In the Eddie Murphy film Coming to America, the protagonist prince quickly realises that the USA is not a place where guests come to sit on their hands when he lands himself a job at a McDonald's lookalike fast food joint on his quest to find a wife.
Business transactions are very often about relationships — the solar industry is no exception. But have plunging prices of PV thrust upon the nascent global market by the Chinese really spoilt the industry with too much choice? Has the young bachelor industry been too busy speed dating with $0.65/Wp panels at the expense of a stable and more meaningful relationship between investor, developer and consumer expectations of a quality product that is going to stand the test of time?
The media frenzy over the precarious financial situation of one of Japan’s iconic corporate brands and a major PV module producer, Sharp Corporation has raged all week as an expected financial bailout led by Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group loomed. On Thursday, September 27, Sharp issued a short statement confirming it had secured both immediate and near-term funding amounting to around US$4.6 billion.
The main fuel used in Polish power plants is still coal. In fact, 91% of the energy used in Poland is conventional. The plans of the Polish government, resulting in, amongst others, from the European Union’s Directive 2009/28/EC requiring an increase of renewable energy generation to 15% by 2020, indicate that a lot of investment will need to be undertaken in the oncoming years.
Growatt North America has unveiled a new ‘High Frequency Series’ of residential solar PV string inverters, and their light commercial ‘TL3 Series’ string inverters during SPI 2012. The HF Series inverters are initially offered in 2.0kW, 2.5kW, and 3.0kW power classes, while the TL3 Series inverters are initially offered in 10kW, 12kW, 18kW, and 20kW power classes.
Centrosolar Glas has developed a particularly thin solar glass for photovoltaic modules. The ‘CENTROSOL’ thin glass is only 2.3mm or 2.6mm thick, enabling a reduction in the minimum thickness by almost 30 % at the same mechanical resistance thanks to process optimization. The thin glass currently offered exclusively by Centrosolar Glas reduces the total weight of modules, which is claimed to simplify the assembly and transportation and mounting costs.
Start-up, QBotix, has revealed the ‘QBotix Tracking System’ (QTS), a dual-axis tracking system that employs rugged, intelligent and mobile robots to dynamically operate solar power plants and maximize energy output. QTS is claimed to costs as much as existing single axis systems but generates up to 15% more energy. QTS will generate up to 40% more energy than fixed mount systems.
PolyOne has introduced a new technology for PV systems wire and cable called ‘Syncure Solar.’ Available globally, this UV-resistant, cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) system is claimed to meet UL 4703 and VW 1-compliance in one material, eliminating the need to use two separate insulation and jacketing formulations.
Mitt Romney's joke last week mocking Barack Obama's acceptance of global warming has been ridiculed by US news networks, with perhaps the exception of Fox.
