In April an international working group will publish a bundle of
standardised contracts aimed at aiding the rollout of PV worldwide. Sara Verbruggen previews the
template contract for solar O&M and assesses its impact in streamlining this aspect of the business
Bifaciality is a complex area of PV technology and currently there is some confusion over
what bifacial gains can be expected and how these transfer to system cost reductions. Radovan
Kopecek and Joris Libal describe how bifacial gains are defined, what bifacial gains can be
expected and what this means for real applications
When estimating the expected yield of a PV plant for financial risk assessment
purposes, understanding the uncertainties of any model is crucial. Mauricio Richter of 3E investigates
some of the emerging practices for obtaining and interpreting data to ensure the most accurate results
With India going all out to achieve its target of 100GW of PV by the year 2022, the quality of
equipment used in installations is becoming increasingly important. Satish Pandey and Abhishek
Sharma of Mahindra Susten explore the role of on-site testing in quality control, based on the early
results from India’s first mobile PV lab
In a four-year project sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and
Energy, a consortium of German experts assessed the quality of actual PV power installations.
The researchers now report on how the effects of several common module failures on module and
string performance highlight the importance of consistent quality assurance to prevent risks to
financial success
A spate of extreme natural disasters in 2017 have highlighted the vulnerability of PV
power plants to damage. Becky Nace-Grover looks at how the PV and insurance industries should
ready themselves for a future where such events are likely to become more frequent
Welcome to the first 2018 edition of PV Tech Power. The focus of our cover story is an area that has been exciting the editorial team here at PV Tech Towers for some time. Floating solar presents an entirely new pillar of solar deployment, as discussed at length by the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS). In our Market Watch section we have expert coverage from Apricum of the booming Chinese market, exploring how the country’s vast demand, the so-called ‘hungry dragon’, will be satisfied in 2018 and beyond. With PV Expo returning to Tokyo this quarter, Japan’s RTS consultancy provides an update on a market that, despite its challenges in recent years, continues to represent a multi-GW opportunity and so much more.
Having all manufacturing stages – from raw materials to finished modules – located under one roof in the same factory offers the scope to optimize module quality and reliability.
Optical confinement is essential in order to increase the amount of photogeneration in a crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell. Fraunhofer examines the compatible options for wafers created using diamond wire sawing.
