Hardware brief: Solar panel cleaning robots, Humless’ 5kWh battery, IronRidge’s minimalist racking, more!
Intersolar is in a few weeks, so get your hardware press release out to USA-Editors@pv-magazine.com. In the meantime, modules are holding under 20¢/W, and “large wafers” are coming in a year or three!
Innovation shines at pv magazine awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi
The winners of the 2019 pv magazine awards have been recognized in a ceremony alongside the World Future Energy Summit. The victors spoke of the importance of innovation in the industry.
Dan Shugar, NEXTracker CEO, riffs on tracker innovation, bifacial panels and getting acquired by Flex
While trackers for solar panels might seem a bit mundane, once you stumble into CEO Dan Shugar’s reality distortion field, trackers become kind of sexy.
Solar modules from Sharp with half-cut technology exceed 19.5% efficiency
The Japanese electronics giant has unveiled three monocrystalline half-cut cell modules said to provide 2% to 3% better performance than standard, full-cell panels. The claimed efficiency of the modules exceeds 19.5% and Sharp says power output ranges from 330 W to 395 W.
More thin-film solar carnage: Hanergy subsidiary Solibro Hi-Tech declares insolvency
Insolvency proceedings have been underway for Solibro GmbH since late summer, and business operations have long been suspended. This week another Hanergy subsidiary, Solibro Hi-Tech, has also declared insolvency.
Not just for outer space: NREL has a path to cheaper GaAs solar cells
A team at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory has come up with a new process that would reduce the production cost of highly expensive – and highly efficient – gallium arsenide cells.
Hardware Brief: King Window Cleaning in SoCal, REC 25 times three, Jinko in space, more!
Please companies, get your services known, your gear covered – send press releases and datasheets to USA-Editors@pv-magazine.com. What’s on the docket today? Module pricing is going down, higher efficiency products more so – enough that you ought call you supplier, Quasar bidirectionally connects your home directly to the DC side of your cars energy storage and SolRates is refining their offerings.
Why Europe and the US failed to capitalize on the benefits of thin-film solar
Is First Solar stalled in innovation and growth? Markus Beck, a thin-film solar expert and former chief scientist at First Solar, provides an industry perspective on the fate of thin-film PV in the U.S.
Morning brief: First Solar settles $350M suit, assembly begins on Assembly Solar
Hello one and all to your usual Tuesday morning brief. Today we’ve got for you a CFO for SunPower spinoff, Maxeon, changes in the Canadian Solar Board and the sale of a solar project at a military base.
US scientists claim clear-sky irradiance model provides better results for module testing
Researchers at the American Institute of Physics have used the clear-sky irradiance model developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to measure the degradation rates of solar panels at a testing field in Germany over five years. The scientists say the model, when combined with real-world data, offers an efficient tool to evaluate the aging of PV technology.
