Best in class – 01-2020
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pv magazine Awards BESS: Taking on challenges
Battery energy storage system (BESS) deployment is continuing at pace, meaning high safety standards and effective operations and maintenance are critical. Maximizing BESS performance is key to the business case for energy storage, while minimizing downtime ensures investors get more bang for their buck. This year’s award sees pv magazine recognize innovators supporting the build-out of storage by addressing key challenges.
Dec 03, 2024
pv magazine Awards manufacturing: More than a flash
As PV manufacturing continues to scale, spotting kinks early on in production has never been more important. While manufacturers have a wealth of options for collecting data on how production lines are performing, keeping that information in order and pulling meaningful insights is a challenge. This year’s award recognizes an important step in integrating big data with PV manufacturing.
Dec 03, 2024
Ampin’ up India’s commercial solar
Ampin Energy Transition has worked on hundreds of renewable energy projects in India, from initial development to operations. The company has chosen to focus on India’s burgeoning commercial and industrial (C&I) sector. pv magazine spoke to Amit Mittal, Ampin’s chief operations officer.
Dec 03, 2024
A numbers game: AI for PV faults
As part of his work as guest researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy (ISE), Mücahid Candan specializes in the use of artificial intelligence in photovoltaic systems. Here, he tells pv magazine about his ongoing project: deep learning-based fault detection using neural network ensemble (DEFNE).
Dec 03, 2024
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Quality from the get-go
In a pv magazine Insight session at the Renewable Energy Expo India 2024 (REI Expo) trade show in October 2024, panelists discussed encapsulants as a driving force of innovation in the solar market and considered how to manage uncertainty in technology and supply chains.
Dec 03, 2024
pv magazine Awards publisher’s pick: Leading the PV manufacturing drive in India
The expansion of solar manufacturing capacity outside China has been one of the key trends in 2024. One company in particular has impressed with its production capability and ambitious plans for the future.
Dec 03, 2024
Not OK, computer
The PV industry is embracing artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to automate operations and maintenance (O&M) diagnostics and predictive analytics in PV systems. More transparency and standard definitions are needed, however, as US-based Sandia Labs scientists Joshua Stein and Marios Theristis explain.
Dec 03, 2024
Cleaning up solar O&M
Regular solar panel cleaning can help prevent problems such as electrical faults, energy losses, and even fires. All too often, cleaning becomes a commonly overlooked part of operations and maintenance (O&M), argues Steve Williams, CEO of Clean Solar Solutions America.
Dec 03, 2024
UP: Frames of reference
US-based Origami Solar has overcome two key challenges to replace aluminum solar module frames with steel products. The company says it can offer improved performance and a compelling value proposition, particularly for module makers setting up outside China. pv magazine caught up with Origami Solar CEO Gregg Patterson to discuss steel frames and the company’s expansion plans.
Dec 03, 2024
The year in solar and storage
In five key trends, pv magazine looks back over a year that saw PV module prices fall lower than many thought possible, while demand was restrained by grid congestion, among other challenges. Energy storage has had a strong year and geopolitics is seeing solar and battery manufacturing enter new regions as competition drives technical innovation.
Dec 03, 2024
Increased cell efficiency, on a plate
The solar industry has dragged its heels on the issue of silver-dependence for cell metallization, but China’s Jiangsu Xianghuan Technology (JXTC) is moving into commercial production with a copper plating process that overcomes many of the challenges that have limited interest from cell manufacturers.
Dec 03, 2024
The pv magazine Awards 2024
It’s been another record-breaking year for solar and storage with new standards for module efficiency, a battery boom, and innovation across the supply chain. Investment in capacity, quality, and R&D is evident, but there’s more to the energy transition than capital. Ingenuity is the lifeblood of technical progress and it has been demonstrated by our pv magazine Awards 2024 winners, whose creativity should serve as an inspiration to all.
Dec 03, 2024
Election spooks investors
The Invesco Solar exchange-traded fund (ETF) was down month on month in October 2024 as investors grappled with the uncertainty of the US presidential election. A potential rollback of tax credits for clean technology businesses and the threat of new tariffs both played a role, says Jesse Pichel, of Roth Capital Partners.
Dec 03, 2024
On the road with pv magazine
Where we’ve been: European Heat Pump Association Heat Pump Forum, Brussels, Belgium Paul Kenny, the director general of the European Heat Pump Association, opened the two-day Heat Pump Forum in September 2024 by acknowledging that Europe’s heat pump sector is “not in a good place,” with sales down 47% year on year across 13 European countries. […]
Dec 03, 2024
Keeping desert projects in peak condition
Saudi Arabia will have a challenging job on its hands to ensure long-term profitability and reliable performance from its energy system if its achieves its 130 GW target for solar generation capacity by 2030. A data-driven approach to desert dust could make a difference.
Dec 03, 2024
pv magazine Awards BOS: Leading the transition
Balance-of-system (BoS) products influence solar plant performance and profitability. Changes at the BoS level can have a real impact on plant design, as this year’s winner has shown through the launch of a product portfolio designed with new system architecture in mind.
Dec 03, 2024
pv magazine Awards inverters: Fit for the future
Flexibility, adaptability, and interoperability are the pillars of good inverter design. This year’s best-scoring products displayed those qualities and more. In a competitive field ranging from microinverters to utility-scale devices, the pv magazine Award 2024 winner was found in the residential segment, where upgradeable hybrid solutions can support households as they embrace the energy transition.
Dec 03, 2024
In the long run…
This time in 2023, all in the solar industry were worried about significant oversupply of PV modules and the threat this posed all along the supply chain. Looking back over the year that’s now drawing to a close, it’s safe to say those worries were justified. In 2024, worldwide manufacturing capacity for PV modules […]
Dec 03, 2024
Using data to enhance safety and performance
George Touloupas, senior director for technology and quality at Clean Energy Associates (CEA), reviews the quality assurance (QA) activity and methodologies used to ensure PV performance and emphasizes the importance of data-driven approaches and continuous monitoring.
Dec 03, 2024
pv magazine Awards sustainability: Innovation extends product lifecycle
Increasing concern over the lifecycle of products powering the energy transition has driven real innovation. Entrants for the sustainability category of the pv magazine Awards 2024 applied the recycling hierarchy principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle with clever solutions to extend the life of products and reduce environmental impact.
Dec 03, 2024
pv magazine Awards projects: Fixing generation
The intermittent nature of solar generation can pose problems for grid operators. This year’s pv magazine Award for projects attracted entrants with innovative solutions. Fixed generation is the goal and appears to be achievable using effective forecasting. From powering up idle plants to bolstering the grid when demand is highest, solar, energy storage, and data can make all the difference.
Dec 03, 2024
A locus for battery development
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, identified with fossil fuels for decades, wants to be part of the energy transition. Battery raw materials commentator Phoebe O’Hara says the energy storage supply chain can become the region’s fastest-growing industry.
Dec 03, 2024
Power with a capital P
From modest beginnings in 2011, Power Capital Renewable Energy (PCRE) has become one of Ireland’s foremost independent power producers (IPPs). Joint CEO and co-founder Justin Brown told pv magazine that despite Ireland’s challenging environment for solar, the company sees a lot of opportunity and is taking full advantage.
Dec 03, 2024
