Magazine Archive 02-2018

Netherlands solar installations: In January the annual Dutch Solar Trend Report was presented. The market in the Netherlands has grown remarkably. In 2017, 853 MW were installed, an increase of 60% over the previous year. Expectations for 2018 are even higher, and rightly so, since the report showed a potential of 500 – 700 GW.

Rooftop PV: Distributed solar can arrive in many forms, from the typical small array installed on a family home, to vast, multi-megawatt installations atop large warehouses and factories. Each market sector faces its own challenges and opportunities, and pv magazine has identified five key questions that could well shape these various rooftop sectors throughout 2018 and beyond.

About The megapolis of Tokyo ranks fourth in the world for the number of skyscrapers, has a metropolitan area larger than any other city on the planet, and effortlessly manages to combine a head-spinning mix of futurism and tradition in one easily-traversed cityscape. While the neon-lit billboards blaring obscure-sounding advertisements high overhead certainly fit the […]

Robotics in PV: The momentum of China’s solar growth appears unstoppable, driving the hunger for faster, qualitative automated solutions for the domestic PV manufacturing industry. Thus, most new solar manufacturing facilities or production upgrades are equipped with nearly fully automated lines.

PV equipment supply: While the bulk of the world’s solar module manufacturing is now located in China, supply of production tools has remained largely the remit of European, and particularly German, engineering companies. pv magazine investigates whether this dominance can continue as China’s equipment providers begin to step up their game.

Module-level power electronics: Technology that many thought of only as a handy way to overcome rooftop shading is now branching out further and more deeply into large-scale solar installations. pv magazine asks SolarEdge Founder and VP of Marketing and Product Strategy Lior Handelsman why the solar industry is now beginning to embrace MLPE at scale, and what the benefits and implications can be for system owners.

Monocrystalline growth: At last month’s World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, pv magazine interviewed Max Xia, Overseas Marketing Vice President at LONGi Solar Technology Co., Ltd., the global leader in the production of monocrystalline ingots, wafers, cells, and modules. Even after mono’s success story in the past two years, Xia sees tremendous growth ahead, so much so that he envisions solar PV challenging coal’s dominance in his home country China in as little as five years’ time.

American solar manufacturing: President Trump’s relatively measured 201 ruling surprised many. And while there are already reports of new hiring and expansions by U.S. module makers, the new tariffs will not be enough for a major revival of the sector.

Trina Solar: As part of the December 2017 China road trip, pv magazine spoke with Rongfang Yin, Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, at Trina Solar’s headquarters in Changzhou. Yin provided insights into how Trina Solar evaluates foreign markets, also as possible production hubs for its solar panels.