No matter how much the solar industry talks a good game about sustainability, the reality is that we are ignoring a looming issue: solar waste. There will be at least 24 billion PV modules installed on earth by 2050 – enough to stretch to the moon and back. That’s a conservative estimate. How on earth,… Read more »
With innovative GPS/GSM-based security systems for solar panels and solar parks, viamon has made a name for itself globally for protecting solar parks around the world from theft. PES invited, engineer, founder and managing director Oliver Strecke, to give us his insight into the company’s technology and the expanding market. PES: Welcome back to PES… Read more »
Gordon Clements General Manager of VARTA Storage, dropped by to give PES his views on the energy storage market. A market, which he is sure will continue to grow. Systems have to evolve quickly and be adaptable to meet the consumers’ changing needs and there are many combinations on offer. PES: Hi Gordon, welcome back… Read more »
PES met up with Stacey Delzeit, Sr Applications Engineer at Trojan, which as you know is a world-famous name in batteries. Despite making batteries for almost 100 years, R&D continues to produce new, exciting and innovative products, which provide great flexibility to the end user. There are still more markets to conquer and they relish… Read more »
The UK’s battery storage market has great potential, but the current political uncertainty in the country means that many projects are being put on the back burner. In which areas does it still make sense to invest in storage systems? PES wanted to find out more from Lawrie Wilson, Area Manager for the UK and… Read more »
Matthias Mack, Director Global Alternative Energies and member of the Management Board at Stäubli, came to talk to PES about electrical connectors. These small components play a crucial role in a long-term partnership between our company and the customer. This is built on reliability, thoughtful expertise, dynamism and exceptional quality, in both products and services…. Read more »
With over 500 GW of installed capacity, photovoltaic power generation has long since become a global industry. Financial and economic interests depend on the reliable production of PV energy. The German PV expert, Solare Datensysteme, has specialized in monitoring PV power generation since 2007. Solar-Log™ data loggers and the Solar-Log WEB Enerest™ online portal offer… Read more »
Martin Bellmann is a Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF. We were pleased to meet up with him at PES to discuss some of the research developments, driven by their customers. We were also keen to hear all about the Eco Solar EU project, which received massive EU investment, with excellent results. PES: Hi Martin, welcome… Read more »
Sputter deposition is a technology for the surface treatment of substrates. The technique is based on ion bombardment of a target, resulting in a vapor. One of the most common approaches for growing thin films by sputter deposition is the use of a magnetron source, in which positive ions present in the plasma. Well known… Read more »
Peter Thiele, president of Sharp Energy Solutions in Europe, looks at the development of solar module technology and renewable energy in the year and decade ahead. 2018 was an exciting year for the solar and renewable energy market. An increase in the number of large scale photovoltaic cell and module factories, as well as an… Read more »
Meyer Burger has been providing the most accurate cell and module measurement equipment worldwide for over 30 years. Solar cells and modules are sold based on performance categories. Therefore, precise performance measurement is critically important. Cell and module inspection systems detect possible quality insufficiencies and measure the performance. The PV market is driven by the… Read more »
The importance of reliable grid code compliance in times of increasing requirements Markus Holzapfel, Product Manager at meteocontrol GmbH spoke to PES about the reasons, the process and benefits for the industry of the certification of meteocontrol’s Power Plant Controller. PES: Welcome to PES Solar, it’s great to meet you. How did you end up… Read more »
LOSER CHEMIE GmbH, Chemische Werke Tangermünde GmbH and FRESITEC GmbH are merging and bundling their expertise in to the LFFICIENCY Holding. Why? So far, many related technologies of recovery of precious raw materials have been located in various holding companies. In order to be able to offer our customers even more consistent solutions from a… Read more »
PES was interested to find out from Donald van Velsen, Product Manager at Kipp & Zonen, about the latest developments and feedback on their DustIQ. We also wanted to learn if the recent changes, following the merger with the Meteorology division of OTT HydroMet, would make any difference to their solutions. Read on to find… Read more »
We are pleased to bring you our PES preview of Intersolar Europe 2019, the first major Solar/PV event of the year, which will take place in Munich from the 15th to 17th May. The global photovoltaic (PV) market continues to grow. According to analysts from IHS Markit, newly installed PV capacity is set to rise… Read more »
Silicon heterojunction solar cells (SHJ) have gained more attention during this past decade as a good candidate for being the next generation of mainstream photovoltaics. This might be explained as a consequence of high solar cell power conversion efficiency at a moderate cost. The efficiency potential of SHJ solar cell is now demonstrated, with outstanding… Read more »
Standardization efforts by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for measuring PV devices have played a key role in the widespread application of this technology. With the maturing and diversification of the PV industry new standards, which define power measurements beyond standard test conditions (STC) are becoming more relevant. Such measurements, which are used for yield… Read more »
‘Observe the evening red sky, which gives a reliable forecast of fair weather next day’. We’ve all heard this expression, which has a long history and valid phenomena for mid latitude regions. What is behind the ordinary bright and white sunlight, which is actually composed of a spectrum of colors that grade from violets and… Read more »
PES caught up with Laura Sartore, CEO at Ecoprogetti, to get the latest from this innovative European provider of Turnkey lines for Photovoltaic Panels production, who has been in our business for over 20 years. Cost reduction and reduced downtimes are always in the forefront of R&D work, as well as European and safety regulations…. Read more »
New developments of transparent plastic materials in frontsheets and backsheets as valid alternatives to glass. The strong development of new types of cells and modules, like bifacial ones, has on the one hand been accompanied by glass-glass solutions and on the other has encouraged many manufacturers of plastic films to develop new products that are… Read more »
In the past decade, significant progress has been made to move the world towards a cleaner era in electricity production. Investment in renewables and advancing technology has resulted in a decrease in the overall cost of generating renewable power. In solar photovoltaic power, this decrease has been particularly marked. The cost of generation has plummeted… Read more »
Global energy consumption is steadily increasing, with an average increase in energy demand twice the year before. The demand was primarily met by fossil fuels, followed by renewable energy sources. In the year 2018, renewables accounted for more than 25% of global electricity supply capacity and this share is expected to increase significantly in the… Read more »
PID is being talked about more and more in our industry. Tsachy Hacohen Meler, V.P. Sales & Marketing, Vigdu Technologies LTD, invited PES to come and discover the latest way to avoid financial losses and improve efficiency. It seems there’s a new approach to PID, more so as the 1500V is now in play. PES:… Read more »
London, 23 April 2019 – Origami, the platform provider for energy markets, has announced plans to develop its technology to support delivery of locational-based energy services. Driven by the shift to decentralised energy, the industry is moving to new distribution models, replacing DNOs (distribution network operators) with DSOs (distributed system operators) who will take a… Read more »
No matter how much the solar industry talks a good game about sustainability, the reality is that we are ignoring a looming issue: solar waste. There will be at least 24 billion PV modules installed on earth by 2050 – enough to stretch to the moon and back. That’s a conservative estimate. How on earth,… Read more »
PES wanted to know more about what was on offer from ELA Container Offshore GmbH. So, we invited Hans Gatzemeier, the Managing Director, to come and talk with us. We were surprised by the versatility of the container accommodation on offer, which in a very short time, can be customised to suit the customers’ requirements,… Read more »
Data is the cornerstone of every energy project. Whether it is wind resource data for the purpose of project development, operational data used in the monitoring and optimisation of an existing power plant or power performance data used in the verification and acceptance testing of existing or newly installed individual turbines, the need for low… Read more »
We all know the importance of a good pit crew during a pit stop in a race. Team members work closely together to have the racecar optimized and back on the track as soon as possible. The same idea and spirit for service teams apply to wind turbines. ZF Wind Power’s service organization works closely… Read more »
Seher Kaygusuz, Business Development, Marketing and Sales Manager at WINDSOURCING.COM, dropped in to tell us about the success of their product training courses, which provide added value to their customers. This ever-growing company knows how to respond to customer requests. PES: Hi Seher, it’s great to be talking with you again. The good thing is… Read more »
A wind turbine that has reached the end of its designed service life does not necessarily have to be shut down and dismantled. Using suitable methods and tools as well as the necessary competence and experience, independent experts today are able to assess whether a plant has service life reserves after the designed service life… Read more »
Theresa Trevor, Director of Marketing, SkySpecs brings PES her view on how to improve efficiency in our industry, by the use of data: not just its collection. Digitization is the answer. The past two years have revealed the near-term need for digital transformation of the energy industry in order to maximize ROI and minimize risk… Read more »
At great heights, maintenance technicians around the world ensure that wind turbines reliably deliver energy to private households and industry. Employees cannot do without fall protection. In most cases, a rescue device stored on a wind energy plant is also indispensable for their safety. This is the only way they can leave their workplace quickly… Read more »
The new trend in the installation of wind turbines is the choice of remote areas, where wind conditions are very often optimal leading to new investments for the implementation of wind energy parks. On the other hand, such locations have to deal with extreme inhospitable climatic conditions: extreme cold and/ or hot temperatures, strong winds… Read more »
Wind power transport requires extreme precision during the planning phase. The route choices and changes required by the roads can be anticipated during the planning phase, but the changing weather conditions in northern Europe can still surprise. The northern conditions require special transport expertise and an ability to act even in unforeseen circumstances. When large… Read more »
Despite Brexit being just around the corner and a number of other trends towards greater nationalism, Europe is growing closer when it comes to its energy supply system. Siemens has just delivered a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system connecting the power grids of Belgium and the UK. Other interconnectors are already online and many more… Read more »
It might not surprise the reader that wind turbines, blades, etc. need to be inspected intelligently to avoid faults turning into unnecessary problems, and to keep inspection costs at a minimum. But there is always news to tell when it comes to how to do it better. Asset inspections are in the ever-blowing winds of… Read more »