Magazine Archive 12-2010

Desertec: By end of the year 2010, the Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) had planned to develop a concept for its vision of supplying Europe with solar electricity from the deserts of North Africa and the Near East. Yet little concrete information has been provided up to now. Perhaps France will be able to provide the German project with a jump start.

Interview CIGS: Up to now there has not been very much production of thin film CIGS modules, although their efficiencies are close to those of polycrystalline modules. Wolfgang Lange, Managing Director for Europe of Solar Frontier, explains why this may change next year. His company will soon be manufacturing cadmium and lead free modules in a gigawatt factory.

Module prices: German demand declined more sharply than anticipated and suppliers have responded with price reductions. Prices will presumably continue to drop since stocks are to be cleared by the end of the year.

Cape Verde Islands: Prime Minister Neves has officially opened a solar farm on the islands to produce five megawatts, making it Africa’s biggest. A 2.5-megawatt system was completed a little earlier. The share of renewables is to reach 25 percent by 2011. The regulating agency also intends to specify a feed-in tariff next year that will make renewables worthwhile for small producers.

CIGS thin film: How thin films that use copper, indium, gallium and selenium can find fast market acceptance has been a big question for CIGS technology developers. The answer, perhaps not surprisingly, depends on the size of their bank accounts and factories.

PV Taiwan: This small island located off the coast of China has become an important player in the production of crystalline solar cells. The companies intend to continue their fast growth in the future.

Suntech: What PV trends does the world’s largest producer of crystalline silicon solar panels anticipate? During a two-day fact finding mission to China, pv magazine gained an insider’s glimpse through Suntech’s looking glass via its CEO and CTO. Thin film and technological advancements, consolidation and silicon manufacturing were discussed.

U.S. Navy interview: pv magazine spoke to Bill Tayler, Director of the Energy Development, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Energy Office about the importance of solar power for the U.S. Navy.

Solar trackers: Just like their products, which follow the sun’s trajectory day in and day out, solar tracker manufacturers are adapting to the ever-changing conditions of the PV market. The two main trends are simplifying installation, and the introduction of products better suited to the climate and regulatory regimes to better exploit emerging market opportunities around the world.