Magazine Archive 2014

Feed-in tariffs: The new German FITs have been publicized. Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Slovenia all make slight adjustments to their FITs.

Commercial rooftop PV in Germany: The recent amendment of the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG) includes an EEG levy on self-consumed solar power. Joachim Goldbeck, Björn Lamprecht, managing directors of the Goldbeck Solar GmbH, an EPC based in Hirschberg, Germany, say that it is nevertheless possible to achieve attractive rates of return.

Dutch PV market: boom and bust is a phrase that is heard all too often in relation to PV markets. By contrast, solar in the Netherlands has been quietly building and now appears to be on the pathway to strong, if not world-beating annual PV capacity numbers.

Cables and connectors: Cables and connectors are continuously being improved to advance system efficiency, assure safe installations, speed up installation and increase flexibility.

Junction boxes: Manufacturers are attacking potential failures with high quality. Junction boxes are becoming better in terms of performance, lower cost, ease of installation and reduced failure.

German Renewable Energy Act: The amendment of the German Renewable Energy Act has been much criticized. The introduction of an EEG surcharge on the self-consumption of solar energy was the biggest cause for concern for the German solar industry. But conditions for photovoltaics in Germany have not deteriorated as much as the bad mood may suggest. Investments continue to pay off in various sectors.

CEO Interview: China Sunergy (CSUN) is one of the Chinese module manufacturers that diversified module production geographically and set up a production facility abroad. What were the main reasons for choosing Turkey as a manufacturing location? What were the benefits and the lessons learned? pv magazine spoke with CSUN’s CEO Lu Tingxiu. 

First Solar/skytron: At Intersolar Europe, First Solar announced that it was to acquire Germany’s monitoring platform and service provider skytron energy. Almost immediately questions were raised as to how skytron will operate as a service provider to third parties outside of the First Solar family. Skytron energy’s managing director Stefan Degener says that, on the contrary, skytron can now leverage First Solar’s strength and knowledge to grow.

Californian solar: New rooftop solar permitting guidelines may hasten California’s one million solar rooftops goal – the aim of the aptly titled Million Solar Roofs initiative. Brian Nese of Stoel Rives law firm dissects the state’s current latest round of legislation – the AB 2188 – and in doing so assesses what its immediate effects may be.