Technology Highlights 2017 – 04-2017
Already a subscriber?
Login
Excerpt from the magazine
From 1,000 to 1,500
Connectors: Battery connection makers are broadly adopting plug-and-play formats for energy storage solutions, borrowing much from the telecommunications industry, long dependent on power backups. At the same time, new demand is rising for communications ports on batteries, both for internal diagnostics and for system controllers, ushering the Internet of Things into energy storage.
Apr 13, 2017
Managing project risk in China
Financial risk: Poor project performance for solar plants in China is the result of a number of factors, but the bottom line is – it increases investment risk. Dirk Kayser, who serves as financial supervisor for Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin’s China operations, explores how government and the private sector are tackling these challenges.
Apr 13, 2017
Next junction: innovation
Junction boxes: The seemingly low-tech functionality of the humble junction box belies a piece of kit performing a vital role in maintaining solar’s exemplary safety records. But how do junction box suppliers stay ahead of the game in an industry where new technologies, higher voltages and tighter margins are always around the corner?
Apr 13, 2017
When consolidation comes
Inverter strategies: Data from GTM Research late in 2016 found that the ten largest inverter suppliers cornered 80% of the market last year, marking the greatest level of consolidation since 2010. Faced with this trend, what survival and growth strategies remain viable for those inverter suppliers that do not currently occupy a top-ten position?
Apr 13, 2017
Subscribe now for instant access to this issue and every published issue since 2016.
Subscribe
A true war machine: Agfa’s UNIQOAT backsheet comes to SNEC
Interview: In this interview with pv magazine, Agfa head of business unit functional foils – specialty products Cesar Campos talks about his company’s new UNIQOAT mono-layer PET backsheet line, which will be unveiled at the SNEC trade show in Shanghai, as well as competition between PET and fluoropolymers in the backsheet market.
Apr 13, 2017
Higher efficiencies with bifacial cells
Interview: Chinese company Jolywood made its name in the solar backsheet industry but has recently taken large strides into high-efficiency cell production. Jolywood’s SVP and general manager of its high-efficiency cell division Liu Yong recently discussed the company’s technological goals and strategic aims with pv magazine at the PV Expo in Tokyo.
Apr 13, 2017
“Thin film enables new use cases”
Thin film production equipment: While long thought to be facing an uphill battle against c-Si rivals, suppliers of thin film production equipment have seen a notable uptick in orders in the last 12-18 months. For later entrants to the PV module production game in China, CIGS has is emerging as the semiconductor choice of many. German robotics giant Kuka is riding this wave of investment and Joachim Döhner, Kuka’s Division Head Technology Solutions spoke to pv magazine about the opportunities.
Apr 13, 2017
Kink or fluctuation?
Price development: Anyone interested in an answer to the question of how sustainable the drastic price drop for solar modules is would likely have a look at price-learning curve figures. Although it also tracks technological progress, its forecasting value is limited.
Apr 13, 2017
Mono switch and PERC applications drive orders
Wet chemical processes: Since 2015, Rena has supplied some 8 GW of alkaline texturing equipment – for monocrystalline cell production. In Q1 2017 the company reported alkaline texturing and junction isolation sales of some 4.5 GW. Given this, Rena’s sales manager Ulrich Jäger, and Daniel Pusch, from the company’s R&D department, sat down with pv magazine about the current market and technological outlook.
Apr 13, 2017
Solar cell manufacturers ranked
c-Si cell manufacturing: Tier-1 cell makers continue to expand their capacities, both in and outside of China. Increased demand for monocrystalline cells is evident in the market, as high efficiency PERC starts to become the dominant technology trend. Industry analysts IHS Markit provide a ranking of the top manufacturers in 2016.
Apr 13, 2017
The knock-on effect
China slowdown: The curious lack of any discernible first half installation boom in China is leading to lower multi-Si product prices and suppressed utilization rates in China and Taiwan. These knock-on effects are a result of uncertain policy support from government, exacerbated by a wait-and-see approach adopted by many developers.
Apr 13, 2017
Solar as a Service in Rural Africa
Pay-as-you-go solar: home system companies are seeking to provide an on-grid experience in off-the-grid settings. To fight off competition from lower cost, lower quality systems, PAYG companies need to deliver a premium experience at a competitive price.
Apr 13, 2017
The high peaks of PV plants
Solar in high regions: Installing solar PV in increasingly remote regions brings certain technical challenges, particularly at high altitude. However, the benefits outweigh the risks and drawbacks if undertaken correctly, write Daniel Budisky and Gianguido Piani of renewable energy consultants Deea Solutions.
Apr 13, 2017
Solar power from the exclusion zone
Chernobyl mega project: Stuck in a conflict with Russia and highly dependent on fossil fuels as well as nuclear power, Ukraine strives for energy self-sufficiency. More than three decades after the catastrophic Chernobyl meltdown, the nuclear wasteland is now set to pave the way for a solar future that could still hold risks.
Apr 13, 2017
Solar Premium at Hannover Messe to exhibit optimal solutions
The gathering place at the Messe will be the exhibition stand dubbed Solar Premium. Its mission will be to address the needs and concerns of all current and potential users of the solar system solutions across the residential, commercial and utility-scale sectors of the industry.
Apr 13, 2017
Policy Gridlock
Kenya’s PV market: Hopes for greater utility-scale solar development in Kenya have risen steadily over the past two years. But build-out remains negligible, with the International Renewable Energy Agency estimating the country’s cumulative installed capacity at a paltry 24 MW by the end of 2015.
Apr 13, 2017
A record breaking year for solar
At one point, it looked as though 2016 would be an abysmal year for solar Down Under, but in many respects, it was a total record breaker. These charts, provided to pv magazine by Australian solar consultants Sunwiz will demonstrate a few of the highlights.
Apr 13, 2017
Going beyond 100 GW
Interview: Rajneesh Khattar is UBM’s India Group Director and organizer of the Renewable Energy India Expo. With India’s solar market poised to become the world’s third-largest in 2017, he discussed with pv magazine the unique combination of government policy and public support that is driving this growth.
Apr 13, 2017
Still big in Japan
PV Expo Japan: This year’s flagship solar exhibition for the Japanese market held few surprises. Indeed, the event continued a reassuring trend of sensible solar policy and sober industry response, marked by Japan’s gradual shift towards decentralized energy and self-consumption, and a healthy dose of large-scale realism.
Apr 13, 2017
Customized solar solutions
Interview: Gener Miao, the VP of global sales for Chinese Tier-1 solar company JinkoSolar discusses the firm’s growth in the evolving Japanese solar PV sector, explaining how customization of product and approach can reap benefits in this high cost, high quality market.
Apr 13, 2017
Learning how to read a learning curve
Market analysis: The last edition of the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV) roadmap addressed the end of the learning curve for PV modules as we know it. What lies behind the end of the learning curve is also the end of a common belief: industries cannot always be compared and PV is no exception to a common Shaddock-style rule: “if you believe you know what is going to happen, then you did something wrong”, argues Becquerel Institute co-founder and director Gaëtan Masson.
Apr 13, 2017
The shipment shuffle
2016 PV manufacturer shipments: Understanding the vagaries of the global solar market’s actual size and pressure points is a nontrivial undertaking. From headline GW-level installation figures through to regional cell capacities and actual inventory levels, getting a firm grasp of what is available to the market has never been more important.
Apr 13, 2017
Powerful PV in, and from, China
When China switched on to solar, it changed our industry forever. China’s role as the PV manufacturing powerhouse is well established. However, industry observers, analysts and market participants are still unsure how China’s position as the largest solar end market is being digested.
Apr 13, 2017
