Technical Papers

After several years with a moratorium on renewable energy incentives and no new build, Spain is seeing a new generation of projects being developed without subsidies as grid parity is achieved. Whilst this has encouraged an increase in renewable energy projects, it could be harmful to profits and have serious economic risks for investors. ÅF Pöyry Management Consulting’s Javier Revuelta considers the potential risks of taking a long-lasting grid parity in Spain for granted, how to mitigate these problems, and why it’s relevant to us all.

A new toolkit has been launched to support companies in Europe that want to meet more of their energy needs from solar and other renewable energy sources. As SolarPower Europe’s Bruce Douglas explains, alongside much-needed regulatory reform the resource will help unlock the immense corporate renewables sourcing opportunity.

The growing volume of PV waste presents an emerging environmental challenge, but also brings substantial value creation opportunities as the idea of bringing decommissioned PV modules back to life becomes more feasible. Researchers from imec, VITO and SoliTek chart the development of the second-life PV business as it transitions from theory to practice.

Alumni from SunPower’s recently wound up project business are spearheading a new venture targeting large-scale solar’s soft cost problem. Ben Willis hears how they plan to harness the power of digital technology in tackling one of the industry’s persistent pain points.

A new World Bank-SERIS floating solar handbook has sparked a debate around whether standardisation could speed the segment’s voyage to mainstream success. A-listers welcome the guide but insist too strict a focus on streamlined design could hamper innovation. José Rojo Martin reports.

Testing a sample of modules at an operational solar can help identify faults and underperformance in the wider plant, but which ones to choose? Authors from Mahindra Teqo describe a new methodology they have developed to Satish Pandey, Preetha Pillai, Sandeep Jadhav, Shyam Kumar, Gaurav Mishra, Rajesh Kumar Dhuriya.

New technologies are helping revolutionise the management and profitability of PV power plants. Martina Pianta, Guillermo Oviedo Hernández, Constantinos Peonides, Will Hitchcock and Máté Heisz look at some of the digital innovations helping advance the deployment solar energy in Europe and beyond.

Different types of PV backsheet provide modules with varying levels of protection in warm, humid conditions. Haidan Gong, Minge Gao and Yiwei of Wuxi Suntech’s PV test centre detail the results of research undertaken to better understand the properties of different backsheet materials in tropical conditions.

When solar meets science. Inside GridServes’ ground-breaking York Solar Farm.

The low prices achieved in some of the recent Middle Eastern solar auctions have been made possible in a large part because of the inclusion of bifacial module technology. Tom Kenning examines how booming deployment in the US is helping drive bifacial’s uptake in the Middle East, where the conditions are optimal for the technology.