The era of subsidy-free solar is well underway in a growing number of markets, with Europe leading the way. As Solarcentury’s Peer Piske explains, the greater sensitivities around modelling zero-subsidy projects mean new approaches to design and planning are required by developers
By Aline Kirsten Vidal de Oliveira, Mohammadreza Aghae, Ricardo Rüther
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in solar operations and maintenance can reduce costs and save hours of painstaking labour, but only if applied correctly. Aline Kirsten Vidal de Oliveira, Mohammadreza Aghae and Ricardo Rüther explore the optimal use of aerial inspections and emerging methods for analysing the data they gather to identify faults.
Second instalment (week of 8-14 June) delves into talk of 18GWdc US-wide solar installs in 2020, solar's embrace of online events and the campaign to revive European manufacturing.
In the absence of live events and exhibitions this summer, the solar PV and energy storage supply chains have adopted online and virtual events to ramp up marketing activity.
Solar engineering, procurement and construction contractors have a central role in ensuring the long-term performance and profitability of PV power plants. Ben Willis speaks to Adele Ara and Ralph Gottschalg of SolarPower Europe’s O&M and Asset Management Task Force, which is drawing up the industry’s first best practice guidelines for EPC companies
A late rally boosted China’s domestic solar installations in 2019 to a better-than-expected 30.22GW. But Frank Haugwitz asks whether a renewed interest in locally available coal and an economic slowdown could conspire to slow recent momentum in China’s energy transition, in which solar has played a central role
By Mark Bolinger, Joachim Seel, and Dana Robson, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
As utility-scale PV projects continue to spread across the United States, Mark Bolinger, Joachim Seel, and Dana Robson of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory cover key technology and market trends in this synopsis of their annual “Utility-Scale Solar” report series
Catherine Early speaks to BayWa r.e. about the development of its 14.5MW Sekdoorn floating solar farm in Zwolle, the Netherlands, uncovering how the developer brought forward the project in just eight weeks.
On 1 January this year, the solar investment tax credit, responsible for fuelling the rapid growth of the US market, began its decline. Cecilia Keating assesses what impact it will have.
Andy Klump, chief executive officer and founder of Shanghai-based consultancy Clean Energy Associates, examines what lessons the solar industry can learn from the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on global supply chains.
