The broader decarbonisation agenda is driving interest from businesses in procuring renewable power, and now a whole host of solutions and market structures are coming forward to accommodate them. Edith Hancock explores the maturation of corporate power purchase agreements.
Stephan Schindele, head of product management Agri-PV at BayWa r.e. Solar Projects, explores the mutual benefits of ‘Agri-PV’ to both solar farm operators and farmers alike, and reveals what is needed to take the sub-sector forward.
With extreme weather events becoming increasingly common, Molly Lempriere takes a look at how to ensure a solar installation is prepared to manage wind, hail, heat and anything else nature has in store.
With South Africa faced with ongoing power cuts, Jules Scully explores the how solar PV can help decarbonise the country’s coal-heavy grid while providing energy security.
Perovskite solar cells have become the focal point of many university-led studies in the past year. In the first of a new series of article on PV Tech profiling some of the leading cutting-edge solar technologies, Edith Hancock explores what is being done to remove bottlenecks to the growth of perovskites.
In the second part of a two-part feature on the solar industry’s response to polysilicon price increases, Carrie Xiao hears from industry leaders about the importance of technology innovation, efforts to reduce waste and the need to avoid cutting prices blindly just to appease customers.
Price increases in polysilicon and other auxiliary solar module materials have exerted much pressure on manufacturers, JA Solar has said, impacting on profitability in the first half of 2021. Xinming Huang, senior vice president at JA Solar, tells PV Tech how the company is responding.
Soaring polysilicon costs have tipped the solar manufacturing industry to the brink of crisis and while only expected to be in the short-term, the ramifications in 2021 could be significant. On the sidelines of SNEC 2021, Carrie Xiao speaks to experts from across the value chain to determine how solar PV can tackle supply chain constraints.
The cost of insuring operational solar farms has skyrocketed over the course of the year, triggered by carriers rethinking their approaches to natural catastrophes and other extreme weather events. This has placed additional importance on mitigation strategies. Kevin Christy, COO for North America at Lightsource bp, details how the solar developer has adapted its strategy in the field.
As it matures, the solar industry is moving beyond the use of Performance Ratios (PR) as the go-to performance metric for operational sites. Christopher West, head of central engineering - solar PV delivery unit at Statkraft, argues the case for PRs to be replaced by alternative, more evolved methods of assessment.
