Making ergonomic changes can have multiple benefits to the PV industry -- reducing/preventing injuries, increasing morale, reducing turnover, and increasing productivity -- that can provide tangible contributions to the bottom line, explains Jessica Ellison from EORM.
In a truly successful solar PV installation, the customer is happy and has received what was expected -- and it all starts during the initial selling process with information gathering, proposal generation, and setting expectations. John Williams from Solar Panels Plus presents an upfront checklist for properly educating a solar customer right from the start.
A recently released process specification from Swagelok is designed to help ensure quality and reduce cost of ownership for photovoltaic industry. The Photovoltaic Process Specification (SC-06) outlines testing, cleaning, and packaging steps for stainless steel components for use in PV applications.
Energy Research Centere of the Netherlands (ECN) has made the world's first multicrystalline silicon solar panel with 17% efficiency. The full findings will be reported in the January 2010 issue of the journal "Progress in Photovoltaics" and represents a 1.5% improvement over the previous 15–year old listing of 15.5% efficiency held by Sandia National Labs.
As the solar market rebounds thin-film technologies are poised to successfully compete against conventional, crystalline silicon-based modules and other sources of electricity.
AltaTerra Research expects 2010 growth rates for grid-tied PV in the U.S. to accelerate up to and perhaps beyond the growth rates of previous years. Module prices are decreasing, opening up new market opportunities.
Conergy Germany GmbH has opened a 4.2 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic facility in Hörup near Flensburg--the largest solar park in northern Germany, and Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) has signed an agreement with Endesa to install 3MW of UNI-SOLAR photovoltaic laminates on the rooftops of two Coca-Cola Company buildings in Seville, Spain.
2009 presented many challenges to the PV industry, and there's probably at least one more tough year ahead. But a snapshot at the past decade's milestones reminds that this is an industry that has repeatedly shown its ability to persevere long before the benefits of incentives and MW-scale projects, notes Navigant Consulting's Paula Mints.
Increasingly, thin-film photovoltaics (PV) operations are popping up across China, indicating active development in this sector, which is expected to provide affordable solar power and be used widely in the future.
Furthering its push into the solar arena, top foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is investing about $193M for a 20% stake in c-Si firm Motech Industries, making it the company's largest shareholder.
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