Magazine Archive 09-2015

Interview: Rosa Tarragó, Head of Structured Finance at energy development company Sowitec talks about the company’s development in Mexico and why the country is so attractive.

The (northern hemisphere) summer months provide a rare opportunity for us in the industry to unwind and get away from the world of 24/7 solar. But if you’re anything like me, getting out to new parts of the world provides the opportunity to casually scour rooftops to get an idea of how solar is progressing […]

ITC: The Solar Investment Tax credit has been an important policy instrument under which solar has been developed. But is it crucial to the future growth of the U.S. solar market? Tom Starrs, SunPower’s vice president for market strategy and policy, believes that the large scale market will decline post ITC step down, after an artificial acceleration to finish projects, but that solar’s proven value will drive continued, steady growth.

PERC deployment: The solar industry remains sweet on passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) technology, which continues to enjoy increasing production volumes thanks to its excellent cost-performance ratio, writes Corrine Lin, PV analyst at TrendForce.

Microcracks: “If I don’t see it, it’s not there.” This rather puerile statement is very likely to apply to microcracks in the PV industry’s beginning stages. Now the solar sector has significantly matured and has the tools to spot and solve this important problem.

Solar pricing update: Renewable Analytics provides the first of a series of updates on wafer, cell and module pricing.

Thin film ranking: Remaining the minnow to crystalline silicon’s giant, thin film producers have been steadily losing market share. However, with two major producers continuing to execute on technology and project road maps, it should not be discounted.

Interview: The market for building-integrated PV (BIPV) has been anything but stellar. But there is some twinkle to the products Manz is turning out from its innovation line in Germany’s southwest. Bernd Sprecher and Christoph Schmidt spoke to pv magazine about its modules that can now be supplied in various colors, including gold.

African policy: The falling costs of solar energy technology, Sub-Saharan Africa’s vast solar resource, and the continent’s thirst for electricity have created expectations that the region might soon take the lead in solar PV growth. But are these expectations sensible or exaggerated?