As an acoustical engineer by trade, one of my acoustic consultancy’s specialisations is to monitor, assess and advise on wind farm noise levels. And this is where the story begins. We were told by a partner that experienced technicians could detect faults just by listening to the changes in sound generated by wind turbine blades…. Read more »
The UK power cut that occurred on Friday 9th August at 4.54pm affected many across the country. At first, speculation that followed the events suggested the fault could have been due to wind generation reducing owing to reduced wind speed. In fact, the issue was the amount of generation that tripped, not the technologies involved…. Read more »
As renewable technologies continue to penetrate global energy markets, one of the pressing challenges is how best to complement these sources of variable generation to ensure demand is met at all times. At the same time, competition among investors is increasing and the secondary wind and solar market continues to be highly active. For many… Read more »
Annekatrin Strunz, Key Account Manager Wind Power at LIFTKET, gives PES her view of the developments in the wind power industry and the corresponding product development in the company. LIFTKET established more than 70 years ago, in the heart of Germany, is one of the world’s oldest and largest manufacturers of electric chain hoists. It… Read more »
Maintenance in the energy industry is a costly challenge for asset owners; a study by NACE International revealed that the annual global cost of corrosion is estimated to be $2.5 trillion. As a result, abrasion and corrosion resistant coatings for metal components are in high demand, particularly locations where environmental factors heavily influence the lifespan… Read more »
PES had an interesting and enlightening meeting with Pieter Jan Jordaens, team leader OWI-Lab and cluster manager of IBN Offshore Energy project, Pieter Mathy, innovation manager at the University of Ghent (UGent) and RD&I catalyst in the IBN Offshore Energy project and Prof Dr Christof Devriendt, R&D coordinator OWI-Lab and associated to the university of… Read more »
Abstract: The continuing increase in rotor diameters is pushing the structural load-carrying capabilities of turbine blades to the limit. In order to ensure reliability and structural integrity, representative testing and validation methods are now more important than ever before. Development in wind turbine blades Wind turbine manufacturers are continuing to increase rotor diameters with the… Read more »
The growing importance of sustainable energy is encouraging the wind industry market to aim for larger wind turbines and bigger wind farms. Driven by the search for larger construction areas, the offshore market began to spike investors’ interest. However, it quickly became obvious that this dynamic working environment is associated with new challenges and uncertainties… Read more »
Hans Gatzemeier, Managing Director at ELA Container Offshore GmbH, caught up with us at PES to talk about the history of the company and its rapid growth over the last few years. In 5 years, ELA Offshore has blossomed into a flourishing global business. It’s still family owned and run and sets great store by… Read more »
In June this year, the UK government took a significant step forward in acknowledging the need to combat the global climate crisis by committing to a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Renewable energy generation will have a critical role in meeting this obligation and establishing a low-carbon economy, but the country’s political… Read more »
Control, guidance, monitoring and access to the wind turbine are primarily organised by the control electronics. Why does everyone currently seem to be talking about this? We think it’s because with advancing technical developments, comes more and more functions, a higher level of complexity and increasing digitalisation, so control technology is now the brain of… Read more »
Here at PES we are delighted to bring you our review of the first ever Wind Energy Asia. Wind energy is growing rapidly in Asia, our clients are already excited about it. This event has been met with enthusiasm and it’s set to be a great annual show, a chance to meet up and network… Read more »
The wind industry has an obsession with availability, as the all-important performance metric. Calculating the percentage of a given period that a wind turbine is available for operation, is only part of the puzzle. A more important question is, is the asset doing what it is supposed to be doing and is the asset doing… Read more »
BBC Chartering’s Renewable Energy Chartering Manager, Sebastian Stackelies, spoke enthusiastically to us at PES about the growth of the wind energy industry. Wind farm projects are on the increase, taking over from the decrease in the oil & gas sector. Expansion into Asia and continuing markets in North America and Europe are set to keep… Read more »
With the rapid growth in availability of drones and access to commercial drone certification, the wind farm industry is becoming overrun with inexperienced operators offering drone inspection services. At the other extreme, advances in technology means that autonomous drone services are now being offered as a safer, more efficient alternative to wind turbine inspections. Having… Read more »
Procuring a solar energy system with battery storage helps homeowners protect the climate and reduce their energy costs. VARTA now offers several new features that allow consumers not only to store the surplus energy, but to manage their total energy consumption, including EV charging and heating water. Compatible with systems of other brands, these features… Read more »
The UK is currently faced with the same chicken or egg scenario as Germany, both have announced a national target of expanding e-mobility, but how is it working out so far? Electric cars will only be purchased if the charging infrastructure is large enough to support them. And yet, the charging infrastructure will not be… Read more »
In times of growing demand for renewable energy sources and clean electricity, there are more and more small private installations on rooftops, carports and similar, in addition to large PV plants and projects on an international scale. But successfully ‘going solar’ requires thorough planning and careful evaluation of components to be installed. This article describes… Read more »
Solaxess SA is a Swiss company specializing in the design of materials for the photovoltaic (PV) industry, intended for the realization of architectural projects. Thanks to technology developed by CSEM, and three years of reliability and certification, Solaxess contributes significantly to the aesthetic improvement of photovoltaic panels. Now, they are an integral part of buildings,… Read more »
The use of drones in solar/PV inspections is growing rapidly. PES caught up with Vishal Punamiya, CEO at Sitemark, to find out how this is moving the solar/PV industry forward. Drone inspections provide more accurate data and with Sitemark’s Fuse platform, the exact status of an asset is known at all times. Allowing applications to… Read more »
In order to reach the final vacuum in a vacuum chamber, the material and the surface texture are very important. In addition, the gas load that is to be pumped down is relevant as to how quickly the desired final pressure can be obtained. The gas load, before reaching the desired base pressure, consists mainly… Read more »
The numbers speak for themselves. Around one billion people still live without electricity and another billion lack access to a reliable power source. Solar solutions present a unique opportunity to increase energy access and fundamentally improve living conditions in many countries, without affecting the climate or environment. Things are changing in Africa, the main energy… Read more »
Lee Gordon, president and founder of Morningstar Corporation, gave PES an interesting insight into this employee owned company. They provide over-spec’ components, with their smart digital designs and serve the whole spectrum of the solar industry. They took a chance and it paid off. PES: Hi Lee, welcome back to PES Solar. It’s great to… Read more »
While PERC has long since become the standard in the production of solar cells and the first major solar cell producers have already set their sights on the next upgrade technology, meaning TOPCon, a revolutionary technology is now reaching market maturity and promises the ‘solar cell of the future’. Solar cells with so-called heterojunction technology… Read more »
More efficient, cost and time saving operations & maintenance of power plants: the worldwide increasing requirements demand special software solutions that are adapted to the needs of operations & maintenance managers, technicians as well as asset managers. For the first time, Tobias Brüser, product manager cloud applications at meteocontrol GmbH, shares his insights. He gives… Read more »
PES asked Tyler Ogden, Lux Research Inc. to give us his expert viewpoint on the longevity of PV systems. Lux Research is a leading provider of research and advisory services, helping clients drive growth through technology innovation. Utility-scale systems are now a competitive choice for electricity supply, with bids undercutting conventional sources of generation in… Read more »
Loser Chemie GmbH (LC), a chemical plant from Saxony, acquired parts of the former Solarworld AG, an internal recycling site, to launch recycling over the whole photovoltaic value chain. LC are now in a position to close material cycles for the photovoltaic industry, by exploiting all existing synergies. There is an invisible tidal wave looming… Read more »
With calls to drastically reduce carbon emissions, there has been a steady increase in the demand for reliable and cost-effective PV energy globally. This need for high yield energy production is fuelled by fast moving technologies in PV manufacture, industry, communications, and commercial and domestic applications. By increasing cell and module capacities through the development… Read more »
Optical integrated metrology systems enable rapid and non-destructive process and quality control during the production of thin film photovoltaic (PV) devices. Given today’s price pressure, and the increasing complexity of the device architecture and process sequences, such methods become mandatory for economic thin film PV device manufacturing. Both technological and financial aspects have to be… Read more »
Increasingly, the solar energy industry is reporting an unsatisfactory incidence of losses, both financial and productive, that relate to the detrimental effects of solar module soiling. Here at PES we decided to take a closer look to find out what solar module soiling is, what the effects of it are, and what can be done… Read more »
The commercial availability of larger-diameter SiC substrates and improved crystalline quality has fostered an ever-increasing interest in the development and manufacture of power electronic devices, exploiting the unique electrical and thermophysical properties of this wide-bandgap semiconductor material. Silicon carbide (SiC) isn’t a new material, but its use as a semiconductor substrate is helping to advance… Read more »
Dr Rob Grant FRSC, CEO at Gas Recovery and Recycle Limited, dropped in on PES to bring us up to date on their argon recycling process. They have experienced tremendous growth already and more is expected. The ArgonØ ¬™ is good for the environment and through recycling, delivers cost reductions to companies implementing it. No… Read more »
With ample desert space and swathes of sunshine all year round, the solar power industry is starting to heat up in the countries of the Gulf Coorporation Council (GCC). Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are all well placed to benefit from technology advancements and lowering costs. Over the past… Read more »
EKO Instruments, Tokyo, Japan, is well known for its advanced measurement instruments for solar energy industry. Irradiance instruments such as pyranometers, pyrheliometers and sun trackers can be found at solar monitoring stations on solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) plants around the world. EKO I-V curve tracers are widely used to monitor the… Read more »
Solar Power International (SPI), Energy Storage International (ESI), and North America Smart Energy Week, powered by the leading solar organizations the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), is the largest gathering of solar, smart energy, energy storage, and hydrogen fuel cells professionals in North America. PES is thrilled to… Read more »
The way to the optimal subfab process byproduct gas abatement system: accurately tune to the desired application to ensure the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO). Processes with many safety concerns, such as silicon epitaxy, require looking across many possible technologies. Increasingly complex production processes in the industrial sector lead to rising expectations to the… Read more »