Magazine Archive 2014

MENA: Some MENA countries are swimming in oil; some are beset by conflict. Some have grand PV plans; others have more modest ambitions. All, though, are perceived to have collectively dragged their heels when it comes to tangible solar progress. pv magazine attempts to find out why.

On-roof mounting systems: Steep rooftop PV system installers run a substantial risk of causing roof water damage given the average several dozen roof penetrations needed in a typical residential installation.

Power purchase agreements: Rosa Tarragó, Head of structured finance at Sowitec, analyzes the legal, technical and financial aspects of power purchase agreements from the perspectives of developers and equity investors, and country-specific PPA terms in South Africa.

Russian PV market: Russia is slowly joining the global solar race. With just 1.5 GW of solar power announced so far, its intentions are firm. Representatives of the Ministry of Energy stated at the Market Council Renewables Conference in November that despite criticism by the press and lobbying from conventional energy suppliers, the government will fully support the deployment of renewable energy sources, aiming to create a self-sufficient industry sector that builds and supports photovoltaic, wind and biogas power plants, write Dimitry Miroshin – an independent consultant – and Matthias v. Armansperg of Accelios Solar.

Inverters: Can photovoltaic installations replace large power plants? Researchers from the Fraunhofer IWES are developing future requirements for inverters and systems in power-converter-dominated networks.

Module prices: After the game is before the game. The year 2013 in review.

PV recycling: Updated to include PV modules, the new European Community directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) comes into effect in February. pv magazine investigates how the EU’s PV industry is preparing for the change.

Southeast Asia: While regulatory support is being wound back as solar PV approaches grid parity, new business models and financing approaches are emerging. Ragna Schmidt-Haupt and Elena Baši? of the renewables advisory team of global consultancy DNV GL (formerly GL Garrad Hassan) explore the new models and the associated bankability challenges for solar in southeast Asia.

Global solar forecast: Market conditions are as stable as they can be in the historically volatile solar industry, says Raj Prabhu, CEO and co-founder of Mercom Capital Group, who forecasts global solar installations of 43 GW this year.