Magazine Archive 2013

Local grid storage: Large battery storage systems for entire residential areas or city districts can help to make our electricity grids ready for the change in energy policy. The technology is available. What is important now is to develop profitable business models. Initial projects have shown that many types of economical operations are possible.

Standardization in the US: New regulations for US PV systems from Underwriters Laboratories and from the 2014 National Electrical Code cover more PV components individually and are more specific for PV applications than past codes. Now work remains to help harmonize US and global PV standards.

Large-scale trackers: Tracker installations are becoming ever larger and the geographic spread of hosts adopting the technology is growing even wider. Economics are more favorable for most large tracker installations because of scale, but new reductions in cost and improvements in engineering are also helping to shave down the return on investment period.

This time it was really there: the sun in the sky over the Indian mega-city New Delhi. Whereas visitors to last year’s Renewable Energy India Expo (REI) hardly ever saw the sun due to the dense smog mid-November, this year’s three-day event in the middle of September was blessed with abundant sunshine and blue skies. […]

Tierra Atacama Hotel & Spa: Located in Chile’s stunning Atacama desert, the Tierra Atacama Hotel & Spa is part-powered by an off-grid solar system installed by Germany’s Kraftwerk RPS. pv magazine caught up with Kraftwerk’s Managing Director, Dr. Karsten Schulte, to discover more about this groundbreaking venture.

Venture Capital review: Raj Prabhu, cofounder and CEO of Mercom Capital Group, assesses solar funding so far in 2013, noting that improved market conditions pushed solar project funding and M&A activity to record levels.

Silicon industry: Polysilicon prices are stabilizing, but manufacturers are still not turning a profit. That could gradually change as more and more companies collapse under the industry’s deadly competition. But for U.S. companies slapped with high Chinese antidumping tariffs, the crisis is likely to continue.

PV investment guide Mexico: David Pérez Navarro of Eclareon, and Horacio M. De Uriarte and Lorenza Langarica O’Hea of Mijares Angoitia Cortes Y Fuentes outline Mexico’s burgeoning PV potential.

Chile: Chile is emerging as what may be the first major merchant market for solar power in Latin America, thanks to the confidence of a few developers, the power demand of mining companies, and the financial support of multilateral banks. But the limited capacity of the electricity grid could pose some problems.