Magazine Archive 04-2010

PV roadmap: The solar industry is coming together to become more competitive. Leading German and European cell manufacturers have formed a Crystalline Cell and Manufacturing Group (CTM), producing a joint “PV Roadmap for Crystalline Silicon”. The aim is to increase efficiency and cut costs by eight to 14 percent annually, until 2020.

Solar potential: A solar atlas is good not only for climate protection, but also for local business. By measuring roofs with aerial imaging technology, companies determine where exactly photovoltaics arrays make sense. In Germany, mayors and district administrators are vying for a spot on the waiting lists of companies that produce such atlases.

Interview: pv magazine asked Stuart Brannigan, managing director of Yingli Green Energy Europe, about the international environment in which the China-based company is operating.

Ardour solar index: Investors are shifting focus from the German FIT shock to increasing global installation demand.

Interview: Murphy & Spitz advises investors and manages sizeable investments for them in renewable energies. The company has now released an environmental analysis of manufacturing processes at six PV manufactures. Nicole Vormann, author of the study, sums up the findings: sometimes the companies have serious catching up to do.

Module prices: Following good sales figures in February, March was also promising. German buyers are boosting the industry‘s sales: winter is over and prices are falling.

Thin film photovoltaics: As the first photovoltaic equipment supplier worldwide, Roth & Rau has developed a turnkey plant for cadmium telluride modules. In cooperation with a Chinese partner, the enterprise is going to build a reference factory in east Germany. Later, Roth & Rau will sell its plant to solar companies and investors outside of the branch. As such the thin film market will be changeable for a long time to come.

Dear readers, Whether you like it or not, the globalization of the photovoltaics industry and markets is a reality and continues to progress. The question is how to make the best of the situation. China is an especially good example; more than half of Chinese PV firms went bankrupt in the first half of 2009 […]

As the first photovoltaic equipment supplier worldwide, Roth & Rau has developed a turnkey plant for cadmium telluride modules. In cooperation with a Chinese partner the enterprise is going to build a reference factory in east Germany. Later, Roth & Rau will sell its plant to solar companies and investors outside of the branch. As such the thin-film market will be changeable for a long time to come.

Marketing: Customers obtained on the strength of a referral are worth their weight in gold. They save solar contractors acquisition costs and usually have definite interest even before the first conversation. But a referral doesn’t have to be a lucky break. The solar industry in particular is very well suited for targeted referral marketing, and the method works for small companies completely without advertising slogans.