Discoloration and delamination (D&D) of encapsulant in a photovoltaic (PV) module affect the electrical characteristics. Therefore, in this study D&D-induced degradations are investigated with a 25-year-old PV module. The average power output of 25-year-old PV modules decreased by 17.9% compared to initial value. However, insulation properties have been stable over 25 years. Electroluminescence image shows that discoloration has an effect on the cell degradation. The effect of D&D on the light reflectance and transmittance is evaluated by performing a trapezoidal integration with the standard global reference spectrum. Failure analysis reveals that delamination occurs at the interface between encapsulant and solar cell and also shows that corrosion of solder occurred near delamination site
More at :http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026271413002370?np=y
Il s’agit d’un article présenté au Symposium européen sur la fiabilité des Electron Devices, Physique et analyse de défaillance

Valve had failed as a result of particles of material becoming trapped between the valve seat recess and the valve seat ball, leading to erosion of the valve seat recess, valve seat ball and the valve operating pin; this allowed hydraulic fluid to flow when the valve was nominally in the de-energised position.The material of construction of the valve seats was not compliant with engineering drawings.The investigation demonstrated the importance of maintaining the cleanliness of hydraulic systems and of the need to control the materials of manufacture in safety critical applications.