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.

A combination of booming demand for coal-fired power and a shortage of the black stuff – exacerbated by a political row with Australia – have forced up prices to the extent fossil fuel generators are making a loss on every unit of electricity they produce. pv magazine‘s Vincent Shaw considers the potential solutions.

Longi’s 25.19% efficiency rating for its new p-type TOPCon solar cells, confirmed by the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin, is reportedly a world record.

All eyes are drawn to China every year for SNEC, the world’s biggest solar PV expo, as it invariably features a large number of new products from the key Chinese manufacturers. Vincent Shaw was on the scene in Shanghai this year and took the opportunity to take the industry’s pulse.

The device will go into mass production in the second half of this year. It features an efficiency of 99.01% and is claimed to be the most powerful string inverter ever launched on the market to date.

The “invisible hand” is a widely understood metaphor for free-market economics. In China’s economy a “visible hand” is more evident, as government interventions are relatively commonplace. And in PV the visible hand is moving again, raising efficiency baselines and potentially changing the solar production game.