Moving in circles – 09-2024
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Excerpt from the magazine
Innovation and integration in Vienna
The 41st edition of the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) will take place in Vienna from Sept. 23 to Sept. 27, 2024. The conference program, coordinated by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, will highlight advances in photovoltaic technology and feature a business-to-business (B2B) exhibition.
Sep 06, 2024
End of the line for a US solar giant
SunPower, one of the largest, oldest, and most influential solar businesses in the United States, has closed its doors. Residential solar installers in the United States have struggled as interest rates have risen and cash generation has emerged as an issue.
Sep 06, 2024
Battery battle: silicon vs. graphite
Battery-anode material graphite is fraught with significant supply chain risk, as less than 10% of global supply is currently outside China. SCC55, made by Group14, is a stable silicon-carbon composite anode that can partly or wholly replace graphite in lithium battery anodes. pv magazine spoke to Grant Ray, Group14 vice president for global market strategy.
Sep 06, 2024
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PV in the palaces of nature
Above the clouds between the vast walls of the Alps, solar projects are in development. Concerns over insecurity of electricity supply in the winter led the Swiss government to introduce subsidies for Alpine PV projects but while state support bolsters the business case and developers are confident on the technical side, local opposition remains.
Sep 06, 2024
Solar tussles in Puerto Rico
Lawsuits, an imminent threat to net metering, and questions over commitments to the energy transition in some quarters pose real challenges for solar in Puerto Rico. Despite this, the US territory is still a high flyer in the region when it comes to distributed generation, while larger-scale solar and storage are on course to benefit from a US Department of Energy (DoE) loan guarantee.
Sep 06, 2024
The US is building a solar trade wall
Chinese companies with Southeast Asian production lines have taken advantage of the production costs and trade restrictions that make US panels more costly. However, shifting trade disputes are putting price advantages under the spotlight, writes InfoLink analyst Jonathan Chou.
Sep 06, 2024
Owning TOPCon
Lawyers are doing brisk business as tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar technology moves into the mainstream. A series of patent infringement cases have been launched in the United States and Europe and their impacts are reverberating through the marketplace. How likely is it that winners will emerge?
Sep 06, 2024
Directions to de-risk a solar supply chain
US industrial policy has supported an uptick in annual solar module production capacity while trade policy has ramped up the cost of cell and module imports. Andy Klump, the founder of Clean Energy Associates (CEA), offers some tips to help solar developers plan a route to success.
Sep 06, 2024
Dialing in to distributed energy storage
The Åland Islands, a picturesque locale in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden, face unique energy challenges. The windswept terrain and overhead power lines make the region susceptible to power outages from falling trees, especially in fall and winter, while summer thunderstorms can also disrupt supply. Snorre Solvang of telecom operator Elisa discusses how distributed energy storage (DES) helps bolster communications infrastructure against these vulnerabilities.
Sep 06, 2024
Low prices, decarbonization, and a segmented supply chain
Shifting requirements for supply chain traceability and carbon footprint disclosure, along with solar oversupply and unsustainably low module prices, have made 2024 a challenging year for PV manufacturers. Despite these obstacles, the industry remains committed to its crucial role in the global energy transition. pv magazine recently spoke with Haimeng Zhang, chief strategy and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) officer at Longi Green Energy, about how the sector is preparing to meet these challenges.
Sep 06, 2024
UP: Raw materials and black mass
Batteries are increasingly vital for energy storage, transport, and consumer goods. The need for steady supplies of critical raw materials has led to a growing emphasis on recycling in many countries. pv magazine explores the global landscape of battery recycling and the flow of an increasingly crucial intermediate from battery recycling, known as “black mass.”
Sep 06, 2024
Laser focus on degradation and efficiency
Technological change can occur quickly in solar manufacturing. This has been the case with the laser-enhanced contact opening (LECO) process, which is well-suited to tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar production. With its application occurring at a breakneck pace, however, there are signs there may be trouble ahead.
Sep 06, 2024
pv magazine Awards
The balance of system (BOS) category of the pv magazine Awards takes in all the components that support the core system of PV modules, inverters, and batteries. Trends among the first batch of 2024 entries revealed tracker and racking system manufacturers are looking to move onto rougher terrain and into regions with stronger winds. Developers of residential PV solutions also appear to be looking to attract customers who may not have suitable rooftop space for installations. Here we highlight some of the entries received so far. The winners will be announced at the end of 2024 and we will accept entries up until Sept. 27, 2024. Scan the code below or head to pv-magazine.com to share your latest innovations with us.
Sep 06, 2024
Getting renewables sites buzzin’
As renewable energy grows and installations occupy more space, continual reassessment of potential unintended consequences is necessary. Harriet Parker, director of environmental, corporate, and social governance (ESG) and sustainability at renewables investor Low Carbon, discusses how large-scale projects in the United Kingdom can minimize their impact on the landscape.
Sep 06, 2024
The significance of state-of-charge
Everoze Partner Nithin Rajavelu considers the crucial importance of properly measuring and managing state-of-charge (SoC) for the efficiency, longevity, and safety of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, especially in lithium ferro-phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are widely used for large-scale storage.
Sep 06, 2024
Solar school: Shaping the workforce of the future
How can the solar industry maximize its attractiveness to jobseekers and those mulling a career change? Oana Penu, the director of the EU-funded EIT InnoEnergy Skills Institute, tells pv magazine about the recently launched European Solar Academy and how it plans to reskill and upskill thousands of workers within two years.
Sep 06, 2024
The shift factor
For renewable energy developers, finding a site in Texas can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack due to grid constraints, environmental concerns, and other factors. Help is now available, as Sultan Ennab, of Electric Power Engineers (EPE), explains, with reference to the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid.
Sep 06, 2024
Standing up for rooftop solar
Updated energy performance regulations should lead to a significant increase in rooftop solar deployment across the European Union but traditional roof-mounted systems will not work for all buildings. As research into the benefits of vertically oriented PV continues, startups across the continent are getting ready to flip rooftop solar on its head.
Sep 06, 2024
Closer to a closed loop
It’s often said that the global PV market moves in circles and reading the collected words of the many respected market observers who are kind enough to share their expertise in our September 2024 edition, it’s easy to feel like we’ve been here before. Oversupply, falling prices, trade cases, protectionism, and high-profile bankruptcies are all […]
Sep 06, 2024
All hail weatherproof solar
As extreme weather becomes more frequent, renewable energy installations in many regions are at heightened risk of damage. Nick Price, senior director of global sales engineering for Nextracker, outlines six steps to manage insurance costs while ensuring that solar projects continue to generate energy.
Sep 06, 2024
Varying fortunes for US solar stocks
There have been percentage gains for US solar stocks across all market segments despite the collapse of industry stalwart SunPower. A likely interest rate cut gives the residential sector grounds for optimism but there could be more pain to come for the utility-scale solar market.
Sep 06, 2024
UP: Solar recycling needs transparency
European industry association PV Cycle estimates a 10 MW solar site will eventually produce 700 tons of waste material. It is becoming increasingly clear that PV modules need end-of-life protocols – for the technology and material processing, and the regulatory environment.
Sep 06, 2024
UP: Rip it up and start again…
The practical matter of taking a dead PV system apart and moving its components to their next destination has received less attention than recycling and second-life applications. In the United States, Decom Solar is offering decommissioning for commercial and industrial (C&I) solar projects. pv magazine spoke to Decom Solar co-founder Stephen Burns for an update.
Sep 06, 2024
The only way is up
Maximizing a solar plant’s total energy generation can result in a supply and demand mismatch in regions with high PV penetration. Adding east- and west-facing vertically oriented panels to solar farms can improve a site’s energy production curve, explains Sunstall’s Philipp Kauls.
Sep 06, 2024
Trackers tread lighter
Solar trackers remain essential for many projects, especially in the United States where the higher cost of modules justifies the added expense. More trackers from more companies can now navigate hilly terrain without earthworks, leading to significant savings. This also helps projects comply with environmental regulations.
Sep 06, 2024
