PV Tech Power 43 out now: Solar under the shadow of Trump, tackling module glass fractures, the aftermath of the Iberian blackout

By PV Tech
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The Q3 edition of our downstream solar PV journal, PV Tech Power, is now available to download.

In our cover story, we step into the new normal in the US market, under the shadow of an administration increasingly hostile to renewables. Taking in the changes in the “Big, Beautiful” budget reconciliation bill and its impacts on solar finance, deployment and manufacturing, we spoke to leading policy analysts, financiers, lawyers and market participants about the state of play and the forecast for the coming years. A picture emerged of an industry reeling from a serious blow, but determined to keep fighting and come off the ropes. The mood is uncertain, and the biggest questions are yet to receive answers.

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Elsewhere in this edition:

  • Understanding and tackling PV module glass fracture
    David Devir of VDE Americas looks at the origins of today’s supersized PV module glass problem and considers how the industry can engineer a return to reliability
  • The dominance of PV and the shift to back contact
    Radovan Kopecek and Joris Libal examine the technological and economic factors driving PV’s ascendancy, with particular emphasis on potential of bifacial back contact modules
  • The 2,000V transition
    Utility-scale solar is preparing for its next voltage evolution, with 2,000V systems emerging as the successor to the dominant 1,500V standard
  • After the blackout
    Initially blamed for the huge power outage that hit Spain and Portugal in April, solar has now become central to the solution
  • Slashing utility-scale grading costs
    Land grading is becoming a critical focus for project economics. Brett Beattie of Castillo Engineering looks at some of the key areas that can make multimillion-dollar differences to engineering costs
  • Megawatts are not enough anymore
    After an initial rush to deploy megawatts that gave CAISO and ERCOT the lead in US BESS adoption, both markets have become focused on capacity and availability

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