Technical Papers

Because of its symmetrical a-Si/c-Si/a-Si structure, silicon heterojunction (SHJ) cell technology offers the possibility to use much thinner wafers, and thus to reduce material and production cost. In order to evaluate the industrial feasibility of these thinner heterojunction cells, wafers from the standard thickness of 160μm down to 40μm were processed on the heterojunction pilot line at CEA-INES.

2017 was tet another record-breaking year for energy storage. Riding high on expectation, the industry is braced for challenges and successes in equal measure this year too. We canvassed opinions from some of the world’s leading trade associations and representative bodies on the year just gone and what 2018 could bring

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

Ben Willis looks at the latest trends from some of the world’s most promising emerging PV markets. This issue features Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and South Korea

Singapore operates the world’s largest testbed for floating PV, comparatively testing and evaluating 10 different floating PV installations from around the world, and held the first floating solar conference globally in October 2017. Writing exclusively for PV Tech Power, Thomas Reindl of the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) reports on a form of solar power whose huge potential is starting to be realised

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