Table toppers
Exawatt’s PV Power Rankings are back. Analysts Alex Barrows and Molly Morgan explore who topped the table for 2021, and how things have changed over the last 12 months.
Cobalt clings on
Cobalt is key for boosting energy density and battery life, but it comes with caveats: expensive, scarce, and linked to unethical mining practices, wild price fluctuations, and a tenuous supply chain. In recent years, battery manufacturers and automakers have intensified efforts to reduce or eliminate cobalt in lithium-ion cathodes. But sometimes, old habits die hard, as pv magazine’s Marija Maisch explains.
No flash in the pan
German flasher supplier Wavelabs marked the 11th anniversary of its founding at the WCPEC-8 conference, which brings the global PV research community together every four years in Milan, Italy. The occasion was a milestone for the Leipzig-based company, with co-founder Torsten Brammer moving to its newly minted advisory board and Patrick Mergell signing on as managing director, alongside his twin role as chief technology and operations officer. Jonathan Gifford spoke to both men to discuss the company’s legacy and future.
Sowing the seeds of agrivoltaics
Solar will play a pivotal role in Israel’s decarbonization but land scarcity is holding back its rollout. However, the high-tech nation has big plans for agrivoltaics and pv magazine sat down with Yael Harman, head of R&D in the chief scientist’s office at Israel’s Ministry of Energy, to discuss 150 MW of farm-based projects that should serve as the country’s blueprint.
Expansions in n-type
The past 12 months have been a turbulent time for PV manufacturing. Rapid and impressive developments in technology have been accompanied by price increases up and down the supply chain, and energy shortages weighed on production in the second half of the year. Chinese n-type module manufacturer Jolywood is now pressing ahead with ambitious expansion plans despite the disruption. pv magazine publisher Eckhart K. Gouras and editor Mark Hutchins recently caught up with Cathy Huang, European sales director at Jolywood, to discuss the company’s plans to bring n-type TOPCon technology into mainstream production.
Staying charged
The integration of solar cells into passenger vehicles appears to be progressing in lockstep with the increasing penetration of electric vehicles, which itself looks to have hit an inflection point. But how does one know whether a solar roof is still in good working order in the testing environment of the open road? German flasher provider Wavelabs is looking closely at the issue, and CEO Torsten Brammer provides some insights into the challenge.
The path to the TOPCon
Through tunnel oxide passivated contact solar cells, a new route to high efficiency is becoming clear. But at present, there are many routes that manufacturers can take in production. Need a map? Jonathan Gifford attempts to find his way through.
Cutting construction concerns
PV plant construction comes with a lengthy list of quality assurance points and involves multiple parties that may not all be working from the same script. By offering the full set of construction services, from access and civil works to module mounting and cabling, Sofia and Berlin-headquartered Sunotec is able to monitor quality at every stage. pv magazine spoke with Kaloyan Velichkov and Bernhard Suchland, Sunotec’s joint CEOs, to discuss quality in PV plant construction, and the company’s recent experience working on a remote site in Mali.
Keeping FPV afloat
In many parts of the world, project developers and owners are increasingly looking to floating PV as the next long-term growth market in utility-scale solar. Gian Schelling, global business development manager for Hitachi Energy, says that PV-on-water can rise above the current challenges it faces by drawing on the lessons learned from offshore wind development.
A word about inverter efficiency
Following an earlier investigation into how module PAN files can distort a project’s performance expectations (pv magazine 04/2022), Andreas Hensel, Franziska Hans and Steffen Eyhorn of Fraunhofer ISE looked at how the OND files that model inverter performance fit into such calculations. They included measurements that show how efficiency values on manufacturer datasheets can be overly optimistic by as much as 0.4%. This could affect the way PV systems are planned and designed, with potential impacts on performance.
