Design & Build

The EU-funded PVSITES project is working on a number of initiatives aimed at accelerating the roll-out of building-integrated PV across the continent. Members involved in the initiative outline some of the efforts being made to unleash BIPV’s as-yet untapped potential.

Despite the growing popularity of floating solar installations, relatively little is known about their environmental impacts on water bodies. Ian Jones and Alona Armstrong are leading a research progamme to understand more about how the environmental benefits of floating PV can be harnessed and the downsides minimised

BIPV systems do not follow many of the rules associated with conventional or ground-mounted PV arrays. Johannes Eisenlohr of Fraunhofer ISE examines some of the technical solutions being developed to simulate BIPV design and thus make it more affordable.

As Europe and other hot PV markets transition to low- or no-subsidy environments, could a different direction help improve solar economics? Liam Stoker looks at why east-west orientated projects are increasing in popularity

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

Construction | Automated systems to speed up the construction of PV power plants have become a key tool in building bigger and cheaper projects. Sara Verbruggen looks at some of the state-of-art technologies helping the industry drive down system costs

System design | Despite the decline of subsidies in the UK, well designed commercial PV systems still offer potentially attractive financial benefits to businesses. Kirsty Berry and Andrew Hancock of Syzygy Renewables detail some of the key considerations in designing and executing a commercial solar system that will deliver maximum return on investment.

System design | As PV projects get bigger and more complex, plant design programs are rising to the challenge. Sara Verbruggen looks at how some of the latest innovations in design software are helping developers win the competitiveness game

Module yield | Varying climatic conditions across markets and the individual characteristics of PV technologies undermine accurate predictions of module energy yield using conventional methods. Markus Schweiger, Werner Herrmann, Christos Monokroussos and Uwe Rau describe how a calculation of module performance ratio can be used to accurately assess the efficiency of different PV module technologies in different climates and thus the likely return on investment from a project.

Varying climatic conditions across markets and the individual characteristics of PV technologies undermine accurate predictions of module energy yield using conventional methods. Markus Schweiger, Werner Herrmann, Christos Monokroussos and Uwe Rau describe how a calculation of module performance ratio can be used to accurately assess the efficiency of different PV module technologies in different climates and thus the likely return on investment from a project