In situ monitoring of electrical parameters of PV modules under mechanical stress

International audienc

Detection of cracks in silicon wafers and solar cells by lock-in ultrasound thermography

ABSTRACT: Cracks in silicon wafers or solar cells reduce their mechanical stability and may lead to the breakage of the wafer. Since the trend in silicon solar cell technology is to reduce fabrication costs by means of reduction of the wafer thickness, the mechanical stability of the wafers plays a major role. Therefore there is a need for a rapid detection method of cracks and microcracks in wafers before processing or detection of cracks in solar solar cells before encapsulating as a module. Using ultrasound lock-in thermography (ULT) cracks caused by the impact of a steel balls on silicon wafers can be detected. Also optically invisible cracks induced artificially by notch impact could be found. Also microcracks on the edge of EFG material could also be detected, in this case not by the creation of heat, but rather by scattering of IR light guided through the wafer

Innovative recycling of end of life silicon PV panels: ReSiELP

In Europe, an increasing amount of End of Life (EoL) photovoltaic silicon (PV) panels is expected to be collected in the next 20 years. The silicon PV modules represent a new type of electronic waste that shows challenges and opportunities. ReSiELP was a European project that aimed at recovery of valuable materials (aluminum, glass, copper, silicon, and silver) from EoL silicon PV modules. During the project a pilot plant, constituted by a furnace, a gas abatement system, an apparatus for the mechanical separation and a hydrometallurgical plant was designed and built. The pilot plan was realized to upscale recycling technology to TRL 7, with a 1500 panels/ year capacity. The feasibility of industrial-scale recovery and the reintegration of all recovered materials in their appropriate value chain was investigated. The results obtained showed that 2N purity silicon and 2N purity silver can be recovered with high efficiency. In order to realize a zero-waste plant, a hydrometallurgical process was developed for the wastewater treatment. Moreover, the use of recovered glass for building materials was investigated and the obtained performance seemed comparable with commercial products

Remote sensing and multi-criteria evaluation for malaria risk mapping to support indoor residual spraying prioritization in the central highlands of Madagascar

International audienceThe National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) in Madagascar classifies Malagasy districts into two malaria situations: districts in the pre-elimination phase and districts in the control phase. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) is identified as the main intervention means to control malaria in the Central Highlands. However, it involves an important logistical mobilization and thus necessitates prioritization of interventions according to the magnitude of malaria risks. Our objectives were to map the malaria transmission risk and to develop a tool to support the Malagasy Ministry of Public Health (MoH) for selective IRS implementation. For the 2014-2016 period, different sources of remotely sensed data were used to update land cover information and substitute in situ climatic data. Spatial modeling was performed based on multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) to assess malaria risk. Models were mainly based on environment and climate. Three annual malaria risk maps were obtained for 2014, 2015, and 2016. Annual parasite incidence data were used to validate the results. In 2016, the validation of the model using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed an accuracy of 0.736; 95% CI [0.669-0.803]. A free plugin for QGIS software was made available for NMCP decision makers to prioritize areas for IRS. An annual update of the model provides the basic information for decision making before each IRS campaign. In Madagascar and beyond, the availability of the free plugin for open-source software facilitates the transfer to the MoH and allows further application to other problems and contexts