Founded in 1946, SICK currently employs more than 5,800 employees worldwide, and achieved sales of EUR 902.7 m in 2011. Naturally, those impressive figures aren’t generated through luck – they’re down to hard work, innovation, and by keeping a close eye on the market (especially in challenging times). We spoke to Stéphane Renaud-Betz, Strategic Industry… Read more »
Steve Helliwell, a leading ground-mounted solar PV construction expert, discusses the physical, technical and political challenges facing this particular corner of the market… Contrary to widely-held misconceptions, opportunities in solar energy are increasing. According to finance experts, there are more investors interested in funding large-scale solar PV projects than ever before. In the industry’s early… Read more »
How do you make the world’s best coating for your PV panels? How do you make solar cells more commercially competitive? How can you know you have great solutions for your end products from the start? Beneq, a company just starting to draw attention with its results, is focused specifically on being the best in… Read more »
Dr. Omid Shojaei, CEO of INDEOtec, joins PES to talk about the highlights and achievements that this young company has been able deliver to the thin film deposition industry in its short three-and-a-half year history. PES: Welcome to PES. Can you tell us a little about your company, and explain how you serve the solar/PV… Read more »
PES is very pleased to welcome Noemie Bourdin of Upsolar to its pages. The Marketing and Branding Director talks to us about the company’s innovative approach to engaging with the market, and their plans to further embrace social media as a means of spreading the word on renewables. PES: Upsolar has always had a distinguished… Read more »
Everything starts with the sun. From life on earth, to efficient, unlimited and environmentally friendly power. Access to energy is the foundation for progress and the creation of wealth, and it is generally accepted that solar cells will become a dominant energy source in the future. Merck, a leader in chemical and materials sciences, shares… Read more »
A longstanding contributor to PES, Carl Zeiss is known worldwide for its dedication to quality. In this, the company’s latest submission, it looks at a cross-pollination of technology to bring down costs and maintain performance… With a longstanding history in the field of large area coating, Carl Zeiss has constantly supported manufactures of web coating… Read more »
The European solar/PV industry of the near future will live and die by the strength and effectiveness of smart grids, and the organisation charged with ensuring its longevity is the European Network and Information Security Agency. The organisation’s Ulf Bergstrom talks us through some security recommendations for the public and private sector involved in the… Read more »
A visionary figure in the solar/PV sector, Jochen Schneider is one of our industry’s most recognisable ambassadors. We headed to Germany to catch up with the CEO of Schmid Silicon Technology and ask him a handful of questions about his background, the current state of the solar energy arena and his future ambitions. PES: Welcome… Read more »
When I sit down to write these editor’s notes, I do so at the end of the issue; at a time when all the content is in and done, and I can get a feel for the ‘temperature’ of the magazine. I’m glad – very glad – to say that this is the first issue… Read more »
With 13 partners from all over Europe, Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, has launched an EU-funded project to develop affordable, more efficient solar cells. With an overall budget of 10 million Euro, the SCALENANO project aims at achieving breakthroughs in the cost-efficiency of photovoltaic devices and modules based on advanced… Read more »
As governments across Europe slash subsidies for small-medium scale renewable energy generators, the industry needs to rethink its approach to communications strategy if solar PV is to continue to shine, says Kate Garratt, head of energy at Aspectus PR.When the UK Government introduced its Feed-In-Tariffs (FiTs) in April 2010, solar photovoltaic (PV) quickly became an… Read more »
Twan Vollebregt, CEO of Energy Fundamentals, investigates the current perils and pitfalls of investing in renewables… For anyone who has to make major investment decisions about power generation in Europe, we live in difficult times. What use are ten year forward curves when Germany decides to abandon nuclear power overnight? How can you make sensible… Read more »
Listen to some commentators and you could be forgiven for thinking that the solar/PV industry in Europe was on its knees, decimated by tariff cuts, economic crises and cheap imports. However, experts on the cutting-edge of the industry tell a different story, with many claiming that the ‘green shoots of recovery’ are well-established, while some… Read more »
Many solar cell developers may fancy a machine where you can put a solar cell in, push a button, and receive a full diagnostic report of the solar cell – instead of spending considerable time on the measurement equipment park and understanding the methods. This article describes how a complete analysis of a solar cell… Read more »
After another record year of growth in 2011, PV now represents 70 GW of cumulative installed capacity globally, and produces up to 4 per cent peak demand in Europe. It’s no wonder that EU PVSEC is also going from strength to strength – as this year’s show will doubtless testify. Even if the PV sector… Read more »
The quality of the cross-linking of EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) encapsulants is crucial for the market success of solar modules. Premium suppliers need their products to be ahead of competition not only by cost-effectiveness and by the efficiency of their modules. It is also the long-term stability of the modules that is receiving much attention by… Read more »
The worldwide stop on production capacity extension for solar modules is proving to be a heavy burden for the solar machine manufacturers. Nevertheless, no company wants to quit the PV sector, because the solar energy market is already set to pick up again in the medium term. Until this happens, the equipment suppliers are strengthening… Read more »
A maximum uptime is especially important for large commercial and utility-scale solar plants. Herein the inverter system plays a key role, being responsible for the maximum energy harvest. In order to meet the requirements of large solar parks even better, Dr. Marco Trova from Power-One and his team developed a new circuit topology and cooling… Read more »
Founded in 2008, EKO Instruments Europe B.V. is a European centre of competence, offering products and services to the photovoltaic industry. The heart of its work is related to the provision of highly accurate and reliable solar radiation measurement equipment for outdoor use, as company Director, Dr Los, explains… Solar radiation is not only the… Read more »
Market analysts insist Belgium remains a profitable investment for solar manufacturers and consumers alike. Last year’s an annual growth of 737MW of solar capacity and high residential growth rates allayed fears brought on by the abolishment of tax reductions, and point to a very bright future indeed. Until the end of last year, photovoltaic panels… Read more »
PES takes a closer look at one of Multi Contact’s most-trusted pieces of equipment. With the MC4PLUS, Multi-Contact introduced a PV connector to the market which is especially designed for internationally operating module manufacturers. The MC4PLUS is the first connector worldwide to be recognised for both 1500 VDC TÜV and 1000 VDC UL, and within… Read more »
Cutting production costs and improving product throughput – from thin-film through to CPV. At the next EU PVSEC, the equipment supplier and automation specialists Grenzebach will demonstrate their preparedness for market challenges. The high tech experts present their efficient process solutions for thin film modules, CSP and CPV in hall 3, stand J41. With over… Read more »
Industry evidence shows that the PV industry has been suffering from an imbalance between supply and demand for over a year now. There are many factors that come into play with this situation – some we can control, and some we can’t… Luvata, a PV connector-ribbon manufacturer, is working hard on what it CAN control… Read more »
“Glaston is known for providing customers with superior machines, tools and solutions to help them take the lead in their chosen business area. As the solar panel business continues to surge, we have designed the most innovative pre-processing and heat treatment solutions for solar applications to help customers increase capacity, improve output and cut costs,”… Read more »
Energy storage facilities are indispensable for a revolution in energy production, as they add predictability to the fluctuations of eco-power. The German government has therefore started to sponsor the development and launch of storage technologies, and have used expertise of solar equipment manufacturers to explore the possibilities. PES explains. Any conversion to renewables is hard… Read more »
When PES last spoke to Abwood Machine Tools’ Rob Nicholas, the company was embarking on a considerable expansion plan that would take it to ‘the next level’. We caught up with him six months later for a quick status update, and to hear all about the launch of the company’s latest grinding machine. PES: Since… Read more »
The international marine contractor Van Oord continues to shine in our sector through its Offshore Wind Projects division, which focuses on Europe. We last spoke to the company’s Johan van Wijland (Director of Offshore Wind Projects) in 2011, and caught up with him again this summer – an exciting time for the company. PES: Welcome… Read more »
A relatively new addition to the wind sector, WINDSOURCING.COM uses cutting-edge technology to service sales and procurement processes. We asked Stefan Weber to talks us through the pioneering online service… PES: Welcome to PES magazine. Can you begin by explaining a little about your company and how you serve the wind industry?Stefan Weber: WINDSOURCING.COM is… Read more »
The number of wind farms connected to the electricity grid is steadily rising, and proof of grid compatibility is mandatory for grid connection. But what criteria do wind turbines and wind farms have to meet for certification in Germany, for example? PES investigates… Before wind farms can be connected to the German electricity grid, they… Read more »
Wind energy infrastructure, be it onshore or offshore, relies heavily on the use of steel for most of its key components, whether it be turbines, towers, foundations or transformer stations… the list goes on. As a result there is a significant amount of work required to transform ‘bare’ steel into something able to produce the… Read more »
A well-respected figure in the industry, Stuart Clough joins us to discuss offshore wind farms and APEM’s Remote Sensing team, which uses the most powerful medium format camera in the world. The importance of environmental surveys to offshore wind farm developmentLocation is important to the energy sector, but none more so than wind farms, where… Read more »
Using industrial Ethernet switches to assure maximum uptime A high-speed, industrial-grade network infrastructure offers wind farm operators many benefits, including improved operational management, visibility and access to key data. Real-time data access enables operators to monitor wind turbine uptime, performance and power output – even from remote locations. This data, which is used to track… Read more »
We return to the pioneering EU funded project, which ran from May 2010 to June this year. coordinated by the European Wind Energy Association, it provides an in-depth analysis of the national and international Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) practices; policy recommendations for developing existing and potentially new MSP for the development of offshore renewable power… Read more »
A 1.5bn wind farm that could have powered almost 400,000 homes has been rejected by the British government because it might kill 90 small birds a year. Clearly, our avian friends present us with a (costly) problem that is not going away… Over £10m, and three and a half years of planning, have been wasted… Read more »
In the early part of 2011, we wrote about a new global branding initiative for the industry that was set to “change how the world consumes energy, one product at a time”. It was a lofty claim, for sure, but has WindMade begun to deliver on its ambition? Or even started to make a difference?… Read more »