Producing the goods
Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) is demonstrating how a solar-powered refrigeration unit and dryer could be self-sustaining and improve food security in Kenya. Project managers Alexander Morgenstern and Norbert Pfanner say that they hope the system will be the first of many.
‘Solar crime’ on the rise
With copper prices rising, inflation driving up the cost of living, and organized criminal gangs stepping up operations in the United Kingdom and across Europe, solar project owners need to be more conscious than ever of security, reports Max Hall.
The human touch
While it is easy to dismiss opposition to solar as small-minded local activism, doing so fails to recognize the emotional thread tying together communities wary of seeing fields of solar panels, and ignores missteps often made by remote developers. pv magazine Australia’s Bella Peacock reports on how solar companies can do better.
Game(sa)-changing
The 2022 pv magazine Award for inverters was awarded to Gamesa Electric’s Proteus central product – a powerful inverter that presents a new answer to the question of central vs. string devices for utility scale solar. Gamesa CEO Juan Barandiaran sat down to discuss the inverter landscape.
pv magazine Awards: Enter now!
We have been accepting entries to the 2023 pv magazine Awards since the beginning of March and we have already received close to 50 across all categories. Here we preview a few of the most intriguing early entries to the all-new “Projects” category (details below). Remember, you can apply through to the end of April, with a second application window opening later in the year.
Tracking the sun on uneven terrain
Terrain-following trackers – relative newcomers to the solar market – facilitate the installation of solar in hilly locations while reducing the need for grading and site remediation, reports pv magazine USA’s Anne Fischer.
Getting real on forced labor
While few can doubt the emission-reduction might of solar; forced- and child labor in clean power supply chains is becoming a hot issue, which is why the EU is mulling a ban on goods proven to have traces of such labor practices. Diana Zadorozhna, a partner at renewables consultancy Everoze, looks at what companies can do to prepare for forced labor legislation.
New turf for thin films
Thin-film technologies have long promised to make a major impact on the solar industry but have largely been constrained to niche applications and research labs if they were not shredded by the market. After several false starts, current trade dynamics and promising research programs may help solar thin films find their place in the sun, as Blake Matich reports.
Bigger modules, bigger headaches?
The debate continues over whether super-sized, high-power solar modules are a good thing for the industry and they appear to be here to stay. Vicente Parra and James Whittemore, from Enertis Applus+, consider the pitfalls to avoid when designing high-power solar projects.
pv magazine test: February 2023 results
We present the February 2023 energy yield results from the outdoor test field in Xi’an, China, alongside additional analysis from George Touloupas, senior director of technology and quality at Clean Energy Associates (CEA).
