Magazine Archive 05 – 2024 | Lighting the way

Azerbaijan has a centuries-long history of energy production and export. In 2024, it will host the COP29 climate summit. Leyla Hasanova, the country’s Youth Climate Champion for COP29, argues that action on climate change must start at home.

The need for secure, clean electricity supply across many parts of Africa is well-known but efforts to fulfill this requirement are often hindered by the many factors that deter foreign investors. Nuru and Ziz Energie are first-mover solar developers tackling the challenge of attracting backers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Chad, respectively.

Solar power is another energy solution for the next generation of entrepreneurs and it can be particularly impactful in the right hands. Ndiarka Mbodji, a former Rolls-Royce jet-engine executive, is the managing director of Kowry Energy Services. The company offers services in sub-Saharan Africa based on deep understanding of the market and consumers.

Large-scale solar is booming in the United States, with 22.5 GW of utility scale capacity installed in 2023, according to trade body the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). That represents 77% growth over 2022, due to strong policies and the country’s decarbonization goals. Such figures might suggest that solar has strong support but developers cite public opposition as a major challenge.

In October 2023, events industry expert Benjamin Low and EUPD Research launched the Sustainable Trade Events Partnership (STEP), aiming to define and promote best practice for sustainability at trade shows and similar large events. The partnership is initially targeting events in the energy sector and pv magazine caught up with Low to discuss the partnership’s aims and progress.

The first chance to enter this year’s pv magazine Awards has passed and we have begun the process of working with our independent, expert jurors to narrow down the best of the best from more than 85 entries received so far. Here, we present selected highlights from the inverter and manufacturing categories. Keep an eye out for more highlights and announcements about this year’s jurors in each category in upcoming editions of the magazine. Entries are closed for now but there will be another chance to submit before we select the winners at the end of the year.

With PV module capacity ramping up, glass suppliers have been investing in new solar glass production capacity. As in India and China, new facilities are popping up in North America, with unique twists to ensure competitiveness, such as using recycled material.

Perovskites remain a great hope for the future of the solar industry, once the possibilities of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) and heterojunction PV have been exhausted. A look at the latest perovskite research shows that industry optimism is built on a strong foundation.

Perovskite PV devices are set to become the next big thing in solar with market analysts at S&P Global Commodity Insights predicting 1 GW of production by the end of 2024, rising to 6 GW in 2025. Perovskite tandem devices are at the front of the queue for commercialization but their characterization presents technical challenges.

Laboratories are pushing to keep up with rapid developments in perovskite solar devices and to provide accurate, comparable ways to measure them. pv magazine caught up with Stefan Roest, chief technology officer at PV testing equipment supplier Eternal Sun, to discuss progress on standardized testing and the challenges that arise as the tech moves toward larger, more complex devices.