• Energy Research
• engineering and technology close
• English close
• Research Repository of Catalonia close

In this work, we show a new methodology for automatic supervision and fault detection of PV Systems, based mainly on the analysis of the power losses. This methodology includes parameter extraction techniques to calculate main PV system parameters from monitoring data [1-2], taking into account the real irradiance and module temperature, allowing simulation and evaluation of the PV system behaviour in real time. 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 4534-4536

Electricity access is key in driving socio economic development. Since Ghana initiated its National Electrification Scheme (NES) 20 years ago, access has risen to 72%, with over 88,000 communities yet to be electrified. From 2006 to 2008, the Multifunctional Platform (MFP) programme provided mechanical energy services based on diesel engines in 38 off-grid communities; yet these communities are rich in agricultural residues. International experience has shown that decentralised power generation by biomass gasification systems is cost competitive for remote villages with low load demand, and has the lowest environmental impact as compared to other conversion technologies. Additionally, the Ghanaian Renewable Energy Law sets forth the possibility for distribution utilities to benefit from renewable energy obligations in investments conducted in rural areas. This study was commissioned to investigate the prospects of electricity service provision based on biomass gasification technology. To this end, the feasibility of using agricultural residues to run a 24 hour mini-grid electricity service has been characterised in five MFP communities in Ghana (Brong Ahafo and Northern regions). The institutions involved in this study, TEC-KNUST, KITE and IS.UPC are partners in the diffusion of sustainable energy solutions, as a key action to eradicate energy poverty in the region. Proceedings of the 22nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 23-26 June 2014, Hamburg, Germany, pp. 1632-1639

Most of the high-efficiency c-Si solar cells are based on dielectric films that electrically passivate c-Si surface and must keep their passivation properties after metal deposition on top of them. This work studies the impact of three different aluminum Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) methods (thermal, e-beam, sputtering) on the c-Si surface passivation provided by SiO2 and Al2O3 films. Effective surface recombination velocity is measured before and after metal deposition. Results show that e-beam and sputtering techniques degrade surface passivation while thermal evaporation has no impact. Surface passivation can be recovered and even improved by means of an annealing with the aluminum film on top of the dielectric leading to the so-called alnealing. Additionally, after this alnealing Capacitance-Voltage measurements and lifetime spectroscopy analysis suggest a strong dependence of fixed charge density for SiO2 films on the metal deposition technique that helps in c-Si surface passivation. 28th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1213-1216

Multi-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) methods include various collections of mathematical techniques related to decision support systems in non-deterministic environments to support such applications as facility management, disaster management and urban planning. This paper applies MCDA approaches based on qualitative reasoning techniques with linguistic labels assessment. The aim of this method is ranking multi-attribute alternatives in group decision-making with qualitative labels. Finally this method is applied to a case of urban planning in selection of the less energy consumption project in a geographical area in Catalonia. Keywords: Multi-Criteria Decision Aid, qualitative labels, energy BDC. Bollettino Del Centro Calza Bini, Vol 14, N° 2 (2014): Towards an Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable City: Approaches and Tools

When a system for thermal energy storage (TES) is designed, many factors must be considered: storage time, dimensions, material to store heat, etc. Usually, molten salts are selected as TES materials because of their great thermal properties at high temperatures. When the whole TES system is going to be built, the material to be used for containing the thermal storage material becomes an important issue. It must have proper mechanical properties, withstand high temperatures and, above all, resist corrosion due to storage material, being in most of the cases, highly corrosive molten salt mixtures. To determine the corrosion on a metal plate, ASTM Standard-G1-03 procedure is usually applied, in which the corroded metal sample is submitted to several cycles including: attack by a chemical solution, washing, cleaning, drying, and weighing. In order to minimise the handling of the sample, a new methodology (Dynamic Gravimetric Analysis, DGA) has been developed and used to determine the corrosion produced in carbon steel A516Gr70 samples induced by different salt mixtures commonly used as molten salts containing different amounts of chloride, at working temperatures conditions. The results show that the higher is the content of chloride in molten salts the greater is the steel loss produced by corrosion and makes the corrosive kinetics to be highly increased when it is overtaken. The research leading to these results has received funding from Spanish government (Cdti-Fondo tecnológico IDI-20090393, ConSOLida Cdti-CENIT 2008-1005). The work is partially funded by the Spanish government (ENE2011-22722). The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant agreement no PIRSES-GA-2013-610692 (INNOSTORAGE) and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant agreement no 657466 (INPATH-TES). The authors would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to the research group DIOPMA (2014 SGR 1543). Dr. Camila Barreneche would like to thank Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España for her Grant Juan de la Cierva FJCI-2014-22886.

The aim of this work was to study along of different cycles the biomass adaptation process to total polyphenols (TPP) concentrations in an Anaerobic Sequencing Batch Reactor (AnSBR) and to evaluate the degradation of TPP and COD in winery wastewater (WWW). A lab-scale AnSBR was operated at 30º C with intermittent stirring and was fed with WWW with a COD of 182.25 g/l and a TPP concentration of 489 mg/l. The AnSBR was operated in four cycles, after the first cycle the biomass adaptation was taken for granted since reductions in the TPP went from 56% in C1 to around 95% in the consecutive cycles. COD reduction reached the 95% to 99% for all the four cycles.