New energy generation constitutes a major investment, often to the value of hundreds of millions or potentially billions of Euros. And such spending results in widespread economic development, in the form of increased work opportunities, higher salaries, and new customers for local business. PES examines the greater impact of channelling wind farm investment into the… Read more »
So you thought Google was just a highly successful internet search engine? The company’s energy arm recently signed a deal to buy 114 megawatts of energy from a wind farm in Iowa, marking the first deal done by the company’s energy subsidiary A Google spokesman said the company had signed a 20-year power purchase agreement… Read more »
Although Europe is a vast, sprawling continent bursting with innovation, our Asian cousins are old hands at taking a sideways look at the world – as these ingenious turbines from Japan clearly illustrate. At the recent Yokohama Renewable Energy Exhibition, Japanese technology threw-up some exciting developments for the sector, including this revolutionary turbine system that… Read more »
PES regularly publishes exclusive features from Rickmers-Linie, but we’ve never had the honour of a face-to-face interview with any of the company’s executives. Until now. We travelled to Hamburg to catch-up with the Director of Marketing and Sales, Gerhard Janssen, to find out a little more about him, his organisation, and his thoughts on the… Read more »
Gavin Brown, Reward Information Consultant at global management consultancy Hay Group, tells PES why companies are worried about retaining talent in the renewable energy sector with an increasing number of managers in the renewable energy sector worrying about holding on to their best talent… While other areas in our national economies are battening down the… Read more »
All eyes in the industry will shortly be on the 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition taking place from 6-10 September at the Feria Valencia fairground in Spain. Here PES presents its exclusive preview of the event which could not have come at a more crucial time for the industry. This year’s PV… Read more »
As the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus once memorably observed: “Everything is in a state of flux.” If a modern-day proof of this axiom were required, we need look no further than the renewable energy industry where it looks like a paradigm shift – involving the US and Europe – is about to take place …… Read more »
The views on offshore wind projects are as divided as can be, so the slightly polemic title of this article is probably appropriate. There are some who argue that offshore wind is the way to go, and to go now. And there are others who argue that offshore wind is too expensive and too risky… Read more »
The UK has just entered into an historic period of coalition government, which promises to throw the nation’s hard-fought wind power policies into disarray. The coalition governments of Germany, Italy and Austria on the other hand, are forging ahead with inspired legislation, which may shine a light on Britain’s efforts. However, until these governments’ pioneering… Read more »
The first offshore wind park globally was installed in Denmark in 1991. Since then the offshore wind energy market has been developing slowly. Currently, majority of the installations in Europe are located in Denmark and the UK, countries that possess rich wind resources. There is no doubt that offshore installations offer higher productivity when compared… Read more »
For as long as there has been a global wind industry, Husum, a town on Germany’s North Sea coast between Hamburg and the Danish border, has been the venue for its leading trade fair. Yet Husum was showing the latest developments in wind turbine technology long before the industry went global… Technology, innovation, training, and… Read more »
The size of both turbines and wind farms have increased exponentially in recent months thanks to a potent mix of technical improvements, legislation, subsidies and public awareness. Naturally, everyone’s got an opinion on the supersizing of the wind industry… “There is a wonderful race on. It’s very tight and the prize is domination of the… Read more »
High costs of welcoming Hungary to the fold The time taken to connect wind farms to the grid, and the high costs of doing so, are the main barriers to wind energy development in Hungary, it has been revealed in Budapest at a workshop organised by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) and the Hungarian… Read more »
PES last spoke to Robert Bürkle GmbH’s Managing Director in 2008, when Hans-Joachim Bender was bullish about the company’s future prospects. Indeed, he said: “Bürkle orientates itself on the known forecasts for developments in the photovoltaic industry. This has resulted in a strategy that is valid until the year 2012, and during this time the… Read more »
Upsolar is a global company, specialising in the design, engineering and manfacture of solar photovoltaic modules. It adheres to a policy of strict quality control in its manufacturing process to provide itsworldwide customers with reliable, excellent products for all residential and commercial projects. Here PES speaks to Adrien Pellarin the company’s Technical Support Manager …… Read more »
Family-owned Watlow was founded in 1922 and holds more than 50 patents, employing 2,000 employees, working in 11 manufacturing facilities in the US, Mexico, Europe and Asia. The company has sales offices in 14 countries around the world and a global distributor network. Jake Lindley is a senior engineer at the company, where he specialises… Read more »
As Director of Sales and Marketing of the Optical Sensor Systems Group forCarl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH, Jürgen Gobel is at the beating heart of the PV industry. Having witnessed several revolutionary changes, he’s upbeat about the future of the industry and the technical progress his company continues to make. Welcome back to PES. How has… Read more »
For more than 50 years, Italian-based Bottero has been a world leader in every sector of the glass industry including hollow glass, special engineering, flat laminated and monolithic glass. The company offers a wide range of reliable products thanks to its policy of continuous investment in research and development … Back in the 1970s when… Read more »
In 2001, Canadian Solar began with the vision of helping to create a clean, sustainable energy future through solar power. With advanced technology and superior manufacturing capabilities, the company brings higher quality and better value to the marketplace. It is Canadian Solar’s commitment to develop socially responsible, sustainable and innovative practices in every part of… Read more »
US-based Emerson is poised to unleash a ground-breaking transformerless central inverter system for utility scale photovoltaic power plants. The Missouri company says this is set to maximise investor returns through optimised availability, efficiency and yield …. Control Techniques’ SPV is constructed using 145kWp, 176kWp and multiple 176kWp parallel connected inverter modules to produce any desired… Read more »
Thomas Rossmann, Sales Director Photovoltaic Solar TechnologyGrenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH Grenzebach is a corporation with six plants in three continents, more than 1,500 staff and a global customer base. The German-based company is a leading manufacturer of line and equipment for the production of flat and float glass, front- and back ends for thin film lines… Read more »
Sustainability is at the heart of how business is carried out at Sovello, the German-based company, Romy Haase-Dotschko their spokesman says. Now one of the world’s largest module manufactures, their STRING RIBBON wafers are produced through an economically and ecologically-balanced production process. “That’s how we preserve our environment over the long term,” he adds …… Read more »
While Spain seems to get all the publicity and all the plaudits from the European PV industry, Portugal’s efforts to establish a thriving solar future seem to be very much in the shadow of its big next-door neighbour. Even though the country has one of the highest solar irradiations available in Europe and has a… Read more »
‘Triple Green’ is the new motto in photovoltaics: the drive to produce modules that generate clean energy, that are recycled and – what’s more – ecologically produced. It’s an effective way for the solar industry to further boost its image and sustainably cut costs. However, this perfect triad is difficult to implement because “green factories”… Read more »
A progressive process that has nevertheless been utilised in other industries for several years, Print-on-Print involves the printing of one conductor grid directly on top of a previously printed and dried grid. PES asked acknowledged pioneers DEK for an in-depth explanation of this revolutionary procedure. A simple Internet search will reveal that the photovoltaics industry… Read more »
The recently-published European Photovoltaics Industry Association (EPIA) Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics from 2010 to 2014 is a key publication for the PV sector. Here PES publishes an exclusive extract … The EPIA Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics (PV) from 2010 to 2014 is based on an internal analysis of market data from industry members,… Read more »
Ever wondered what effect our efforts to limit global warming to two degrees will have on the European economy and labour market by 2050? A new study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) provides some illuminating answers. Klaus Jacob, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft As demonstrated most recently by events in Copenhagen, international climate conferences… Read more »
Many industries have, not surprisingly, attempted to talk themselves out of the global downturn, but very few have the statistics to back up their optimism. Thankfully, the PV industry is one of this select few. And it seems as if module production is leading the charge… Last year, PV panel makers and their suppliers were… Read more »
Thin-film is apparently coming under pressure despite the knowledge is that modules made from thin-film silicon can be manufactured more cost-effectively than thick crystalline ones. It seems that the technology is trailing far behind its efficiency and cost objectives, whereas crystalline innovations are developing at a greater pace. PES investigates. Sunfilm and Signet Solar have… Read more »
As any manufacturer of wind turbine components will testify, the handling of their precious cargo is of critical importance. PES caught up with John Fricker, General Manager of RoRo/Special Projects, Europe, for Atlantic Container Line (ACL), to discover how his company smoothes the transportation process. PES: Welcome to PES. Firstly, can you tell us a… Read more »
One of the executives who took part in this issue’s roundtable interview was Kurt E. Thomsen, of Advanced Offshore Solutions Aps. Here, he goes into greater depth about a few of the more pressing issues facing the wind industry. PES: What are the obstacles to the development of wind energy?Kurt E. Thomsen: Personnel, equipment, knowledge… Read more »
Investment into Research and Development is important for many global operators within the wind energy sector, but for The Dow Chemical Company, it’s the cornerstone of its operations. Ram Ramachandran, Director of End Use Marketing for Dow Wire & Cable, discusses his company’s $1 billion annual R&D outlay, its commitment to collaboration, and his thoughts… Read more »
Among the many promises President Obama made on taking office in January 2009 was one to create some five million jobs in the US renewables industry over a decade. But more than a year on, a new report claims those plans may be on hold with little or no actual movement on the jobs front…. Read more »
Advanced Offshore Solutions was established back in 2006 by Kurt E Thomsen, a pioneer in the offshore wind farm installation business. Since then, the Danish company has established a reputation for being a world leader in the design, building and implementation of transport and logistical solutions for the offshore wind industry. PES talks to Mr… Read more »
It seems as if America is not the only nation in North America that is crying out for reform. The Canadian wind energy industry needs improved support from governments, utilities, and communities as it moves into the mainstream of country’s energy sector, says the new Chair of CanWEA’s board of directors. Gary Pundsack, Government Relations… Read more »
The wind industry could soon be using a new type of innovative technology that has more to do with lasers than ecology. A new laser system that can be mounted on wind turbines allows them to prepare for the wind rushing toward their blades. These lasers act like sonar for the wind, bouncing off microscopically… Read more »