Magazine Archive 2022

The US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 sets aside $369 billion to decarbonize the economy and respond to climate change. pv magazine USA’s Anne Fischer and Ryan Kennedy report on the boost the landmark legislation is expected to provide to solar and battery deployment and manufacturing.

Israel’s scarce land resources and lack of interconnections to neighboring countries have driven the rise of rooftop solar. Now a number of recent policy changes, mainly due to electricity reforms, are set to reinforce the decentralization trend, reports Ilias Tsagas.

With PV cells the next focus for boosting power output, heterojunction is seeing production capacity increases. Its advantages are numerous, not least its favorable temperature co-efficient, says Recom Technologies CEO Hamlet Tunyan.

The potential advantages of n-type technologies have long been known to solar manufacturers, and such applications have been the focus of much of their research and development activities. Recent developments see 2022 shaping up as the year when n-type goes into mass production, led by tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells. pv magazine takes a closer at this cell technology and its route to the mainstream.

For some developers of ground-mounted PV, bifacial modules are already the default technology. The slight cost increase is often outweighed by an increase in energy yield. And yet “agreeing” on the right energy yield of a PV plant has always been the most heated debate between developers, investors, lenders, and technical advisers. Everoze partner Christophe Campistron looks at both sides.

Climate change is exacerbating water scarcity in many parts of the world, and while renewable energy is a long-term solution, in many cases it is a short-term solution, too. One such case in the energy-water nexus is that of canal-top solar, which was pioneered in India a decade ago, when the first canal-top solar array was installed in Gujarat. And new findings from the University of California and the resulting Project Nexus are now shining attention on a symbiotic application: saving water, while generating solar energy, without occupying arable land.

After close to a decade of vigorous competition from newer Chinese rivals, European production equipment suppliers may be on the verge of a new dawn. That was certainly the sentiment at the Intersolar Europe trade fair in May, with the Enel heterojunction project providing gigawatts of hope.

Egypt wants to become a regional energy hub in both gas and electricity, the latter to be serviced in good part by its enormous solar potential. KarmSolar began as an idea in a Cairo café at a revolutionary time in Egypt’s history. But now the company can be found at every link in the solar value chain, and it plans to play a key role in the nation’s ambitious energy future. pv magazine sat down with KarmSolar CEO Ahmed Zahran to talk shop.

Australian-born vanadium redox flow technology and new homegrown electrolyte sources are set to bulk up renewable energy storage options in the Pacific region and plug the gap left by lithium supply-chain issues. Natalie Filatoff reports from Sydney.