World

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?

Annual solar installations grew almost 20% year over year in 2017, and the solar industry is also edging within 100 gigawatts, a milestone the industry will reach this year, according to IHS Markit, a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions.

At the tenth International Solar Alliance (ISA) monthly get-together and stakeholders meeting, held today in Noida, India, Interim Director-General of ISA announced that the World Bank is handling the common risk mitigation mechanism, and they need two years to complete the feasibility study. ISA believes that CRMM will help to get access to finance at lower cost and in larger volumes for solar-related projects in ISA member countries. European Investment Bank is developing a financial facility for off-grid projects in ISA member countries, combining the grant and debt finance.

Annual International Roadmap for Photovoltaics, compiled by the German production equipment industrial association (VDMA), reveals slowdown in module price reduction for 2017 in contrast to significant market increase that saw module production capacity rise above 130 GW.

Finance in developing countries: Economics teaches that capital flows from where it is in surplus to where it is in demand. But that is not the case with renewable energy. The biggest pots of institutional capital in advanced economies are not shifting to developing ones. It is time to take a hard look and develop solutions that resolve this anomaly.