‘Lack of objections should mean permits are automatically granted for solar’
The question of overly complicated, time-consuming permitting processes again raised its head at a two-day online event held by the Global Solar Council to examine how to accelerate deployment of photovoltaics.
Sunday read: Firm foundations on shifting sands
Unprecedented capacity expansions and massive technology changes, all happening at a frantic pace, signal that PV is entering the terawatt era. However, challenges in supply and demand imbalances across the value chain, combined with emerging technical and quality risks, require detailed analysis and due diligence from buyers to avoid pitfalls, according to George Touloupas, Joseph Johnson, and Aditya Vardhan from Clean Energy Associates.
Q Cells, Samsung sign ‘zero energy home’ partnership
Q Cells and Samsung have agreed to combine their hardware and software platforms to develop ‘zero energy homes,’ with on-site energy production and use.
Do engineers dream of solar panel efficiency?
A true next generation of solar cell technology is upon us. It is time to contemplate the benefits.
Q Cells, Samsung sign ‘zero energy home’ partnership
Q Cells and Samsung have agreed to combine their hardware and software platforms to develop ‘zero energy homes,’ with on-site energy production and use.
Solar beach umbrella cools you… and your gelato
An MIT-spawned company has teamed up with architects and an Italian frozen-desserts brand to design an origami-inspired umbrella to power fridges.
‘Residential batteries are less profitable than selling excess power to the grid’
Although self-consumption of solar power is the optimal economic approach, the expense of household batteries at present outweighs the increased ability they offer to use electricity generated on the roof. Whether aggregated ‘virtual batteries’ offer better returns is an open question, due to lack of electricity company transparency.
All solar cell efficiencies at a glance
The research group led by Professor Martin Green has published Version 58 of the Solar cell efficiency tables. He spoke with pv magazine about the criteria with which these tables are compiled and the importance of result certification by independent third parties.
Sunday read: A PV band-aid
DuPont has developed a repair kit for PV modules with backsheet failures. Cracked and chalking backsheets can cause problems for solar project owners, but this could easily be addressed in the field without swapping out the PV modules. Stéphan Padlewski, regional marketing leader EMEA at DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions, spoke to pv magazine about how the solution works.
Saturday read: rethinking degradation
PV module making is a brutally competitive industry. And for Slovenian module maker Bisol, in business since 2004, one of the keys to success has been to remain focused on the value its products deliver to the customer. And as company founder and CEO Uroš Merc explains, in 2021 this means reimagining module degradation.
