When Jan Marc Luchies from Tempress Systems (Amtech Systems) took to the stage last week – on the second day of the inaugural PVCellTech conference in Kuala Lumpur on 17 March 2016 – equipment supplier Amtech Systems capitalized on this platform with a press release to highlight a sharp uptick in new order intake for its PV operations over the past two months, taking the company’s solar bookings to approximately US$50 million since October 2015.
SunPower has launched its ‘Equinox’ solar PV system to the US residential market that is claimed to be the first solution in the country in which every major component has been designed and engineered by one company to work seamlessly together, delivering the highest power, long-term performance and aesthetic appeal. With a typical SunPower Equinox installation, only the solar panels and a Smart Energy management device are visible, reflecting SunPower's minimalist architectural approach at the system level.
The second day of our inaugural PV CellTech conference in Kuala Lumpur on 17 March 2016 turned out to be equally informative, engaging and thought-provoking as day one. Among the many takeaways from the two-day event in general, the final session addressed head-on one of the most hotly debated issues in the industry today – the technology roadmap!
Imec's Bart Onsia outlines some of the research efforts underway to tackle the issue of cell-to-module losses, including a new tool for calculating the output of a variety of module configurations in different conditions.
Recent shipment guidance from two leading members of the ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL), Trina Solar and JinkoSolar highlighted that the US solar PV market in 2016 was expected to show considerable growth but raised concerns over the possibility of a module oversupply situation when compiling a list of suppliers with their own US ambitions.
Recent preliminary performance data from a small bifacial PV array in Germany suggest impressive yield gains compared to a conventional system. Joris Libal and Radovan Kopecek of ISC Konstanz take a closer look at what the results could signify about this emerging technology.
India is targeting an ambitious 40GW rooftop solar by 2022 even after a slow start in this sector. Anand Nagarajan, founder of Dexler Energy, discusses the potential for solar rooftop technology in India, consumer attitudes and the intricacies of an unsubsidised industrial and commercial sector.
In common with every other PV market in the world as it matures, attaining grid parity for the technology is the ultimate goal for Japan. As an electricity market in general, meeting electrical supply with demand will of course become ever-more important.
The chairman and CEO of Trina Solar, Jifan Gao, has raised the spectre of module overcapacity in 2016. Mark Osborne asks if the global solar industry should be worried.
