (E) were produced in a CEC-P-CEC heptablock architecture, denoted XPX, by anionic polymerization and catalytic hydrogenation, The X blocks contain equal volume fractions of C and F. totaling 40%-60% of the material overall. All the XPX polymers are disordered above the melt temperature for E(T(m,E) congruent to 95 degrees C) as evidenced by SAXS and dynamic mechanical spectroscopy measurements, Cooling below results in crystallization of the E blocks, which induces microphase segregation of E, C, and P into a complex morphology with a continuous rubbery domain and randomly arranged hard domains as shown by TEM. This mechanism of segregation decouples the processing temperature from the XPX molecular weight up to a limiting value. Tensile mechanical testing (simple extension and cyclic loading) demonstrates that the tensile strength (ca. 30 MPa) and strain at break (> 500%) are comparable to the behavior of CPC triblock thermoplastic elastomers of similar molecular weight and glass content. However, in the CPC materials, processability is constrained by the order-disorder transition temperature, limiting the applications of these materials, Elastic recovery of the XPX materials following seven cycles of tensile deformation is correlated with the fraction of X in the heptablock. copolymer, and the residual strain approaches that of CPC when the fraction of hard blocks f(X) <= 0.39

Elucidating Drought-Tolerance Mechanisms in Plant Roots through 1H NMR Metabolomics in Parallel with MALDI-MS, and NanoSIMS Imaging Techniques

As direct mediators between plants and soil, roots play an important role in metabolic responses to environmental stresses such as drought, yet these responses are vastly uncharacterized on a plant-specific level, especially for co-occurring species. Here, we aim to examine the effects of drought on root metabolic profiles and carbon allocation pathways of three tropical rainforest species by combining cutting-edge metabolomic and imaging technologies in an in situ position-specific 13 C-pyruvate root-labeling experiment. Further, washed (rhizosphere-depleted) and unwashed roots were examined to test the impact of microbial presence on root metabolic pathways. Drought had a species-specific impact on the metabolic profiles and spatial distribution in Piper sp. and Hibiscus rosa sinensis roots, signifying different defense mechanisms; Piper sp. enhanced root structural defense via recalcitrant compounds including lignin, while H. rosa sinensis enhanced biochemical defense via secretion of antioxidants and fatty acids. In contrast, Clitoria fairchildiana , a legume tree, was not influenced as much by drought but rather by rhizosphere presence where carbohydrate storage was enhanced, indicating a close association with symbiotic microbes. This study demonstrates how multiple techniques can be combined to identify how plants cope with drought through different drought-tolerance strategies and the consequences of such changes on below-ground organic matter composition