Cover Story

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.

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evolved, so too have the quality challenges associated with the new technologies that have appeared, matured and been superseded.Fei Lu and Stephen Xuereb of PI Berlin draw on over a decade of experience with an overview of the present trends in module quality assurance and likely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

In the first edition of PV Tech Power ten years ago, our cover article looked at the issue of PV module quality, which had come to the fore after a period of heavy cost-cutting in the industry. Following a decade of technological innovation, the overwhelming dominance of Chinese manufacturers and a global explosion in solar capacity that has seen costs fall dramatically, we are revisiting the issue. Will Norman asks if the seeds for a looming quality problem have already been sown.

AI-based monitoring systems can help PV plant operators understand and manage the impacts of extreme conditions in a multitude of ways. George Heynes looks at some of the ways AI is being harnessed to bolster system output and longevity

Hail represents a significant threat to PV modules, more so as climate change increases the potential for severe storms. Simon Yuen looks at some of the methods being used to protect solar projects against hail damage

Tracker systems are emerging as a key tool in efforts to bolster PV system resilience in the face of extreme conditions. Jonathan Tourino Jacobo looks at some of the latest developments underpinning trackers’ growing status as an indispensable ingredient in solar’s continued growth

Research shows the ability of PV systems to withstand extreme weather conditions is down to rigorous design. James Elsworth of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US looks at some of the engineering methods for bolstering PV infrastructure resilience in the face of ever increasing climatic and environmental threats

Aside from the immediate, visible damage, extreme weather events have a longer lasting impact on PV systems. NREL’s Dirk C. Jordan, Kirsten Perry, Robert White, Josh Parker, Byron McDanold and Chris Deline report on research revealing the long-term consequences of hail, wind and other weather phenomena on PV production