As the political horse-trading over the future of the US solar investment tax credit gathers momentum, Laura Stern gives three good reasons why Congress should extend it.
PV manufacturers are under increasing pressure to remove so-called conflict materials from their supply chains. But as Chris Berry explains, it's not quite as simple as that.
Frank Haugwitz explores the opportunities for China's solar industry at home abroad as the country's new five-year solar development plan is finalised and manufacturers look to expand their global footprint.
With the spectre of trade disputes showing no signs of going away, Asian PV manufacturers need to develop effective strategies to cope with future anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, says Matthias Grossman.
If India were to grow its electricity system based on coal as China has done, the results for the global climate could be catastrophic. Tobias Engelmeier believes this leaves the country with little choice but to go solar.
An extension and gradual phase out of the investment tax credit would help the US solar industry on to a more sustainable footing in the long term, argues James A. Mueller
Growing awareness of the advantages of using controlled quantities of impurities in solar silicon is closing the price gap between lower and higher purity feedstock, writes Til Bartel.
A lax management and maintenance regime can see the value of a PV system leach away over time. Laura Stern outlines some of the key steps in ensuring a system retains its value right up to the end of its planned lifetime.
With potential induced degradation emerging as a major issue for PV power plant performance, manufacturers have responded by developing technologies to mitigate the problem. But a lack of long-term field data on PID means the jury is still out on whether these efforts will be sufficient, writes Rubina Singh of Fraunhofer CSE.
Last week Chinese authorities announced a 17.8GW PV target for 2015, an even more ambitious quota than the one set in 2014, which was missed. Beijing-based Chinese solar market expert, Frank Haugwitz, asks whether China can live up to its aspirations this time around.
