Islands of activity
Malta: A reliance on heavy oil imports for electricity production has seen Maltas electricity prices go through the roof. PV is therefore well positioned to make a large contribution across the archipelago nation. But a lack of space may put a break on its wide-scale application.
When will PV equipment spending rebound?
PV equipment: With PV equipment spending at an eight year low, and backlogs almost fully depleted, understanding when new order intake will resume and capital expenditures (capex) will be released remain the key questions for all equipment suppliers. Finlay Colville, Vice President of NPD Solarbuzz elaborates.
Two pillars maintain thin film presence
Industry ranking: Consolidation has continued to play out in the thin film sector, with the two thin film pillars First Solar and Solar Frontier maintaining the place of the technology in the broader PV market. Efficiency gains continue to be recorded and manufacturers operating at scale are realizing cost improvements.
Taking it to the bank
Bankability books: Financing counts. Its a statement that would surprise few in the PV world, but getting project finance at the right price can make a big difference to a projects bottom line. But how to do it best? Putting together a watertight case for project components is at least half of the battle and a comprehensive approach to documentation can go a long way. Enter bankability books, an emerging way to put the crucial information on the pathway to bankability down on paper.
Sleeping beauty
PV Investment Guide France: Investing in solar projects in France has become increasingly popular. Three experts, Xavier Daval, Paul Elfassi, and François Versini-Campinch, share their knowledge of the market with pv magazine.
Robots take over
PV installation: Thanks to advances in robotics and related technologies more aspects of solar PV power plant installation can be done more efficiently.
PV blackout
Spain: The Spanish government has struck the final blow against renewable energies and is cutting existing feed-in tariffs yet again. There are no licenses even for unsubsidized power plants. High fees turn the new own consumption regulations into a non-starter.
Putting the British in BIPV
BIPV: Provision of building-integrated PV and similar systems is becoming an important line of work for some of the UKs established solar companies and specialists.
PERCing up?
Lasers: Despite the downturn, high efficiency solar cell technologies, especially those based on passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) processing steps, are seeing more demand. The laser tool machine segment is at the vanguard of this trend.
LEDs copy the sun
Metrology: Higher solar cell efficiencies are essential for further cost reduction of PV electricity. But the way efficiency is measured also has to keep up with the increasing requirements of the maturing PV industry. The CEO of Wavelabs, Dr. Torsten Brammer, and Christian Leers of Accelios Solar report on the benefits and challenges of replacing conventional Xenon lamps in solar simulators with LED technology.
