Celebrating solar success story – 06-2018
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Excerpt from the magazine
United for a solar powered Europe
Today, solar is the fastest-growing source of new energy in the world, outperforming all other forms of power generation, writes SolarPower Europe CEO James Watson. According to SolarPower Europe’s Global Market Outlook 2018-2022, 1 TW of solar could be installed by 2021, a huge milestone for our industry and technology. To make this a reality, a common effort is needed to remove all barriers to solar’s growth.
Jun 20, 2018
Manz: Why CIGS can fly in China
In early 2017, German production equipment supplier Manz signed a major deal to supply its CIGS thin film technology, know-how, and equipment to Chinese power giant Shenhua under a tripartite deal involving Shanghai Electric. Hannes Reinhardt, VP of Solar at Manz provides an update as to how the Manz CIGSfab in Chongqing and CIGSlab in Beijing are progressing.
Jun 20, 2018
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Capturing outdoor performance
The outdoor performance test of PV modules is the single ‘real world’ performance indicator that every buyer is most interested in. As part of the pv magazine test program, Gsolar has prepared an outdoor installation field in Xi’an, China, on the rooftop of a building that houses its manufacturing facilities and the test lab where the pv magazine tests are conducted. Xi’an has a temperate climate, with cold winters and mildly humid, hot summers.
Jun 19, 2018
The story so far
The pv magazine test program was launched in July 2017, and was presented to the public in the September 2017 issue of pv magazine. As explained at the time, the test was designed to help investors in their module purchasing process, while at the same time allowing manufacturers to spot problems and improve their production processes.
Jun 19, 2018
Progress continues, without the kerf
Selected by the Technology Highlights independent jury as the Technology to Watch for 2018, 1366 Technologies’ Direct Wafer Process is an innovation that could transform the way silicon wafer is produced, and dramatically reduce its costs. pv magazine caught up with 1366 Technologies CTO Adam Lorenz to discuss latest developments in the process and the company’s efforts to scale up and bring it to the market.
Jun 19, 2018
Double the output, on the fly
Alongside GT Advanced Technologies, Germany’s 3D-Micromac was awarded the top innovation award in the 2018 Technology Highlights for its microCELL OTF 8000. With a doubling of throughput, the double lane tool brings to an end any bottleneck caused by laser processing of high efficiency PV cells. Frederik Bamberg, 3D-Micromac’s Product Manager PV Laser Tools took pv magazine through the tool’s advantages.
Jun 19, 2018
Continuous development to drive mono
In last month’s edition, GT Advanced Technologies was chosen by an independent jury as the top innovation in the annual Technology Highlights feature. pv magazine had the chance to catch up with GTAT’s CEO Greg Knight on the company’s latest technological developments and position in the market.
Jun 19, 2018
Weighing the costs
Ascertaining whether ballast design calculations provided by mounting system manufacturers are performed correctly is not an easy task for the untrained eye. Thorsten Kray, Head of Building Aerodynamics at Institute for Industrial Aerodynamics Aachen (IFI), has created a checklist for reviewing ballast calculations which can be used by owners, EPCs, and others involved in designing and realizing projects.
Jun 19, 2018
Hybrid, low cost
This June 27, Amiram Roth-Deblon, juwi’s Head of Global Business Initiatives, will provide details on the economics and applications of renewables hybrids for mines in front of an audience of 300+ senior mining and renewables experts at the 2nd Annual Energy and Mines Summit focused on renewables integration for mines.
Jun 19, 2018
The older they get…
The results of a new edition of the pv magazine PID survey show that 16% of the total system capacity surveyed was or has been affected by potential-induced degradation (PID). With newer systems, however, PID scarcely occurs at all – in any case, it is difficult to discover affected systems. Time to sound the all-clear?
Jun 19, 2018
“Not ambitious but necessary”
Karl-Heinz Remmers was already a well known figure in the German PV industry when he founded pv magazine global ten years ago. Since then, the industry has changed dramatically in terms of price, geographies, manufacturing and sophistication. But would he do it all again?
Jun 19, 2018
Green power replaces black in India
Over the next 10 years, solar is expected to account for a whopping 170 GW of the 275 GW of new generating capacity added to India’s grid. Tim Buckley, Director of Energy Finance Studies, IEEFA, sets out the role policy has played in delivering the transformation.
Jun 19, 2018
Central Asia’s green horizons
Despite its huge potential in the region, solar PV has hitherto gained little traction in Central Asia. In Kazakhstan, two utility-scale PV projects have been realized, and a few are in the pipeline for Uzbekistan as it begins to attract international investors. But many challenges on the policy level have yet to be overcome.
Jun 19, 2018
The European job
Energyra promises to be a lot of things: the first module maker to bring production back to the Netherlands; a manufacturer relying entirely on Made in Europe equipment and Dutch back contact solar cell technology; and a startup betting on quality, innovation, automation, as well as high performance modules. pv magazine visited the company’s factory in Zaanstad, to get more detail on this ambitious project.
Jun 19, 2018
They grow so fast – solar PV’s coming of age in the UK
Recently, subsidy-free solar PV plants have generated buzz in the U.K., with some plants commissioned and others planned to be developed outside of any public remuneration scheme. pv magazine examines whether the U.K. solar industry is ready to embrace the trend at scalr in the near future.
Jun 19, 2018
Innovation and Mass Production
Looking back over the past few years, manufacturers mostly made adjustments in wafer to cell, to improve the power output of modules. Mainstream mono and multi-Si wafers went from 156 mm to 156.75 mm, with module area unchanged. For cells, it is the optimization of each production process and the revolution of silver/aluminum paste.
Jun 19, 2018
China: 2018 installations could drop by over one third
On Friday, June 1, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), National Energy Administration (NEA), and Ministry of Finance (MOF) issued a joint “2018 Solar PV Power Generation Notice,” which is set to far reaching implications.
Jun 19, 2018
Crystalline solar – announcements versus facts
Announcements about manufacturing capacity increases, often concerning p-type mono PERC, are trending these days, writes Paula Mints, Founder and Chief Analyst at SPV Market Research. This makes it a good time for a reminder: Announcements are not data. Announcements are made for calling attention to something new, re-calling attention to something previously announced, calling attention to an achievement, announcing a product release, or to take attention away from something negative – among other purposes.
Jun 19, 2018
Hand on the brake and blindfolded
The alliance between policymakers, big energy, and car manufacturers claims to back climate protection, but does it have a shred of credibility left? Can we really place the fate of the environment and humankind into the hands of those who have proven over the years that they neither have any interest in, nor are capable […]
Jun 19, 2018
