Why do we need more women in solar?
Recruitment: Women make up only 18.7% of the solar workforce in the U.S. What is stopping women from joining our forward-looking industry? And what can be done about it? Rosana Francescato from PV Solar Report seeks the answers.
Uninterrupted, affordable, clean sources of energy
IEA Executive Director interview: In September, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report entitled Capturing the Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency. The study concluded that energy efficiency is a crucial hidden fuel whose value goes far beyond the cost effects of energy savings. pv magazine attended the reports release in Berlin and spoke with IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven about energy efficiency and the role of PV in IEA energy scenarios.
25 years of optimizing
Trackers: Utility-scale single axis trackers may one day cover much of North Americas Southwest desert, including half a dozen states in the United States and in Mexico. The combination of strong insolation, readily available flat land, lowered cost, and well-refined engineering have made single-axis the design of choice for utility-scale PV installations in the region.
A bright future: solar in Brazil
Brazil: The Intersolar South America trade show was held in late August, right in the middle of the mild winter that Southern Brazil experiences. However, many of the conference-goers who had come from around the world to São Paulo were talking more about spring, and specifically a certain date in October.
ABB going big on storage and renewables
Batteries and power conversion: Last month in London ABB gathered journalists and investors from around the globe to unveil its strategic and financial plan for the vast business. Much was made of the companys 2014 acquisition of inverter manufacturer Power-One and the fact that ABB is now the second biggest inverter manufacturer in the world. Otto Preiss, the groups senior vice president, and head of the power conversion unit, spoke with pv magazine about the role the former PowerOne is playing in ABBs business and its collaboration with BYD in the battery space.
Balancing the grid with storage systems
Reserve power: A new business model aimed at accelerating amortization time for solar power storage systems is up and coming in Germany: participating in the reserve energy, or demand response, market can create an additional revenue stream for local solar power providers.
Continuity and innovation
India market update: With the antidumping case behind it, the Indian solar industry looks to refocus on growth. Raj Prabhu, CEO and co-founder of Mercom Capital, reports on the state of the Indian solar PV market and the changes by the new government.
Durable and light
Glass-glass modules: A growing segment, c-Si glass-glass modules are becoming increasingly lighter. Reductions in module weight are a result of the lighter glass being produced for this application by manufacturers in Europe, Japan and China. pv magazine investigates the impact thin, toughened glass can have on the module business.
Dying a slow death in Germany
Module prices: The minimum price regulation is paralyzing the European solar PV market.
Enough of false potentials
Inverters: Many investors are afraid of potential induced degradation (PID) when they use inverters without a transformer. However, last year Omron presented a device with which the negative pole can be grounded, preventing degradation. Does it make a difference?
