Magazine Archive 2020

The Gemini solar+storage project, which will be built near Las Vegas, Nevada, demonstrates the value that dispatchable solar energy generators can deliver. The developer – Primergy, a newly launched unit of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners – has engaged DNV GL to optimize more than a dozen parameters to maximize returns, while still adhering to offtaker limitations. Here, the Norway-headquartered energy consultants share their experience working on this mammoth project.

The annual SNEC trade show in Shanghai has long been an important date on the calendar for the global PV industry. But due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, the 2020 event was a decidedly Chinese affair, and international players were a rare sight in the exhibition halls. Vincent Shaw, pv magazine’s China correspondent, reports from what will likely be the only major PV trade show to take place this year.

Investment in large-scale solar appears to be faltering in Australia. The technology with the lowest cost, with no emissions and the fastest time to delivery, has often found itself dangling at the oversubscribed end of a limp transmission line, with additional, expensive requirements to connect, or earnings-slashing curtailments when operational. Investors have found no reassurance in the federal government’s winking at coal, courting of gas, and undermining of agencies established to support innovation and investment in renewables. In short, the Australian prime minister is showing a complete lack of urgency to act on climate change. Enter the Renewable Energy Zone.

Once a natural phenomenon – a fortuitous byproduct of thermal generation – the weaning off of coal has made the emulation of inertia a priority for grid operators. It will be a few more years in most markets before a solution becomes needed with any great urgency. However, some markets have needed to come up with solutions – are they a portal into the future of grids dominated by renewables and power electronics?

Cell metallization is getting a makeover. Some ‘rocking’ research projects spearheaded by Fraunhofer ISE are now set to introduce new printing methods that could deliver more than a doubling of throughput. There are hurdles to overcome across various process steps and on a materials basis, but initial results appear encouraging.

The adoption of solar across the Middle East is occurring at widely ranging rates among the various nations. The region is now delivering significant demand to solar developers, EPCs and manufacturers, while also setting records for low PV prices. But is it enough to show genuine leadership, and turn the tide on rising sea levels and a hotter global climate?

As the installed PV base grows and digital technology continues to expand in its complexity and capabilities, providers of monitoring solutions to the solar industry become increasingly important. The ability to monitor, aggregate and control distributed-generation assets is also creating opportunities and challenges. pv magazine surveyed four monitoring providers – AlsoEnergy, Gantner Instruments, Meteocontrol, and Solar-Log – for the latest developments.

How much granularity in monitoring and optimization is enough? Module-level power electronics have been a popular addition to the residential segment and, for several reasons, have enjoyed growing popularity on commercial rooftops. But where is the limit? While there are the first ground-mount installations with MLPE, other companies suggest that less is more and scaled down their optimization and monitoring granularity.

There is nothing like a crisis to make a forecaster’s job both vitally important and impossibly difficult. But as the worst shock of the Covid-19 pandemic begins to pass, a sense of the impact on the solar sector is becoming clear. pv magazine recently spoke to Jenny Chase, the head of solar analysis at BloombergNEF, on the implications for PV of these unprecedented days.