Magazine Archive

India’s solar ambition: In leading calls for a solar alliance at the COP21 summit in Paris, India demonstrated its growing appetite for the industry. But can ambition be matched with solid growth and development, and what are the challenges that still need to be overcome? IBC Solar: German engineering expertise and knowledge of local business culture combined to produce the best results and effective knowledge transfer.

Floating PV: Floating PV plants have moved beyond space-saving solutions for wineries and densely populated areas like Japan, to a paired power technology addition for hydro dam reservoirs. Brazil, India and other countries are pursuing reservoir installations, and the list grows longer.

Hybrid inverters: In solar, the term ‘hybrid’ can be loosely applied to any part of the system that combines two types of functionality into one. In the inverter space, a growing trend for hybrid inverters is emerging – but what, exactly, are they, and how does the claim that they augment typical PV architecture stack up? pv magazine discovers that, in fact, not all hybrid inverters are created equal.

China policy: In seeking to address various shortcomings in China’s strong – but flawed – solar PV industry, the government has borrowed a scheme from its Japanese neighbors that has historically proven successful in raising the bar in terms of technical and performance standards. Can this program be translated seamlessly to the solar sector of China?

Cabling concerns: As PV cable and connector redesigns take place, more universal plug-and-play solutions are adopted, more harness pre-assembly takes place and more standardized links to junction boxes, inverters and panels are forged.

Global growth: Can the PV industry reach multi-terawatt annual deployment? Various roadblocks exist, not least the well-funded attack dogs of the conventional energy industries, but the opportunities and lessons learned are instructive of the path to take.

Module prices: As the European Commission continues its review of anti-dumping measures currently in place, a suspension of market restrictions could boost the PV industry and create a level playing field.

Price discussion: EPCs sometimes have to purchase modules at prices much higher than are feasible for their purpose, whether due to the minimum import price in the EU, import duties on Chinese modules in the U.S., or simply due to market conditions. Calculations for project modules show that sustainably produced, unsubsidized PV panels can be manufactured for significantly less than €0.50 per watt.

Smart buildings: The COP21 UN summit on climate change not only nurtured unity and political will to tackle a shared problem, but it also allowed those companies that are already way ahead of the curve to showcase their achievements and inspire the next generation. One such company is power electronics firm Delta, which saw COP21 as the ideal opportunity to share its green ideals with a global audience.