Solar Media's head of market research Finlay Colville delves back into the UK's vast network of planning portals to uncover the incredible scope of subsidy-free solar farms entering the planning phase, and discusses their build potential as UK solar enters its next phase.
With the Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) scheme for UK-based solar incentives finishing on 31 March 2017, the domestic sector once again showed its resilience by installing a healthy 640MW during Q1 2017.
The vast number of announcements related to P-type mono PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) production in the last 18 months have primarily related to integrated cell and module producers shifting in-house production to the high-efficiency cells, as conventional multicrystalline Al-BSF (Aluminium-Back Surface Field) solar cells reach efficiency limitations.
The production volume of solar PV panels based on thin-film deposition of semiconductor materials on large-area glass panels is set to hit a seven-year low in 2017, in spite of the end-market demand for solar panels increasing by a factor of three over the same time period.
Mono c-Si cell production is forecast to account for 49% of all c-Si cell production in 2018, and will become the dominant technology used in the PV industry by 2019, according to new research contained in the latest release of the PV Manufacturing & Technology Quarterly report, from the in-house research unit at PV-Tech’s parent company Solar Media Ltd.
The complaint filed by Suniva is not a revival or renewal of the longstanding anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases, however, it’s something different all-together. For want of a better phrase, it’s the nuclear option, and ultimately, President Trump has his finger on this red button too.
Despite battle cries to end the ‘war on coal’, Trump’s first 100 days as president have done very little to materially dismantle progress in renewable energy and climate action, according to energy and national security expert Kevin Book.
SNEC 11th (2017) International Photovoltaic Power Generation Conference & Exhibition (SNEC 2017) in Shanghai, China maybe the largest annual exhibition in the solar industry but its sheer size and number of attendee’s can often mask emerging trends that are better highlighted at other events such as Solar Power International (SPI) in the US.
PV Tech’s preliminary analysis of global solar PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first quarter of 2017, show a strong rebound compared to the significantly subdued environment experienced in the second half of 2016.
