Batteries in the energy transition: A cross-border use case from the Rhine-Waal region

The built environment accounts for approximately 30-40% of the total energy consumption in the Netherlands and Germany (RVO, 2015). The INTERREG project Cleantech Energy Crossing therefore aims to facilitate the energy transition in this area by promoting cross-border collaboration. Through the realization of various innovations and new technological products, this project wants to make an important contribution in achieving the climate targets of the Netherlands (-20% CO2 emissions to 2020) and North Rhine-Westphalia (-25% CO2 emissions to 2020)

Long term performance measurements and PV testing in a BIPV field test with different amounts of ventilation

PV integrated in the building envelope (BIPV) is seen as one of the key tracks to accelerate PV application in the built environment. However, integration might lead to decreased output and lifespan of PV modules due to less ventilation. To investigate this effect, a BIPV rooftop field test has been realized with 24 first generation Metallization Wrap Through (MWT) modules in 4 segments. The segments have different amounts of ventilation, ranging between forced and non-ventilated, and have been monitored for 3 years. In the non-ventilated segment, higher operating temperatures, higher daily temperature amplitudes and decrease in output have been measured, which increased over the monitoring period. At the end of the monitoring period, IV curves indicate a performance decrease between 7% and 60%, while EL images shows that the modules in the non-ventilated segment have more by-pass diode and cell failures. This study indicates the risk of failures in the investigated first generation MWT modules corresponding with typical damp heat and relative humidity cycle failures and indicates the value of long term field test measurements

Aberrant expression of TRAIL in B chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells.

Analysis of peripheral blood (>85% CD19+/CD5+ B) lymphocytes, obtained from 44 patients affected by B chronic lymphoid leukemia (B-CLL), showed that surface TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) was expressed in all samples and at higher levels with respect to unfractionated lymphocytes and purified CD19+ B cells, obtained from 15 normal blood donors. Of note, in a subset of B-CLL samples, the addition to B-CLL cultures of a TRAIL-R1-Fc chimera, which binds at high affinity to surface TRAIL, significantly decreased the percentage of viable cells with respect to untreated control B-CLL cells, suggesting that surface TRAIL may play an unexpected role in promoting B-CLL cell survival. In spite of the majority of B-CLL lymphocytes expressed variable surface levels of "death receptors" TRAIL-R1 and TRAIL-R2, the addition in culture of recombinant TRAIL increased (>20% vs. controls) the degree of spontaneous apoptosis in only 11/44 of the B-CLL samples, had no effect in 19/44, while it significantly increased leukemic cell survival in 14/44. Taken together, these findings suggest that an aberrant expression of TRAIL might contribute to the pathogenesis of B-CLL by promoting the survival in a subset of B-CLL cells