Irradiance measurement | Pyranometers play a crucial role in gathering irradiance data for PV yield and performance modelling. Ben Willis explores this sometimes-overlooked piece of technology
and efforts by researchers to improve our understanding of its characteristics.
An extension and gradual phase out of the investment tax credit would help the US solar industry on to a more sustainable footing in the long term, argues James A. Mueller.
Modelling | First Solar has developed an energy assessment software platform that models the electrical generation of utility-scale PV power plants. This software, called PlantPredict, is an enterprise application that streamlines and fulfils many energy simulation needs throughout the project development life cycle, from the site prospecting, through design and optimisation, and contractual commitments, to power plant monitoring. Bodo Littmann and Alex Panchula of First Solar discuss some unique models required for characterising CdTe power plant performance, and outline the PlantPredict tool’s use throughout the project development phases, with the goal of ultimately lowering the total cost of ownership of PV power plants.
With a volatile energy market and a fast-expanding solar sector, there are plenty of topics for the industry to stay on top of. Intersolar Europe will explore a number of issues aimed at helping the
industry find new business opportunities and understand key market trends. PV Tech Power looks at three of these in more detail
Future solar finance | Ahead of the Solar Finance & Investment Asia Conference in Singapore, Dr M. Rusydi of SGI Mitabu tells John Parnell how solar could tap into the potentially enormous investment opportunities offered by Islamic finance.
PV waste | Europe is leading the way in efforts to regulate the disposal and recycling of old or discarded PV modules. Sara Ver-Bruggen investigates the extent to which the industry is complying with the rules and whether PV markets in other parts of the world are likely to follow Europe’s lead.
As the upstream PV industry enters a new phase of growth, manufacturers are seeking new strategies and technologies to enable them to continue to cut costs and remain competitive. The sixth edition of the annual International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic describes the key trends likely to shape the PV sector in the coming year. This paper analyses some of the most promising areas for development.
Poor insulation resistance in modules is one of the primary contributors to module failure. Regimes currently in place to test the insulation resistance of crystalline silicon modules have proved problematic, as the conditions found in a laboratory are not on a par with environmental conditions at installation sites. This paper explores the shortcomings of current testing standards and recommends further tests that should be introduced to prevent module failures in the field.
Post-subsidy solar | Europe’s solar market has been characterised by peaks and troughs and a good deal of pain for its industry in the process. Although the continent is not expected to see a return to
anything like the explosive growth it saw up until 2012, steady forecasts for the coming years hint at solid, sustained expansion. John Parnell reports.
High-efficiency (HE) PV technologies, such as heterojunction, back-contact or n-type, can be affected by significant measurement errors compared with conventional technologies; the power measurement of HE crystalline silicon PV modules and cells has therefore been a challenge for the PV industry for at least two decades. To deal with the internal capacitance and the spectral mismatch errors of HE cells and modules, various measurement techniques are currently used: steady-state, multi-flash, dynamic I–V, DragonBack™ and dark I–V and reconstruction methods, to name a few. This paper discusses the challenges and provides guidance for best practice for acquiring accurate measurements.
