Keeping your powder dry – 03-2016
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Aliso Canyon gas leak: a damaging catastrophe
Aliso Canyon: In the hills above Hollywood and downtown LA, a storage well leaked natural gas for close to four months, silently and invisibly pumping dangerous volumes of emissions into the California air. Already the leak has set the states GHG reduction goals back ten years, so how was this ecological disaster handled?
Feb 24, 2016
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The road to decentralization
Energy transition: Germany continues to be a leading market for installed PV capacity, and the market for domestic storage systems is booming. This raises the question of just how distributed the energy world of tomorrow will be. The debate over this question is a conflict that holds lessons for other countries as well.
Feb 24, 2016
A race to lock in alternative suppliers
Interview: A gas leak at Dowa Hightechs manufacturing facilities in January has caused knock-on effects through the silver paste supply segment. Andreas Liebheit, head of the photovoltaics business of Heraeus, met with pv magazine in Berlin to discuss the implications.
Feb 24, 2016
Batter up: Storage ready to play hardball
U.K. storage: In the aftermath of drastic subsidy cuts for the U.K.’s renewable energy sector, and what amounted to a specific solar-focused attack, the U.K. PV sector has developed its first set of antibodies in the form of energy storage. pv magazine delves into the British energy policy discourse and maps the first tentative steps of its energy storage journey.
Feb 24, 2016
Nevada eviscerates net metering: Perspective by Shayle Kann and Julia Pyper
Nevada: When regulators in Nevada moved to alter the states net metering policy for solar customers at the end of last year, the industry was aghast both within Nevada and more widely. GTM Researchs Shayle Kann and Julia Pyper discussed the policys impact on a recent Energy Gang podcast, and here are the most pertinent takeaways from that talk.
Feb 24, 2016
SMA: far from out of the woods
SMA turnaround: While its restructuring has delivered results, Götz Fischbeck of Smart Solar Consulting investigates whether SMA is back on the long-term path to success, or has just earned some breathing space. The dual threats of MLPE in residential and modular three-phase in utility scale looms.
Feb 24, 2016
Holidays in the sun
Off-grid solar: Utilizing solar PV to power off-grid hotels in Mozambiques glorious wilderness reaps a number of benefits, including cost, convenience and efficiency. But solars ability to nurture a good, clean image one that proves attractive to holidaymakers should not be underestimated, write GIZs Franziska Kohler and independent technical advisor Harald Olk.
Feb 24, 2016
Scratching the ITC
How the ITC was won: The extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) towards the end of last year came as something of a very welcome shock to the industry. Nat Kreamer of Spruce Finance Inc. tells pv magazine how the ITC was extended, how the industry responded, and U.S. solars role in achieving bipartisan accord.
Feb 24, 2016
Melting backsheets, broken cells, and hotspots
Black sheep part II: A case of compromised quality. A German operator claims nearly 17% of the modules in his array displayed significant damage after three years. The EPC company concealed the damage from the investor until the warranty had expired. The module manufacturer responded slowly and only out of goodwill. pv magazine investigates what can be done in part two of its ongoing Black Sheep campaign.
Feb 24, 2016
