Balance of Systems

The Swedish Electrical Safety Agency has ruled that some SolarEdge optimizers and one string inverter from Growatt do not meet its electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements – halting their sale in the country. SolarEdge expressed surprise at the banning and claims that the complaints filed with the Electrical Safety Agency came from a handful of amateur radio operators.

In a draft of the Build Back Better infrastructure plan released by the Senate Finance Committee, domestic manufacturing of solar PV and balance-of-system components would qualify for incentives.

Developed by Spanish manufacturer Alusín Solar, the new mounting system is claimed to be, currently, the only one on the market that provides six fixing points for a solar panel in ballast-secured structures.

The merging of both manufacturers could create a new world market leader. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2022.

The European Commission has published its second annual assessment of the competitiveness of the EU’s renewable energy technology industries, and it had a warning for policymakers about the trade balance trend being experienced by heat pump makers.

Vilnius-headquartered Solitek is preparing to ramp its output next year on the back of rising orders in Scandinavia, and says its new partnership with New York-based Convalt Energy will reduce its dependence on Asian semiconductors and solar cells.

The Spanish company recorded more than half of its year-to-date revenue in the last quarter alone – and secured a 700 MW solar project capacity order in the U.S. in September – but still shed €100,000 in the last three-month window as its nine-month net losses hit €20 million.

The Euro trade body has promised to monitor the developing solar jobs market annually from now on, and pointed to Poland’s position at the top of the tree of EU member states for PV jobs last year as evidence the technology can still benefit from legislative backing.

The horizontal single-axis tracker has the typical size of 195×2.5m and its tracking range is 55 degrees. The new product is an evolution of the company’s two-in-portrait solution and was conceived to meet the increasing demand for one-in-portrait trackers.

Industrial shutdowns and reduced factory production capacity levels indicate the companies producing the raw materials used by solar manufacturers are being afflicted by electricity consumption measures just as other sectors are. It is not clear whether the solar industry will be afforded any favors by Beijing, as analyst Frank Haugwitz explains.