Balance of Systems

Solar materials producer DuPont Photovoltaics Solutions to cooperate with Internet of Things pioneer in big energy data Envision to develop effective degradation analysis for solar modules.

The past year has been an exciting period for proponents of floating solar. A range of new projects and pilots have been announced across the globe over the past 12 to 14 months, with IHS Markit’s Solar Deal Tracker now listing floating PV installations in 24 countries throughout the world, all in varying stages of development.

Annual International Roadmap for Photovoltaics, compiled by the German production equipment industrial association (VDMA), reveals slowdown in module price reduction for 2017 in contrast to significant market increase that saw module production capacity rise above 130 GW.

In an interview with pv magazine, SolarPower Europe CEO, James Watson explains how the Clean Energy Industrial Forum (CEIF) set up by the EU is paving the way for a resurgence of the European solar industry. Representatives from politics and industry met last Friday in Brussels to discuss how to further proceed.

While President Trump has a range of options, all likely scenarios seem likely to result in a modest increase in the cost of solar installations.

Last year saw record levels of global solar tracker shipments, reports GTM Research. It forecasts even bigger growth in 2018, despite continued consolidation. NEXTracker held on to the top spot once again, while Latin America became the biggest market.

Solar tracker makers are bringing specially designed models to the market in order to embrace the coming wave of bifacial panels. While bifacial panels may capture up to 10% more light than monofacial panels, single-axis trackers typically add 25% to that bifacial gain, resulting in a roughly estimated 12.5% gain from the two technologies combined, compared with fixed installs using monofacial panels.

Minister for road transport, Nitin Gadkari drops plans to introduce national policy to support growth of electric vehicles in surprising reversal on earlier ambitions.

The Swedish storage developer will receive the loan funds via the European Commission’s InnovFin fund, which is part of the Energy Demo Projects facility.

Soiling and solar: No two solar plants are ever the same, and the conditions that can impact energy yield can literally change with the wind. Soiled solar modules had long been considered a minor nuisance for the sector, but as understanding of how soiling affects output improves, so have techniques and technologies to tackle the persistent problem of dirty modules.