Women at work – 08-2019
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48 hours in … São Paulo
Time: GMT -3 | Currency: Brazilian Real (US$ 1,00 = R$ 3,80) | Population: 12 million | Average temperature in August: 14/25 C° São Paulo tops many rankings. It is the largest city in Brazil and the entire southern hemisphere, with 12 million inhabitants, and is considered the 14th most globalized city on the planet.
Aug 21, 2019
On the road with pv magazine
Where we’re going: Solar Power International Monday, Sept. 23, 2019 – Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019 | Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah Known for being the United States’ single largest PV trade show, Solar Power International (SPI) – like most global industry events – is widening its reach by evolving into a smart […]
Aug 21, 2019
Chile taps ‘white gold’ for security of energy supply
Chile is home to a massive 10.3 million tons of lithium reserves, most of which is found in the Atacama Desert in the northern part of the country. With some of the highest solar irradiation levels on Earth, this region also boasts the perfect conditions for generating solar power. Developments in the photovoltaic market, alongside implementation of more efficient energy storage systems, are positioning Chile as a regional leader in this field. So what does the future hold for battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Chile, and what obstacles lie in their way?
Aug 21, 2019
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‘It simply favors the economics of the projects’
Ahead of pv magazine’s Quality Rountable at Intersolar South America, Kaushik Roy Choudhury, senior scientist for DuPont Photovoltaic and Advanced Materials, offered insight into some of the quality issues that are affecting the growth of PV in Latin America, and other matters that will be up for discussion in São Paolo.
Aug 21, 2019
Brazil’s faltering manufacturing ambition
A binational integrated solar industry project, announced just over a year ago, aims to build a vertically integrated solar manufacturing industry along the border between Brazil and Paraguay. But the project is now on hold pending an update and reassessment by its new managers.
Aug 20, 2019
Pushing sustainability UP the agenda
As pv magazine’s UP campaign aims to place sustainability issues at the forefront of the solar industry, we take a look at the current situation and the programs, incentives and regulations that are in operation worldwide to promote responsibility in the design, operation and disposal of PV systems.
Aug 20, 2019
Floating PV – niche market or transformative disruptor?
Why on earth would you want to install PV on water? There seem to be plenty of safer sites for solar PV on solid ground or stable rooftops. Nicolas Choleur of Everoze highlights the key requirements for the bankability of floating PV, right through the project life cycle, from development to dismantling.
Aug 20, 2019
Avoid premature weathering of buried string cables
Faults in underground cabling due to moisture ingress and weathering have been identified as the culprit in many cases of underperforming solar plants, even when the materials used were specified as suitable for underground installation. The topic of cables struck a nerve during this year’s pv magazine Quality Roundtable at The smarter E Europe event, and the right way to lay buried string cables is still an open question.
Aug 20, 2019
VPPs as congestion buster
Two related challenges have become barriers to increasing penetration levels for rooftop solar: the hosting capacity of the grid, and the need to maintain stability during periods of peak demand. The Future PV Roundtable, held alongside The smarter E event in Munich, looked at how distributed energy resources such as PV and battery storage, along with demand-side flexibility, can help to meet these challenges – all thanks to VPPs.
Aug 20, 2019
Both sides of the debate
Choosing the best material to cover the backside of a module has long been a contentious issue, and the rise of bifacial technology has brought further complexity to the debate. With transparent backsheet materials quickly making their way to market, the Intersolar Europe edition of the Quality Roundtable event series sought to bring some clarity to the rear side of modules, and illuminate some of the issues that can occur in the field – both with glass-glass and glass-backsheet modules.
Aug 20, 2019
PV in need of a new chapter for wind
In part two of this feature on wind resilience in the PV industry, the lack of structural codes comes into focus. Weather events, and wind above all, are the most common causes of failure for PV plants. In the United States, the first steps have been taken to catch up with other industries and a dedicated chapter for PV is set to be included in the next update of the American Society of Civil Engineers code. In Europe, no such plans are in place.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: Social justice solar expands, trains, empowers
Erica Mackie is the CEO of Grid Alternatives, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that has helped nearly 15,000 low-income families to go solar at no cost. It has also provided more than 42,000 people with solar education and job training. Mackie co-founded Grid Alternatives in 2001 while working as an engineer in the private sector, and since then the organization has become a driving force for access and equity in the PV industry.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: LatAm’s early PV leader, with enormous DG potential
The early development of PV projects in Latin America was spearheaded by one country: Chile. And while there remain prospects for large-scale project development, its distributed generation segment has the potential for enormous growth, says Marcela Puntí Martín, the general manager of the Chilean Solar Energy Association (ACESOL).
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: Creating a common language for solar in the energy mix
As solar comes to represent a larger proportion of the global energy mix, direct comparisons with conventional energy sources, and even with other renewables, are becoming more and more important. This is reflected in a bid by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Expert Group to standardize reporting on solar energy potential. Long Seng To, Royal Academy of Engineering research fellow at Loughborough University, and part of the UNECE solar energy subgroup, discusses the draft standards.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: The evolution of testing
Tara Doyle started her career in the solar energy industry more than 15 years ago, and today serves as the chief commercial officer at PVEL, which claims to be one of the first testing laboratories to focus on bankability for the downstream PV buyer community. The lab serves developers, financiers, O&M companies, asset owners, and insurers.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: Production ambitions
While China hosts the lion’s share of production capacity for solar modules, many other parts of the world harbor the ambition to build manufacturing industries of their own. Italy’s Ecoprogetti is building production lines all over the world in 2019, and pv magazine had the chance to catch up with the family-owned company’s CEO Laura Sartore, who sees India and the Middle East as the key markets for the PV production equipment business.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: Californian stage set for smart solar, storage
Bernadette Del Chiaro has served as the executive director of California’s peak solar body, CalSSA, for the past six years. During this time the solar market in the state has expanded rapidly, and the stage is now set for the next phase of its development, as net metering recedes.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: ‘Today, it’s not just the energy that you produce’
While based in Munich in Germany’s south, renewable asset management software provider 3megawatt’s first major clients were in the United States. However, as the European markets have transitioned beyond feed-in tariffs to the complexity of subsidy-free solar and wind arrays, the understanding of the need for asset management tools is rapidly increasing, says 3megawatt founder and CEO Edmee Kelsey.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: Building dreams in Australia and the US
E-mobility and storage system specialist BYD has already successfully entered the Australian market. Now, in spite of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, it has decided to join forces with SMA Solar Technology to enter the U.S. residential storage market. Julia Chen, BYD’s global sales director, is broadly optimistic about the development of the global storage sector, as more and more markets are cutting previously high feed-in tariffs and turning solar roofop owners’ eyes to batteries.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: Competing for the entire energy system
As a leading proponent of the “solar as a service” model in the U.S. residential market, Sunrun is leveraging storage to move further into spaces that have traditionally been occupied by utilities and models based on centralized generation. Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich discusses the future of residential solar in the United States.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: Campaigning from rooftops to industrial sites
Walburga Hemetsberger joined SolarPower Europe as its new CEO around six months ago. It’s been a busy time, with the European elections and attempts to implement net zero emissions strategies that have kept Brussels hustling and bustling. At the same time, Europe’s solar industry association has been trying to push its industrial policy and rooftop campaign. Hemetsberger sat down with pv magazine for an update.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: Floating PV to rise to GW scale in India
Tenders have begun to drive next-generation solar and storage applications in India. And as developers, administrators and asset owners become more familiar with the technology, the advantages of PV on water and in battery storage are driving the emergence of a pipeline of projects. Surbhi Singhvi, manager of consulting for Bridge to India, discusses the outlook and challenges for both applications.
Aug 20, 2019
In conversation: On prices, technology and 2019 trends
A maturing PV market does not automatically deliver certainty in terms of technology roadmaps and industry dynamics. Crystalizing trends and anticipating developments is the business of analysts, so pv magazine assembled four of solar’s best to talk about prices, technology and market-defining policy developments.
Aug 20, 2019
Women at work
Women provide an invaluable perspective in the PV industry’s workforce. Studies have shown that the number of qualified women in leadership yields better performance, and that female representation leads to greater collaboration and fairness within the workplace. Yet there still exists a great divide and inadequate representation. This year’s In Conversation section highlights the significant contributions of leading women in the solar industry across its many segments, geographies, backgrounds and professions.
Aug 20, 2019
Reactivating Mexico’s large-scale sector
The Mexican electric power industry is maintaining its dynamism, despite a collective perception of inactivity stemming from a lack of information from the federal government. And renewables are barely mentioned in the National Development Plan for 2019–2024 drawn up by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Aug 20, 2019
Tendency toward diversification
Looking back at the PV market in 2018, micro module technologies started maturing in development and moving on to mass production, writes TrendForce analyst Lions Shih. Modules are no longer limited to a single design as before, but rather continuing on the path toward diversification in 2019. The situation is spreading into other areas, as may be seen in the upstream silicon wafer and cell segments.
Aug 20, 2019
Distributed generation growing in Latin America
In the early years of the 21st century, distributed generation systems in Latin America were mainly installed off-grid in remote rural areas, writes Maria Chea, solar analyst at IHS Markit. As the El Niño phenomenon and high oil prices continued to exacerbate high electricity prices and power shortages, governments began to turn their attention to distributed generation, including PV systems, to assuage strains on their national grid networks.
Aug 20, 2019
Time to stock up
Indications and rumors are mounting that a year-end installation rally is ahead, complete with module shortages. But should we really take these warnings to heart, given that over the past eight to 10 months, supply lines have been flowing just fine? A look at prices shows that everything is still quiet. The price points for all the module technologies have been fluctuating around a support level for months without permanently breaking through it. There is still ample supply of high-efficiency monocrystalline modules on the market, and mainstream multicrystalline products are finding their way to Europe less and less frequently, but demand does not seem to be much higher than supply. So what is the point of forward-looking planning or even stockpiling?
Aug 20, 2019
Awaiting your demand
Strong results for the second quarter of 2019 buoyed solar companies’ stock market performance in July. And much ongoing positivity still hangs on the expectation of a third quarter rally from China. Jesse Pichel of ROTH Capital Partners looks at the situation for solar’s listed companies.
Aug 20, 2019
Leading the way
It is the promise that our industry provides for creating a more just and sustainable world which makes it such a motivating place to work. In Conversation is our annual feature bringing forth expertise from industry leaders who have made significant contributions to the global PV marketplace.
Aug 20, 2019
