The Meyer Burger group closes a syndicated loan agreement for EUR 125 million and a factoring agreement for EUR 60 million. The debt financing of EUR 185 million serves to expand the annual production capacity to reach 1.4 GW of solar cells in Thalheim (Bitterfeld-Wolfen), Germany and 1 GW of modules in Freiberg, Germany. Meyer… Read more »
The world of photovoltaic aerial inspections is changing. Today the solar industry seems to have already gotten used to the new technologies that have taken over the market; inspections by drone and plant digitization. Plant owners and managers, if not already, are heading in this new direction, leaving manual inspections behind. Companies providing inspection and… Read more »
The power sector is undergoing a global transformation. Over the past decade, the costs of renewables have dropped substantially, solar power by as much as 80 percent. With the comprehensive knowledge and broad experience, Stäubli makes an important contribution to the PV industry and the vision of a more sustainable future. Renewable energy generation keeps… Read more »
PES had a great exchange with Tynan Coles, CEO at Soltaro. Did you know there are now smart batteries? It seems that we are in a period where software can be added to anything to improve performance. We heard today about the built in possibilities, which allow the user to control the output of the… Read more »
After establishing a solid position within residential solar markets across Europe, the commercial and utility scale sector has begun to strike up quite a liking for Solis. With a robust financial position, a focus on quality and customer service, the brand is fast becoming the inverter of choice for many large-scale solar developers. Building relationships… Read more »
There are 4 common types of maintenance: corrective maintenance, preventive maintenance, risk-based maintenance and condition-based maintenance. The solar panel cleaning robot from SolarCleano is one of the key elements of predictive maintenance for solar power plants. What is preventive maintenance? Preventive Maintenance, also referred to as PM, is a proactive maintenance strategy that involves regular… Read more »
When service providers assume responsibility for the investments of others, they’re certainly aware that they’re taking on a great deal of responsibility for the success. That’s why they carefully select the components and systems in order to not only achieve the desired result for the investors, but also create a cost-covering corporate structure in the… Read more »
Cutting-edge technology is combining with unmet demand in a now stagnant solar PV market to progress clean energy transitions. A new disruptive bifacial p-PERT PV cell technology, with over 90% bi-facility and higher stability, providing n-type Si performance in p-type silicon is coming to Europe and the U.S. Analysts predict that solar and wind energy… Read more »
There are a variety of field service applications across industries involved with power and energy solutions. The constant desire for efficiency motivates industry leaders to evaluate which technological advancements provide opportunities to optimize. Be it enterprise-level, commercial or utility-scale, field service plays a vital role for maintenance and repair. The availability of technology enriches performance… Read more »
Friedrich P Witek, Senior Manager at SENTECH, took time out to bring PES up-to-date with the progress of this innovative company. Their quality control (QC) solutions are second to none, rolled out world-wide and their market presence is rapidly expanding. They have come on leaps and bounds since our last interview in 2016. Read on… Read more »
After installing a new system, or maintaining an existing one, leaks occur frequently. This is often due to joining errors, or forgotten defective seals. Correct handling of helium leak detectors is crucial for finding these leaks and controlling equipment for tightness. The more is known about the physical phenomena underlying the leak test as well… Read more »
PES is thrilled to introduce both Norwegian Crystals AS, a new contributor to the solar value chain and Gøran Bye, a familiar name and the company’s CEO. With over 20 years of executive management and leadership experience within the PV industry in Europe, Asia, the US and the Middle East, he has now moved back… Read more »
The battery technology revolution starts now Every day the sun sends around 10,000 times more energy to earth than the world consumes in the same period of time. Only a fraction of it has been used so far. The decisive factor for a climate-friendly world of tomorrow is to use much more of this energy… Read more »
Given finite resources and an increasing demand for energy, renewable energies rank as one of the most important sources of electricity for the future. An expansion in their use is of key importance in many countries, to guarantee their energy supply and make it more climate-friendly. The topic of energy transition has made it onto… Read more »
Kooi Security was founded in 2010 by CEO Pieter Kooi. From their headquarters in Drachten, the Netherlands, the company was one of the first to offer solutions using temporary mobile camera surveillance. In the beginning the focus was mainly on the wind industry, but this soon expanded into many other sectors. Today Kooi is active… Read more »
Efficient energy solutions with photovoltaics, storage and energy management. A system that pays off for companies worldwide. There is no need to convince anyone that the construction of a solar power plant is an investment in the future, allowing us to become independent from energy grids, and with the perspective of large savings. In fact,… Read more »
‘It’s hard to find good help these days.’ How many times have you heard that phrase? More times than there are entries on your CV? Skilled tradesmen have grown harder and harder to find, with 52% of contractors saying they are struggling to fill hourly craft positions, according to a September 2020 Associated General Contractors… Read more »
The global photovoltaic industry is going through a rapid transformation that affects all parts of the value chain. Producers face an ever-increasing demand for modules and have to scale their operations at a very high pace. The manufacturers’ competition around offering the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) created a trend for larger modules, bifacial… Read more »
High purity argon, better than 99.9998%, is used as a shield gas in the production of silicon ingots, to be fabricated into wafers, for solar cells and micro-electronic devices. The argon is used to control the gaseous impurity levels present during the manufacturing process to an acceptable level. In response to the trend in the… Read more »
FTC Solar has been preparing for over a year for the arrival of their next generation solar modules. These preparations are now paying off with the release of the new Voyager+ solar tracker, a robustly engineered, single-axis, two-in-portrait configuration that optimizes energy yields and takes full advantage of the larger, more powerful modules. One array… Read more »
GameChange Solar is an American solar tracker and fixed tilt manufacturer based in New York, with the main mission of ‘repowering the planet by reducing solar power production costs’. It has grown exponentially from the beginning and in only 6 years, it has managed to reach almost 10GW sales, placing the company among Top 3… Read more »
Over the past 10 years, solar PV has become one of the most popular sources of renewable energy generation across many global markets. Figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed an 18-fold increase in the amount of installed solar PV capacity between 2010 and 2020, and IEA executive director Fatih Birol recently stated that… Read more »
Eturnity’s CEO Matthias Wiget, was optimistic about the future when he spoke to PES recently. This company provides two very specialized digital tools to both installers / utilities and property owners. These automated solutions save time and address the customers’ needs, whilst simultaneously providing a fast and cost effective service to both the client and… Read more »
The newly developed app from ETU Software enables quick and precise measurements of the building, by taking digital measurements based on a photo and target-oriented inputs to simulate the photovoltaic system. This allows the user to document and provide initial estimates while still on site. SimpleMeasure saves time in the bidding phase and enables the… Read more »
How EKO Instruments plan to support the next generation of scientists, students and engineers; young people, working to imagine, invent and create solutions to seemingly impossible challenges. While ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) can still feel like a relatively new concept, popularised in the 1990s and 2000s, spurred on more recently by the growth of social… Read more »
PES had a great interview with Steve Davies, PV Market Manager at DuPont Teijin Films and Alessandro Anderlini, Business Manager responsible for the EMEA markets in Coveme’s PV Solar and Specialty Films Divisions. This is a good example of suppliers and manufacturers collaborating to provide the best product for their clients. Sustainability is of paramount… Read more »
PES was delighted to catch up with Birk Kraas, Commercial Head of Meteorological Services at CSP Services. He leads a team with experience in highly specialized and customized measurement equipment. Between them, they have built up a large bank of knowledge and know-how over many years. Being able to carry out work remotely, as well… Read more »
CEO & Founder, Simon Meijer, gave PES a thought-provoking introduction to COOLBACK. Their aim is to keep modules cooler, adding strength with less materials, whilst keeping an eye on their carbon footprint. What could be better than an R&D oriented company to lead the way in curbing module degradation? PES: Thank you for taking some… Read more »
Solar Power Events is pleased to return to in-person gatherings with Solar Power International (SPI), Energy Storage International (ESI), and Smart Energy Week 2021 this September 20th through 23rd. The event will be held at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Powered by North America’s leading clean energy… Read more »
From one extreme to another Derek Jones, Renewable Energy Group Manager at Campbell Scientific, speaks to PES about their measurement systems. They use the latest, best technology, to provide the most accurate data to the solar industry. They have a full range of solutions which can be tailor made for clients and cover an extreme… Read more »
Atonometrics was founded in Austin, Texas, in 2007, with the mission to provide high-quality test and measurement equipment to the small but growing photovoltaics industry. The company founders came from a long background in test and measurement equipment for the semiconductor industry. The experience of the management team included over 30 years of R&D, product… Read more »
Headquartered in the suburbs of Shanghai, APsystems was originally founded in the Silicon Valley over 11 years ago by Dr Zhi Min Ling, current Chairman & CEO and Dr Yuhao Luo, CTO of the company. Today PES Solar reports back from an interview with Olivier Jacques, President, Global Executive VP of APsystems, who draws a… Read more »
According to the latest research from Cornwall Insight, households with ‘green’ suppliers – those only offering electricity tariffs backed by Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGOs) certificates – rocketed from less than 20% in 2017 to 65% 2021. This percentage would be even higher if green tariffs from suppliers that also offer standard non-green also… Read more »
Chevron Marine Lubricants will boost its presence in African ports after extending its joint venture with Akwa Group. Chevron is now an equal partner in Afriquia Lubrifiants, with plans to extend the blending, distribution, and marketing business beyond Morocco to markets in sub-Saharan Africa. The enhanced agreement enables the joint venture to manufacture Chevron’s premium… Read more »
London, June 2021, Advanced offshore repair and maintenance robot, BladeBUG, has successfully performed the first remotely controlled lightning protection test on an offshore wind turbine, cementing the case for wide adoption of repair and maintenance robots across offshore wind. During a recent test at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s Levenmouth facility BladeBUG was controlled… Read more »
The 3000th SHIFT 4k gearbox has been manufactured at ZF Wind Power Lommel (Belgium): the complete 4k-line now powers 14GW of turbine capacity and has enabled 12 million households to switch to renewable energy. New generation SHIFT platforms will unlock even larger opportunities for wind technology. With a contribution of more than 86 percent of… Read more »