Quality

Tara Doyle started her career in the solar energy industry more than 15 years ago, and today serves as the chief commercial officer at PVEL, which claims to be one of the first testing laboratories to focus on bankability for the downstream PV buyer community. The lab serves developers, financiers, O&M companies, asset owners, and insurers.

New analysis predicts more than 150 GW of tracker capacity will be installed in the next five years – around a third of all ground mount projects up to 2024. Rapid growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and the better cost structures possible from combining trackers and bifacial modules are singled out as key trends.

A spokeswoman from the Chinese manufacturer of the Swan series of double-sided solar panels says monofacial modules will soon be consigned to residential use as the price gap between them and higher-yielding bifacial products rapidly closes.

The Chinese giant has argued its 166mm M6 product should be the new iteration used worldwide, even though larger products have been launched by rivals. Longi says the fact existing cell and module production lines can be adapted for the M6 means rising demand for solar worldwide can be swiftly satisfied.

The performance of the company’s Selectively Coated Ribbons was measured for more than a year in a field test. Heraeus says the yield gains are achieved by the device’s optical properties – said to enable improved reflection – even at low angles of incidence and in low-light conditions.

Two reports have described how the world’s largest renewable energy market is moving towards maturity. According to the Brookings Institution, the Chinese clean energy market could become more open to Western investors and tech. A report by Fitch claims projects are moving back to inland provinces from coastal regions.

The manufacturer says its Kwafoo product improves efficiency and, if used in the optimal p-type PERC type of panel, could boast a module output of 610 W.

MIT researchers say climate change could reduce the yield of solar modules. Analysis based on the warming scenarios outlined by the IPCC predicts in some areas the annual energy output of PV systems may fall by up to 50 kWh per kilowatt installed.

The Swiss equipment maker is instead preparing to commit its future to PV in its European heartland and will start with plans to help Norwegian module maker REC Solar embark on a gigawatt-scale production expansion.

It is not just the big beasts of Chinese solar that are investing in aggressive expansion as high-efficiency wafer maker NorSun and tracker supplier GameChange Solar make big announcements. The New York company, however, may fall foul of President Trump’s America First trade mantra by opening production lines in the Far East.