Magazine Archive 08-2012

Quality standards: As the global solar industry develops, corporate transparency becomes a necessity. Therefore test laboratories and certification bodies are in great demand. In an interview with pv magazine , Ulrike Therhaag, Director Solar/Fuelcell Technology at TÜV Rheinland Shanghai, discusses the situation in China.

Decentralized power storage: Gunar Hering, Principal at Boston Consulting Group, analyzes how storage technology will accelerate the adoption of photovoltaics.

Feed-in tariffs: The German Bundesrat has approved the new subsidies with no changes other than an easing of the self-consumption regulations. Italy passed its eagerly anticipated Conto Energia V. On July 1, Japan saw one of the most generous incentive schemes come into effect. Conversely, the rates in Bulgaria, Croatia, and Flanders (Belgium) took a nosedive after some heavy cuts by their respective governments.

Global market update: Some of the most crucial historical innovations were developed in hard times. Lux Research analyst Matt Feinstein relates this to the solar sector.

Mounting systems: A tour of Intersolar Europe revealed that many manufacturers have reworked their systems. A number of innovations save material and cut down on installation time.

Organic PV: It breathed life into the concept of low-cost solar for the 21st century, but Konarka failed to bring its Power Plastic to the market. So does this spell the end for flexible organic thin film PV?

Module prices: High pricing pressure despite declining inventory levels and an increase in orders.

CPV: Late last month Lux Research released a report into the high concentration photovoltaics (HCPV) market predicting a compound annual growth of 31 percent, to reach a market of US$1.6 billion in 2017. These figures represent a capacity of 697 MW, which pales in comparison when compared to the fixed panel PV producers. A group of companies in California’s San Francisco Bay Area are in a position now to take their products to market on a larger scale and to take advantage of this niche, which is best suited to areas with high direct normal irradiance (DNI).

Dear readers, Are the current prospects for the industry really as bleak as the dark cloudy skies over Berlin? For weeks now the list of reported insolvencies has continued to grow – apart from module manufacturers like Abound, Konarka, Global Solar, Inventux or Sovello, even leading machine manufacturers like Centrotherm have been hit. What’s more, […]

Inverters: Without new developments in inverters, solar power cannot be fed into the grid problem-free anymore. The electricity grid is changing and will continue to change. Inverters play a vital role. pv magazine joined the immense crowds at the inverter halls during Intersolar Europe to speak with manufacturers who gave us their two cents on the current situation.