Insurance

In the run-up to pv magazine’s quality roundtable at Intersolar Europe, we look at a case where a production error resulted in cold solder joints in 5% of the solar modules across a 50 MW project portfolio. We consider how to come to an agreement with a manufacturer to replace modules in such a situation and how such a solution compares with a production audit before installation.

Often, it is not inverter faults that frustrate customers – such things happen – it is poor customer service. Here we look at the first of a series of cases that will be discussed at the pv magazine quality roundtable planned for Intersolar Europe, in Munich, which indicates what the industry must avoid in future.

With competition on the module market as cutthroat as ever, manufacturers are increasingly looking to emphasize the quality and reliability of their products and services as a differentiator. pv magazine investigates what’s behind some of these claims, and the move from manufacturers to more sophisticated quality assurance methods.

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.

Insurance is seldom sexy but climate change campaigners will raise a glass to Munich Re if the industry emulates its policy to cap the financial risk related to battery warranties and helps lift global investment in energy storage as a result.

The California senator has joined former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg among the latest high-profile backers of a climate-jobs-infrastructure-social safety net concept, of which 100% renewable energy may be the least ambitious component.

The funds will be used by the Argentinian government for solar and other renewable energy projects selected in the third round of the program. The guarantee package was approved by the World Bank in March.

Big players such as Acme, ReNew, Adani, Azure, Hero Future and Aditya Birla Solar are likely to stay away from procurement which requires 3 GW annual manufacturing commitment, says industry insider Gopal Lal Somani.

The Japanese government said the recent publication of a quality-evaluation guide for solar projects will ensure the long-term sustainability of the country’s PV sector, partly by improving maintenance standards, while serving as a potential boon for investment in the relatively dormant secondary market for operational installations.

Wildlife vandalism is the least of the worries afflicting PV system owners in India, according to a report which exposes cost-cutting in installation, non-existent warranties, serious safety concerns and improbable performance figures.