Cadmium telluride for everyone
As the first photovoltaic equipment supplier worldwide, Roth & Rau has developed a turnkey plant for cadmium telluride modules. In cooperation with a Chinese partner the enterprise is going to build a reference factory in east Germany. Later, Roth & Rau will sell its plant to solar companies and investors outside of the branch. As such the thin-film market will be changeable for a long time to come.
China on the march
Industry ranking: pv magazine asked market researchers and analysts who the leading manufacturers are and who will make up the future top ten. In this issue, we are looking at the largest manufacturers of crystalline cells.
Collaboration on a global scale
China: So far Chinese PV companies have done quite well even without a domestic market. Now, the Solar Roofs plan and the Golden Sun program are causing the home market to develop. But Chinese module makers are further developing their export markets and upscaling vertical production processes.
Collecting seconds
Reducing the cost of inverters: If cost pressure on the industry goes up, inverters also have to get cheaper. Werner Kupka of the Solme Deutschland consultancy explains how video analysis can boost the ergonomics of their final assembly and raise the efficiency by 50 percent of an operation, which makes up almost a third of the value created in inverter production.
Dual trackers, two opinions
Trackers: Do dual-axis trackers still make sense now that module prices are so low? There is no consensus on this question in the industry. Yet Deger Energy says its sensor-controlled tracking system is more timely than ever. pv magazine spoke with CTO Andreas Schwedhelm and Philipp Steinhöfel, business development manager at Deger Energy in Horb, Germany.
Ecological eye catcher
Building integrated PV: Architects are discovering the advantages of photovoltaics as multifunctional building components that also look impressive. An impressive example of this is the entrance hall of the new hospital at Aalst, Belgium.
Empowering rural India
India: Solar energy is beginning to light the lives of tens of millions of Indias energy-poor citizens, said Indias Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the occasion of the inauguration of the countrys National Solar Mission in January 2010. The example of a small indigenous community in Wayanad, Kerala, illustrates how solar power can be an effectively light up the way to development and social change.
Enabling growth
Automation and robotics: Reducing the cost of labor is only one reason to further automate the processes of solar photovoltaic production. Currently, the quest for improved quality and increased production capacity is driving the global demand for automation and robotics.
Father Verspieren preaches the solar gospel
The story of solar electricity: The tenth part of our series with chapters from John Perlins book From Space to Earth tells the story of Dominique Campana, who developed the worlds first PV-powered water pump, and Father Bernard Verspieren, who initiated a PV water pumping program for Mali that became the model for the developing world.
From a large surface to pinpoint focus
Tracker drives: A crucial component in determining the economic viability of tracker systems are their drives. Only a handful of mechanical engineering companies worldwide, such as GFC AntriebsSysteme GmbH, Coswig, specialize in this field. GFC explains its importance.
