Powering up mainstream players – 03-2017
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An iconic badge for batteries
Battery production: In future all of the lithium-ion batteries for Daimler AG will come from the German town of Kamenz. That also goes for batteries for stationary applications, which since last year have borne the Mercedes-Benz name. pv magazine paid a visit to the plant, which was built in 2009. Daimler was the first company to use this technology in an automobile.
Mar 15, 2017
Power to the people
Distributed storage costs: With the average payback cost of a home battery storage system sticking stubbornly at around ten years, skeptics remain unconvinced that mass-market adoption of distributed storage is on the cards any time soon. So what measures is the industry taking to expedite cost reductions, improve storage technology, and shift the conversation from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’?
Mar 15, 2017
Faltering funds
Solar sector funding: Total corporate funding into the solar sector declined substantially in 2016 compared to 2015 and even 2014, with solar demand expected to reach an all-time record high. Several factors, policies and events made 2016 a volatile year for the sector with plenty of positives and negatives.
Mar 15, 2017
Solar goes corporate: the rise of the bilateral PPA
PV power plants: Corporations want in on the falling costs and predictable prices of wind and solar. Bilateral power purchase agreements have emerged as one new business model among several that businesses are employing as they get serious about renewable energy, both in the United States and abroad.
Mar 15, 2017
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Shaving cents off wafers
pv magazine Germany award: The end consumer market is where the action is these days in Germany’s energy transition. But keeping the ball rolling depends on keeping PV affordable. A German production equipment manufacturer has new method that promises significant cost reductions.
Mar 15, 2017
2017: a year for PERC & Black Silicon
Module trends: As China looks set for another big year of installations, the biggest module manufacturers are consolidating their market share, with the top 5 manufacturers set to represent more than 40% of global shipments. Mono PERC and diamond wire cut Multi combined with black silicon are set to be the dominant trends in technology.
Mar 15, 2017
Polysilicon & Wafer Rankings 2016
C-Si manufacturing: Demand is looking strong for both polysilicon and crystalline silicon wafers, as analysts expect that another rush for installations is imminent, ahead of China’s latest feed-in tariff cut in July. Demand for monocrystalline wafers has increased, but manufacturing trends still leave space for high performance multi-wafer.
Mar 15, 2017
Mono silicon on the rise
Silicon wafer: Fortunes have changed in the wafer market. While a year ago multicrystalline wafers were in short supply, today it is monocrystalline that is in demand. pv magazine brings you a look at the momentum and challenges behind the growth of monocrystalline silicon technology.
Mar 15, 2017
China embraces thin film
Thin film technology: Chinese state-owned companies are purchasing thin film equipment from European suppliers in a move that may shake up solar manufacturing. For the PV technology companies, the move could not have come too soon, but how will the Chinese state-owned coal, electric and building giants succeed where others have failed?
Mar 15, 2017
Microgrids – the DNA of electricity
Solar and microgrids: Supplying electricity to the vast open spaces of the Australian outback cost effectively and with high levels of energy security is no easy task. Frank Tudor heads up the state-owned utility with that unenviable job in the sundrenched state of Western Australia, and his vision for doing so into the future is drawing inspiration from unlikely quarters. With an eye to the New York REV process and the rapidly falling cost of renewables including solar PV and battery storage, Tudor is transforming the way Horizon does business and chipping away at energy subsidies provided to Australians living in rural and remote locations.
Mar 15, 2017
In-situ EL promotes careful handling
In-situ and on-site testing: Module damage is a serious issue, even when faults can not be seen at first glance. Fortunately, methodologies and technology for the testing of modules in the field are evolving at pace, bringing home the importance of handling modules with care.
Mar 15, 2017
Cornering the market
Module mounting: A new mounting technique could change the appearance of solar farms and rooftop systems over the long term. Tilting solar panels by 10 to 45 degrees is said to greatly improve their self-cleaning properties and enable completely new array designs. Two major project engineering companies are already testing the concept and have confirmed its numerous benefits.
Mar 15, 2017
New energy in app form
Digital technology and PV: Blockchain is the name for a secure, distributed database that forms the basis of the bitcoin digital currency. Now there is much hype over blockchain’s potential application in the energy industry. Grid singularity is a startup developing the next generation of a blockchain that could genuinely revolutionize the energy system. It reconciles data usage with privacy.
Mar 15, 2017
Experimental policies
Turkey’s PV market: Turkey has reached about 1 GW of solar PV installations, and 2016 was the PV sector’s best year so far. Furthermore, a recently announced tender for a mega 1 GW solar park in central Turkey adds to the expectation. Is such optimism justified? pv magazine examines why the Turkish Government’s policy experiments with the solar sector risk its fragile growth.
Mar 15, 2017
Finland’s solar spring
Solar potential: While it is little known for its solar power potential, PV deployment has increased in the Scandinavian country over the last two years. Community projects, a drop in prices for solar panels and a retail company have been the main drivers of this development.
Mar 15, 2017
Funding future production
Underpricing issues: Expect manufacturer revenues for 2017 to have little relationship to current prices, as manufacturers continue selling tomorrow’s production today. Moreover, the ability of manufacturers to raise prices in the near, medium and long term has been permanently eroded. For most manufacturers current prices do not reflect costs and as margin expectations – that is, the gross margin necessary to run a thriving business – are little understood by analysts, observers, academics, researchers and even industry participants there is little possibility that the dire consequences of continued underpricing will be addressed.
Mar 15, 2017
