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29th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 2484-2489, Dynamic Mechanical Loading (DML) of photovoltaic modules is explored as a route to quickly fatigue copper interconnect ribbons. Results indicate that most of the interconnect ribbons may be strained through module mechanical loading to a level that will result in failure in a few hundred to thousands of cycles. Considering the speed at which DML may be applied, this translates into a few hours of testing. To evaluate the equivalence of DML to thermal cycling, parallel tests were conducted with thermal cycling. Preliminary analysis suggests that one ±1 kPa DML cycle is roughly equivalent to one standard accelerated thermal cycle and approximately 175 of these cycles are equivalent to a 25-year exposure in Golden Colorado for the mechanism of module ribbon fatigue.

26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 3665-3668, We proposed an UV accelerated test condition for an EVA encapsulant, based on analysis of long term field exposed PV modules. We found that strong UV irradiation into EVA encapsulant test sample led to the fast decomposition of UV absorber formulated in EVA encapsulant, which has never seen in the field exposed PV modules. Thus, the integrating UV intensity of 60 W/m2 and black panel temperature of 110OC using a xenon weather-o-meter were suitable as an UV accelerated test condition. With this proposed test condition, which shows that 1 week exposure by xenon light corresponds to 1 year field exposure, we can predict discoloration rate of EVA encapsulant. In addition, we evaluated change in peel strength to glass for Mitsui’s and the other commercially available EVA encapsulants during UV accelerated test with the proposed condition. There was no large change in peel strength for our EVA encapsulant during the UV accelerated test. On the other hand, we observed that the competitor’s EVA encapsulant showed the large decrease of peel strength to glass at early stage, even no change in yellowness index (YI). This result indicates not only YI change but also peel strength change should be evaluated for design of reliable PV module and encapsulant.

The early events of metastasis involve multiple interactions between cancer cells and the host microcirculation during cancer cell arrest, adhesion, and extravasation. These interactions may lead to changes in gene expression of the metastasizing cancer cells, although such changes have never been demonstrated directly. To test this hypothesis, B16-F10 murine melanoma cells were injected intravenously into the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), and mRNA levels in the metastasizing cancer cells were evaluated by species-specific reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Unlike standard mouse models of experimental metastasis, the CAM model showed successful extravasation of a large number of the arrested cancer cells in the CAM microcirculation without significant cancer cell death, providing a unique opportunity to keep track of mRNA levels in cancer cells during the early phases of metastasis. Using this model, we were able to demonstrate directly the temporal induction of cancer cell genes that potentially affect metastatic efficiency, namely, Fos (5 to 60 minutes after injection), vascular permeability factor (4 to 7 hours), and urokinase plasminogen activator (> 9 hours). In conclusion, using the CAM system, we have observed an alteration of gene expression in cancer cells in the early phases of metastasis, most likely as a consequence of host-cancer cell interactions. These changes may influence the metastatic behavior of cancer cells.