Technical Papers

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

In a four-year project sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, a consortium of German experts assessed the quality of actual PV power installations. The researchers now report on how the effects of several common module failures on module and string performance highlight the importance of consistent quality assurance to prevent risks to financial success

A spate of extreme natural disasters in 2017 have highlighted the vulnerability of PV power plants to damage. Becky Nace-Grover looks at how the PV and insurance industries should ready themselves for a future where such events are likely to become more frequent

Having all manufacturing stages – from raw materials to finished modules – located under one roof in the same factory offers the scope to optimize module quality and reliability.

The month of July proved to be the most active for new capacity expansion announcements in the third quarter of 2017.

Optical confinement is essential in order to increase the amount of photogeneration in a crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell. Fraunhofer examines the compatible options for wafers created using diamond wire sawing.