Magazine Archive 09 – 2024 | Moving in circles

The practical matter of taking a dead PV system apart and moving its components to their next destination has received less attention than recycling and second-life applications. In the United States, Decom Solar is offering decommissioning for commercial and industrial (C&I) solar projects. pv magazine spoke to Decom Solar co-founder Stephen Burns for an update.

Emilie O’Leary specializes in an often-overlooked aspect of the US solar industry – recycling. From her base in Atlanta, Georgia, she told pv magazine why she decided to try and tackle the obscene quantities of waste the industry generates.

Shifting requirements for supply chain traceability and carbon footprint disclosure, along with solar oversupply and unsustainably low module prices, have made 2024 a challenging year for PV manufacturers. Despite these obstacles, the industry remains committed to its crucial role in the global energy transition. pv magazine recently spoke with Haimeng Zhang, chief strategy and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) officer at Longi Green Energy, about how the sector is preparing to meet these challenges.

Tandem solar-cell technology featuring silicon has been widely researched but materials such as perovskites, paired with established thin-film solar or with other perovskite cells, are pointing to a new development path.

Technological change can occur quickly in solar manufacturing. This has been the case with the laser-enhanced contact opening (LECO) process, which is well-suited to tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar production. With its application occurring at a breakneck pace, however, there are signs there may be trouble ahead.

Lawyers are doing brisk business as tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar technology moves into the mainstream. A series of patent infringement cases have been launched in the United States and Europe and their impacts are reverberating through the marketplace. How likely is it that winners will emerge?

George Touloupas, senior director of technology and quality at Clean Energy Associates (CEA), analyzes the July 2024 results from the pv magazine test outdoor installation in Xi’an, China.

Batteries are increasingly vital for energy storage, transport, and consumer goods. The need for steady supplies of critical raw materials has led to a growing emphasis on recycling in many countries. pv magazine explores the global landscape of battery recycling and the flow of an increasingly crucial intermediate from battery recycling, known as “black mass.”

Everoze Partner Nithin Rajavelu considers the crucial importance of properly measuring and managing state-of-charge (SoC) for the efficiency, longevity, and safety of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, especially in lithium ferro-phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are widely used for large-scale storage.

The Åland Islands, a picturesque locale in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden, face unique energy challenges. The windswept terrain and overhead power lines make the region susceptible to power outages from falling trees, especially in fall and winter, while summer thunderstorms can also disrupt supply. Snorre Solvang of telecom operator Elisa discusses how distributed energy storage (DES) helps bolster communications infrastructure against these vulnerabilities.