Magazine Archive 09 – 2023 | Solar springs eternal

Large parts of the history of the modern solar industry have been written by China’s manufacturers. Key developments such as the achievement of vast scale in production; the lock-step development of material, equipment suppliers, and manufacturers; and the adoption of technology such as bifacial cells and modules, took place in China and have changed the […]

Ahead of the RE+ renewable energy trade show in Las Vegas, solar investors and the industry are looking for signs of stability in a residential market which has experienced many bumps in the road. Residential stocks substantially under-performed utility-scale solar shares, and the broader market, in July 2023, says Jesse Pichel of Roth Capital Partners.

Solar module prices have fallen significantly again, with no end in sight. Prices dipped by 3% to 8% on a monthly basis in July, depending on efficiency and quality. Year on year, prices have fallen an average of 35%. The last time such a sharp decline was seen was in 2018, says pvXchange’s Martin Schachinger.

With more than 50 GW of module manufacturing announcements made in the United States, annual production capacity will exceed demand by 2025, says S&P Global’s Alex Kaplan.

As solar manufacturing moves toward technological convergence, and rampant production capacity expansion continues, standing out from the crowd is just one of the strategies small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will have to use to survive, according to InfoLink’s Amy Fang.

Clean Energy Associates (CEA) made a presentation in a recent pv magazine webinar about domestic content bonuses available under the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). CEA Senior Policy Analyst Christian Roselund provides some takeaways.

After years of debate, the Indian government made domestic manufacturing a central feature of renewables policy in 2021. The pivot came as the government sought economic growth and self-sufficiency following a border conflict with China. Vinay Rustagi, managing director for Bridge to India, says that trade barriers, subsidies, lower taxes, and demand growth have created the perfect recipe for expansion.

Almost every weekend since Easter, European generators have been paid to power down plants but some Northern European nations are experiencing record electricity prices. An energy system set up for fossil fuels is in urgent need of reform, according to Gerard Reid, co-founder and partner of Alexa Capital.

One year after the introduction of the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), its funding opportunities are coming to fruition and the community benefits are real, write pv magazine USA’s Anne Fischer and Ryan Kennedy.

A proposal to open up Brazil’s free energy market could have a significant impact on its booming large-scale solar scene but, as pv magazine Brazil’s Livia Neves reports, that would require more new transmission capacity.