All over the world, people are asking two questions: How will COVID-19 have a continued effect, and what will the next American President do? The pandemic has caused manufacturing plant closures resulting in predictable havoc, but we have also seen COVID-19 disrupt supply chains that were once rock-solid, in ways nobody could have anticipated. It’s… Read more »
Online trade is the big winner of the Corona crisis. This also applies to the spare parts and repair market for wind turbines. A Hamburg company, a pioneer in this niche in 2013, is now gaining momentum despite, or because of Corona. Stefan Weber, Founder and Managing Director of Windsourcing.com GmbH, shares his thoughts with… Read more »
If a leopard could not change its spots, it would have long been extinct had it been masquerading as a vessel owner in the offshore industry! ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.’ —Charles Darwin… Read more »
With the increasing trend toward cleaner energy sources, offshore wind technology plays a vital role in supporting the global transition to renewable energy. Development of shallow water locations is increasing in volume and pace, with the industry moving toward the more substantive wind energy resources that are found offshore in deeper waters, through the application… Read more »
Anyone familiar with the current offshore wind (OSW) project pipeline along the United States’ East Coast, knows that this undertaking has great potential to turn into the envisioned one trillion-dollar industry in the coming decades. The current plan is to install 13 offshore wind farms totaling 9.1GW power output by 2026 [AWEA Status Update 2020],… Read more »
With the world engaged in the energy transition and the environmental sustainability high on business agendas, scientists and governments are working to identify alternative technologies that will generate enough energy to meet the growing demand while reducing greenhouse emissions. The wind sector and the energy transition Within the transition trend, there is a wide portfolio of alternative… Read more »
The daughter craft for wind farms far from shore Over the last three years we have seen the introduction of purpose-built Service Offshore Vessels (SOV). These 70-100 m long vessels service wind farms, where a long distance to shore makes a land-based service organization impractical. Typically, 40-60 technicians live onboard the vessels and are transferred… Read more »
Although being versatile is not a goal on its own, it does pay off to be able to meet the ever-changing requirements of the offshore market. The saying ‘the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry’ is confirmed in the offshore market on a daily basis. Working around these changes of plan… Read more »
Newly developed ground-based winch system shortens the amount of time needed to replace large components When a large component of a wind turbine fails, the operator often has no other choice but to have the damaged component replaced. This often involves a considerable amount of organisational work and financial expense – not just for the… Read more »
New PV technologies make it possible to create more diversity to the utilization of solar energy. High efficiency, low cost and good looks of PV applications make it feasible to integrate solar power to new products and environments. Any self-powering object creates a local energy source. Solar energy can be used in many building integrated… Read more »
Well aware that global energy challenges are changing rapidly, at Studer we are focusing on creating simple solutions to complex problems. Access to electricity for all, the energy transition, automation, digitalization and electric mobility are all topics and issues that set the pace and influence the creation of all our products and services. In energy… Read more »
SolarCleano has been developing and selling robots to clean solar panels for 3 years. Based on the cleaning experience of its founder, Pol Duthoit, it created a robot usable by lone workers. Along the way, SolarCleano made a few discoveries that helped it tackle more issues. Solar panels exist in all shapes and sizes When… Read more »
‘Noticing the lack of EV- charging stations around Europe kick-started the development of carport systems at Mounting Systems. The process of finding the perfect equilibrium between strength, design, cost and function led to the making of over 30 different designs. After close collaboration with customers and building multiple prototypes, we developed safe and reliable carport… Read more »
Last year it was still believed that the next solar cell size standard in the industry would be M6. The much larger M12 was on the horizon, but it was not believed to arrive at mass production the market so soon. Just one year later the cell is available and some module producers have announced… Read more »
The year 2019 saw rapid growth in the solar PV tracker market, with most vendors doubling or at least significantly expanding their shipments from the previous year. Much of that activity was in the US, which represented 50% of global tracker sales and expanded its production by over 200%. Part of the reason for that… Read more »
In this article, Marco Trova, Senior Global Product Manager at FIMER S.p.A., talks us through some of the myths associated with Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technology to help engineers and installers specify the right approach to maximize yields and efficiency. MPPT is often fitted as standard in state-of-the-art inverters, yet many users still don’t… Read more »
Have you seen pictures of Berlin, Paris or London lately? Or perhaps Bogotá, Boston or the Philippines? One thing they all have in common are ‘temporary’ bike lanes, which have suddenly appeared all across these cities. But it doesn’t stop with bike lanes. We’ve seen things like data centres and hospitals pop-up all over the… Read more »
The U.S. is experiencing major growth in the energy storage market, and it’s only the beginning. According to Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables’ U.S. Energy Storage Monitor Q2 2020, the market (residential, non-residential and front-of-the-meter) is expected to grow more than 13-fold from 523 MW in 2019 to nearly 7 GW by 2025, in spite… Read more »
Reliability and speed of response are essential to effectively managing or preventing a crisis – especially when it comes to power supply and temperature control. This has been clearly demonstrated by the outbreak of COVID-19 with countries across the world needing to rapidly put in place the necessary infrastructure to combat the virus and subsequently… Read more »
The craze for solar panels begins in the 1980s. Following the oil shocks, electricity produced by ‘alternative’ sources appears to be an effective long-term solution. The first MW of production at the world level is reached in 1999. The United States, a pioneer in the field to the point of owning 21% of the total… Read more »
Bill Mellema, Director of Engineering and Brad Berwald, Product Manager and Technical Training Manager, at Morningstar Corporation, met up with PES to bring us up to date on the solutions offered by this innovative, employee owned company. Here the workers are proud of their products and provide only the highest quality and efficiency to the… Read more »
Grid integration is a key issue in the expansion of renewable energies throughout Europe. The requirements for power generation plants at all voltage levels have changed significantly with the pan-European harmonisation of grid connection requirements and the resulting adaptations to the national foundations. The aim of the EU regulation is to create a stable electricity… Read more »
Reliable measurement of solar irradiance, and other environmental parameters, is crucial to accurately calculating the performance ratio (PR) of a solar energy plant. IEC 61724, published in March 2017, is the latest and most comprehensive international standard to address these issues. But what does it mean? IEC 61274-1 Photovoltaic system performance – Part 1: Monitoring… Read more »
Abstract: we analyze available measurement time in a sun simulator in highest-throughput production of silicon solar cells. We explain how this time is distributed on the different measurements, which need to be performed to characterize a solar cell. For high-efficiency solar cells, we elaborate how it is possible to reduce the required measurement time to… Read more »
Following the acquisition and integration of ABB’s solar inverter business, completed in the first quarter of 2020, FIMER took a decisive step forward in its strategy. Leonardo Botti, Head of Global Sales and Product Management explains how FIMER is shaping a new era in solar as digitalization will level the energy playing field, enhance Distributed… Read more »
Our reliance on fossil fuels is ending. Not because we’ve run out of oil, gas, or even coal. Not even because the harmful environmental impact of these resources is finally, sadly, irrefutable; except to the most dogmatic of climate change deniers. No. Our reliance on fossil fuels is ending because of the advances we have… 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 »
This has been clearly demonstrated by the outbreak of COVID-19 with countries across the world needing to rapidly put in place the necessary infrastructure to combat the virus and subsequently dealing with the wider economic consequences of the health crisis. While some industries, such as aviation and retail, have limited operations to reduce the spread… Read more »
Spares in Motion (SIM) has a solution for wind energy O&M pitfalls. Reducing costs and obtaining spare parts as needed is increasingly important, especially as uptime demands skyrocket and maintenance contracts end. SIM explains to PES how their database is facilitating these goals for owners and operators today. We are a nearly half way through… Read more »
Here is proof that it’s better to work together than try to reinvent the wheel. PES is thrilled to bring you this perfect example of such a collaboration between two companies. The end result saved time and costs, which are now a big plus for the end users. ‘Working with Scopito has enabled us to… Read more »
Ports display the economic growth engines in the economy of countries. Increased activity requires larger ports, capable of handling a larger volume of traffic representing buoyant import-export balances. However, the epitome of ports also presents the consumables of natural resources, represented by the goods moving over the quay side. It could be argued that ports… Read more »
There is a green revolution in ship technology going on these days. We are currently witnessing a wave of zero emission propulsion ideas entering the market like battery powered car ferries for short routes, power shaving batteries onboard offshore hybrid service vessels and cruise liners that can enter protected fjords purely on batteries. Such efforts… Read more »
The concept ‘vessel intake’ is at the forefront of windmill component design, and it will make possible more profitable logistics projects when different variables are considered under a collaborative approach. The wind industry is facing a never-ending pressure on costs. All industry players, including first and second-tier suppliers, are developing different initiatives around cost reduction…. Read more »
Assessments and analyses for lifetime extension of wind turbines There’s a sizeable wave rolling in towards the wind energy industry: this year, in Europe alone, more than ten percent of installed capacity will be reaching its 20th year of operation, and by 2025, the figure will be almost 30 percent. To keep them running or not,… Read more »
In the search for alternative ways to make foundation installations quieter, faster and easier, the offshore vibro driving technology has developed in leaps and bounds over the past 20 years. The ever-increasing demand for reducing the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) and protecting the underwater wildlife, has triggered out of the box thinking for the… Read more »
W2W market maturing at last It’s clear that the Walk to Work (W2W) concept is here to stay in both wind energy and the oil and gas industry. The major operators and turbine EPCs have all commissioned dedicated W2W vessels from various operators. The last 4 years has seen a number of new operators enter… Read more »