Issue 09 / 2011
From the Editor
A sunny autumn? |
Page: 3 |
Markets & Trends
China introduces FIT China: The announcement on August 1 that China would put in place a feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme made the PV industry sit up and take notice. But what impacts will the FIT decision have on the worldwide PV market and which firms... |
Page: 16 |
Rising above the crowd |
Page: 20 |
India beckons |
Page: 24 |
Out of the shadows |
Page: 26 |
The Persian sun |
Page: 32 |
Keeping the cowboys out of the solar rush |
Page: 40 |
Small but beautiful |
Page: 46 |
The service advantage |
Page: 50 |
See you in Hamburg |
Page: 58 |
Solar PV competing in the energy sector |
Page: 62 |
Spot market for PV panels: Cautious optimism |
Page: 64 |
Generous payment terms |
Page: 66 |
Uncertain margin outlook |
Page: 68 |
All bets are off |
Page: 70 |
Industry & Suppliers
Global ambitions Taiwan: Export industries in the island economy have progressed since the 1960s from petrochemicals to semiconductors, then to electronics and now energy and PV. At least that is how the logical progression was set out in the... |
Page: 74 |
A thin film frontier Japan: Previously having only a relatively minor slice of the thin film PV market, Solar Frontier has not been making too many waves. But from their coastal city Miyazaki in southern Japan, the company is raising new facilities... |
Page: 78 |
A question of survival |
Page: 86 |
Successful maverick |
Page: 92 |
Storage systems bolster solar Storage systems: Storage technology solutions are emerging in the U.S. solar market as something like the second punch in a boxer’s one-two knockout combination, delivering a hard-fought win for solar project economics. |
Page: 96 |
Smart energy Interview: ProxEnergy is a young company that has been established by a man who has had years of experience in the solar industry. Knowing that current grids are not designed for bi-directional transport of electricity and... |
Page: 100 |
Femtosecond pulses |
Page: 104 |
The right module making strategy |
Page: 106 |
New lamination concepts |
Page: 116 |
Oven with pitfalls |
Page: 120 |
Optimum weight loss |
Page: 124 |
Perfect wafers |
Page: 130 |
Educating customers and learning from them Backsheets: Michele Vannini from Coveme focuses on PV backsheet manufacturing and uses the company as a case study to examine testing methods, advances in materials, and the relationship between backsheet manufacturers and their... |
Page: 136 |
Enormous cost pressure |
Page: 140 |
Three tips |
Page: 144 |
Applications & Installations
Off-grid maximum power point tracking |
Page: 170 |
Reduced performance |
Page: 174 |
Up on the roof |
Page: 178 |
A dangerous connection |
Page: 184 |
GPS against theft |
Page: 190 |
Needle in a haystack |
Page: 194 |
Rotterdam Central project |
Page: 202 |
Reborn green |
Page: 206 |
Research & Development
Evolution marches on |
Page: 210 |
Ammonium hydroxide attacks panels Module test: Aggressive ammonium hydroxide develops in livestock barns, which may lead to corrosion on solar panels. Various institutions in Germany, among them the German Agricultural Society DLG and TÜV Rheinland, have reacted... |
Page: 220 |
Portable, shapeable, durable |
Page: 224 |
Financial & Legal Affairs
Carbon dioxide to solar home systems |
Page: 232 |