Magazine Archive 04-2012

Concentrated photovoltaics: CPV is not a new technology, but it is beginning to have its place in the sun as a bankable form of solar power generation. In the MENA region and places with higher direct irradiation it is growing and companies are beginning to fill the CPV supply niche. But are there sufficient advantages for CPV to emerge, out of the shadows?

Concentrated photovoltaics: CPV is not a new technology, but it is beginning to have its place in the sun as a bankable form of solar power generation. In the MENA region and places with higher direct irradiation it is growing and companies are beginning to fill the CPV supply niche. But are there sufficient advantages for CPV to emerge, out of the shadows?

Concentrated photovoltaics: CPV is not a new technology, but it is beginning to have its place in the sun as a bankable form of solar power generation. In the MENA region and places with higher direct irradiation it is growing and companies are beginning to fill the CPV supply niche. But are there sufficient advantages for CPV to emerge, out of the shadows?

Concentrated photovoltaics: CPV is not a new technology, but it is beginning to have its place in the sun as a bankable form of solar power generation. In the MENA region and places with higher direct irradiation it is growing and companies are beginning to fill the CPV supply niche. But are there sufficient advantages for CPV to emerge, out of the shadows?

India market update: The last quarter of 2011, according to India Solar Compass, saw an additional 93 megawatts of PV installations in India. Bridge to India’s Mohit Anand provides an update on the status of installations there.

Women in PV: It’s often said about the PV industry that it’s one where business is done differently. In terms of its people this could be more of a case of what it isn’t, rather than what it is. PV in fact can be seen as pushing against the following energy industry stereotype: that its people are largely white and most definitely male. But does this mean that PV is an industry where women are automatically a part of the workforce? pv magazine investigates.

Mexico: PV manufacturers are acknowledging the advantages of Mexico as a manufacturing location. However will a domestic PV market follow suit? pv magazine heads “south of the border” to find out.

Laminators: Laminating processes and manufacturing flexibility; are these two goals mutually exclusive, or do they combine to form a viable and forward-looking ideology?

Levelized cost of energy: Shalom Goffri, Associate Director at Navigant Consulting, believes that PV prices are still too high to achieve grid parity without incentives. However, he says that with new, sustainable markets, it could be as little as five years before grid parity without incentives is reached.

Electrical standards for PV systems: In part one of this series we looked at the background and scope of the U.S. National Electrical Code (NEC). We continued with a survey of 2011 NEC coverage of solar PV systems. Article 690 starts with 23 basic definitions, followed by general installation requirements for all non-utility solar PV systems. In part two, we continue with Section 690.5, Ground-Fault Protection.