Magazine Archive 06-2011

West Africa: From humble beginnings to larger plans, non-governmental organizations like Energy for Opportunity, or EFO, are seeking to bring more solar power to African countries.

China: The country should be the perfect place for BIPV or Building Integrated Photovoltaics. Not only is China the production and export champion in photovoltaics, but its building drive dwarfs any other market around the world.

Polysilicon: The conversion of the gas trichlorosilane to high-purity polycrystalline silicon is a complex process. With sophisticated automation technology, not only can the process be reliably operated, but the quality of the end product can also be improved. Ute Forstner, Peter Holzapfel and Rainer Mahler from Siemens AG elaborate.

Solar Industry Summit UK: The first Solar Industry Summit UK took place last month. While UK PV has made great strides, the industry has been left in limbo after the government announced its fast track FIT review. With many companies left financially exposed as a result, this topic cast a shadow over the event.

Ghana: Despite an inexhaustible amount of sunlight, photovoltaic technology in Ghana, as in many other African countries, has thus far stood in the shadows. However, gradual changes appear to be underway. Now, even on-grid PV is supposed to be advanced with a new energy law and feed-in tariffs.

Glass for BIPV: Glass is the substrate of choice for the PV industry. But some glass suppliers are exploring opportunities to supply PV-integrated glazing, where printing solar cells is compatible with the production of colored and other forms of decorative architectural glass.

Residential solar leasing: The U.S. residential solar market is benefiting from solar leases and power purchase agreements. According to predictions, these types of financing programs will help to push the industry forward. Here, pv magazine looks at the most important market players and analyzes their solar offerings. Financing hurdles are also discussed.

Sphelar: The idea behind Josuke Nakata’s spherical cells was to capture light from all directions, thus optimizing the potential of a solar cell. Sphelar has developed over the years, reaching higher efficiencies and varied application potentials; and now, mass production interest is starting to emerge. Nevertheless, can the niche product really survive the market demands?

China’s “Golden Sun” program: For many years, the Chinese photovoltaics industry was completely dependent on exports. Now China is developing its domestic PV market. Foreign players are welcome to take part in the process.

Intersolar preview: From June 8 to 10 of this year, Munich, Germany, welcomes the international photovoltaic world again for Intersolar Europe. Expecting a turnout of 75,000 visitors, organizers Solar Promotion, are confident that the unstable political situation in Europe is not going to dampen the spirits.