If I dont see it, its not there
Microcracks: If I dont see it, its not there. This rather puerile statement is very likely to apply to microcracks in the PV industrys beginning stages. Now the solar sector has significantly matured and has the tools to spot and solve this important problem.
A strong demand
Solar pricing update: Renewable Analytics provides the first of a series of updates on wafer, cell and module pricing.
All that shimmers is BIPV
Interview: The market for building-integrated PV (BIPV) has been anything but stellar. But there is some twinkle to the products Manz is turning out from its innovation line in Germanys southwest. Bernd Sprecher and Christoph Schmidt spoke to pv magazine about its modules that can now be supplied in various colors, including gold.
Automation: the enabler
Automation and robotics: The automation equipment flooding the market at the moment assures manufacturers speed and cost savings. Whether turnkey or single units, automation has found its place. When it comes to innovation, how quickly can it be automated and integrated into a line?
Big data and PV
Using big data: Data, data everywhere: More sophisticated methods of data harvesting are continually emerging on the tech scene. And with so much to be gleaned, learned and earned from Big Data, the solar industry is rubber-necking for a piece of the action.
Care in the community
Community solar gardens: U.S. community solar policy planning has been too rigid for too long. Andrew P. Moratzka and Sara A. Bergan from Stoel Rives outline why policy should focus on allowing shared solar projects to scale to a particular community in order to facilitate broad access.
Check the post
U.K. market: Further changes to the U.K.s solar subsidy landscape threaten to derail an industry that had become one of the worlds most dynamic in recent years. pv magazine examines why these support proposals were enacted, and explores whether the industry can survive and what it will look like post-subsidy.
Demand and deliver
US PV landscape: Paula Mints lifts the lid on incentives, RPS, and the extraordinarily strong growth of the U.S. solar market.
Downward trend continues
NYSE Bloomberg Solar Energy Index: Markets heading south amid China concerns and a flood of new capital. M&A and capital raising activity robust.
Higher voltage, lower cost
1,500 V components: Talk of 1,500 VDC becoming the benchmark for the solar industry is gathering pace, with many U.S. EPCs now mulling 1,500 V adoption. The transition to higher voltage makes sense in theory, but certain regulatory practicalities are serving to block wider adoption.
