Activities Summary 2008

I would like to summarize all quality related activities I attended in 2008 as follows: 

Seminar x16; Training x4, Visit x5 and Conference x6.

Seminar:

(YYYYMMDD)

20080223:             Seminar on “RFID: An Emerging Technology for Physical Asset Management (PAM) and Counterfeit Prevention:

20080311:             Biological Waste Management – Anaerobic Digestion, Composting and Vermicomposting

20080313:             Medical Devices and Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) Testing

20080429:             Jadeite Jade Classification (硬玉翡翠分類)

20080704:             Considerations for Medical Device Manufacturing – Optimization of materials, applications and sterilization (HKIE)

20080729:             Exchange @ Science Park for Life Sciences Community

20080730:             TUV Open Forum on “How to improve the training effectiveness in cost-effective way”

20080801:             Seminar on ISO 9001:2000 UPGRADE to 2008 Version & Secure your information with ISO 27001

20080827:             How to win and keep customers coming back (HKSTP)

20080911:             ISO 9001:2008 Implementation Seminar (HKSQ, HKQAA & HKSTP)

20081019:             Solutions for Profits (ISCEA)

20081106:             Technical Seminar on the Aspect of DuPont Risk Based Process Safety Management (PSM)

20081122:             Solutions for Profits – Part 2 (ISCEA)

20081202:             Face-reading and Management (HKIE)

20081218:             Synopsys TCAD Seminar (HKSTP)

20081219:             Managing the Design of 2008 Beijing Olympics Projects (HKSQ)

Training:

20080517:             Certified Lean Master course organized by International Supply Chain Education Alliance (ISCEA)

20081016-17:        BCM introduction and implementation training (BSI)

20081204-05:        APP International Photovoltaic Reliability Workshop

20081211:             Laboratory Biosafety Training (HKTIC)

Visit:

20080226:              Roberto Saco, ASQ President - Elect, Visiting HK

20080425:              Visit to Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Instrument Laboratory in CUHK

20080509:              Visit two Mainland Medical Devices Manufacturers (HKSQ)

20080530:              Visit to Kwong Sun Hong Limited (HKSQ)

20081107:              Visit to Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd. (HKSQ)

Conference:

20080930:             Nanotechnology Forum – Solar Energy (HKQAA)

20081029-31:        ANQ Congress 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand (HKSQ)

20081104:             The symposium on “Advanced Design & Technology in Healthcare & Laboratory Facilities” (IHEEM(HK))

20081129:             The Symposium entitled “Innovation.Technology.2008: How Security Technology Protects Our Assets” (iPROA)

20081210:              InnoAsia 2008 Conference: Enabling Sustainability

20081210-12:        HKQAA Symposium 2008 - Green Day

 

Managing the Beijing Olympics Construction Projects

Hong Kong Society for Quality and The Hong Kong Institute of Engineer – MIE division organized a seminar entitled “Managing the Design of 2008 Beijing Olympics Projects” on 19 Dec 2008.

Dr. Goman Ho (Director of Arup China) was invited to share his experience on managing the huge project – The first Olympics Game in Beijing, China.

First of all, Dr. Ho explained the problems they encountered were limited time (it must be finished before Aug 2008) and all related projects (including Water Cube, Bird’s Nest, Airport and hotels, etc.) were running in the same time.

He explained the following challenges one by one:
- Mobilize resources within a short period of time
- Design team with different language, from different culture, in different time zone and with different practices / codes.
- Huge numbers of engineers required
During the project, he experienced the power of Globalization.

The first item of the project he started was the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest), having a seating capacity of 91,000. Bird’s Nest was the nickname. Dr. Ho explained the real inspiration behind the Bird’s Nest’s structural form was actually the pattern which was found on the crackled glazes of antique Chinese pottery. The structure design was blur distinction between primary and secondary pillar, so that ordinary people were not able to observe the main structure of Bird’s Nest. Based on the roof geometry, the curve steel needed to be built in shipyard. Moreover, Dr. Ho stated the National Stadium was very environmental friendly in which no air-conditioning system was installed but nature wind is utilized via the particular design.

The second project he introduced to us was the National Aquatics Centre (Water Cube). The 177m x 177m x 31m Water Cube has a gross flow area of 70,000 m2 and seating for 17000 spectators. There are Chinese cultural – the Forbidden City is laid out in squares representing earth. The question for the designers was how to fit this material to a rectangular structure. They used Foam Theory which came from Lord Kelvin.

Then Dr. Ho explained the design idea of CCTV Headquarter that was came from cutting of a pyramid. Then he also described the engineering difficulties in the construction stage.

After than he gave details about the Beijing Capital Airport Terminal 3 which was 3 time larger than Hong Kong Airport. The inspiration behind the shape and yellow color of airport were the Chinese character “man” (人) and emperor coat, respectively, implying Chinese people like dragon flying in the sky. The most important to be considered was the logistics of people.


HKSQ members were enthusiastically to participate in the Q&A session.

Lastly, HKSQ Chairman (Dr. Albert Tsang) presented a souvenir to Dr. Goman Ho.

Solar Cell Simulation

Synopsys TCAD Seminar was held on 18 Dec 2008 in HKSTP. One of sessions was Solar Cell Simulation and the speaker was Mr. John Wang (Product Marketing Manager, Synopsys Taiwan Limited). I had summaries some points below.

TCAD is Technology CAD used computer simulation to model semiconductor process and device technologies. The current solar cell technologies are:
· Silicon-based Cells
- Crystalline silicon (c-Si)
- Multi-crystalline silicon (mc-Si)
- Amorphous silicon (a-Si)
· Compound Semiconductor
- Single and multi-junction: GaAs, InGaP
- CdTe
- CIGS: Cu(In, Ga)Se2
· Emerging Technologies
- Organic semiconductors
- Quantum well, dots, etc.

Using TCAD in Solar Cell Design can allow designers to optimize efficiency and enable virtual exploration of new cell designs. That process simulation can be applied to silicon-based solar cells. Some applications are shown as follows:
- Fe Concentration
- Advanced Geometric Modeling
- Solar Spectrum
- Anti-Reflection Coating (ARC) Optimization
- External / Internal Quantum Efficiency, etc.

Several research publication:
- Wyatt K. Metzger (2008) “The potential and device physics of interdigitated thin-film solar cells” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol 103
- J. Dicker, et al. (2002) “Analysis of one-sun monocrystalline rear-contacted silicon solar cells with efficiencies of 22.1%” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol 91
- P.S. Plekhanov, et al. (1999) “Modeling of gettering of precipitated impurities from Si for carrier lifetime improvement in solar cell applications” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol 86

Comments from Dr. Kitch Wilson in LinkedIn:

An industry accepted software suite used to simulate the semiconductor physics of a solar cell is available free. It is called PC1D and can be downloaded from: www.pv.unsw.edu.au/links/products/pc1d.asp

Also, a very good tutorial that covers some of the simulation equations can be found at http://pvcdrom.pveducation.org/index.html

HKQAA Symposium 2008 - Green Day

HKQAA Symposium 2008 was held from 10th to 12th December 2008. The theme was called “Social Challenges and Business Opportunities Managing Long Term Success”. I joined one of sessions entitled “Green Infrastructures and Buildings” and summarized as follows.

Firstly, Dr. Mok presented a souvenir to Ms. Anissa Wong (Permanent Secretary of the Environment, the Government of the HKSAR) who gave the Opening Speech.

Ir. C.S. Ho (Chief Building Service Engineer, HKHA) was the first speaker for his topic entitled “Need for Greening”. He explained the growing concern of environmental issues and their consequences. Business and operational strategies went Greening. He also listed the benefits of Greening as follows:
- Demonstrate corporate environmental responsibility
- Reduce operational costs
- Enhance building value and increase profits
- Optimize life cycle performance of buildings
- Open market for new, green technology, products and services
- Reduce pollution
He said we cannot “Green Outside, but Red Inside!”

The second speaker, Mr. Conrad Wong (Chairman, Committee on Environment and Technology, Construction Industry Council) gave a talk called “Green Construction – a New Trend”.
He said “Think Globally, Act Locally”. Then he introduced Construction Industry Council (CIC) which was an information hub for exchange of information, a platform for discussion on different issues relating to industry and community.
He also described Green Construction – New Trends in technical aspects as follows:
i) Low or Zero Carbon Housing Development
ii) New City Planning Methods
iii) Clean Air Technologies & Reduce Green House Gas Emission
iv) Renewable and Green Energy
v) Strengthening the Building Standard & Energy Codes

Ir. Ronald Chin (Assistant Director (Building Services) of Architectural Services Department, HKSAR) was the third speaker and his topic was “Greening of Architectural Design”.

He stated the driver for Greening of Architectural Design through the path:
Climate change → Strong community pressure → To achieve sustainable development → Design for green building in the context of sustainable building

Architectural Services Department (ArchSD)’s Green Building Design and Planning adopted balanced approach, in delivering economically profitable, environmentally responsible, healthy, productive places for people to live and work in the course of developing our sustainable future.
Lastly, he introduced Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) and its major tasks including:
i) Operational Performance Monitoring
ii) Energy Review
iii) Evaluation of New Technology

Then Mr. Alan Kwok (Director of Management Consulting and Sustainability, Arup) presented “Green Olympics”.

He introduced Olympics 2012 in Stratford, London. The commitments to Sustainability were:
“Towards a One Planet Olympic” vision in the bid
Sustainability Policy published in July 2007
Sustainability Plan published in November 2007
Goal: To leave a sustainable legacy
Finally, he said “Sustainability is a culture, not a program.”


Ir Otto Poon (Managing Director, Analogue Group of Companies) was the fifth speaker and his topic was “Energy Efficient E&M Facilities”.

He identified several common words as Energy, Carbon, Climate Change and Sustainable Development. Then he explained several technologies of E&M facilities for energy saving (i.e. Scale Control Technology, Thermal Energy Storage System, Lift & Escalator, etc.).
Finally, he gave 3 prospectives: Economy, Society and Environment, and he mentioned “Lifestyle can save energy by considering 3R (i.e. Rethink, Reduce and Reuse).

The last speaker was Dr. Francisco Vizeu Pinheiro, (1st Vice President, Macau Architects Association) and he presented “Green Works in Macau”.
He said “Concrete surface plus Asphalt is equal to Retain Heat and Pollutant” and showed “Great Wall” (Long line buildings) of Macau. The main consumption of Energy identified by the speaker was the use of air-conditioning.

Panel discussion was at the end.

Laboratory Biosafety Training

I attended a course named “Laboratory Biosafety”, organized by Hong Kong Association for Testing, Inspection and Certification Ltd. (HKTIC) on 11 Dec 2008.

The trainer was Mr. Y.K. Wan and the course scopes included Risk Assessment, Laboratory Practices, Biosafety cabinet, Sterilization and Laboratory Design.

Unacceptable risks can be found during risk assessment. Risk assessment has 5 steps:
Step 1 – gathering information
Step 2 – evaluating risks to health
Step 3 – deciding what needs to be done to control or prevent exposures
Step 4 – recording the assessment
Step 5 – reviewing the assessment

Programs & Committees for laboratory Biosafety are:
- Biosafety Committee
- Biological Agent Inspection
- Workplace Complaints
- Incident Review
- Medical Surveillance
- PPE
- Respiratory Protection
- Equipment Maintenance
- HEPA Filter-containing Equipment Certification
- Safety Training (including Animal Handling, GLP, Spill Control, Signage)
- Emergency Response
- Construction and Renovation
- Facilities Maintenance
- Pest Control
- Waste Control, Treatment and Disposal

Strategic laboratory management of risks on handling biological materials is:
· to develop safety policy and manual
· to implement safety policy
· to determine the risks and the associated Biosafety levels
· to promote safe operational practices in laboratories
· to maintain containment facilities and equipment
· to control import, export, application, and inventory of biohazardous agents
· to provide training to staff and visitor
· to monitor, review, advise the Biosafety management

Biohazardous substances is defined as:
The biological agents such as animals, plants, microorganisms, or the derived substances whatever nature survived or genetically modified that are able to produce deleterious effects on humans, animals, and plants.

Laboratory-acquired infections are transmitted:
- from the agents being directly handled
- by the person who do the laboratory work
- as the result of escape of agents

It may be caused by:
- Inadequate risk assessment
- Inadequate knowledge of disease (e.g. route of infection)
- Improper handling materials (e.g. hidden pathogens)
- Improper handling contaminated equipment and apparatus
- Improper facilities or practices
- Insufficient decontamination
- Insufficient personal protection


One of routes of transmission is Zoonoses which spread between people and animals. Needlestick handling is one of the high risk items. Needle safety should be taken care (Don’t put needle in your lab coat.)

There are four Biosafety Levels (BSL) in the following table.

Biohazard Symbol and label should be used properly.

The Equipment- and technique- related hazards included “Inoculating loop”, “Pipettes”, “Hypodermic needles and syringes”, “Centrifugation”, “Blending, homogenizing and shaking”, “Opening cultures and ampoules”, “Pouring infectious material”, “Breakage and spillage”, “Sharps”, “Ultrasonic devices”, “ELISA equipment”, “Liquid nitrogen”, “Water bath”, “Autoclaves and incinerators”, “Flow cytometer / cell sorter”, “Cryostat microtome”, “Films and smears for microscopy”, “Automated equipment”, etc.


Laboratory Animal should be taken attention!

Handling biohazardous substances, doubled gloves should be used.

Based on EPD – Practice Notes on the Disposal of Clinical Waste at Landfills, the Solid Clinical / Biological Wastes are classified as follows:
Type 1 – Contaminated Sharps
Type 2 – Laboratory Wastes
Type 3 – Human and Animal Tissue
Type 4 – Infectious Material
Type 5 – Soiled Dressings
Type 6 – Cytotoxic Wastes
Type 7 – Pharmaceutical and Chemical Wastes

Disposal of biological waste should be noticed:
- Register bag packaging system
- Sterilization / Disinfection / Decontamination is required
- Wastes are packaged in leak proof containers
- Sharps must be put into sharp box
- Carcass / organs / tissues are frozen
- Adequate absorbent is placed in package
- Maximum weight of each package are less than 20kg.

Emergency contingency plans has Manual (or SOP / Guidelines) and Training for
- Spillage
- Loss of biological agents (e.g. patient sample)
- Malpractice (e.g. labeling)
- Shutdown of facilities (e.g. exhaust air treatment equipment)
- Security
- Bioterrorism

Different types of Biosafety Cabinet (BSC) were introduced.

The level of sterilant and Disinfectant power are shown.

Lastly, trainer introduced the laboratory design. Risk assessment of building is showed below.

The autoclave is designed with double-door and unidirectional material flow.

The course content was so many and not recorded in details. If you are interested in, please visit HKTIC website at http://www.hktic.org/ to join the next round training.

Innoasia 2008 Conference: Renewable Energy

I joined the Renewable Energy Theme of "InnoAsia 2008 Conference: Enabling Sustainability" on 10 Dec 2008. It was summarized in follows.


The first speaker was Dr. Douglas Muzyka (Corporate Vice President & President for DuPont Greater China). His topic was “DuPont & Renewable Energy: Photovoltaics & Biofuels”.



First of all, Dr. Muzyka presented DuPont’s vision “To be the world’s most dynamic science company, creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere.” Then he introduced “Three Growth Strategies”:
i) Put our Science to work
ii) Go where the Growth is
iii) Use the power of One DuPont

He explained the key drivers of BioFuels, i.e. Energy security / energy diversity, CO2 reduction, Sustainability, Low cost carbon and Best option for transportation market. He summarized Biofuels in 3 points:
i) Strong belief in the future of biofuels
ii) Committed to decoupling food and fuel supply chains
iii) Technology is still in its early stages but advancing rapidly

Dr. Muzyka introduced Photovoltaics Market and Industry. Then he stated the technology of Solar cell including:
i) Encapsulation
ii) Metallization
iii) Backsheets
Lastly, he said that we’re turning solar possibilities into everyday realities.

The second speaker was Prof. Junhao Chu (Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Director of Shanghai Center for Photovoltaics, China) and his presentation entitled “Photovoltaic – a New Active Opportunity in China”.

Prof. Cui gave introduction of the photovoltaic industry and market development in China. The following photos show the distribution of Solar Energy in the World and in China, respectively.

Then he presented different technologies of solar cell. And he pointed out several problems as follows:
i) Backward Technology:
· Energy consumption for the world’s advanced level of 1.5 to 2 times
ii) Pollution:
· Tail gas recovery and circulating utility
iii) Small Industry Scale:
· The capacity is 400t and the actual output is 300t in 2006
iv) Cheap Substitute Technology

He mentioned “The a-Si Thin Film Solar Cell Industry is developing quickly because of low cost”. And “The module price may be 1~1.5 $ / Wp in the future with the development of technology and supply of crystal silicon materials.”

Finally, he summed up the key factors for technology development tendency:
i) Continuously improve the efficiency;
ii) Continued reduce thickness of wafer;
iii) Enlarge the economics of scale to reduce costs;
iv) Continuously improve industrialization technology.

The third speaker was Dr. Thomas Hinderling (CEO, Swiss Centre for Electronics & Microtechnology, Inc. (CSEM), Switzerland). His topic was “Solar Island”.

Dr. Hinderling described the energy coming the sun was enormous but area density of this energy (~ 1 Kilowatt per square meter) was limited. Therefore, he raised two problems had to be solved:
i) Very large “free” surfaces with high solar irradiation required to be found
ii) Solar energy required to be cost-competitive to today’s energy sources – without government subsidies

Needed surface for PV power generation to supply Hong Kong was almost its total area!

He proposed to use a huge Solar Islands on High Sea and/or on Land to collect sunlight. A prototype had being constructed in Ras al Khaimah, U.A.E.

APP International Photovoltaic Reliability Workshop (II)

Some key points of each topic in the workshop organized on 5 Dec 2008 are summarized as follows:

The first speaker was Dr. Hong Yang (Xi’an Jizotong University) and his topic was “Quality Control in the Module Production”.

He introduced the IQC of cell testing and sorting as follows:
i) Efficiency under STC
ii) Current measurement at 0.5V under STC
iii) Current measurement at 0.5V under Non-STC
iv) Shunt resistance testing (1500 Ohm.cm2)
v) Reverse current testing
The general standards for solar modules were introduced:
i) Visual inspection
ii) Insulation test
iii) Performance test
iv) Energy production forecast
v) Reliability (30 years)
vi) Micro-crack check-up
vii) Colour sorting
viii) Mechanical conformity

He reviewed the causes of power degradation were:
i) Performance degradation of encapsulation materials
ii) Soldering
iii) Moisture ingress
iv) Inherent device performance degradation


The second speaker: Mr. GuangChun Zhang’s representative (Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd.).
Topic: “Common Problems and Their Solutions in the Manufacturing of PV Modules”.

He introduced two phases of degeneration of PV modules output power. They were “early LID” and “modules ageing LID”. He proposed solutions to LID of PV modules for improving Cz-Si quality:
i) Improve Cz-Si bar quality with MZC technique
ii) Use N-type P-doped wafer
iii) Change P-type dopant from Boron to Gallium

At last, the representative concluded the following points:
i) During pulling period of Cx-Si, gallium is doped instead of boron without increasing production cost.
ii) Ga-doped cells have good conversion efficiency which is not inferior compared with B-doped Cz-Si.
iii) There is very low or no degeneration of Ga-doped Cz-Si cells and modules.


The third speaker: Mr. Andreas Kuhlen (Director, Global Sales & Marketing – CTS Group).
Topic: “Durability Testing Concepts for the PV Industry”.

He defined the term “Durability” – The ability of a material, component or product to resist wear, decay, etc., under conditions of stress and/or time. For PV, “environment” might include extra-terrestrial or terrestrial outdoor exposure. He also stated the following durability test methodologies:
- ALT (Accelerated Life Tests)
- HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Tests (product robustness))
- ESS (Environmental Stress Screening)
- HASS (Highly Accelerated Stress Screening (infant mortality)
- HAST (Highly Accelerated Stress Test)
- CALT (Calibrated Accelerated Life Tests)

The following figure shows the Weatherability / Environmental Durability factors.

The forth speaker: Dr. John Pern (Senior Scientist II, National Center for Photovoltaics, National Renewable Energy Laboratory).
He presented a topic entitled “Stability Issues of Transparent Conducting Oxides (TCOs) for Thin-Film Photovoltaics”.

Dr. Pern introduced TCO in the different PV applications based on TCO’s performance, cost and thin-film PV fabrication sequence factors. He described the stability of Thin Film PV which had two aspects (Absorber vs. TCO):
For Absorber: CIGS, CdTe, Organic (OPV)
- Sensitivity to moisture at elevate temperature
For TCO: stability concerns as contact electrode or buffer lary or internal reflector
- Sensitivity to moisture and applied voltage at elevated temperature.

The following is an example of different morphological degradations under Damp Heat (DH)

Finally, he suggested some solutions which were being investigated for CIGS, a-Si and OPV.

- Use ITO to replace Al-doped ZnO

- More DH-stable TCOs – InZnO, InGaZnO (but expensive!)

- Mitigation ZnO with Barrier Coating

- Moisture-blocking polymeric topcover


The fifth speaker: Mr. Liang Ji (Research Engineer, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.).
Topic: “New Topics of IEC PV Module Standard Development”.

He introduced the IEC Organization for PV via the following figure.

The terms were revealed:
IECEE – International Electrotechnical Commission System for Conformity Testing and Certification of Electrical Equipment
NCB – National Certification Body
CTL – Committee of Testing Laboratories
CBTL – Certification Body Testing Laboratory
ETF 9 PV – Expert Task Forces 9 Photovoltaics
MTL – Manufacturers’ Testing Laboratory
FIC – Factory Inspection Committee

Finally, he pointed out that there was no test or requirements for EVA. More and more new materials would come out; new tests would be required to be developed.


The sixth speaker: Mr. Wei Chen (Vice President, China Quality Certification Centre).
Topic: “System and Procedure of PV Product Certification in China”.

Firstly, He introduced CQC Mark Certification System.

Then he showed us the China certification and accreditation system.

He said 4 China PV testing laboratories signed the testing standard contract with CQC by now and they were:
i) No.18 Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation
ii) Shanghai Institute of Space Power-source
iii) Chinese Academy of Sciences Solar Power Generation Systems and Wind Power System, Quality Test Centre
iv) Shenzhen Electronic Product Quality Test Centre

Lastly, he concluded “Thin-film solar cell is the future of solar cell and BIPV is the future of thin-film solar cell.”

The seventh speaker: Mr. HaiYan Qin’s representative Mr. Wang (China General Certification Center, Shanghai, China).
Topic: “PV Quality Certification Status and Development of China”.

He introduced the certification and accreditation management mechanism in China and then he explained the PV certification structure.

Finally, he shared several research achievements and results such as “Village-Village Electrification” forerunner project in Tibet, “San Jiang Yuan” project in Qinghai province and “New Village Construction” project in China.

The eighth speaker: Mr. Yu Xue (China National PV Products Test Centre).
Topic: “Current Status of National PV Quality Test Center at Wuxi”.

He introduced the process of centre establishment and their testing capability including PV cell and module, energy storage cell, etc.

The ninth speaker: Mr. Gong Daoren (Yangzhou PV & LED Test Centre).
Topic: “State Key Laboratory of PV & LED Testing”.

He said that “China is a large country of PV manufacture, but not a large end-user, more than 95% of the PV products were exported.” Then he affirmed the aims:
i) Become a leading PV testing lab around the world
ii) One testing result according to one standard in our lab recognized around the world
iii) Become CBTL authorized by IEC

He introduced the PV module testing and certification in his centre.

Lastly, he reported the current status of PV Lab that their quality management system has been built according to ISO/IEC 17025 and the requirement of IEC CBTL. All equipment would be arrived the laboratory continually before Jan 2009.


The tenth speaker: Dr. Xu who represented Prof. Xu Honghua (Institute of Electrical Engineering / Chinese Academy of Science).
Topic: “Research on Grid-connected PV System in China”.

He introduced the solar energy and development potential of PV system in China as follows:
i) Installed area and planning of BIPV in China
ii) Research on key technology and equipment such as components used for BIPV and concentration of light technology
iii) Sunpower tracker system
iv) PV grid-connected inverter
v) Ultra scale PV grid-connected inverter
vi) MW scale BIPV grid-connected Plant

He also shared the application of PV system in Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.


The eleventh speaker: Mr. Lai represented Mr. KeQin Wang (Chief Engineer, Shenzhen Electronic Product Quality Testing Center).
Topic: “Partial Discharge Test to Back Sheet in PV Module”.

He introduced the discharge mechanism of partial discharge (PD) as below:
i) PD usually begins within voids, cracks or inclusions within a solid dielectric.
ii) PD within an insulating material are usually initiated within gas-filled voids within the dielectric
iii) The electric field (or the voltage stress) appearing across the void is significantly higher than across an equivalent distance of dielectric.

He also introduced the testing procedure in IEC 61730 (Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification).

The twelfth speaker: Mr. ZhengQi Tang (Shanghai Electric Power Green Energy).
Topic: “Research on Megawatt ON-Grid PV Power Generation”.
He introduced the factors which would affect PV Power Generation and its application perspective.

The thirteenth speaker: Ms. Cecile Warner (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, DOE).
Topic: “BIPV and the Solar Decathlon” and “BIPV Market Growth and the Role of Reliability”.

She introduced the objectives of Solar Decathlon and the rules for participants. The competition is to design, build and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.

The second topics was the BIPV Market. She introduced Professor Kosuke Kurokawa who was the first scholar to develop the R&D proposal regarding the grid-connected concept of residential PV systems in 1977. BIPV Reliability and Maintainability were concerned.

Lastly, she concluded:
i) More than 10GW or BIPV will be installed in 5 years
ii) BIPV market growth is both good news and a call to action.
iii) NREL invites industry and laboratory colleagues around the world to join in the assessment.

The fourteenth speaker: Mr. Wu Guoliang (VP, Trony Solar).
Topic: “BIPV Module Manufacturing and Quality Control”.

He introduced different BIPV modules including dot-transparent a-Si solar PV insulated-laminated glass, shutter a-Si solar PV laminated glass and shutter a-Si solar PV insulated glass, etc.

He also briefed us several success cases.

The last speaker of day two was Mr. Wei Chen (Solarfun Power Holding Co., Ltd.) and his topic was “Performance Reliability Evaluation of BIPV Modules and Systems”.

He introduced the process of crystalline silicon BIPV Module Production. Moreover, he summarized several problems, including:
i) Glass Self-breaking
ii) UV-Browning
iii) Temperature (Over-heating of the BIPV module in the summer)
iv) Un-identical radiation for modules in the PV system
v) Accumulation of dust

After the workshop, I visited CMA-TCL (Shanghai) and had dinner with Mr. Benson Lee (GM, CMATCL – Shanghai) in that night.