World

For solar to survive in a world without feed-in tariffs, further innovation focused on cost reduction is necessary. In this white paper, scientists from Swiss equipment supplier Meyer Burger argue that high efficiency cell concepts, and in particular heterojunction, will be among the best technologies solar can bet on to achieve this.

PV InfoLink has released its latest solar PV module shipment ranking for H1 2018. Chinese manufacturers continue to dominate the market, while monocrystalline module shipments increased sharply. Overall, it forecasts total PV demand of 83 GW in 2018.

“Significant” price movements in solar PV cells has been observed this week, in reaction to India’s safeguard duties, and the impending MIP decision, says EnergyTrend. Module, wafer and polysilicon prices, however, remain stable. In contrast, prices for li-ion batteries are set to increase by as much as 15% in Q3.

The driving force behind the innovative energy storage system installed at Amsterdam’s John Cruiff ArenA in the Netherlands, The Mobility House (TMH), talks to pv magazine about the death of the combustion engine, and how electric vehicles (EVs) are presenting both strong business cases, and unparalleled levels of flexibility via decentralized intelligence – blockchain technology – for electricity grids around the world.

According to PV Info Link, the price for monocrystalline cells in China fell below that of the usually cheaper multicrystalline products. However analysts expect it to be a blip, with multi prices expected to fall and mono to be supported by the Top Runner Program, now China’s main source of demand for the rest of 2018.

An uptick in global PV demand will occur in 2020, with China’s 30.5 policy directly affecting 2018’s results by around 18%, says GTM Research. Rapidly falling module prices will benefit predominantly Asian markets, where modules comprise the lion’s share of capex, although regions like Europe will see increased installations. Laying out 10 PV predictions, it anticipates, among others, intensified competition, lower bid prices, more technology neutral auctions and an increasing amount of subsidy free solar.

New developments in inverter architecture suggest that string inverters have charged forwards again to take on the challenge and kick central inverters off the throne in the utility-scale market. Hardware design innovations allowing to cut down BoS capex and improve efficiency of the plants might push string inverters further to take more space in the utility-scale market place.

Circular Energy Storage, a London-based research and consulting group, reports a strong business case for reconstituted electric vehicle batteries for energy storage applications. As the EV and static storage system markets grow rapidly, synergies could be a useful tool for continued cost optimization.

EV charging infrastructure is set to become a major market, and actors from different sectors like municipal utilities, inverter companies and storage system providers are getting creative, and collaborative, in order to secure a slice of the cake.

According to reports from Energy Trend, a 30% decline in PV demand from China this year will likely spell trouble for some of the country’s major module manufacturers, with job losses and factory closures expected, despite China’s determination to open new international markets for its PV industry.