On the day I left Taiwan after a busy week meeting with PV suppliers up and down the supply chain in May, 2016 that was organised by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) the country elected its first female president, Tsai Ing-wen.
The entire solar PV upstream value-chain, including equipment and materials suppliers, is set for drastic changes during 2017, ushered in by a perfect storm of events that has impacted on the industry within a space of 2-3 months, according to the latest release of the PV Manufacturing & Technology Quarterly report from the research team of PV-Tech’s parent owner Solar Media, Ltd.
Despite regulatory ambiguities, the general consensus from industry stakeholders at this year’s Solar Energy UK | Clean Energy Live exhibition is that Africa’s solar sector is ripe for new entrants, posing a significant opportunity that should not be missed.
A US-based start-up SunCulture Solar has come out of stealth mode and launched a potentially game-changing fully-integrated residential and off-grid solar system that really is ‘plug and play.’
The FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) over the solar industry entering it second major overcapacity cycle is being replaced by a focus on how much overcapacity verses end market demand exists, especially in 2017 and therefore how low will PV module ASP’s go?
Post-Brexit the world is not on fire. To learn more about the realities of the new normal, PV Tech publisher Solar Media has convened a cross-channel group of experts overseen by the law firm Eversheds and chaired by veteran energy journalist Terry Macalister. Here, he forms his first view on the mood of the assembled investors, operators and policy experts in the forum.
Despite US solar rapidly transitioning from an alternative energy source into a leading energy solution in recent years, barriers in regulation, communication and technology still prevent the industry from taking off into the mainstream arena, according to a panel of experts at Solar Power International (SPI) 2016.
Growing 43% year over year in 2016, the US solar industry is taking off at a pace no one could have foreseen. Naysayers may cite the industry’s slow start, hampered by high upfront costs and initial niche appeal as reasons why solar still will not experience a consumer boom. But panellists at the opening session of the 13th annual Solar Power International convention made it clear just how solar energy could exceed expectations and is poised for not only growth, but mainstream acceptance.
The hardest and most ‘controversial’ aspect of analyzing capacity expansion announcements is converting them to actual or ‘effective’ new nameplate capacity.
