Lighting the way – 05-2024
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Module makers assemble in Istanbul
The number of module assembly businesses in Türkiye continues to rise but, despite protectionist moves to support domestic manufacturing, consolidation appears likely. Ambitions abroad, expansion at home, and interest from Chinese suppliers, were all on show at the recent SolarEX trade fair in Istanbul.
May 10, 2024
Steady progress for perovskite modules
Laboratories are pushing to keep up with rapid developments in perovskite solar devices and to provide accurate, comparable ways to measure them. pv magazine caught up with Stefan Roest, chief technology officer at PV testing equipment supplier Eternal Sun, to discuss progress on standardized testing and the challenges that arise as the tech moves toward larger, more complex devices.
May 10, 2024
High inventory, low prices, stiff competition
Global solar demand will continue to grow in 2024 with module demand likely to reach 492 GW to 538 GW. InfoLink predicts that demand growth will begin to slow. Amy Fang, a senior analyst at InfoLink, takes a look at module demand and supply chain inventories in a market still affected by oversupply.
May 10, 2024
Perovskites move into production
Perovskites remain a great hope for the future of the solar industry, once the possibilities of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) and heterojunction PV have been exhausted. A look at the latest perovskite research shows that industry optimism is built on a strong foundation.
May 10, 2024
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Solar amid conflict
The need for secure, clean electricity supply across many parts of Africa is well-known but efforts to fulfill this requirement are often hindered by the many factors that deter foreign investors. Nuru and Ziz Energie are first-mover solar developers tackling the challenge of attracting backers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Chad, respectively.
May 10, 2024
No ceiling on US glass opportunity
With PV module capacity ramping up, glass suppliers have been investing in new solar glass production capacity. As in India and China, new facilities are popping up in North America, with unique twists to ensure competitiveness, such as using recycled material.
May 10, 2024
Trade measures may bring volatility
Potential new antidumping and countervailing duties loom over the United States solar market and there might be more price volatility on the horizon. While there are challenges for United States residential solar, Jesse Pichel, of Roth Capital Partners, also highlights a number of reasons for optimism.
May 10, 2024
Topping up carbon credit knowledge
Renewable energy generation and carbon credit trading are both being used to achieve corporate decarbonization goals. Julia Hung and Sherry Hu, from Reccessary, a market analysis platform for the Asia-Pacific region, explore carbon market developments in Southeast Asia and beyond.
May 10, 2024
Double trouble
Perovskite PV devices are set to become the next big thing in solar with market analysts at S&P Global Commodity Insights predicting 1 GW of production by the end of 2024, rising to 6 GW in 2025. Perovskite tandem devices are at the front of the queue for commercialization but their characterization presents technical challenges.
May 10, 2024
Understanding PV in sub-Saharan Africa
Solar power is another energy solution for the next generation of entrepreneurs and it can be particularly impactful in the right hands. Ndiarka Mbodji, a former Rolls-Royce jet-engine executive, is the managing director of Kowry Energy Services. The company offers services in sub-Saharan Africa based on deep understanding of the market and consumers.
May 10, 2024
pv magazine Awards: Highlights
The first chance to enter this year’s pv magazine Awards has passed and we have begun the process of working with our independent, expert jurors to narrow down the best of the best from more than 85 entries received so far. Here, we present selected highlights from the inverter and manufacturing categories. Keep an eye out for more highlights and announcements about this year’s jurors in each category in upcoming editions of the magazine. Entries are closed for now but there will be another chance to submit before we select the winners at the end of the year.
May 10, 2024
From Mumbai to Bondi
Economic cooperation between India and Australia may open doors for investment in clean energy technology but challenges still abound in a competitive global market. Vibhuti Garg and Shantanu Srivastava, of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), discuss the role that public funding and resource pooling could play in supporting manufacturing ambitions.
May 10, 2024
Enhancing safety in lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are generally safe and unlikely to fail but they can catch fire if they are damaged or stored or operated incorrectly. There is a tremendous amount of research and engineering effort going into making batteries safer but are technological advancements being rolled out quickly enough?
May 10, 2024
China’s cash conundrum
The Chinese PV industry has benefited from the availability of substantial finance over the past two decades, supporting the development of the renewable, zero-carbon capability essential for meeting the goals of the Paris climate agreement. Easy access to finance has led to unsustainably low prices and unnecessary losses, however, impacting China’s ability to sustain support for renewable energy systems. As the nation expands renewable energy installations and enhances grid-balancing capacity, maintaining consistent financial support has become more challenging.
May 10, 2024
Walking the walk
In October 2023, events industry expert Benjamin Low and EUPD Research launched the Sustainable Trade Events Partnership (STEP), aiming to define and promote best practice for sustainability at trade shows and similar large events. The partnership is initially targeting events in the energy sector and pv magazine caught up with Low to discuss the partnership’s aims and progress.
May 10, 2024
BESS investors must navigate carefully to benefit from boom
Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has been heating up in Germany but increased competition and high interest rates are affecting renewables project values. Baris Serifsoy, partner at GreenCap Partners, examines the investment landscape in one of the world’s most developed PV markets.
May 10, 2024
Pieces of the puzzle
The technology behind solar energy has begun to move quickly in recent years as manufacturers aim for ever higher energy yields. Tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar’s takeover from passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) technology is well under way in 2024, with the latter having quickly risen to dominate the market by around 2018. […]
May 10, 2024
Shifting gears
Italy’s ‘scambio sul posto’ net metering scheme is drawing to a close, opening a new phase for small-scale, distributed generation (DG) in the country. Distributed energy storage has enormous scope for development and should benefit but uncertainties remain for both solar and batteries.
May 10, 2024
Price collapse protects China’s lead
With solar module oversupply triggering a price freefall in 2023 and no recovery in sight, market consolidation, inventory pile-up, technology shifts, and challenges to reshoring PV manufacturing are set to affect all levels of the solar supply chain.
May 10, 2024
Opposition stymies solar – sometimes
Large-scale solar is booming in the United States, with 22.5 GW of utility scale capacity installed in 2023, according to trade body the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). That represents 77% growth over 2022, due to strong policies and the country’s decarbonization goals. Such figures might suggest that solar has strong support but developers cite public opposition as a major challenge.
May 10, 2024
