Magazine Archive 05-2012

IGEE: South Korea’s biggest solar event took place in March. However, while the county’s heavyweights were out in force, it was evident the industry is at a crossroads. Upcoming elections hold some promise, if the right party gains power. But with capacity expansions on hold and a small domestic installation market, it is in danger of being pushed under by other Asian regions.

IGEE: South Korea’s biggest solar event took place in March. However, while the county’s heavyweights were out in force, it was evident the industry is at a crossroads. Upcoming elections hold some promise, if the right party gains power. But with capacity expansions on hold and a small domestic installation market, it is in danger of being pushed under by other Asian regions.

Utility-scale PV: The third annual PV Power Plants EU conference, held in Vienna on March 29 and 30, heard from a range of speakers with a wealth of diverse knowledge. pv magazine attended the sessions and spoke to the attendees to get a snapshot of some of the major themes. One was a call for standardization of power plant components, and in particular modules, to drive down cost and the increasingly important LCOE.

Sino-U.S. trade case: After months of soap-box oration from the Oval Office on down – and a snarky rift in the American solar industry that nearly rose to soap-opera standards – on March 20, the U.S. Commerce Department handed down its preliminary decision in the countervailing duty (CVD) case against Chinese manufacturers of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells.

Storage conference: Just how important is energy storage today in light of a future that includes a large proportion of solar and wind power in the energy mix? The answer was discussed in some depth at the first International Summit for Storage of Renewable Energies in March. pv magazine was on hand to report on the technologies, the research required, the business cases today and in the future, along with the challenges ahead.

Solar module design: This article proposes a new crystalline module design that makes use of the integration potential of polymers.

Group purchasing: Combining buying power is attractive for consumers, developers, and manufacturers because it enables economies of scale. Small firms can enjoy big-company clout – and pricing – when they join forces in a solar purchasing group.

R&D: Thin film PV technologies have developed independently of each other but by encompassing the different disciplines of CIGS, thin film silicon and organic photovoltaics, the Solliance initiative is paving the way for PV technology that will outperform today’s technology and reduce production costs.