Technical Papers

The dollar-per-watt metric has traditionally formed the basis of PV module purchasing. But as Anza CEO Mike Hall argues, this simplistic formula can lead to costly mistakes and stand in the way of getting the best value from procurement decisions.

The COVID-19 pandemic and a subsequent string of global political and economic crises have forced companies to reassess how they operate in the face of constantly shifting policy and supply chain dynamics. This article explores how the PV industry can make informed decisions on choosing the best locations to base manufacturing operations in a world characterised by unpredictability.

Grid bottlenecks have emerged as a significant obstacle standing in the way of the energy transition in the United States, with gigawatts of projects sitting in interconnection queues. Michele Boyd, Will Gorman, and Diane Baldwin report on work taking place at the federal level to address the interconnection challenge.

In late 2023, researchers at Fraunhofer ISE put into operation the world’s first medium-voltage string inverter as part of a project to explore the power electronics for the next generation of large-scale PV power plants. According to the project’s leader, Michael Geiss, the signs are looking positive for the introduction of medium voltage in PV.

The potential of solar power in Africa is beginning to be realised, with 2023 seeing record levels of deployment. JP Casey explores some of the latest trends shaping the continent’s solar sector, where the C&I segment in particular is surging ahead.

Despite Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia, the country’s solar sector continues to develop. Lena Dias Martins reports on the opportunities solar developers are finding amid the horrors of war.

Covering 15 states, the MISO area is one of the largest transmission networks in the US, yet solar and storage have had a battle to gain recognition in the territory. Jonathan Tourino Jacobo reports on recent progress as well as the ongoing regulatory obstacles still holding deployment of the technologies back.

Solar and storage are playing a central role in Japan’s goal of enhancing energy security. Uranulzii Batbayer and Aniket Autade of Rystad Energy look at recent developments in the market to assess Japan’s progress in reaching its 2030 targets.

Inspection companies are key in enforcing and setting the quality standards underpinning module performance. TÜV Rheinland’s solar segment manager, Lukas Jakisch, tells Will Norman how they are keeping abreast of the rapid pace of technological change.

As PV module technology has evolved, so too have the quality challenges associated with the new technologies that have appeared, matured and been superseded.Fei Lu and Stephen Xuereb of PI Berlin draw on over a decade of experience with an overview of the present trends in module quality assurance and likely future challenges as technology continues to change.