World

Despite pandemic-induced impacts, the PV market was bigger than expected last year. In particular, an installation rush in Vietnam and China took place in December and pushed global demand upward. PV InfoLink estimates that global module demand in 2020 reached 140 GW. Analyst Mars Chang delves into the numbers.

Looking back at the past year, the renewables sector has seen two extremes. In Germany, disparities were triggered in part by the recently passed amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). For solar PV in particular, the pendulum will swing in favor of installers of small systems in the near term, writes Martin Schachinger of pvXchange. For installations up to 30 kWp, the new law has cleared market barriers.

Large swaths of low-cost land: check. Lots of sun and wind: check. The ability to transport green hydrogen cost-effectively to energy importing economies: check. Then you’re in the race to become one of the “renewable energy superpowers” of the low-carbon economy. A growing number of countries are assessing their renewable resources and natural attributes and positioning themselves to become green hydrogen exporters. However, not all are created equal.

Silver demand for PV production worldwide is forecast to grow to 105 million ounces this year, as overall demand hits an eight-year high. Prices for the precious metal could reach a seven-year high of $30.00 per ounce this year but, according to the Silver Institute, this level is still far away from any critical threshold that would make silver supply for the solar industry problematic.

Solar stocks enjoyed a good start in 2021, writes Jesse Pichel of ROTH Capital Partners. In the United States, the Biden administration’s focus on climate change and the expectation of further incentives for renewables saw solar stocks rally in January. The global forecast is also positive, with China and others set for big installation numbers.

A new report published by the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Program (IEA PVPS) outlines the need for PV module standards and testing to focus on ‘energy rating’ – an estimate of actual performance in a variety of climate conditions, rather than nominal power output or efficiency. The report finds that the IEC and other standards bodies are already beginning to make encouraging moves in this direction, but more work, and more data, are needed to make the most out of this approach.

Energy consultancy DNV GL has published new results comparing the performance of modules based on 166mm, 182mm and 210mm silicon cells. The assessment compares Trina Solar’s Vertex modules, which use the largest cell dimension, with unnamed competitors utilizing the other two sizes. Results from system simulations show a clear advantage for the two larger sizes, with 210mm edging ahead in terms of levelized cost of electricity.

IHS Markit is predicting the world will add 30% more solar capacity this year.

Forecasts for the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of solar PV were hotly contested over the past decade, with one trend predominating: All but the most optimistic outlooks were wrong. pv magazine has gathered data to showcase the recent evolution of solar PV energy costs, and the results are stark. Within just a few years, initial projections become outdated, which means that forecasts of solar PV prices are more art than science.