Heating up
Intersolar China: The growing domestic Chinese market for photovoltaics offers new sales opportunities. But the cost and price pressures are enormous. This was evident at the first Intersolar China in Beijing.
Hooking up renewables
Grid integration: As more solar power enters the U.S. electric grid, utilities are eyeing new inverter functions that will help them to design and manage a new grid.
Hoping for the man from the hilltop
PV in Palestine: It was Gershon Baskin who rescued Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, held hostage by Hamas for over five years. Now maybe Baskin can also save the Palestinian photovoltaics program. After long debates, the Palestinian Authority wants to introduce the first feed-in tariff (FIT) for photovoltaics in 2012 initially only for five megawatt (MW) systems. But Baskin has much bigger plans.
Lessons from Durban
Dear readers, Is climate protection really only a secondary concern? This is the impression that was conveyed in Durban. While earlier international summits on protection of the Earths climate stood at the center of media attention, and those interested in protecting the climate expressed great expectations in terms of the results, things are somehow different […]
Let the light shine through
Solar panel cleaning: Dust, leaves, bird excrement when they fall on your car window, they are easy to clean. But if they accumulate on your PV modules, its a bit tougher to wipe them off. But do you really have to? Just how much dirt actually translates into reduced performance and when do owners of solar energy installations need to get their panels professionally cleaned and how should they do that?
On the way to implementation
Ontario: Despite significant financial incentives and a large project pipeline, comparatively few photovoltaic systems have been installed in Ontario thus far. The solar industry is now relying on faster approval phases, greater acceptance on the part of the banks and dynamic adjustment of the feed-in tariffs (FITs) to declining prices.
Pushing renewable investment
Emerging markets: 2011 may well have been characterized by a number of controversial issues, including declining module prices, insolvencies, production cutbacks, consolidation, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and the U.S.-China trade dispute. However, not all is lost: while many of the traditional solar markets are suffering, a number of emerging markets are working hard to fill the void.
Settling down in China
Foreign investment: Low production costs used to be the driving force behind foreign investment in China. Now the countrys domestic market is becoming the key driver, as the examples of Coveme and other manufacturers show.
Solar awakening
Middle East: Solar projects and activity are beginning to build up across the Middle East as governments look to ease energy supply challenges and nurture the high-tech industrial opportunities afforded by solar.
