Intersolar 2015

The company will become one of the main PV suppliers in Brazil after entering into agreements to deliver Chinese-made modules for several winning projects in the country’s latest solar auction.

One week after closing its doors for the 8th time, Intersolar North America has reported modest visitor growth and a slight decline in exhibitors over 2014. Solar Promotion has reported that the 8th annual Intersolar North America attracted around 18,000 visitors across three days, up around 1,000 on the previous year.

Reviewing this year’s Intersolar North America, Deutsche Bank concludes that global solar demand is “robust,” despite the “worse than expected” recent U.S.-Sino tariff decision. Yieldcos are set to continue to boost the industry, while inverter competition is said to be intensifying.

The number of suppliers from outside of the U.S. pushing into the North American PV market is increasing at a rate of knots. Intersolar North America has seen established players from Japan pushing into the market and Chinese suppliers expanding their product range.

Introduced at Intersolar North America, the 1,500 V panel has been specifically designed for use in larger solar plants and to reduce balance-of-system costs for the developer.

U.S. utility-scale solar PV systems are “significantly” more cost-effective than those for residential rooftop, concludes a study by the Brattle Group. Under its scenarios, 50% of carbon emissions are also avoided with utility-scale installations.

Speaking at the opening ceremony at the 8th annual Intersolar North America trade show and conference, Tesla founder and CTO JB Straubel delivered a bullish outlook for battery storage cost reductions, saying that it is set to be coupled with solar to revolutionize U.S. energy systems.

New project finance provider Open Energy Group believes vast potential of the U.S. commercial rooftop market is set to be tapped. Financing can be extended to solar+storage projects.

Following speculation, Intersolar Europe and EU PVSEC will join forces in June 2016. The merger will see the Intersolar tradeshow and storage conference run concurently with, yet independently from, EU PVSEC’s R&D conference.

Led by the charge of Tesla’s headline-hogging Powerwall announcement, the selection of storage technologies unveiled at this year’s Intersolar Europe was refreshingly innovative, says IHS’s Sam Wilkinson.