Technical Papers

The production toolset is not the only significant source of power consumption in PV cell production. Cooling water, climatization, pressurized air and, in some cases, clean-room conditions drive up the electrical energy demand, while geographical location also has an influence. The extent of this additional consumption over and above the toolset is demonstrated by a number of quantitative examples in this paper.

In this quarterly report a full analysis is given for the first time of two years’ worth (2014-15) of PV manufacturers’ capacity expansion announcements as well as an assessment of announcements that have or are planned to convert to effective new nameplate capacity through to the end of 2016. The analysis provides the first insight into new capacity ramp profiles of effective capacity expansions over the last two-year period and highlights future ramp profiles expected through to the end of 2016.

Deploying battery storage at grid level is relatively uncharted territory, but a number of pioneers projects are now in the ground. Patrick Leslie and colleagues at RES, which built some of the first wave of storage projects, teases out the key technology, finance and regulatory lessons the industry can learn from these early experiences.

Datasets from multiple sources allow PV power plants to be monitored more closely than ever before, but how best to use this data is another ball game. Edmée Kelsey and Gwendalyn Bender look at how data should best be stored, managed and mined for effective solar asset management.

With either newly built PV plants or plants in operation for a couple of years, an O&M contractor may face a series of issues related to the plant’s design and construction, the quality of the equipment and parts, and warranty claims. Vicente Parra and Gorka Oña highlight some of these issues and recommend how O&M contractors can address them.

The renewable energy market is currently booming, with large numbers of PV systems being installed throughout the world. However, a primary objective of any PV power system is to ensure that the system operates continuously and reliably. As Vicente Salas from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) explains, this aspect takes on special relevance in the case of utility-scale PV projects.

PV modules are subjected to various loads during installation handling. Research teams from the Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH) and Hanwha Q CELLS attended the installations of PV modules in order to develop various test sequences for quantifying the effects of handling loads on the modules. As a result of these observations, lab tests have been designed to evaluate the impact of module-handling loads on cell cracking in the modules. Some rules for module handling are subsequently proposed.

Accurate forecasting is becoming increasingly important as PV penetration grows. Jan Remund of Meteotest looks at some of the recent developments in forecasting science and the work going on to improve this vital aspect of solar’s interaction with the grid.

It was a turbulent year for solar finance in 2015 with big successes, more innovation and a few nasty surprises too. Mercom Capital’s Raj Prabhu takes a forensic look at solar finance in the last 12 months and the clues offered for the year ahead.

Solar’s widely heralded shift to self-consumption models has failed to happen to any meaningful degree. But as it remains PV’s only viable future business model, it’s time to get the project back on track, writes Gaëtan Masson.