Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works

PVrosion: Accelerated Corrosion Blind Spots Inherent to Photovoltaic Systems' Operation and Undetected DC Faults - Trojan horse for Deteriorating the Integrity of Critical Infrastructures and Buildings, is a 2019 project funded by the Research and Innovation Foundation of Cyprus. The project elaborates on a new issue that progressively receives attention by the photovoltaic (PV) installation industry and critical infrastructure's operators. It specifically introduces “DC stray current corrosion blind spots” that are inherent to PV systems' earthing and associated DC ground fault detection mechanisms. Blind spots arise as the existing protection thresholds for DC leakage currents have been based on other issues, such as fire or personnel safety. Using soil and concrete as conductive mediums, DC leakage currents can stray out of the area of PV installations and interfere with nearby third-party critical infrastructure. This article presents an overview of the project activities, attainments and intended outcomes.

The ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment (ECoE) that will be established through the EXCELSIOR project will provide cutting-edge Earth Observation (EO) research in Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa (EMMENA) region, Europe and Internationally for the benefit of the environment and society. The ECoE will focus on the thematic clusters of Environment and Climate, Resilient Society and Big Earth Data Analytics and conduct research and develop applications within the focus areas of climate change monitoring, disaster risk reduction, access to energy, water resources management and big EO data analytics. The ECoE can serve as an innovation gateway for Cyprus and EMMENA in the areas of Earth observation and remote sensing, thereby providing applications and services for issues that are unique to the EMMENA region. The success indicators to measure the ECoE’s sustainability are also discussed.

A statistical analysis and inter-comparison of the reflected radiation at two sites in Cyprus representing two different climate regimes of the island (Athalassa-inland plain vs Larnaca-coastal location) covering the period January 2013-December 2015 is presented. Mean annual and mean monthly daily totals of the reflected radiation and ground albedo as well as their frequency distribution are computed and discussed. The monthly means of reflected irradiance range from 50 to 120 W m -2 at Athalassa, while at Larnaca they range between 50 and 140 W m -2 . The mean annual albedo for Athalassa is 0.202 which coincides with the most common value given in the literature, while for Larnaca it is higher (0.221). The higher value at Larnaca is attributed to its alluvial (silty sandy) soil which has higher reflectivity compared to the calcarenite (calcium carbonate) soil at Athalassa. The lowest values of albedo at Athalassa, are observed around noon and the higher values in the morning and afternoon. The highest values are obtained in January and February and the lowest in May and June when global solar irradiance have its higher values. On the other hand, we observe an increasing trend from the morning towards the afternoon hours at Larnaca throughout the year. The maximum of daily reflected irradiation is about 6.5 MJ m -2 at Athalassa and about 7.5 MJ m -2 at Larnaca. The monthly mean daily values of albedo at Athalassa range between 0.175 to 0.224, while at Larnaca they are higher ranging from 0.198 to 0.239. As a result of the differences of the global and reflected radiation of the two sites, the net shortwave irradiation at Larnaca is slightly higher than that at Athalassa, almost throughout the year.