Time for microgrids to go macro? – 11-2019
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On the road with pv magazine
Where we have been: Energy Taiwan turns high-tech Last month, pv magazine took its annual trip to Taipei for Energy Taiwan. This year’s event bridged together the renewable energy markets and smart technologies, with three conferences taking place simultaneously in the conference center: Energy Taiwan, Taitronics, and IoT Taiwan. “AI is the new electricity,” said […]
Nov 12, 2019
Solar Power Mexico: rising to the challenge
Organizers of the Solar Power Mexico 2020 exhibition face a difficult task of replicating the success of the first edition of the event, which took place this year and had participation of 78 exhibitors and more than 5,000 visitors. Next year’s event will be held from March 24 to 26 at Centro Citibanamex in Mexico City.
Nov 12, 2019
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A responsible compromise?
Toxicologists are struggling to follow the pace at which perovskite solar cells race from laboratory test benches to factory production lines. While researchers continue to assess the health and safety risks stemming from the lead used at the core of these new materials, the startups commercializing them argue that established encapsulation techniques and sound recycling schemes are enough to safety-proof their potentially disruptive technology and offset broader environmental threats.
Nov 12, 2019
‘There is a great unmet need in this industry for differentiation’
With its second U.S. production facility coming online in October, First Solar is claiming the title of the “largest module manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere,” and reports that the Series 6 module it introduced in 2018 is now sold out through to the middle of 2021. pv magazine caught up with First Solar CEO Mark Widmar in Berlin recently to discuss the latest developments in the global module market and the company’s plans for the future.
Nov 12, 2019
Killing two birds with one stone
A visit to a solar park in the German state of Brandenburg shows how integrating biodiversity concepts with PV can be a strong solution to plummeting insect populations, endangered plant species and soil erosion. Case studies in the United Kingdom and the United States back this up.
Nov 12, 2019
Diligence is due, standards are needed
pv magazine’s Quality Roundtable at Solar Power International this year covered everything from backsheet failures to faulty connectors causing fires at PV arrays. But in the end, it all comes down to the same thing: a need for better standards and due diligence from a wide range of parties.
Nov 12, 2019
Model progress
While it has often been referred to as “the future of PV” in recent years, discussions surrounding bifacial technology are now very much in the present. Modules are beginning to roll off production lines in significant numbers, and industry players are boasting of gigawatts of bifacial projects that are already installed or in the late stages of development. But it’s still early days for the technology, and there are questions to answer for it to achieve its full potential. pv magazine investigates the modeling and optimization of bifacial PV’s performance.
Nov 12, 2019
Success factors for hybrid microgrids
When it comes to hybrid microgrids, writes Fabian Baretzky, senior business development and sales manager for Dhybrid Power Systems, the incorporation of various sources of energy and complex requirements for long-term stability of the energy supply require expertise and an effective energy management system.
Nov 12, 2019
A financial tipping point
Lebanon, like many countries, suffers from a sporadic electricity supply. The aging grid, a lack of domestic fuel and political sectarianism have made electricity both intermittent and expensive. Thousands of diesel generators struggle to meet the shortfall and have not been able to keep pace with demand. Today, Lebanon finds itself one of the three most indebted countries in the world, with one-third of its budget deficit going toward fuel subsidies.
Nov 12, 2019
Microgrids taking hold Down Under
From university campuses to mining sites and even a World Heritage-listed rainforest, microgrid projects are popping up across Australia, both to boost reliability and bring down energy costs in rural and remote areas. Challenged by the country’s aging power infrastructure, utilities are turning to microgrids to substitute traditional network connections. As the technology picks up the pace on the ground, new regulatory frameworks for standalone power systems are in the works.
Nov 12, 2019
Islanding on and off the ocean
Microgrids are traditionally deployed where end users are not spoiled for choice. The remoteness and terrain of the Maldives make grid access impossible, and without any other choice, the deployment of hundreds of microgrids could be spot on. A leaf out of the island nation’s book could also support other less remote regions in preparing for the energy transition.
Nov 12, 2019
An end to shutdowns
Last month, millions of Californians were left in the dark because their utility, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), preemptively shut down power lines to avoid igniting wildfires. The Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) resulted in substantial economic losses for California residents and businesses – including include lost wages, lost revenues, spoiled food and delayed production – with one economist estimating the losses at $2.5 billion. Not so easy to quantify were the disruptions to daily life and the more serious, sometimes fatal, consequences.
Nov 12, 2019
In position to undermine utilities
Plenty of ideas surrounding the future design of the U.S. grid model are floating around the solar industry these days, but few seem as compelling as the solar+storage-based microgrid. These local electrical communities are proliferating, particularly on the East Coast and West Coast, including the hallowed turf where once mighty utilities — like now-bankrupt Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) — defended their monopolies.
Nov 12, 2019
Downstream up: Taiwan’s multi-GW ambitions
Once the world’s second-largest PV cell manufacturer, Taiwan’s upstream industry was crippled under its inability to compete with mainland China’s bullish global takeover in PV manufacturing. The island’s government has put forth efforts to keep Taiwan’s PV supply chain intact – and ambitious goals and initiatives are driving demand from the downstream up.
Nov 12, 2019
A second chance to electrify Africa?
The April 2019 insolvency of shooting-star solar provider Mobisol hit the offgrid solar sector like a bombshell, throwing into question the private-sector model of supplying renewable energy to some of the world’s poorest people. Industry insiders concluded that socially minded entrepreneurs, among them Mobisol, took the revolutionary pay-as-you-go system as far as they could, before becoming bogged down in the unforgiving terrain of Africa’s markets. Then, in early September, French energy giant Engie acquired Mobisol, shocking the sector with its against-the-grain plan to take the company’s quest for universal access to energy to another level.
Nov 12, 2019
Offgrid goes global
Offgrid solar power has emerged as a vital part of the PV business across the African continent, and is now spreading to other parts of the globe, mainly with solar home systems and microgrids. pv magazine examines the core issues of financing, business models and the quest for user data.
Nov 12, 2019
Module prices continue to slide
After China’s National Day holiday, demand started picking up at a slow pace, but the anticipated installation rush did not occur as expected, due to land and financing issues, as well as the return of winter. These factors will also delay the timing of more than 6 GW of capacity to the first half of next year. PV InfoLink has thus downwardly revised its estimates for installed capacity in the fourth quarter to 11.3 GW in China and 30 GW globally, bringing this year’s global demand forecast to below 120 GW.
Nov 12, 2019
A record year for trackers
It was a record year for global shipments of single-axis solar photovoltaic (PV) trackers in 2018, as they increased by more than 40%, surpassing 20 GW globally for the first time, writes IHS Markit senior analyst Camron Barati. While the United States continued to be the largest individual market for single-axis trackers last year, shipments also increased in Mexico, Australia, Egypt, Spain, and other large utility-scale markets.
Nov 12, 2019
The missing piece…
After some short-term price drops at the end of the third quarter to quickly draw down inventories and make room for new goods, the market is now largely back on track. The prices across all panel types have stabilized – only the prices for high-efficiency and bifacial products have seen a slight uptick, but this […]
Nov 12, 2019
A new wave of accessibility
The recent massive blackouts in California have cast a spotlight on the ability of microgrids to provide resilient and reliable power in the face of grid outages. But microgrids are not a new concept. The deployment of decentralized power generation assets on a small distribution network can actually be traced back to the 19th century […]
Nov 12, 2019
