Chosen diagnostic methods of photovoltaic modules
Solar modules under ordinary working condition are exposed to amount of degradation factors which deteriorate their properties. The most important degradation of PV modules during operation are optical, electrical and thermal degradation. The result of these factors is performance degradation of the modules, or even can caused their fault. It is important to find the cause of the fault and its timely removal. The choice of convenient diagnostic method can reduce financial losses and increases safety of photovoltaic power plant. The example of tests performed on PV modules by using infrared (IR) thermography and, potential induced degradation (PID) are presented in this paper.
Degradation of photovoltaic modules under high voltage stress in the field
The degradation in performance for eight photovoltaic (PV) modules stressed at high voltage (HV) is presented. Four types of modules—tandem-junction and triple-junction amorphous thin-film silicon, plus crystalline and polycrystalline silicon modules—were tested, with a pair of each biased at opposite polarities. They were deployed outdoors between 2001 and 2009 with their respective HV leakage currents through the module encapsulation continuously monitored with a data acquisition system, along with air temperature and relative humidity. For the first 5 years, all modules were biased continuously at fixed 600 VDC, day and night. In the last 2 years, the modules were step-bias stressed cyclically up and down in voltage between 10 and 600 VDC, in steps of tens to hundreds of volts. This allowed characterization of leakage current versus voltage under a large range of temperature and moisture conditions, facilitating determination of leakage paths. An analysis of the degradation is presented, along with integrated leakage charge. In HV operation: the bulk silicon modules degraded either insignificantly or at rates of 0.1%/yr higher than modules not biased at HV; for the thinfilm silicon modules, the added loss rates are insignificant for one type, or 0.2%/yr-0.6%/yr larger for the other type.
Air scrubbing techniques for ammonia and odor reduction at livestock operations : review of on-farm research in the Netherlands
Acid scrubbers and biotrickling filters have been developed for ammonia (NH3) removal at pig and poultry houses 
in The Netherlands over the last 20 years to prevent acidification and eutrophication of soils. Because of growing 
suburbanization, odor removal is increasingly considered important as well. In this review, we report the results of the on-farm 
research on full-scale operated scrubbers for treatment of exhaust air from animal houses with regard to NH3 and odor 
removal in The Netherlands. The NH3 removal of acid scrubbers ranged from 40% to 100% with an overall average of 96%. 
The NH3 removal of biotrickling filters ranged from -8% to +100% with an overall average of 70%. Minimum empty bed air 
residence times (EBRTs) were 0.4 to 1.1 s. For acid scrubbers, process control with pH measurement and automatic water 
discharge is sufficient to guarantee sufficient NH3 removal. For biotrickling filters, however, improvement of process control 
is necessary to guarantee sufficient NH3 removal. The odor removal of acid scrubbers ranged from 3% to 51% with an overall 
average of 27%. The odor removal of biotrickling filters ranged from -29% to +87% with an overall average of 51%. 
Minimum EBRTs were 0.5 to 2.3 s. Further research is necessary to explain this variation and to improve the odor removal 
efficiency of both acid scrubbers and biotrickling filters.