Pirates of the PV industry
Product piracy is a well-known threat in many industries, and in solar the risk posed by poor quality products from disreputable manufacturers making their way onto rooftops and other PV installations should not be underestimated. With manufacturers investing in solutions to protect against inferior products bearing their logo, pv magazine looks at the size of the problem.
Reducing the risk
Since founding Rekamniar Frontier Ventures in 2011, Angella Rainford has seen plenty of success as a PV project developer working in emerging markets. Originally from Jamaica, she has come to focus primarily on the Caribbean region. Last year, she started a new company, Soleco Energy, in the commercial PV segment, as well. pv magazine recently caught up with the London-based investor to discuss solar PV projects and the rapidly developing energy markets of the Caribbean.
Advanced lead batteries for microgrids
With demand for cleaner forms of energy and a greater need for flexibility and reliability in the power supply, the role of battery energy storage is critical. Innovation in battery technology is essential to match demand growth and the shift in technical requirements. Predictions of 400,000 MWh of battery storage required by 2025 means that all battery technologies will play a role in contributing to a clean energy future.
Time is now for HJT
There’s nothing new under the sun, and this is ever so in PV. So it should come as no surprise that the hottest new cell technology has actually been in mass production for decades. But is now the time for heterojunction to move into the mainstream? There are serious challenges to overcome if so, but momentum is undoubtedly building.
Vietnam’s most ambitious array
Could a single installation define a brief but explosive period of ambitious PV deployment? The massive 500 MW Dau Tieng solar array – among Southeast Asia’s largest PV installations – makes a strong case for being the most impressive project of Vietnam’s recent solar boom. But the allure of Dau Tieng is about much more than size – it’s about what’s beneath the PV modules.
Capturing complexity through the power of the cloud
Bifacial modules have brought significant opportunities to PV project developers, but they have also increased complexity in system design and the modeling of plant output. Australian software developers PV Lighthouse believe they have created a fix, by allowing the complexity to be handled by the use of cloud computing. PV Lighthouse CEO Keith McIntosh and CCO Ben Sudbury argue that their software can be useful for module makers, tracker suppliers, and PV project developers alike.
pv magazine test
October 2020 results
The rise of M6
The shift to the larger M6 wafer format could occur faster than many have expected. Promoted heavily by mono giant Longi, the format is said to be a good fit for both cell and module production, while still allowing for relatively trouble-free integration into PV arrays. And it all began in China.
The hidden contest of the cell makers
Predicting which technological pathway will dominate in solar cell production is somewhat of a fool’s errand. A battle is currently underway between several of solar manufacturing’s big guns regarding both wafer size and p-or-n-type technology, and the outcome remains to be seen.
From Shenzhen to Xi’an: China continues to scale
It has become a tradition in recent years for pv magazine to take an annual road trip across China for some hands-on experience in the world’s largest PV market. Publisher Eckhart K. Gouras and China representative Calvin Chong hit the road in December 2019 to meet with leading PV manufacturers to review the year that was and to assess developments and prospects for the year ahead.
