Magazine Archive

Battery overview: Batteries are an integral part of the total storage solution offered for renewable energy applications. However in the selection process, comparison of the different batteries available is not easy since chemistries and performance for applications differ. This market overview shows deep cycle batteries that are on the market and the elements that can influence operation and storage.

Taiwan: Up to now, the Taiwanese solar industry focused on upstream segments. Now, integrating downstream seems to be the order of the day. That requires soft skills beyond price and technology.

Manufacturing and standards: Wireless communication in automation and to facilitate productivity improvements is becoming more common in a range of manufacturing processes. But is the time right for it to make an impact in the PV space?

Interview: Since launching the 300 GW p.a. initiative in September 2012, pv magazine has shone a light on the future of the PV industry, in becoming a major pillar of world energy by 2025 and beyond. As a part of the initiative Applied Solar’s Charlie Gay joins the conversation and makes the case for PV to strive forward and take its place alongside major energy players, including natural gas.

Off-grid India: The Indian off-grid PV segment is reaching a point of inflection. Madhavan Nampoothiri from RESolve Energy Consultants explains how off-grid PV is making inroads in the Indian sub-continent.

Interview: What is hampering the development of the photovoltaics off-grid markets? And what can be done? Prof. Peter Adelmann, Director of the Institute for Decentralized Electrification, Entrepreneurship and Education (id-eee), reports on his experience with projects in Ethiopia and other countries.

China’s rooftop potential: Southern China and its richest province Guangdong have lagged behind other regions in China when it comes to PV production and installation. However, the region pioneered China’s industrial development and at the recent Distributed PV Application and Commercialization Forum organized by SEMI China in Shunde, Guangdong, there were signs that the situation is about to change. Abundant industrial rooftops provide the basis for Guangdong’s new “Thousand Factories, Thousand Megawatts” program and it could make PV a leading industry in this region.

Mercom Capital global forecast: Mercom Capital Group’s Raj Prabhu looks back at the global solar market in 2012 and anticipates what 2013 has in store for the industry.

Offgrid: The 1st International Off-Grid Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition (IOREC) was held in Ghana and established the first major conference and trade fair focused exclusively on the off-grid renewable energy sector in developing countries. Simon Rolland, Secretary-General of the Alliance for Rural Electrification elaborates.