PV Tech Power Papers

After the frenzied highs of several year ago, Japan’s PV market has quietened down somewhat. But As Izumi Kaizuka writes, ongoing policy and market reforms and the evolution of new technologies look set to ensure strong continued growth for the foreseeable future

The commercial and industrial segment is one of the most promising sub-sectors of the energy storage space. Julian Jansen of IHS Markit describes recent efforts to model the US C&I storage landscape and what it reveals about this dynamic emerging market. As told to Andy Colthorpe

Islands are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters such as hurricanes. John Merritt looks at some of the emerging solutions to building more resilient energy systems through the deployment of microgrids that combine multiple energy generation and storage technologies

In 2017 China’s domestic PV market surpassed 50GW. Meishi Tan asks whether such astonishing levels of deployment can be sustained and, if so, what the future drivers of growth will be

Australia’s large-scale PV segment has been one of the star performers of the past year. Vincent Dwyer and Jacqueline Fetchet look at the past and future drivers for this dynamic market and ask whether recent momentum can be maintained

Examining a PV power plant to ascertain its health is a key measure when warranties for components expire. Romain Elsair and Marcos Blanco of Greensolver outline some of the main steps involved in effective end of warranty inspections

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