Balance of Systems

While the lifting of any tariffs is welcome news to the U.S. solar industry, manufacturers say low materials prices are unlikely to return as long as protectionist measures elsewhere remain in place.

A combination of a heat sink effect, with radiation and passive convection heat dissipation results in cooler modules, and higher power output. This is the technique applied by Coolback, which launched its new backsheet concept at Intersolar Europe this week. Coolback Simon Meijer sets out the technology, effects and strategy to market.

The U.S.-based company, which is now supplying solar trackers for more than 400 MW of contracted projects in the U.K., Spain and Greece, will bolster its sales presence in Europe, where it anticipates a “solar renaissance.”

The device, conceived for large scale solar, is said to solve the instability issues associated with the two-modules-in-portrait structure and to have the largest south-north slope seen in the tracker industry.

Bifacial modules represent a growing proportion of leading manufacturers output each year, but the technology still poses questions for installations in the field. Using both sides of a module to generate power changes parameters across whole the PV system, and necessitates innovation from the manufacturers of trackers and system components. The potential for higher energy output is clear, but new standards and practices are needed to ensure systems get the most out of bifacial modules. At its Bifacial Tracker Evaluation Center (BiTEC) in Livermore, California, Soltec is working to ensure that opportunities provided by this technology are well and truly seized.

All the fundamentals are in place for Turkey to be a leading light in solar but an all-too-familiar lack of policy certainty, coupled with a troubled macroeconomic backdrop, mean the nation is still unable to realize its PV potential.

Celebrating its one year anniversary during Solarex, Turkish monitoring and AI startup Solarify is looking to reduce false alarms from utility scale PV projects. Based out of an incubator in Ege University in the coastal city of Izmir, Solarify is on the hunt for international partners.

The global market for solar trackers expanded by 20% in 2018, with total international shipments spiking 36% year-on-year to surpass the 20 GW mark, according to a new report by Wood Mackenzie. NEXTracker and Array Technologies maintained their industry dominance, but a number of smaller competitors claimed a greater share of the global market in the 12 months to the end of December than ever before.

Solargiga Energy Holdings has posted a net loss of CNY 222.4 million ($33.08 million) for 2018, a sharp reversal from the CNY 107.5 million net profit it recorded in the preceding 12-month period.