Magazine Archive 07-2018

While Latin America’s PV markets are not immune from the most common quality issues related to PV products and projects, extensive track records or statistics on cases of poor quality are difficult to come by. A few international and local entities operating from Chile to Mexico are currently dealing with product certification, international standards, and research on specific cases. This, however, is not enough to improve conditions for more quality in all markets.

Floating PV systems have seen their dawn in South-East Asia and China in particular. Densely populated regions, resulting in high land prices and a comparatively high availability of otherwise not used water bodies made this solution and eyecatcher for many PV developers in the regions. At Intersolar Europe in Munich pv magazine met with a big fish in the floating PV field to talk about this new market.

Stability and reliability, partial transparency, monolithic deposition onto flexible substrates, aesthetically pleasing appearance, applicability in roll-to-roll production, superior temperature coefficient, potential in tandem applications, and suitability for BIPV: The list of advantages that CIGS technology offers is well established and lengthy.

With production and capacity figures provided by industry analyst IHS Markit, pv magazine gives a rundown of the top ten crystalline silicon module manufacturers based on 2017 production data, and a look at the market forces and technology trends that shaped the supply landscape.

pv magazine caught up with Alex Pan, Europe General Manager at SolaxPower to discuss the storage inverter supplier’s shift from single to three phase inverters, alongside its latest innovations and market position.

Tom Lindberg of renewable energy consultancy ECOHZ explains how energy providers can secure an additional income through various schemes governing guarantees of origin.

Having worked on modeling a 100% renewable energy world for almost a decade, Mark Jacobson is well aware that many view such a clean energy system to be a pipe dream. In 2017 Jacobson, a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, took on his critics, suing the academics who had heavily criticized his “100 Renewable world!” paper, and the publishing journal for $10 million for defamation. pv magazine met with Professor Jacobson last month to discuss the energy transition, and his vision for a 100% renewable powered world by 2050.

Energy storage is here to stay, no doubt about that. We know where to put excess energy from a solar installation; but where in a system should the battery be placed? On the AC side, where the stored power is ready to flow into the grid at a moment’s notice, or on the DC side, where current from solar panels can flow directly into the battery?