Magazine Archive 09-2013

Dear readers, As expected, after weeks of tug of war, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and China’s Minister of Commerce, Gao Hucheng agreed in early August to a preliminary settlement in the antidumping case over the import of crystalline wafers, cells and ingots. Until the end of 2015 about 70% of Chinese exporting producers […]

Quality control: For some time a good deal of discussion has been triggered by mobile test centers with which modules can be measured in large numbers directly on location. A debate between Erik Lohse, who offers such measurements, and Willi Vaaßen from the German safety standards authority TÜV Rheinland, on what such systems can do.

Ardour Solar Index: Strong demand in Asia and the US rekindles the bullish outlook. The trade war talks continue.

Feed-in tariffs: Ontario begins to wind down its domestic content requirements to comply with the WTO ruling against its “discriminatory” FITs. Germany announces another quarter of 1.8% degressions. Thailand forges ahead with new FITs to exceed previous solar capacity targets.

Module prices: The end of free enterprise in the PV sector or a new dawn for alternative module manufacturers?

Interview: Activ Solar, based in Vienna, Austria, has developed hundreds of megawatts of PV projects in the Ukraine. The project integrator is currently taking its next steps into the North and South American markets and to emerging regions. An interview with the company’s chief operating officer Johann Harter.

Indian market update: Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, provides an overview of current Indian solar policies.

EU-China trade dispute: The beginning of August saw a preliminary agreement in the trade dispute between China and the EU on imports of crystalline PV products. The compromise includes minimum import prices and a cap on imports, which apply until the end of 2015, creating a price cartel for a part of the market. A further weakening of the solar market, especially in Europe, is expected.

Concentrated solar power: As a host of projects complete construction, concentrated solar power (CSP) will hit a record 3.2 GW of installations in 2016. With project development cycles ranging from three years to five years to complete after the initial announcement, and tens – if not hundreds – of megawatts coming online at the same time, CSP’s project completion pipeline looks like a roller coaster. Edward Cahill, Research Associate and Matt Feinstein, Senior Analyst at Lux Research elaborate.