Controllable, distributed battery storage systems can help avoid bottlenecks in power distribution networks. That reduces the cost of grid expansion, but to turn this use of storage systems into a business model, a number of conditions still have to be met.

The leading trio – China, the United States and India – will comprise 70% of the projected 552 GW of solar capacity, which will be added between end-2017 and 2027, finds Fitch Solutions, which has revised down its original forecast for solar capacity growth in China. The curbed growth in China, due to subsidy cuts and restricted access to the United States and India, is expected to squeeze domestic solar equipment manufacturers, but also lead to access to cheaper solar panels in other smaller markets.

An unexpectedly large gathering of international bifacial PV experts convened in Denver, USA in early September, at the 2018 bifiPV Workshop to trade notes on the performance of bifacial PV modules, lauded by some as the most promising advance in solar for a decade. pv magazine was in attendance.

The World Energy Council, in partnership with PwC, has interviewed 39 top level management energy leaders to find out if blockchain is driving an evolution or a revolution in the energy ecosystem.

Solar power plants not only need to be built, but also operated, monitored, and maintained. Many approaches to digitalization promise to make these plant management processes significantly more efficient – up to a factor of 10.

pv magazine interviewed Ricardo Arias González, who holds a PhD in Physical Sciences and introduced the Optical Tweezers applied to biology in Spain. It is one of the tools of photonics for which Arthur Ashkin received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, together with Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou.

The International Financial Corporation will help the country’s government competitively tender the project, which is expected to be developed through a public-private partnership.

The Indian module manufacturer and EPC contractor has commissioned a 1.46 MW rooftop solar PV installation for Century Plyboards (India) Limited.

There is no doubting the tough environmental challenges facing PV modules and systems among the varied climactic conditions of India. These conditions have created earlier failures than seen in mature solar markets, with less diverse temperature fluctuations, such as Europe. DuPont’s Rajaram Pai says awareness of this is growing, however more needs to be done.

“Profitable yet risky”: This was one of the findings of a recent study, released in July, conducted by PI Berlin on behalf of Germany’s National Metrology Institute (PTB) when examining six Indian PV projects from the viewpoint of project quality. The report’s author Asier Ukar spoke to pv magazine in advance of his presentation on the subject at the Quality Roundtable at the Renewable Energy India conference next week.