Installations

Changing technology, pressure to cut costs, dizzying price slumps and a number of other issues make solar module quality control as relevant as ever. The danger that modules could fail outright remains slim, so module reliability is still decisive for the success of the investment, explains George Touloupas, Director of Technology and Quality at CEA, in preparation of the 4th pv magazine Quality roundtable at SPI.

NEC Energy Solutions has launched the DSS distributed energy storage platform to enter the commercial and industrial (C&I) energy storage segment, offering customers distributed energy management services and a future option of utility services through aggregation.

Quality roundtable preparation: A case of compromised quality. An operator claims nearly 17% of the modules in his array displayed significant damage after three years. The EPC company concealed the damage from the investor until the warranty had expired. The module manufacturer responded slowly and only out of goodwill.

Some PV panels or batches of modules are susceptible to potential induced degradation (PID), while others are scarcely affected. Currently, many PV farm operators in Europe are experiencing this reality. The third instalment of our “Bring on the Black Sheep” series describes a case in which a module manufacturer behaved in a close to exemplary manner, but the inverter manufacturer made life difficult.

The SunEdison roadshow continues as GCL-Poly move in and TerraForm Power holds on to staff, while the SolarCity-Tesla merger trundles onwards despite a few unexpected bumps in the road.

An installation company in the Midwest reports how blame was laid at their door for defective PV panels. The actual cause of the defects probably lie elsewhere.

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUCN) has denied SolarCity’s request to participate in proceeding on whether existing residential solar customers in Nevada should have their net metering schemes “grandfathered,” after the utility added fees to the scheme at the end of 2015.

Failures in residential solar systems can be the bane of an installer, who is often paid merely to install the system, not necessarily to back the various component warranties.

A Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing by Tesla on Wednesday revealed that the investment bank that advised SolarCity on its sale to Tesla, Lazard Ltd, double-counted some of the company’s projected indebtedness, resulting in a $400 million undervaluation.

The changes in terms on notes also include a requirement that companies buying up TerraForm stock take over the notes.