Issue 06 / 2012

06 / 2012

Solar superhero
Setting the solar story straight.

From the Editor

Solar Superhero is the better choice

Markets & Trends

Global feed-in tariff overview

Page: 16

Competing hard on price

Page: 18

Moderate drop in prices

Page: 20

Rationalization

Page: 22

Changing to adapt to new segments

Page: 24

Setting the solar story straight

Page: 26

Tempe, we have a problem

Page: 34

Domestic Content FIT eligibility

Page: 38

Contents under pressure

Page: 42

Bigger than ever

Page: 44

The slow move

Page: 48

Opening for business

Page: 50

Gigawatt dreams

Page: 54

Sino-African solar relations

Page: 56

More than green dreams

By:  Habib Ali/Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger

South Africa: As the PV industry feels the negative reverberations in Europe as a result of the cuts to the feed-in tariffs, South Africa has new PV plans in the pipeline and seeks to further the growth of solar generated...

Page: 60

The sun-blessed regions

Page: 64

“Yes, we are jealous”

Page: 68

PV’s next steps

Page: 70

Market change

Page: 72

The installer decides

Page: 76

The whole package

Page: 82

Industry & Suppliers

Switch from p to n

By:  Radovan Kopecek/Joris Libal

PV technology: A lot of research is being conducted on n-type silicon-based photovoltaic technologies. The results look promising and it might take a large slice of the market pie in the years to come.

Page: 86

A diversity of new processes

Page: 94

The potential for CIGS to cut costs

Page: 104

The solar window

Page: 108

The CMOS moment in solar

Page: 112

Fight for survival

Page: 116

The Indian case

Page: 120

Applications & Installations

Finely-tuned for performance

By:  Valerie Thompson

Tracker Market Overview: For a segment of the solar photovoltaic systems market whose future is constantly being called into question, the tracker segment remains surprisingly resilient. It might be a niche market, but it is now...

Page: 126

Lighting the way ahead

Page: 134

Ice in the tropics

Page: 138

Energy independence

Page: 140

Intersolar Europe

Intersolar 2012

Page: 144

Storage & smart grids

From power converter to energy manager

By:  Ina Röpcke

Self-consumption: Inverter manufacturers are responding to this new market segment. Some are equipping their devices to control electrical loads. Some are even including weather forecasts. Others are building complete systems...

Page: 196

Hoping for grid parity

Page: 202