International issues
Global Industry: Martin A. Green, of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics at the University of New South Wales, takes us through the complexities of ownership and nationality at some of the PV industrys key players.
Large-scale awakening
Australia: A 480 MW batch of government-supported projects is set to transform Australias PV power plant landscape forever. Prices have come down quickly, and big solars competitiveness with wind is approaching at pace. Merchant PV power plants may not be far away, while the rooftop segment stabilizes.
Laser ablation of PERC solar cells
PERC ablation: Laser technology has become the dominant way to create openings on the back side of PERC PV cells, with no rival technologies at the moment relevant on the market. But new entrants are putting pressure on established laser makers in the worlds largest markets.
Lithium competitor poised for growth
New battery chemistries: A new battery technology, the so-called saltwater battery made by Aquion energy, is poised to take the market for stationary storage systems by storm. Sales are already impressive, and demand continues to rise. Nevertheless, pushing lithium-ion batteries out of the market with this technology will be no easy task.
Materials matter
PV manufacturing: As part of our focus on quality and reliability issues, pv magazine brings you an interview with DuPont research fellow Bill Gambogi and Director of Corporate Marketing Bob Olsen, who discuss the work DuPont is doing with materials and quality testing for the lifetime of solar projects.
Peaks and troughs
Chinese market: June 30 marked a big day for Chinas PV industry, as the first of several planned reductions to solar FITs came into effect. A rush to get projects finished before this deadline resulted in a massive 20 GW of PV installations finished in the first six months of 2016 but whats next for PV in China? Vincent Shaw reports from Shanghai.
Second half USA solar slump
U.S. markets: The second half of 2016 is not looking as good as it once did in the U.S. utility-scale market, with the extension of the U.S. federal ITC removing the pressure for off-takers to sign power contracts.
Solar power stored in plastic
Redox-flow technology: With a new variant of the redox-flow battery, a German company from Jena wants to cut todays power storage prices in half over the next three years. What will make this possible are so-called redox polymers, which are not only economical but also offer environmental benefits.
Solar shingles shine again
Rooftop applications: Great idea, huge potential market, tough nut to crack. Solar shingles have been spoken of and introduced to the PV market at various times over the past five years. But none have flown. pv magazine s Charles W. Thurston re-examines that market to see whether solar shingles can finally shine.
Storage warming up in Australia
Battery Storage: A lot of ink has been spilled in recent months about Australias emergence as an early global testing ground for PV applications with battery storage. The excitement seemed to reach fever pitch this summer, when SolarCity CTO Peter Rive identified the country as a key future market in which batteries could affordably be deployed alongside rooftop PV systems.
