Homing in on storage – 10-2015
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Off-grid, on message
Off-grid business models: From pay-as-you-go to art projects and aspirations to become the Amazon of Africa, off-grid developers are innovating as fast in the area of business models as they are with technology. pv magazine speaks with the innovators and identifies some of the strategies that are electrifying the African continent.
Oct 04, 2015
Chilean heights
Chile: The development of solar in Chile has surprised and delighted in equal measure. Growth is strong and there is a major focus on the technical challenge of successfully installing systems. Daniel Barandalla and Ragna Schmidt-Haupt of DNV GL highlight quality ensuring measures that reduce the uncertainties of the financial returns of a PV project during the development, financing and operations phase in a climatic and environmentally outstanding region.
Oct 04, 2015
Mouth where the money is
Taiwanese market: Taiwans role in the global solar industry has been largely shaped by its technical expertise, particularly in solar cell, module and wafer production. However, as the global landscape shifts, the country is pushing into downstream solar installations and expanding its FIT.
Oct 04, 2015
Flashing roundtable
Vahid Fakhfouri: Meyer Burger Debate: During last months EU PVSEC event, representatives from leading solar simulator providers met to address the development of new standards for the flashing of bifacial cells. However, it is not the only technological challenge facing these equipment providers, who in some ways hold the key as to what cell and module manufacturers can charge for the output from their production lines. pv magazine brought together Vahid Fakhfouri, the head of R&D at Meyer Burgers Technology and Product Center for Measurement Technologies (Pasan), Klaus Ramspeck, the head of Product Development at Halm, and Torsten Brammer, the cofounder and CEO at Wavelabs to discuss this and more in the second part of a special series of equipment roundtable discussions. Klaus Ramspeck: Halm Torsten Brammer: Wavelabs
Oct 04, 2015
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My concern is for a stabilizing of margins
Global PV markets: Exponential growth and unbeatable cost projects are phrases that are sometimes used when describing the global PV market. But those having spent years inside the PV market know that there are many forces always at play within PV. SPV Market Researchs Paula Mints has based a career on charting those forces and shares with pv magazine some insights into the latest SPV Market Research product and market five-year forecast.
Oct 04, 2015
The phony war
Utilities vs. solar: The growth of solar PV in the U.S. has served to spook many traditional power utilities, catching off guard those that had reaped the benefits of the status quo. But even while some sectors of this power divide remain at odds, there are increasing signs that utilities and solar can work together to deliver a more robust, flexible and affordable energy service for the entire nation.
Oct 04, 2015
A transformative project
Large-scale PV: Superlatives tend to accompany coverage of the 300 MW Cestas project in France. But as it nears completion, the speed of install for a project this size is also turning heads. Paul-François Croisille, the COO of project developer Neoen, spoke to pv magazine in the fourth installment in the series on Europes largest PV project.
Oct 04, 2015
Changing times, driving technology
EU PVSEC: From PV poster exhibition to towering trade show, the EU PVSEC has evolved over time. In 2016 it will take another bold step, becoming collocacted with Intersolar Europe in Munich. So it is no surprise in Hamburg this year there was the feeling of it being a last hurrah.
Oct 04, 2015
Australia goes big with PV
Australian utility-scale: Big country, big sky, but very few big PV arrays. Australia seems to do everything but solar at scale. The country has some of the highest penetration rates of residential solar: around 5 GW of installed capacity with less than 300 MW of it coming from utility-scale. pv magazine investigates whether a change of Prime Minister could be a breath of fresh air for solar farm development in Australia.
Oct 04, 2015
China looks to its solar PV future
Chinese downstream market: From motor vehicle component suppliers to chemical companies, diverse players are entering Chinas downstream PV sector. But will macro-economic forces sour plans of a diverse array of companies looking to move into the PV power plant business in China? Vincent Shaw reports from Shanghai.
Oct 04, 2015
Solar Power International: As it happened
SPI 2015: A fast-paced, exciting solar show requires fast-paced, exciting reporting to ensure readers are kept abreast of the latest news, speeches and presentations, which is exactly what Paula Mints, Founder and Chief Market Research Analyst, SPV Market Research, delivered for pv magazine at this years event. Here are some of the highlights from Mints live reporting.
Oct 04, 2015
World in motion
Global solar forecast: Solar installations globally are projected to grow about 25-30% in 2015 compared to last year. Mercom Capitals installation forecast remains unchanged, as the first half installation numbers indicate that the market is still on track to reach 57.4 GW, writes Mercoms CEO Raj Prabhu.
Oct 04, 2015
Mono as well as multi PERC cells will get a significant market share
PERC production equipment: Its a surprise to no-one that PERC market share is growing and growing fast. However, with rapid adoption comes challenges, which includes equipment suppliers keeping up with a spike in demand and the resolution of technical challenges such as LID. Centrotherm senior vice president PV sales and technology Josef Haase sets out the German equipment suppliers technical solutions for PERC.
Oct 04, 2015
Melding with the market
Small-scale storage: The growth of distributed battery storage appears inevitable, with a number of key markets showing strong demand and component cost reductions continuing to drive solar+storages competitiveness. pv magazine connects with suppliers to assess how they are developing their storage offering to meet the demands of the leading markets.
Oct 04, 2015
