Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

Europe’s leading PV role is rapidly being fulfilled by Asia, writes NPD Solarbuzz senior analyst, Michael Barker. Despite this, there are opportunities for Europe to rebound strongly, if positive policy is developed. However, he cautions that the impact of the trade wars cannot be underestimated.

China’s domestic market is not the only photovoltaic area expected to boom in 2013. Based on monthly analysis from the Solarzoom Data Research Centre, January saw global photovoltaic module deliveries increase by 42% over December.

Oil giant Shell has been making headlines with the release of its latest attempts to gaze into the crystal ball and predict the world’s energy mix for the decades ahead. Counter-intuitively, one of the two New Lens Scenarios’ compiled by the oil giant predicts that solar power will, eventually, become the world’s dominant source of energy, supplying almost 40% of electricity by 2060. Odd that, given the company’s decision to turn its back on renewables in 2009.

According to the Bulgarian Photovoltaic Association (BPVA), the market potential for photovoltaic systems installed on rooftops in Bulgaria is very limited, due to the cumbersome bureaucratic procedures and technical barriers. Maria Maltseva, editor in chief of Bulgaria’s Greentech.bg outlines the hurdles and discusses two options where installations do make sense.

Last week, the German Federal Minister for the Environment announced the surprise proposal to introduce a so-called "electricity price protection". This would be catastrophic for the development of renewable energies. However, the chances of success for his proposal are quite limited.

Industry observers and sources are optimistic about photovoltaic module shipments at the start of Q1 2013. Prices are appearing to stabilize, overall markets are experiencing intense demand, and there are no signs of the inventory glut seen just a couple of months back, writes SolarPVInvestor’s Robert Dydo. He discusses the current quarter possibilities, and takes a look at Q4 shipments.

With the close of 2012, one of the most difficult years for the PV industry has come to an end. The good news was that 2012 demand did not decline. However, the bad news was that the market did not grow to levels that would have largely corrected the industry’s supply/demand imbalance.