Magazine Archive 11-2015

Southern Europe: The remuneration policy for solar PV is changing rapidly in Europe, and small arrays are no exception. According to European guidelines, feed-in tariffs are still possible, but tight public budgets and a period of prolonged economic crisis have turned governments instead towards net metering and self-consumption schemes. However, can these schemes drive large numbers of new PV installations?

CEO Interview: On the back of developing a data solution tailored for Europe’s largest PV power plant, France’s QOS CEO Franck Le Breton makes the case for a third-party solar data management system. It’s the Internet of Things and PV – together at last.

India: The Andhra Pradesh Solar Power Policy 2015 provides a number of incentives to support solar, while the first National Solar Mission bid under the Modi goverment was oversubscribed by more than 10 times. Both SMEs and multinationals have shown that they can submit commercially viable bids. Rödl & Partner’s Dharm Veer Singh Krishnawat sets out why he believes confidence is growing in Modi’s solar policies and why the goals of the new Andhra Pradesh Solar Power Policy are ambitious but achievable.

Lamination technology: New materials and processes are coming into the lamination technology segment of PV production. With these come challenges for technology providers, but they also present major opportunities for increased throughput and reductions in energy consumption. Robert Gaiser is the Project Manager for Lamination with Germany’s Bürkle, and he says flexibility of lamination tooling is also becoming important.

All Energy 2015: New federal government leadership has given fresh hope to the renewable and solar sector in Australia. This was reflected at the 2015 All Energy show, which bristled with energy and excitement and political VIPs. Energy storage was the center of the hype, but just which technology or supplier will rise to the top is anything but clear.

Taiwan post duties: Hit hard by U.S. duties, Taiwan’s solar industry has been forced to move beyond its well-established niche in PV cell manufacturing. The decision to internationalize production is also a big one. And the future is anything but clear.

Mono-Si: The sluggish growth of the mono-Si market this year is notable given the fact that many cell manufacturers had switched from multi-Si to mono-Si production in H2 2014. Statistical research conducted by EnergyTrend for the 2015 PV market finds that even though global demand has reached 53 GW, total mono-Si cell shipments worldwide may be lower than 10 GW. Cost is the deciding factor as is whether or not the mono-Si market can achieve higher growth in the future.

VC, M&A update: Fundraising activity in the third quarter of 2015 has been eventful, especially in the equity markets, which demonstrates how quickly sentiments can change in the solar sector. Mercom Capital’s Raj Prabhu tracks the deals.

It’s possible to own a piece of clothing or accessory for so long that it goes out of fashion, stays there some years, and then comes back into fashion: From faux pas to fashionista with the passing of time. I can personally, and rather depressingly, attest to this as fashions from my student days in […]