Drones have already established themselves in industries as disparate as warfare, wedding photography, and burrito delivery, and increasingly the solar sector is taking the high road, too. Combined with thermal imaging, drones have the potential to obviate expensive maintenance costs for large-scale solar plants, as well as C&I and growing niches like floating PV. But how useful are they, and what role does AI play in making the most of a bird’s eye view?

Gautham Ram completed an electrical engineering degree in his home city of Chennai, India, and won a scholarship to complete a master’s at TU Delft in the Netherlands. He subsequently completed a PhD on the topic of charging EVs with solar. Speaking with pv magazine, Ram gave insights on his life, ongoing research, and his thoughts on EVs and charging.

Dustin Mulvaney is a solar industry veteran. Associate professor at the Department of Environmental Studies, San José State University, in the United States, he recently published a new book this April, Solar Power, Innovation, Sustainability, Environmental Justice, which looks at creating a “more sustainable and just solar industry for the future.” A part of this is the creation of a new global sustainability module standard. He spoke with pv magazine as part of the launch of our new UP initiative.

This year, pv magazine is setting a new editorial agenda. Via our program, UP, we will be diving deep into the topic of what it means to be truly sustainable, looking at what is already being done, and discussing areas for improvement. Over the coming weeks, months, and years, we will share our findings across our various digital platforms, in our print magazines, and via our roundtable events and webinars. Are you UP for it?

Situated in south-east India, the state of Andhra Pradesh is a leading producer of renewable energy with 7.2 GW of installed capacity as of December 2018. The state’s share of renewable energy as part of total capacity has trebled in the last four years from 11% in 2014 to 30% in 2018.

India has set exceptionally ambitious renewable energy targets including 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewables by 2022, 275GW by 2027, and to achieve 40% of electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030. India seeks to tender another 80GW of renewables in total over the coming two years.

Having reflected on the year gone by, it is time to turn attention to the coming year. Many predictions may not fully, or even partially, bear the fruit they promise – and the unexpected is always lurking in the background – however they can be a useful indicator of certain pathways and growth areas. With this in mind, the pv magazine team has compiled a list of the top 14 solar PV and energy storage trends expected to characterize 2019. What do you think? Have we missed anything?

More predictions from IHS Markit reveal that 123 GW of solar PV installations are expected in 2019 – up 18% on the capacity additions expected this year. It also sees a market shift away from China, with two thirds of capacity located elsewhere. The overcapacity situation is also expected to ease.

A new era in the Chinese energy transition is on the menu and renewables are the order of the day, according to the latest China Renewable Energy Outlook (CREO). China will not require a gas bridge between coal and renewables, it finds, adding that renewables will become the core of the nation’s energy system by 2050, with annual PV installs of between 80-160 GW possible. Not only that, but electricity supply could be cheaper in this future than it is today.

Eliminating emissions from the air would increase solar radiation by an average of 11%, allowing solar cells to generate one tenth more electricity claim researchers in a new study. Focusing on China, they say an additional 85-158 TWh of electricity could be generated annually in 2040, if the air was clean.