World

New quarterly figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) show that investments in solar PV arrays of less than 1 MW hit US$14.3 billion worldwide in Q1 against 10% year-on-year contraction in global renewable investments.

Technology multinational, Apple Inc. has announced that its global operations are now 100% powered by clean energy. Additionally, another nine of Apple’s manufacturing partners have committed to powering their production with 100% clean energy, meaning a total of 23 suppliers have now made this commitment.

According to the latest GTM Research statistics, global inverter shipments increased 23% in 2017, and revenues 11%, thus representing another record year. A market first, three-phase string inverter shipments overtook those of central inverters.

With 11 GW, India is set to become the second largest solar PV market in 2018, usurping the U.S., as global demand reaches 113 GW, says IHS Markit. It adds that Q4 will be the biggest quarter in history for installations, with 34 GW expected.

Shell’s new report shows a world where solar meets the largest portion of primary energy demand as soon as 2050.

pv magazine teams up with solar market analysts at IHS Markit to run through the top 10 crystalline silicon cell manufacturers of 2017, and the events that shaped their market landscape throughout the year.

Dr. Frank Rijsberman, Director-General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), South Korea, speaks to pv magazine about his recent participation in the International Solar Alliance founding ceremony held on March 11, 2018. He mentioned that in ISA member countries, correct energy policies, and risks in the investment are critical and need to be addressed.

Testing from TÜV Rheinland has revealed that PV inverters and battery storage systems are vulnerable to hacking. By changing system parameters, a hacker could potentially cause a battery system to corrode, “making it like a ‘bomb’.”

At signing event of the ISA, MNRE head, RK Singh emphasized need for solar industry to set up energy infrastructure in other ISA member countries.

Lamination innovation: The ongoing ambition of laminator manufacturers is to develop machines that can deliver high output through a faster lamination process, while simultaneously reducing their footprint by combining several machines into one. However, an in-depth process know-how is essential in order to produce defect-free modules. Which players possess such knowledge?