PVEL

Reports of broken module glass with no obvious cause have begun to crop up at large PV projects. Module design, glass manufacturing, and interactions in the field between modules and trackers are at play and a clear solution has yet to emerge. Early signs suggest an update to certification standards may be needed.

The application of busbarless cell interconnection approaches could unlock the potential of heterojunction (HJT) technology, primarily by reducing the historically high silver usage of negatively-doped, “n-type” cell technology. As HJT manufacturing increases, a wave of applications may very well be on the horizon.

The expected lifetime of PV inverters is significantly shorter than that of modules. In many projects, inverter replacement is included in financial calculations from the start, despite the high costs. Research is being conducted into the causes of faults to develop more durable inverters and components. But plant design can already improve the lifespan of inverters in use today, reports pv magazine Germany’s Marian Willuhn.

Material shortages, trade restrictions, and shipping bottlenecks create challenges for PV module buyers, but the good news is that there are steps to take to ensure quality supply in a timely fashion. PVEL CEO Jenya Meydbray takes us through best practice for module buyers in the current market climate.

Trina Solar, the pioneer of 210mm large format high power PV modules, speaks to pv magazine about its strategy for their deployment. Dr. Zhang Yingbin, Trina Solar’s head of product strategy and marketing, discusses the business solutions Trina provided for its new products, while Todd Li, President of Trina Solar Asia Pacific, shares his views on the PV markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

A white paper published earlier in December by PV Evolution Labs investigates the formation of performance damaging cracks in PV cells, based on mechanical stress testing of more than 40 commercially available PV modules. While the lab warns that susceptibility to cracking will change according to the specific bill of materials making up each module, certain technologies are shown to perform better than others.

The 1 GW fifth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai will feature NX Horizon trackers with the deal announced after the manufacturer published new bifacial yield gain claims.

This week pv magazine was in Amsterdam for the sixth edition of the BifiPV workshop, where the discussion focused on the impressive achievements made by bifacial solar modules and the challenges the technology faces as it moves toward mainstream adoption.

PVEL’s inaugural inverter scorecard is showing up the need for much more scrutiny on the reliability of inverters. But are developers and EPCs even paying attention?

While PV module makers are attempting to get the best possible scores for their products on 3rd party tests, 3rd-party testing providers are also offering competing products to rank products. We look at what’s similar and what’s different in the tests.