Technical Papers

Last year saw large-scale storage come of age in the USA and Canada, with some heavyweight storage portfolios starting to take shape. Speaking to four leading North American developers, Andy Colthorpe takes the pulse of a market poised for growth.

Paul Verrill, director of energy data analyst EnAppSys, explains how renewable energy generation and the integration of smart grid technologies and efficient energy storage systems can create a sustainable power system for the future.

On 1 January this year, the solar investment tax credit, responsible for fuelling the rapid growth of the US market, began its decline. Cecilia Keating assesses what impact it will have.

As utility-scale PV projects continue to spread across the United States, Mark Bolinger, Joachim Seel, and Dana Robson of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory cover key technology and market trends in this synopsis of their annual “Utility-Scale Solar” report series.

Micro-grids can offer a resilient and secure alternative for both rural and city communities. Molly Lempriere looks at some of the micro-grids around the world that are transforming the way neighbourhoods produce and consume electricity.

Mini-grids offer a quick route to electrification in parts of the world where grid extensions are unfeasible. Baptiste Possémé looks at the some of the technological and regulatory trends influencing the deployment of mini-grids in Africa and Asia.

Solar engineering, procurement and construction contractors have a central role in ensuring the long-term performance and profitability of PV power plants. Ben Willis speaks to Adele Ara and Ralph Gottschalg of SolarPower Europe’s O&M and Asset Management Task Force, which is drawing up the industry’s first best practice guidelines for EPC companies.

Potential-induced degradation (PID) is still one of the main reasons for unpredictable power losses in PV power plants. Volker Naumann, Otwin Breitenstein, Klemens Ilse, Matthias Pander, Kai Sporleder and Christian Hagendorf of Fraunhofer CSP examine how the PID susceptibility of PV modules is influenced by environmental stress. It is found that PID may develop in originally PID-resistant modules after a period of one to three years of unsuspicious operation, depending on climatic conditions.

The services and skills offered by asset managers have a central role to play in boosting the value of solar PV investments. Adele Ara, Máté Heisz, Magda Martins, Diego Molina and Paul Norrish outline the key recommendations in the solar industry’s first set of best practice guidelines for asset managers.

In August 2019, a team at BayWa r.e. began construction of its 14.5MWp Sekdoornfloating solar project near the town of Zwolle in the Netherlands. Just eight weeks later, it was complete, 40,000 solar panels afloat on the former sandpit.