Central Asia’s green horizons
Despite its huge potential in the region, solar PV has hitherto gained little traction in Central Asia. In Kazakhstan, two utility-scale PV projects have been realized, and a few are in the pipeline for Uzbekistan as it begins to attract international investors. But many challenges on the policy level have yet to be overcome.
Green power replaces black in India
Over the next 10 years, solar is expected to account for a whopping 170 GW of the 275 GW of new generating capacity added to India’s grid. Tim Buckley, Director of Energy Finance Studies, IEEFA, sets out the role policy has played in delivering the transformation.
“Not ambitious but necessary”
Karl-Heinz Remmers was already a well known figure in the German PV industry when he founded pv magazine global ten years ago. Since then, the industry has changed dramatically in terms of price, geographies, manufacturing and sophistication. But would he do it all again?
The older they get…
The results of a new edition of the pv magazine PID survey show that 16% of the total system capacity surveyed was or has been affected by potential-induced degradation (PID). With newer systems, however, PID scarcely occurs at all – in any case, it is difficult to discover affected systems. Time to sound the all-clear?
Hybrid, low cost
This June 27, Amiram Roth-Deblon, juwi’s Head of Global Business Initiatives, will provide details on the economics and applications of renewables hybrids for mines in front of an audience of 300+ senior mining and renewables experts at the 2nd Annual Energy and Mines Summit focused on renewables integration for mines.
Weighing the costs
Ascertaining whether ballast design calculations provided by mounting system manufacturers are performed correctly is not an easy task for the untrained eye. Thorsten Kray, Head of Building Aerodynamics at Institute for Industrial Aerodynamics Aachen (IFI), has created a checklist for reviewing ballast calculations which can be used by owners, EPCs, and others involved in designing and realizing projects.
Continuous development to drive mono
In last month’s edition, GT Advanced Technologies was chosen by an independent jury as the top innovation in the annual Technology Highlights feature. pv magazine had the chance to catch up with GTAT’s CEO Greg Knight on the company’s latest technological developments and position in the market.
Double the output, on the fly
Alongside GT Advanced Technologies, Germany’s 3D-Micromac was awarded the top innovation award in the 2018 Technology Highlights for its microCELL OTF 8000. With a doubling of throughput, the double lane tool brings to an end any bottleneck caused by laser processing of high efficiency PV cells. Frederik Bamberg, 3D-Micromac’s Product Manager PV Laser Tools took pv magazine through the tool’s advantages.
Progress continues, without the kerf
Selected by the Technology Highlights independent jury as the Technology to Watch for 2018, 1366 Technologies’ Direct Wafer Process is an innovation that could transform the way silicon wafer is produced, and dramatically reduce its costs. pv magazine caught up with 1366 Technologies CTO Adam Lorenz to discuss latest developments in the process and the company’s efforts to scale up and bring it to the market.
Made in the USA
In the wake of the Section 201 tariffs, the United States is seeing a minor renaissance in solar module manufacturing. However, in terms of why this is happening, the tariffs are only one part of a much more complicated story.
