Technical Papers

After several record years of new capacity additions, Europe’s solar market looks set for a cool-off period as the urgency spurred by the 2022 energy crisis abates. Jonathan Tourino Jacobo reports on the barriers now facing European solar, from changing political winds to lagging grid modernisation efforts.

The first full year of the Inflation Reduction Act in the US has seen a flurry of transactions completed as solar developers and now manufacturers take advantage. Jonathan Tourino Jacobo looks at some of the emerging trends and future prospects in this lucrative new market.

Policies in the EU and US to impose a carbon price on imported materials and goods will inevitably hit solar manufacturers. Corrine Lin and Sherry Hsu assess where these costs will land and how the industry should be adapting in preparation.

With the expected increase in annual photovoltaic production capacity beyond 1TWp/a (terrawatt-peak per year), the emphasis on novel, next-generation production technologies gains significance from the perspective of potentially lowering production costs as well as increasing sustainability by reducing the resources required in manufacturing. The focus of this work is to analyse the impact of high-throughput (HTP), next-generation silicon solar cell production technologies, as developed within the framework of the NextTec research and development project, on the required i) amount of equipment, ii) capital expenditure (CAPEX) and iii) labour, herein termed as key performance indicators (KPIs), for a solar cell production facility with an annual capacity of 10GWp.

The EU and US are leading efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of PV manufacturing through targeted import tariffs. As well as supporting decarbonisation efforts, such policies could also promote geographic diversification in the solar supply chain and greater supply resilience, writes Michael Parr of the Ultra Low Carbon Solar Alliance.

The foundations of a solar project offer multiple opportunities for driving down system costs. Arash Yazdani of PRI Engineering describes some of the key steps involved in investigating the specific conditions of a project site and developing a foundation design that will stand the test of time.

Cost and risk factors can make countries facing energy access issues the most difficult for developers to build solar projects, despite their huge potential. Tom Kenning reports on two plug-and-play solutions that may provide a solution in off-grid locations.

Replacing outdated inverters can significantly boost the yield of a PV power plant and rectify equipment failures. Jörn Carstensen of Germany-based greentech looks at the technical, financial and logistical considerations involved in a successful inverter repowering project.

In an emerging US solar market with an influx of foreign direct investment (FDI) and rapidly evolving technology, PV manufacturers who are looking to establish or expand a base of US operations may benefit from choosing a firm specialising in the design-build project delivery method. With faster speed to market and greater flexibility, design-build offers numerous advantages for solar companies seeking an immediate edge over the competition. Design-build’s shorter project timelines help manufacturers meet aggressive production targets, while its streamlined structure offers the adaptability to support manufacturers’ ongoing initiatives to improve products and processes.

As a fast-growing segment of the industry, floating solar is also a novel technology that comes with a variety of new operational risks. Bobby McFadden, kWh Analytics, Chris Bartle of Ciel & Terre and James Markos of Willis Towers Watson explore some of these and their implications from an insurance perspective.