Germany

In news that will add urgency to Indian government efforts to establish a domestic storage industry, funding has apparently been secured for 16 GWh-plus production lines in Sweden and Germany. Is India at risk of being left in the starting blocks?

With Leclanché due to open a module and battery pack assembly line in Gujarat alongside JV partner Exide Industries by the end of next month, the Swiss storage solutions company has been active nearer its home market.

The result was certified by the solar cells laboratory at the calibration and test center of Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research. Imec’s measurements showed cell bifaciality surpassed 80%.

Power provider Stadtwerke Waldkirch has built a 264 kW PV system in Germany with Sunman’s glass-free modules, as a titanium rooftop at the project site made it impossible to use conventional modules.

The German powerhouse – which makes central inverters for PV projects in India – wants to complete the acquisition by July. Indian employees will be hoping target company Kaco’s disposal of its central inverter operation last month will avert job losses by removing any potential overlap between the manufacturers.

The nation saw 1.3 GW of renewable energy secured for business through private PPAs in 2018, almost twice as much as the volume recorded in Australia, but the picture could change next year if China follows through with its renewable portfolio standard commitment.

The new ‘cerenergy’ system that has been developed in Germany can operate without air conditioning by using vacuum insulation even in extreme temperatures. With no rare earths required for manufacture, the product’s basic material is salt.

Kaco is launching a mass-produced string inverter with silicon carbide switches onto the market following 10 years of discussion about the technology within the industry. In the 100 kilowatt plus segment, the technology produces small, lightweight devices with few components.

As problems with component failure have already laid bare, there is a clear need for contract clarity at every stage of a PV project, from material and component sourcing to power purchase and operations agreements. Here, pv magazine investigates a little covered issue for module buyers, which could threaten insurance coverage and the overall success of a project further down the line.

As new cell and module concepts move into large-scale production, and efficiencies are pushed ever higher, manufacturers of flash testing equipment must innovate to ensure their tools can provide reliable measurements, and cope with ever expanding production throughput. The expansion of bifacial technology beyond niche applications in particular raises new issues for flash testing standards. pv magazine spoke with several flasher manufacturers to shed light on the latest developments in this segment.