Interviews

Israel-headquartered SolarEdge launched a software platform for aggregating household energy storage units - and other distributed energy equipment - into virtual power plants, last week. The company’s solution has already been chosen for a VPP project in Australia by AGL, one of the country’s biggest utilities. The commercial launch of the VPP platform direct to customers is now underway. Energy-Storage.News editor Andy Colthorpe spoke with Lior Handelsman, one of SolarEdge’s founders and vice president of marketing and product strategy.

PV Tech caught up with Vish Iyer, global head of business development, strategy and marketing for the Hybrid and Energy Storage division at EPC firm Sterling and Wilson, to find out more about the company's latest venture.

With cell producers increasingly focusing on improved efficiencies and yields, line optimization upgrades are coming to the fore. PV Tech caught up with Steve Mcdonald, vice president, application engineering at inline solar cell measurement equipment specialist Aurora Solar Technologies, to discuss some of the industry trends.

PV Tech caught up with Ugo Salerno, chairman and CEO of Italy-based advisory RINA, alongside the firm’s technical director for power and renewables, Simon Turner, to discuss storage retrofits in the UK, financing floating PV and upgrading hastily built European solar plants.

Module technologies tipped to enter the mainstream and the suitability of current testing methods were scrutinised at PV ModuleTech 2017. PV Tech caught up with Mark Ma, global marketing manager, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions, to discuss these new innovations and methods of sequential testing.

California-headquartered minigrid company Powerhive, scheduled to attend Solar & Off-grid Renewables Africa in Tanzania next week, is the first private company registered as a utility in Kenya. Andy Colthorpe spoke with Daniel Porras, vice president for impact and communications and a member of the executive team.

PV Tech caught up with Thomas Chrometzka, energy programme director for GIZ Thailand, to discuss the country's rooftop PV situation, with the Solar and Off-Grid Renewables Southeast Asia conference kicking off today in Bangkok.

The movement to 6-busbar module architectures and the emergence of multi-wire technology were key topics at PV ModuleTech 2017. PV Tech caught up with Franck Genonceau, business manager PV portfolio, at leading PV manufacturing equipment supplier Meyer Burger, to look at what to expect in the next wave of mainstream module technologies.

Outsourcing in the various stages running up to module assembly versus having one’s entire supply chain in house was a major theme at PV ModuleTech 2017. PV Tech caught up with Nick Strevel, director, global technical sales, at vertically-integrated thin-film PV manufacturer First Solar, to discuss the benefits of having all in house production and the drivers for high expenditure in R&D.