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Solar tracking systems increase the electricity production by about 30% relative to fixed installations. A robust design of the mechanical system requiring less material than 100kg steel per kW nominal PV module power is essential to further improve the economics of PV tracker plants. The Solar Wings approach reaches this goal by using steel cables as a mounting system for the PV modules and benefits by the long-time experience of project partner BMF using steel cables in transportation systems such as ski-lift, funicular, aerial passenger lines. Tests with the first Solar Wings prototype in Switzerland passed successfully. The first 600 kW PV plant powered by the one axis Solar Wings tracking system will put into operation in December 2008 in Southern Germany. To maximize reliability and reduce maintenance costs only one electrical three-phase asynchronous motor is used to track 100kW PV modules. A two-axis tracking Solar Wings system will be available next year. Further development targets are low optical concentration by the use of planar mirrors mounted on a parallel axis to the PV module axis. PV modules and mirrors track individually and thus an increase of the electricity production of higher than 60% relative to fixed mounted installation is expected. First results of the measured increase of performance by individual tracking of the planar mirrors and the PV modules, performed on a small scale dish model, are reported. 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 2790-2794

Research in the field of precision agriculture is becoming increasingly important due to the growing world population whilst area for cultivation remains constant or declines. In this context, methods of monitoring in?season plant development with high resolution and accuracy are necessary. Studies show that terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) can be applied to capture small objects like crops. In this contribution, the results of multi-temporal field campaigns with the terrestrial laser scanner Riegl LMS-Z420i are shown. Four surveys were carried out in the growing period 2012 on a field experiment where various barley varieties were cultivated in small-scale plots. In order to measure the plant height above ground, the TLS-derived point clouds are interpolated to generate Crop Surface Models with a very high resolution of 1 cm. For all campaigns, a common reference surface, representing the Digital Elevation Model was used to monitor plant height in the investigated period. Manual plant height measurements were carried out to verify the results. The very high coefficients of determination (R² = 0.89) between both measurement methods show the applicability of the approach presented. Furthermore, destructive biomass sampling was performed to investigate the relation to plant height. Biomass is an important parameter for evaluating the actual crop status, but non-destructive methods of directly measuring crop biomass do not exist. Hence, other parameters like reflectance are considered. The focus of this study is on non-destructive measurements of plant height. The high coefficients of determination between plant height and fresh as well as dry biomass (R² = 0.80, R² = 0.77) support the usability of plant height as a predictor. The study presented here demonstrates the applicability of TLS in monitoring plant height development with a very high spatial resolution. Proceedings of the Workshop on UAV-based Remote Sensing Methods for Monitoring Vegetation Kölner geographische Arbeiten, 94 ISSN:0454-1294

This work covers outdoor and indoor testing of a CdTe module from First Solar (FS-60). Outdoor characterisations were performed at PSI’s Solar Test Facility and indoor measurements at SUPSI-ISAAC Institute, Lugano. The location of PSI represents a typical site in the Swiss midland. The module was exposed outdoor on a sun tracker and tested under clear sky conditions as well as under a cloudy sky. During testing, the global-normal irradiance varied between 40 and 1054 W/m2, the cell module temperature between 13 and 68°C, and the relative air mass between 1.2 and 6.6. About 1360 I-V characteristics were acquired, allowing to plot the efficiency as a function of irradiance, cell module temperature and air mass. The data were used to validate a new efficiency model of PSI to calculate the module efficiency under real operating conditions on different sites. In order to investigate the difference between outdoor and indoor characterisation the module was measured with a pulsed sun simulator at SUPSI-ISAAC. The module was characterised by measuring the temperature coefficient and the full temperature-irradiance matrix in the range from 100 to 1000 W/m2 and from 25 to 65°C. Afterwards, the module energy output, under real conditions, was calculated with the energy prediction methods from PSI and the ‘Matrix-Method’ of SUPSI-ISAAC and the results were compared with the one year energy output data of the same module measured with the outdoor energy yield facility in Lugano. 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 3508-3512

Öko-Labelling ist ein wichtiges umweltpolitisches Instrument zur Überwindung von Marktversagen durch Informationsasymmetrien. Ein bewährtes Öko-Label im Bereich Energieeffizienz ist das EU-Energie-Label, welches die Energieeffizienz von Produkten auf einer Skala von A bis G beurteilt. Das Label wurde 1998 in Deutschland und 2002 in der Schweiz für Haushaltsgeräte wie Waschmaschinen, Kühlschränke etc. eingeführt. Seit März 2003 gilt das EU-Energie-Label in der Schweiz auch für Personenkraftwagen. Im Rahmen einer empirischen Befragung von 316 Automobilkäufern in der Schweiz wurden die Auswirkungen des Labels auf die Kaufentscheidung untersucht. Im Unter-schied zu früheren Untersuchungen dieser Art wurde die Bedeutung des Energie-Labels im Verhältnis zu anderen kaufrelevanten Faktoren nicht explizit abgefragt, sondern als eines von mehreren Produktmerkmalen im Rahmen eines Discrete Choice Experiments erhoben. Somit konnte indirekt die relative Bedeutung des Labels für die Kaufentschei-dung erhoben werden, unter weitestgehender Ausschaltung des Faktors soziale Er-wünschtheit. Die Ergebnisse vergleichen den Einfluss des Labels mit der Bedeutung anderer Produktmerkmale (wie Marke, Hubraum, Treibstoffart). In einem weiteren Schritt wurde untersucht, inwiefern die geplante Einführung eines Bonus-Malus-Systems geeignet ist, die Wirkung des EU-Energie-Labels zu verstärken.

The current climate and environmental policy efforts require comprehensive planning regarding the upgrade of the energy supply and infrastructures in cities. Planning comprises e.g. the determination of locations for new power generating facilities like photovoltaic, geothermal and decentralized combined heat and power stations, the widespread introduction of e-mobility solutions and hence the grid development as well as large-scale energetic building refurbishments. A holistic approach integrating extensive complex information is essential for the strategic planning of the different measures. In order to establish interoperability and data exchange between the different planners, stakeholders, and tools, an open information standard is required. To answer this need, an international group of urban energy simulation developers, geo- information scientists and users from 11 European organizations is developing an Application Domain Extension (ADE) Energy for the OGC open standard CityGML. This paper presents the collaborative development of this new open urban information model, including its genesis, objectives, structure and next planned steps.

Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Gas Discharges and their Applications ISBN:978-2-9548207-2-9

PV industries offering products that can be integrated as building materials represent so far a niche but promising market. In Switzerland, according to a study of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the potential of PV installed in well-oriented roofs and facades in Switzerland represents 35% of the annual electricity needs. At the moment, only a few studies have been carried out in order to assess the interaction between the fastening systems or the building component and the PV modules. This fact may represent a barrier for the PV industry but also for the building industry, which has yet to gain confidence in these new materials. This project aims to analyze these innovating products. In order to define their electrical and thermal characteristics a Building integrated PV (BiPV) test stand was build at SUSPI-ISAAC and 22 modules were monitored for one year. The paper will present the main result of the monitoring stage and the thermal characteristics (U-value and g-value) measured at the EMPA laboratory. 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 4005-4010