Reinventing the wheel
Flywheel storage: Amber Kinetics is the winner of 2017’s Array Changing Technologies Award, chosen by an independent jury of industry experts as the most exciting technology in the downstream sector. pv magazine caught up with cofounder and CEO Ed Chiao to discuss the technology’s potential and what Amber Kinetics has planned over the next few years.
Come together: consumption and generation
Inverters: SolarEdge was chosen as one of two runners up for the 2017 Array Changing Technologies award for its Smart Energy Management solution. Lior Handelsman, SolarEdge’s Founder and VP of Marketing and Product Strategy, says that the awards highlight the importance of integrating rooftop PV production with energy management within the home or business.
The guessing game goes on
So much of the solar industry hinges on educated guesses. Whether technical, political or financial, the winds of change that constantly blow across the bows of the PV world can always be felt, if not predicted. At the time of going to press, the impact – or lack thereof – of the Section 201 case […]
Step by steppe
Solar in Mongolia: Mongolia takes tentative steps with large-scale solar power plants, but the vast country of steppes and deserts is already the king of distributed solar power.
Solar SOS
Mobile solar: Instances of severe weather events have been more frequent and more visible across North America and the Caribbean these past few weeks. When disaster strikes, society springs into action, but one of the unsung heroes of the relief effort is mobile solar power, which can bring reliable and emergency electricity to regions cut off from the grid in an instant.
Dial n-type for high efficiency
Cell production: A focus on incremental improvements along the mainstream p-type PV cell pathway has been the dominant trend in manufacturing for some time. However, momentum is building for n-type cell architectures, paving the way for high efficiency concepts such n-type heterojunction and PERT.
Right on cue
Module demand: Third quarter on course to become year’s most prosperous for solar modules, following a rush of orders. Prices, however, will stay largely flat.
Renewables and mining
Remote off-grid systems: The mining industry creates the raw materials that make up the technologies powering the energy transition. For example, every megawatt of solar PV requires four metric tons of copper to build. Increasingly, these renewables are powering the mining operations that create their source material. However, transitioning the mining industry away from fossil fuels will require renewable developers to speak the language of miners, and to sell renewables on the value they provide beyond a lower cost of electricity.
Section 201: Clear and present danger
U.S. trade action: No one knows for sure what the ultimate outcome of the Section 201 investigation will be, but impacts are already being felt in the market, as both sides try to influence the outcome of the case.
Targeting quality at PV Taiwan
pv magazine Quality Roundtable: At the PV Taiwan exhibition, coming to Taipei in October, pv magazine will host the 8th edition of its Quality Roundtable. The event will focus on module and component reliability in humid and sometimes extreme weather conditions.
