Magazine Archive 06 – 2024 | Down to the wires

  With PV installations around the world now adding up to well over 1.5 TW, the solar industry is well used to defying expectations. Already in 2024, we see countries in different regions doubling or even tripling their renewable energy targets for 2030. The growing share of solar and wind in the world’s energy mix […]

Financial and regulatory uncertainty plus rising module prices are affecting project timelines in the United States and domestic companies must contend with a gray market at home and aggressive pricing abroad. Jesse Pichel, of Roth Capital Partners, explores the key trends in a tough month for US solar stocks.

Opportunities and challenges abound in the European PV market, according to Susanne von Aichberger, senior clean energy analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights. Despite continuing oversupply issues, changes in policy direction, and grid connection headaches, Europe is on course to higher annual capacity installations in 2024 and beyond.

Turkish module manufacturing capacity has grown rapidly over the past few years thanks to government incentivization for solar. However, the speed at which this surge has occurred means that manufacturers are now grappling with oversupply, as Vikey Zhao, analyst at InfoLink Consulting, explains.

In May 2024, high-efficiency panels, predominantly glass-glass modules equipped with tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells began to converge on price with mainstream offerings, writes Martin Schachinger, of pvXchange. Production volumes for these negatively-doped, “n-type” cells and modules have been ramped up in China while the increasingly restrictive customs situation in the United States may already be having an impact. For the European market, ever-lower prices for the latest module technology would suggest that demand would continue to rise were it not for a number of disruptive factors.

Each region has a different way of doing things, whether it’s selecting sites, managing employees, or implementing manufacturing standards. Companies looking to expand into foreign markets need to be prepared to deal with these cultural differences, says Clean Energy Associates (CEA) Vice President Mark Hagedorn.

While the big winners of India’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme will likely forge ahead with module assembly plans, wafer and polysilicon lines are shrouded in doubt as ever-cheaper Chinese panels undermine the solar business case in South Asia’s biggest PV market, as revealed by data from business intelligence provider Crisil.

Hanwei Wu, editorial director for energy commodity analyst OPIS, discusses recent developments in China. The nation’s PV module market is currently experiencing a drop in polysilicon prices and additional pressure from recently announced US tariffs.

Ibrahim Ariffin and JP Grayda, from Afry Management Consulting, examine two promising Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets, the Philippines and Malaysia, and the challenges they face as they strive to hit renewable energy targets. The long-term outlook is broadly positive, despite some uncertainties.

While solar is booming across Europe, an anticipated flood of future projects is threatened by antiquated electricity networks, insufficient plans for energy storage, and a lack of demand-response measures. pv magazine considers how Europe’s grids are shaping up.