Cathleen Maleenont has led Thai Solar Energy PCL for more than a decade, steering the company to its position at the forefront of renewables development in the Asia-Pacific region. After selecting Huawei to be its technology partner for what will be Japan’s largest solar plant, Maleenont has quite literally decided to take Huawei’s solutions home with her, by installing them as part of her own personal solar system.

Solar module technology has been advancing in both power output and size. With the range of available formats bigger than ever before, the PV industry cannot afford a one-size-fits-all approach. For mounting system manufacturers, demand is high for systems that flexibly adapt to different module dimensions while minimizing the risk of cell damage. In the following interview, IBC Solar discusses its new roof mounting system and the features which make it adaptable to modules with lengths from 1,500 to 2,100 mm and widths from 980 to 1,150 mm.

The move by hydropower leader Statkraft to acquire Solarcentury in late 2020 brought solar front and center to its renewables strategy. Christopher West, the head of central engineering for Statkraft’s solar engineering division, says that flexibility and the ability to adapt to specific site and market conditions are dictating project development in Europe.

While Covid-19 has dominated news headlines and government policy for most of 2020-2021, last year was also a landmark one for renewable energy. With many global economies poised to bounce back, governments are looking more closely than ever at how to make the necessary recovery as green as possible. Solar has a key role to play, with record-low prices and timely innovations bringing confidence to its backers.

It takes deep commitment to innovate in PV’s rapidly changing landscape. Huawei has continued the tradition for innovation in solar that it has built over more than a decade with the next frontier – dispatchable, smart PV power. Chen Guoguang, the president of Huawei Smart PV, elaborates on the importance of energy storage and Huawei’s vision in this field.

On July 22, 2021, Huawei brought together experts in the large-scale solar PV and battery storage markets to discuss industry trends, the additional revenue streams created by battery storage systems, and Huawei’s latest FusionSolar All-Scenario PV & Storage Solution.

Huawei brings to the market its latest-generation solutions for solar PV architecture, featuring not one but three new devices, which are designed to work together in a rather unique and intelligent fashion. The result is dramatic cost saving on the BoS side and much improved whole-system efficiency.

ARISE IIP has issued a call for tenders to develop a 390 MW PV plant coupled with a 200 MWh storage system. Interested companies have until July 20 to register their interest.

Solar supply chain transparency and sustainability has achieved table stakes status. How and where products are manufactured and by whom has hit our 24/7 news cycle. pv magazine’s UP Initiative partner, U.S. PV tracker manufacturer Nextracker Inc. is actively seeking to address the issue of responsible procurement and workers’ rights. As its director of sustainability points out, these matters come up more frequently in customer meetings which is a positive indication of the importance of sustainability on the agenda.

Increasing demands of the distributed generation market require unique solutions, both for commercial and residential customers. Meeting these is challenging when many PV modules aren’t compatible with the inverters, components, and mounting systems on the market. However, pv magazine’s Spotlight partner JinkoSolar Europe recently demonstrated how it is possible to take customer and developer considerations into account when designing products. In the following interview, Roberto Murgioni, Head of Technical Service & Product Management, discusses the company’s new Tiger Pro 415W high-efficiency module, and explains how stakeholders’ needs have been placed at the core of the design.