Coming on strong
Japan: The new feed-in tariffs for fiscal year 2013 have been proposed. Izumi Kaizuka of RTS Corporation describes the impact of the 2012 FIT program and the discussion of the new solar PV FIT, which should come into effect this month.
Elevating solar with property tax funds
Property tax funding: A host of new property tax-based lending programs are arising across the United States bringing a promising new financing mechanism which could be securitized to much of the PV market for both residential and commercial installations.
Getting even
US-China solar trade case: A year ago, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its preliminary verdict in an Antidumping and Countervailing Duties trade case against China. Have the antidumping tariffs really leveled the playing field between the USA and China?
Global FIT overview
Feed-in tariffs: Pakistan proposes a new FIT with an IRR of 17%. Italys Conto Energia V enters semester two. And Japan lowers their FIT by about 10%, but it will not be enough to prevent them from becoming the second biggest PV market globally in 2013.
Japanese boom
PV market in Japan: At the moment Japan is probably the most attractive PV market in the world. This could easily be seen at the PV Expo trade show in Tokyo at the beginning of March. Promising business opportunities are on offer particularly for companies with high quality products. Up to 5 GW of additional PV capacity is expected to be added this year.
Minimizing material consumption
Ingot and wafer production: Are innovations that can reduce wafer production costs worth the effort?
More pie for all
Financing: The new industry consortium truSolar is working to create a FICO score-type rating system to evaluate the risks and bankability of U.S. commercial solar projects. Could such a system increase capital, reduce financing prices and significantly grow the market?
Ongoing development
Market overview: Manufacturers have to get creative in order for their inverters to keep pace with the fast-moving photovoltaics market. Operators of small photovoltaic installations, for instance, put emphasis on timely monitoring solutions via the Internet or a smartphone, and installers like systems that are easy to configure, with flexible interconnection options. On large solar farms, high efficiencies and low maintenance are in high demand.
Passing on costs
Chinese factory gate prices: For the first time in 18 months, the prices of Chinese PV modules increased in February.
Pyranometers and reference cells
Measuring irradiance: Pyranometers and reference cells what makes the most sense for PV power plants? Part 2 of a two-part series by five collaborators representing diverse organizations but sharing a unified vision of a way to reduce uncertainty in PV power plant performance measurements.
