Magazine Archive 2019

Why on earth would you want to install PV on water? There seem to be plenty of safer sites for solar PV on solid ground or stable rooftops. Nicolas Choleur of Everoze highlights the key requirements for the bankability of floating PV, right through the project life cycle, from development to dismantling.

At this year’s SNEC 2019 show in Shanghai, pv magazine had the opportunity to interview Zhong Baoshen, the chairman of Longi Group. Along with Longi Group President Zhenguo Li, Zhong is spearheading the company’s expansion on various fronts.

For many, All Energy Australia will be the last big show of the year, and a chance to catch a bit of sun before winter comes to the northern hemisphere. Australian-expat photographer Dave Tacon gives us a quick glimpse of life in Melbourne, his home town.

With aggressive emissions-reduction goals and renewable energy targets expanding globally, storage is the final puzzle piece in the transition to a 100% renewable energy-powered grid. New gas-fired peaker plants are now being offset with the construction of storage facilities, and it is projected that the favorable economics of clean technologies will overtake existing gas generation assets by 2035. With the near-future potential of leaving stranded assets on the balance sheet, and advancing battery technology capabilities, there is a promising outlook for the accelerated decarbonization of the power sector.

pv magazine will once again be hosting Roundtables right around the solar world in 2019.

As lithium-ion battery sales boom, suppliers of equipment for manufacturing photovoltaics are branching out into the storage industry. Are these ventures leading them to bankruptcy or to a breakthrough in storing solar energy?

A few years ago, nobody took bifacial seriously. It was just another attempt to improve module efficiency and returns from PV projects that little bit further. But as is so often the case with the PV sector, things can move more quickly than expected. With bifacial installations set for a big year in 2019, Ragna Schmidt-Haupt, partner at technical and commercial energy consultancy Everoze shines a light on the remaining challenges to making projects bankable.

From scorching Seville to rainy Rostock, investors claim that power purchase agreements (PPAs) have made European solar farms bankable without government subsidies. By providing lower risk for cheaper capital, they are powering a renaissance in established PV markets and lowering the cost of solar electricity in Europe.

Advocates of solar’s strength in distributed generation applications have long pointed to the commercial & industrial (C&I) market as holding massive potential for growth. It appears that future is arriving, says solar analyst with Bloomberg NEF Cecilia L’Ecluse.