Articles written by Michael Fuhs

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Aging overvalued Degradation: Most yield assessments include possible module degradation in their calculations, yet there’s little evidence to show whether modules really lose power as the years go by. Experts at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems have now come to the conclusion that many modules are better than previously thought.
Michael Fuhs
Mar 27, 2011
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“Nobody believed it” Interview: SunPower, the fourth largest maker of crystalline PV modules, holds the world record for cell and module efficiency. Richard Swanson, founder, President and Chief Technical Officer of SunPower, explains how the company got there and what he is planning next.
Michael Fuhs
Mar 27, 2011
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How PV+Test works Glossary: PV+Test uses a wide range of measurement results and other module properties in its assessment. The assessment scheme shows what experts think makes up a good module.
Michael Fuhs
Feb 10, 2011
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Introducing ?“Best of modules” Quality assurance: PV+Test is a new quality label to help customers navigate the module market. The first results are promising. Most of the modules that underwent the independent test fulfill the requirements. On the other hand, there are some clear differences in individual categories.
Michael Fuhs
Feb 10, 2011
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“The greatest capacity leap in PV history” Interview CIGS: Up to now there has not been very much production of thin film CIGS modules, although their efficiencies are close to those of polycrystalline modules. Wolfgang Lange, Managing Director for Europe of Solar Frontier, explains why this may change next year. His company will soon be manufacturing cadmium and lead free modules in a gigawatt factory.
Michael Fuhs
Dec 14, 2010
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Outsourcing and streamlining CEO-Interview: Solon, one Europe’s largest PV manufacturers, experienced a difficult economic situation at the beginning of the year. Chief Executive Officer, Stefan Säuberlich, talks about the problems that the Berlin-headquartered company solved and how he advertises the company’s products.
Michael Fuhs
Nov 17, 2010
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Collecting seconds Reducing the cost of inverters: If cost pressure on the industry goes up, inverters also have to get cheaper. Werner Kupka of the Solme Deutschland consultancy explains how video analysis can boost the ergonomics of their final assembly and raise the efficiency by 50 percent of an operation, which makes up almost a third of the value created in inverter production.
Michael Fuhs
Sep 16, 2010
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Bankruptcy insurance Interview: Small and midsize module manufacturers often are left sitting on their products when banks do not have enough confidence in them. Steffen A. Müller of Trust, a risk management and insurance broker, explains why his firm is focusing on this problem, and why bankers do not openly talk about the issue. While his explanations specifically refer to the legal situation in Germany, there are similar issues abroad.
Michael Fuhs
Sep 16, 2010
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Stricter and more uniform Safety for inverters: Most inverters are already certified. Yet amazingly enough, uniform standards for all testing procedures do not exist. That is now changing. Axel Schwalm from VDE Testing and certification Institute explains what this means for manufacturers, dealers and installers.
Michael Fuhs
Sep 16, 2010