Magazine Archive 09-2014

Pakistan: With corruption and security issues an everyday concern for solar investors in Pakistan, a domestic developer believes that the reintroduction of a crippling tax regime could sound the death knell for utility-scale projects before any ground is broken.

Installation: U.S. solar installers and developers are being offered more assistance to help them shave critical minutes off the time required to properly install a fire-safe rooftop solar system. Ranging from new testing products for OEMs to self-testing for installers, the new offerings will facilitate OEM regulatory adherence and installer efficiency, and also help ensure bankability and return on investment.

Stringing and tabbing: Not always the best loved child of PV processes, cell assembly and interconnection, known as stringing, is crucial in terms of manufacturing quality and production efficiency. pv magazine investigates some of the latest innovations in the space.

Craneless maintenance: The new XEAnova tool from PV production supplier Von Ardenne has led the company’s latest pivot towards c-Si tool supply, delivering a vacuum coating technique that improves coating times and – most pertinent of all – removes the need for crane-based maintenance.

EU energy strategy: From currency to employment rights, European unity has proved workable on a number of important issues. Yet one of Europe’s most pressing concerns – energy – remains fragmented, lacking a binding strategy that could deliver a more sustainable, independent future. pv magazine finds a solar industry armed with the tools to engineer change, but asks: Is there sufficient political appetite to challenge the status quo?

Flashing: Partial shading, low light and diffuse light affect the I-V curve of solar PV cells and modules. Using LED flashers in the lab and on production lines may provide the answers.

Central America and the Caribbean: How can renewables meet the energy needs of a region dependant on fossil fuel? Carlos Albero and Daniel Barandalla of the global consultancy DNV GL examine the various ways PV is lighting the way forward in Central America and the Caribbean.

Solar cells: Laser marking and structuring for dielectric layers, laser drilling, laser firing and laser doping are needed for most modern and future solar cell concepts. Only an optimal process design enables cost effective process improvements. Jens Theobald, research engineer at the International Solar Energy Research Center Konstanz (ISC), Richard Hendel, Sales Manager for Photovoltaic Applications at Rofin-Baasel Lasertech, and Stephan Grosser, Team Leader, c-Si Defect Diagnostics, Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP, report on an approach using laser-ablation processes for current PERC solar cells and applications for emerging cell concepts, i.e. bifacial n-type solar cells.