High-concentrator photovoltaic (HCPV) power plants are inherently different from conventional photovoltaic (PV) power sources due to the use of concentrator modules and two-axis solar trackers. HCPV technology is a relatively new energy source; therefore, there is limited experience in its application in power plants. Bearing this in mind, this chapter aims to provide information about the special features and performance of HCPV power plants under real operating conditions. The analysis of current concentrator modules and solar trackers is addressed to achieve a better understanding of the main characteristics of this kind of systems. In addition, different methods for estimating the energy yield of an HCPV system or power plant are discussed. This is a crucial task to analyse the potential of such emerging technology. Finally, several HCPV power plants and relevant data concerning their energy yield and performance ratio (PR) are described and commented.

Currently, the increasing energy consumption around the world and the environmental impact resulting from the use of fossil fuel-based energy have promoted the use of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic solar energy. The main characteristic of this type of energy is its unpredictability, as it depends on meteorological conditions. In this sense, monitoring the power generation of photovoltaic systems (PVS) in order to analyze their performance is becoming crucial. The purpose of this paper is to design a monitoring system for a residential photovoltaic self-consumption system which employs an Internet of Things (IoT) platform to estimate the photovoltaic power generation according to solar radiation and temperature. The architecture of the developed prototype will be described and the benefits of providing the use of IoT for monitoring will be highlighted, since all data collected by the data acquisition system (DAS) may be stored in the Cloud. The comparison of the results with those of other monitoring systems was very positive, with an uncertainty that complies with the IEC61724 standard.

This work describes an educational experience in which personal learning environments (PLEs) were created as a tool for the acquisition of subject contents in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. For this, the same methodology was developed for different subjects in order to teach the use of some digital tools, learn about the concepts related to the PLE, and apply the PLE to educational content promoting sustainable learning. Two questionnaires were designed to obtain information about the tools, activities, and subjects. The results of the questionnaires were analyzed using the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test and Pearson’s correlation. Then, several factors and the relationships between them were defined. In addition, this paper shows that because the PLE is based on a learning model in which the learner is the protagonist, its use is linked to sustainable learning. Therefore, the use of PLEs allows the development of the competences of “collaborative work” and “information management and organization”, which are both related to sustainable learning. In addition, the use of PLEs promotes understanding of the subjects and academic results in the subjects.

Over the last decade, e-learning and the use of digital tools have received a great boost in higher education. This paper presents a content curation methodology to assess the acquisition of specific content and soft skills during the attainment of a Degree in Industrial Electronic Engineering at the University of Jaén. In this teaching–learning experience, 101 engineering students were involved in activities with digital tools related to content curation, and four steps were proposed: search, select, sense making, and share. As evaluation tools, a rubric and a questionnaire of the digital tools were proposed. Moreover, a curation index was defined in order to assess the degree of achievement of the content curation. The academic results after using the rubric were better than previous years. The average content curation index obtained was 53.53. Of the four evaluated steps, search and sense making had the lowest scores and, therefore, these steps should be further developed in the future. In addition, the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test and Pearson’s correlation were used for analyzing the results of the questionnaires. It was concluded that the experience had a great impact on the skills related to collaborative work, digital information management, and lifelong learning, which are transversal skills at the university level. Thus, the results highlight the great educational potential of content curation.

No abstract