The two sides of Australia’s solar success – 10-2019
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On the Road with pv magazine
Where we’ve been: REI 2019 Image: UBM/ Informa New Delhi once again hosted India’s largest solar event last month, the Renewable Energy India Expo (REI), and with some 12-14 GW of PV expected to be installed in the country over the next year, there was much talk of the sector ramping up among attendees. Local […]
Oct 21, 2019
pv magazine Upcoming Roundtables
For many, All Energy Australia will be the last big show of the year, and a chance to catch a bit of sun before winter comes to the northern hemisphere. Australian-expat photographer Dave Tacon gives us a quick glimpse of life in Melbourne, his home town.
Oct 21, 2019
Batteries for batteries
Earlier this summer, Delta-EE completed a new research study on ways to pair energy storage with EV charging infrastructure, across homes, workplaces and vehicle fleets, in addition to bus-charging applications. Robin Adey-Johnson, a Delta-EE analyst, presents the report’s findings on the size of the opportunity that EV charging offers for stationary storage batteries.
Oct 21, 2019
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Australia’s move toward merchant solar
While significant module price declines will likely make selling power on the spot market a new reality, making merchant solar stack up is not an easy job. In Australia, the number of merchant PV projects is rising, but wild swings in wholesale power prices, which are increasingly hitting zero or below, have raised eyebrows recently. What are the reasons behind this trend and where is the market heading?
Oct 21, 2019
Ms. Storage
Janice Lin is the CEO of Strategen and the co-founder of the California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA) and Global Energy Storage Alliance (GESA) trade associations, as well as the co-founding chair of the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference. Lin is also in the process of setting up a new nonprofit organization, the Green Hydrogen Council. Just after she received The Cleanie Awards’ Entrepreneur of the Year award, pv magazine caught up with her at Smart Energy Week and SPI 2019.
Oct 21, 2019
If not transmission … then batteries?
Australia faces a push-me-pull-you of grid constraints and an abundance of solar developments now face the prospect of curtailment and battered business models. Could the strategic placement of large-scale batteries help manage the distribution of electrons and leapfrog the slow augmentation of transmission infrastructure?
Oct 21, 2019
Same same but different module
Utility-scale solar is booming in Australia. Quality assurance, especially solar panel testing, helps achieve better performance and lower costs. Best-practice testing is key, writes Michelle McCann, managing partner at PV Lab Australia, but must be planned and fully integrated into a project from an early stage. This integration ensures flow-through from panel manufacturers to commercial buyers and large project owners.
Oct 21, 2019
Exateq supplies the next generation of HJT
Wet chemical processes for heterojunction are important in preparing the crystalline silicon surface for the amorphous silicon layer. Germany’s exateq is supplying one of the recent high-profile HJT expansions, and the company’s managing director, Gerry Knoch, believes major cost reductions and performance jumps are just around the corner – potentially driving the high-efficiency technology into the mainstream.
Oct 21, 2019
All that noise
Arc fault circuit interruption was introduced as a standard for PV inverters many years ago, but against a backdrop of technical complications, the issue is still far from resolved. A recent report has found that many inverters fail this important task in challenging environments.
Oct 21, 2019
A lead-free future for solar PV
Lead plays an important role in crystalline silicon module manufacturing when it comes to cell interconnection. But even in small amounts, the presence of this toxic material in a PV module could be viewed as a black mark against the industry’s sustainable credentials. Alternatives are available, but it seems the price is not yet right for broader uptake.
Oct 21, 2019
We need to talk about wind resilience
The discussion about wind damage in PV structures is getting louder and more heated, especially with rapid single-axis tracker growth in many markets. Whether it’s social media comments on failure photos, or one side of the profession taking shots at another in the press, the dialogue is at risk of becoming cynical. Simon Hughes, partner at technical and commercial energy consultancy Everoze, shines a light on four things that need to happen next, as well as the need for more dialogue between stakeholders.
Oct 21, 2019
The journey to NEM 2.0
Australia made its first moves to open up its energy industry in the 1990s, when the National Electricity Market (NEM) was first created, and many of the rules and regulations from back then are still in place today. But the rise of renewables in the 21st century, argues Clean Energy Investor Group Chair Rob Grant, necessitates a rethink of this market structure.
Oct 21, 2019
PV could help clear Indonesia’s air
The Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), an Indonesian think tank, has reported that the country has the potential to install up to 655 GW of rooftop PV capacity. Contrast that with a current installed capacity of just 100 MW, and it’s clear that solar PV still has a long way to go before it reaches its potential throughout Indonesia. Given the poor air quality in many heavily populated cities across the archipelago, PV deployment is long overdue in the Southeast Asian nation.
Oct 21, 2019
A guided tour of Australia’s solar and storage market
Abundant sunshine, favorable policy settings and high power prices have long placed Australia at the cutting edge of rooftop solar uptake. The more recent utility-scale boom has further enhanced its status as a PV leader. Battery adoption, microgrids, EVs and green hydrogen are all taking shape, yet what should be an Aussie smart energy no-brainer continues to be dogged by mounting investment uncertainty and a toxic debate on the national level.
Oct 21, 2019
The race has only just begun
The Australian utility-scale PV and wind industries have just gone through a record two years of construction and commissioning. More specifically, writes Rystad Energy’s David Dixon, utility-scale PV has transformed from a megawatt-scale market to one measured in gigawatts. The resultant boom in utility-scale PV in the country has attracted developers, EPCs and OEMs, from at home and across the globe.
Oct 21, 2019
Export analysis
PV InfoLink analyzed the key markets of China’s big module manufacturers, as well as product trends, based on statistics on China’s module exports. According to trade figures, the nation’s module exports totaled 34.2 GW in the first half of 2019, up by more than 90% from the corresponding period of 2018. In a nutshell, overseas demand has been strong in 2019.
Oct 21, 2019
Political uncertainties and market speculation
After several years of stagnation, Spain has started to see a revival in its PV market, writes IHS Markit’s Maria Chea. The country’s newfound growth has been due to a combination of tender and private PPA projects, along with decreasing component costs.
Oct 21, 2019
Are bifacial PV modules taking the market by storm?
Bifacial modules are taking over the market – at least, that’s the impression you get if you believe producers of cells with both an active front and an active back for power generation. At Intersolar Europe 2019, held earlier this year in Munich, exhibits of this kind could be found at the booths of nearly every major module manufacturer.
Oct 21, 2019
A terawatt-scale industry of the future
In 4,500 locations across 15 countries, some 6 million people took to the streets last month to demand action on climate change. The protests were inspired by the actions of one person, Greta Thunberg, who has been subject to unedifying attacks by, largely, older men pushing back against the global movement. There is little doubt […]
Oct 21, 2019
