After a decade of under-delivering on its potential, there are changes afoot in Southeast Asia’s renewable energy development, says Assaad W. Razzouk, the CEO of Singapore-based developer Gurin Energy. Razzouk points to success stories in the region and notes that political will and clear regulations for developers are needed.

While many solar manufacturers are as yet undecided about which PV cell technology they will choose for their next high efficiency expansions, for Singapore-based REC, the future is HJT. pv magazine spoke to Cemil Seber, the managing director at REC Solar EMEA GmbH at the Intersolar Europe 2022 trade show, to dig deeper into these manufacturing plans.

Cost efficiency while maximizing power output is the name of the game in solar project development and asset management. And the automation of the provision of utility scale solar operations and maintenance (O&M) is fast becoming one of the most compelling opportunities. Help shape the future of automation in solar O&M by completing this first-of-its kind survey.

A vibrant industry across the Middle East – including manufacturers, wholesalers, and a large number of EPCs and installers – supplies decarbonized electricity to meet growing air-conditioning demand, tapping the region’s abundant sunshine. However, progress toward this vision of a distributed-generation solar market segment and industry in the Gulf region has been slow, according to the president of the Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA), Ahmed Nada.

Renewable energy and battery storage has racked up another banner year in 2021, according to end-of-year analysis from Rystad Energy. While there was growth across segments, residential solar has seen the most impressive gains, surpassing the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment for the year.

There are increasing signs that a new era for PV production in Europe may be dawning. However, two pioneers of PV technology have decided, at this moment, to part ways. And while at present there are more questions than answers, technology and business strategy both appear to have played a role.

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.

There has been a flurry of activity within the PV cell manufacturer landscape over the past 12 to 18 months, and it’s largely been in one direction: bigger. But as large-format modules arrive on the market, questions are being raised as to how long the trend can continue and when bigger becomes, quite simply, too big.

The devil is in the details, as they say, and when it comes to the next generation of mass-produced, high-efficiency PV cells, silver costs may be devilishly hard to reduce. Making things worse, prices for the precious metal are now heading in the wrong direction.

Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) has built a reputation for strong collaboration with the PV industry, from cell passivation through to the causes of degradation. Malcolm Abbott, a senior research fellow, directs one of the UNSW teams that is continuing its work into light and elevated temperature-induced degradation (LeTID). He recently spoke with pv magazine to provide an update.