Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

Give me my warranty!

By:  Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger

Faulty modules: First Solar had some problems in their production that affected their modules last year. Corrective action helped overcome the problem. The story unfolds as pv-magazine talks to the manufacturer and examines the...

Rotatable rotatables

Standardization in equipment communication

Dancing round the golden calf

Should you be verified?

A time of change

Discreet wiring

Outsourcing and streamlining

Light efficiency

By:  Jan Wieduwilt

Laser manufacturing: Lasers are vital tools for producing thin film modules. In particular, high-performance ultra short pulse lasers, which create pulses of a few picoseconds, allow for increased throughput and optimal...

No reflection please

By:  Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger

Anti-reflective coatings: An anti-reflective coating (ARC) can be important in increasing a module’s output power. pv magazine looks at some of the coatings and technology on the market, as well as the coming together of glass...

Through the Suntech looking glass

Thin film expansion

“The greatest capacity leap in PV history”

Going thinner

Robotically boxed

By:  Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger

Automated junction box assembly: With increasing pressure on manufacturers to cut costs and thus drive prices for solar modules down, one solution that has lent a hand is automation of the production line. One of the last...

A new prince in the inverter world

Distinctly India

By:  Jaideep Malaviya

Solar Industry Summit India: The summit laid the cards on the table, bringing to light the challenges within the domestic industry. Issues ranging from bankability to culprits for system failure were discussed. pv magazine...

Creating common standards

Mapping innovation

Thin, thinner, thinnest

Looking for a pension plan

Getting more out of the sun

Gaining clarity

What to do about PV waste?

Shine a light on plastics

Not falling through the cracks

By:  Stephanus Wansleben, Solsol

Optical wafer inspection: Metrology systems are available in the market for the tedious task of detecting errors in wafers before they get forwarded onwards in the manufacturing line.

Rectifying issues

Ready for the boom after the bust?

Time for new concepts

By:  Markus Steinkötter

Laminators: Lamination is one of the most advanced processes in module manufacturing, but there is still room for new ideas and materials. A report on technology, functions and the development of laminators in the solar industry...

Integrating the industry

“Nobody believed it”

From chips to cells

Speeding past the bottlenecks

Thin film takes the steering wheel

In search of a niche

By:  Hans-Christoph Neidlein

Fab Managers Forum: With intensified cooperation along the value chain, European cell and module manufacturers aim to lower costs while ensuring quality. To this end, they presented an International Technology Roadmap for...

Portraying development from a product point of view

The second edition of the PV Roadmap

In crisis or on the verge of a comeback?

Future in sight

Quality is key

ID, please

Take control

The knowledge factory

Completely rounded

It’s a control thing

Optimum optics

Portraying development from a product point of view

Reinventing stringers

By:  Markus Steinkötter,

Stringers: Conventionally, soldering (stringing) surely forms part of the first stage of module production. This article suggests that making stringing the last stage in cell production could open up new fields of learning, ones...

Perspectives and challenges

Are you a green hypocrite?

Much more than just ramping up production

Solar glass for solar industry

Precision coating

Supplying beyond

Chinese panels dominate the winners’ podium

By:  William Vorsatz

Industry ranking: Chinese crystalline module manufacturers have further developed their dominant position. They are scoring big through size and less expensive production. But even they are facing new difficulties: manufacturing...

The right price and quality

The race goes on

Sharpening silicon

By:  Sara Ver-Bruggen

Cell efficiency: Aside from reducing manufacturing costs, PV producers looking to retain a competitive edge are placing increasing importance on technologies that can enhance silicon cell power conversion efficiencies.

Moving away from film

Precision coating

Global ambitions

By:  Jonathan Gifford/Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger

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...

A thin film frontier

By:  Jonathan Gifford

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...

A question of survival

Successful maverick

Storage systems bolster solar

By:  Charles W. Thurston

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.

Smart energy

By:  Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger

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...

Femtosecond pulses

The right module making strategy

New lamination concepts

Oven with pitfalls

Optimum weight loss

Perfect wafers

Educating customers and learning from them

By:  Michele Vannini

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...

Enormous cost pressure

Three tips

From service provider to partner

New markets, new strategies

Rough diamond

By:  Sara Ver-Bruggen

Solar glass: Latest advances in TCO glass and coatings are forcing better efficiencies from thin-film silicon PV. While thin film PV’s market share today is shy of initial forecasts, this is an industry that is growing.

Leveling solar

By:  Valerie Thompson

Battery storage solutions: The combination of battery storage and photovoltaics has become a hot topic at industry conferences and exhibitions with the introduction of a range of new products and services targeted at utilities,...

Fine film with a big effect

By:  Wilhelm Stein

Crystalline cell technology: The anti-reflection coating fulfills a wide range of functions. The most important of these is its effect on the efficiency of photovoltaic cells. An overview of the latest developments in the...

The years of plenty are over

The power of software

Thin film to the outside world

By:  Hendrikus Salemink

Contacting thin film modules: Ribbons and junction boxes are necessary features for bringing the generated current from a thin film module to everyday usage. Depending on the thin film module technology used and the junction box...

Availability of indium and gallium

The materials game

JENOPTIK-VOTAN lasing technology

On-site generated fluorine

Moving into photovoltaics

GE goes with CdTe

Controlling the process

What robotics and automation ought to be

By:  Hendrikus Salemink

Robotics and automation: Capital investment savings of 23 percent and output per square meter gains of 30 percent would make most PV manufacturers sit up and take notice. But how can gains like this be achieved? pv magazine...

Top quality by fully automatic means

Making sense of chaos

By:  Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger

Automation standards: It has become common knowledge that with the implementation of automation, product quality significantly improves and costs can potentially be cut. Are standards in such automation necessary? What are the...

Engineering the future

The bankable junction box

Strengthening the recycling system

Saving silicon

Advance sales

Cell metallization

Three-dimensional enabler