The recent swathe of announcements from US policymakers – coupled with growing geopolitical unrest regarding Chinese manufacturing dominance and the role of solar PV from an energy security standpoint – has the potential to redefine PV technology, manufacturing and component supply chains in a way that the industry has never seen before, writes Finlay Colville, head of research at PV Tech.
Amid potential supply chain bottlenecks as China increases its PV manufacturing dominance, companies in markets such as the US, India and Europe are looking to leverage new policy support to scale up domestic production. Jules Scully charts the industry’s efforts to onshore solar module manufacturing.
Molly Lempriere investigates how much land the UK needs for utility-scale PV plants as it transitions to net zero, and whether the sector’s growth poses any threat to food security.
PV Tech Premium spoke to Neil Spann, CEO of Power Roll, about the UK company’s new architecture designed to house solar-absorbing materials such as perovskite and the vision of a gigafactory in northeast England.
Sky-high electricity prices and an increasing urgency to curb fossil fuel led to a surge in European solar additions last year. Jules Scully charts how the continent’s ongoing energy crisis is affecting EU renewables policy and PPA appetite.
The head of Enel’s 3Sun Gigafactory says the company is in advanced discussions over ventures further upstream than solar cells to make a robust supply chain in the US and explains the advantages of bifacial HJT and tandem technology to be produced at its planned US manufacturing facility.
With numerous markets reporting problems with overly optimistic P50 estimates, attention has also been drawn to similar issues with PAN files. TÜV Rheinland’s Yating Zhang and Christos Monokroussos discuss the subject at length.
Inverter design and configuration is continually evolving, and so are the strategies of the companies making this important piece of kit, writes Jonathan Touriño Jacobo.
Solar Media’s head of Market Research, Finlay Colville, examines the state of European PV manufacturing and discusses whether the continent’s domestic production will ever rise to sufficient levels to support the energy transition
