Interviews

Size, scale and vertical integration are imperative for success in the richly competitive US solar market as a result of its maturation and evolving customer base, the CEO of Arevon Energy, the US renewables platform spun out of Capital Dynamics, has said.

PV Tech speaks to JA Solar’s Henning Schulze about the module manufacturer’s European strategy, how vertical integration is helping it mitigate supply chain volatility and why lessons from the stock market can help guide solar module purchasing.

Amidst a need to scale up solar this decade, PV Tech Premium speaks to Vassilis Papaeconomou, managing director at renewables service provider Alectris, to learn how the solar industry can scale up efficiently, what asset owners and operators need to be aware of when buzzwords such as ‘digitalisation’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ are mentioned, and what the industry might learn from more mature technologies such as wind.

As solar continues to proliferate and spread into new markets, the technology is finding itself operating in tougher climates than ever before. PV Tech talks to research institute QEERI to learn more about the heightened risk of soiling in the desert, the growing prominence of abrasion and some surprising results from temperature coefficient testing.

Amidst surging materials costs, the solar industry needs to avoid any “gaming” on price between upstream and downstream sectors as it could be “very dangerous for both sides”. Leo Xiang, general manager at Jiang Tai Insurance Brokers’ energy department, speaks to PV Tech about the potential remedies to the situation.

Spain’s PV sector has been boosted by a new auction mechanism that aims to support at least 10GW of capacity by 2025. José Donoso, general director of Spanish solar association UNEF, discusses what is driving growth and the various policies that the industry is asking for.

On the back of this year’s PV Evolution Labs’ Module Reliability Scorecard, PV Tech’s Liam Stoker speaks to Tristan Erion-Lorico about how the industry can tackle its increasing junction box failure problem, the possible threat to large-format modules from microcracks and the key takeaways for solar project developers.

After receiving record-low prices in both its previous solar auctions, Portugal is now aiming to support the development of floating PV projects through its next tender process. Pedro Amaral Jorge, CEO of Portuguese renewable energy association APREN, talks to PV Tech about the prospects for the country’s solar sector.

In an exclusive interview with PV Tech’s Carrie Xiao, LONGi’s vice president of its business division Jun Lv has stressed that the industry must move beyond discussions around wafer and module size and refocus on innovations driving conversion efficiency and reduce cost