Magazine Archive 2014

Venture capital forecast: The solar industry is coming off a strong 2013 and looking for an even better 2014. Preliminary numbers indicate that global installations topped 37 GW for 2013 – a solid 21% growth year-over-year. Another 20%-plus growth year is in the making as Raj Prabhu, CEO and cofounder of Mercom Capital Group, forecasts 2014 demand to be about 46 GW.

Small PV systems in the grid: If small solar PV systems are to be a model of success, they must also be capable of grid integration. Christoph Winter, a photovoltaic systems technician at Fronius, explains how a grid test in Austria is solving this problem. And one thing becomes clear: Just a few simple, local control systems in the inverter can do a lot.

Interview: pv magazine caught up with Simon Müller, energy analyst in the renewable division at the International Energy Agency, to discuss the themes explored in the IEA’s latest publication, the Power of Transformation, which outlines ways to fully incorporate renewable energy into global power generation structures.

Solar tariffs: The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved a new “Value of Solar” methodology as alternative to net metering. An analysis by Sara Bergan, energy law attorney at the business law firm Stoel Rives, and Jon Wellinghoff, partner in Stoel Rives and the former chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the US.

PV on contaminated land: A variety of U.S. brownfield sites are welcoming high efficiency trackers and other low-impact solar PV solutions.

Interview: Manz posted record revenues despite the solar sector contraction. The company’s CEO Dieter Manz talks about the perspectives for PV against the background of diversified portfolios, business models and solar markets.

Laminators market in India: The Indian PV equipment industry has been largely unable to produce many reputed solar suppliers. An overview of the Indian laminator industry for PV production.

Shipping damage: Intelligent packaging helps PV panel shippers reduce the solar glass breakage rate.

PV quality: Chinese renewable energy manufacturers are well positioned to benefit from the growing demand in emerging economies. So, asks Dirk Kayser – Ph.D Candidate at the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles – what should Western firms do: compete or cooperate?

Australia: As one of the first countries to arrive and then accelerate past retail grid parity, Australia had the makings of a solar darling. However government measures are rapidly putting up obstacles to the rapid growth of solar in the country as vested interests and incumbent fossil fuel generators appear to be doing an effective job of striking back against PV.