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Applications & Installations Trina Solar 3 DUOMAX Twin High-powered and highly durable mod- twin can deliver an LCOE reduction of gain, the module can deliver between ules can deliver compelling BoS reduc- at least 4.63% in applications with lim- 314 and 330 W, with that increasing to tions for developers when produced at the ited albedo, such as over grass, and up to 356-375 W output. right price. Coupled with 1500 V archi- 12.37% when albedo is ideal, a white C&I Importantly, Trina reports that it can tecture, such module solutions can result rooftop or fresh snow. produce the DUOMAX Twin modules in significant LCOE savings. The Trina DUOMAX Twin is available in at a cost structure that is only “slightly Trina’s new DUOMAX Twin takes aim at a 60 cell configuration and has a power higher” when compared to its standard exactly this, bringing together high effi- output of 285-300 W. It utilizes mono- lines. ciency bifacial cells, in a glass-glass mod- crystalline cells and achieves a module The DUOMAX Twin deploys slim-pro- ule format. Trina says that the DUOMAX efficiency of 18%. With 10% back side file, split junction boxes mounted close to the module edge, preventing shading of the back side. The frameless modules have slim mounting clamps on the long edge, again preventing rear shading and optimizing the bifacial boost. The dual-glass encapsulation delivers high performance and long life in harsh environments, Trina claims. The glass is 2.5 mm in thickness, reducing mod- ule weight, and is heat-strengthened. The Chinese producer reports that the mod- ules are less prone to cracks, module warping, UV aging, and corrosion from sand, acid, alkali, and salt mist. The module comes with a 30 year linear warranty. Trina believes the DUOMAX Twin is ideal for both power plant and commercial rooftop applications. The array changer Cost effective dual-glass modules can deliver long lifetime and reliability to developers. High efficiency monocrystal- line cells, mean that this 1500 V compat- ible product can deliver reduced LCOE, making it an attractive proposition. A dv er tisemen t DeSol Power Tiles. Look up. Introducing DeSol Power Tiles, LLC A DeSol solar energy system is virtually indistinguishable from a standard roof, so you don’t have to choose between aesthetics and energy efficiency. Our tiles are designed for easy installation and manufactured in the US, and their performance is guaranteed for 30 years. Visit us at DeSolPowerTiles.com to learn more. [email protected] | 404-663-7733 LOOK AHEAD 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com 51

Applications & Installations Swimsol 4 SolarSea Swimsol GmbH’s SolarSea was selected tal-clear waters of the Maldives, a nation this year for its incredibly simple yet of some 1,200 tropical islands spread out downright ingenious open-water solar across the Indian Ocean. solution. The product from this startup Globally famous for its natural beauty represents “the world’s first solar system and abundance of sunshine hours, the that can float in the ocean,” the company Maldives has not sought to use much claims. The system was designed for solar energy – until today. coastal areas, including bays and tropical The product is an economic no-brainer, lagoons, with power transferred to land since island communities typically rely via an armored submarine cable. on imported fuel oil for generators, with Setting up the system has been compared corresponding costs for electricity esti- to Ikea furniture — although it may be mated at up to seven times more than easier. The knock-down package consist- land-based consumers pay in the United ing of sealed corrosion-proof solar pan- States or Europe. This first generation of els and a patent-pending floating frame- the SolarSea promises to reduce the cost work. Three people can build the array of energy in adopting communities by as in a day’s time, at the beach, in flip-flops. much as 50%. When it’s done, the oceanic solar array The design of the SolarSea came about can power up to 25 homes. with four years of help from the Tech- The 14 by 14 meter framework, with pan- nical University of Vienna, where hun- els safely elevated above the water level, dreds of designs were modeled in com- allows waves and wind to pass through, puter simulations, and 50 finally were barely moving the array or straining the built and tested in wave-channels. The anchoring system. first high-wave version was successfully The array can withstand two meter ocean tested in 2016. waves, 120 km/h winds, and is built to last over 30 years. It does not serve as a The array changer diving platform unfortunately. While long thought a tiny niche, float- The specially-sealed solar panels are ing PV appears to be emerging at pace, combined with platform components and the natural extension is setting sights and made from corrosion-proof mate- on the sea. Swimsol has delivered a new rial, and the system can resist extreme concept that may make the open ocean UV rays and intense humidity. The con- accessible for solar, at least where pro- cept for Solar Sea emerged from the crys- tected from the surf. A dv er tisemen t 52 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Applications & Installations Powin Energy 5 bp-OS Providing and effectively managing data is rapidly becoming recognized as a vital way to optimize energy production and storage and to quickly spot any system issues. To that end, a broad variety of energy management software solutions is appearing on the market, covering all areas from home applications to mega- The bp-OS is compatible with of differ- watt-scale plant monitoring. any form of lithium-ion storage, ent batter- Powin energy’s battery pack operating which allows Powin Energy to choose ies and chem- system (bp-OS) is designed to optimize the best type of cell for a given project. istries. This, says and collect data on stationary storage sys- The system continually measures charge/ Powin Energy, could tems. The company points out that while discharge rate, cell voltages and battery lead manufacturers to most storage installations utilize battery temperature, recording every few sec- give better warranty and insur- balancing software designed with elec- onds and calculating battery usage. ance coverage, ultimately making storage tric vehicle use in mind, its system treats The data provided by bp-OS could prove projects easier to finance. each battery cell individually, instruct- valuable to the growing utility-scale stor- Powin gives the example of a 2 MW/ ing it to draw or release energy to opti- age industry. Operators can spot a fault 8 MWh system it installed in South- mize to a pre-programmed level, rather and identify its cause more quickly, and ern California as an example. In this than transferring power back and forth see how different configurations and use case, bp-OS cut the installation time for between battery packs to keep the whole cases affect battery life. The system can the project down to under six months, system balanced. also be used to compare the performance because the software could run diagnos- tics to find and replace problem cells or packs during construction, rather than waiting until the entire system had been completed and connected to perform tests. The array changer A software application specifically focused on monitoring battery instal- lations could yield an endless amount of valuable data for manufacturers and project developers alike, supporting the growth of storage at utility scale. A dv er tisemen t 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com 53

Applications & Installations Miraikikai 6 Solar Cleaning Robot Type 1 The advantages of installing PV in arid scale solar module cleaning. The solar regions and deserts are clear: lots of cleaning robot was launched earlier in space, lots of sun. However, the dry and 2017 at the World Future Energy Sum- dusty conditions create several other mit in Abu Dhabi. problems for PV plants, one of which is Through eliminating the need for water, the increased need for cleaning to keep and reducing the number of workers module surfaces free of dust and able to required and electricity consumption achieve high outputs. taken up by cleaning, Miraikikai esti- Other types of cleaning, whether manual mates that its robot can reduce cleaning or with a truck, require a lot of person- costs by up to 80% in comparison to man- power and can be very water intensive – ual cleaning. a real problem in arid regions, and these Some in the industry have voiced con- do not always result in uniform cleaning. cerns that this type of water free cleaning Japanese robotics company Miraikikai could result in scratches or other dam- now offers an alternative solution, with age to module glass or coatings, however, its automatic, water free module clean- Miraikikai states that it has conducted an ing robot. The robot simply needs to be accelerated 20 year durability test along- placed on the end of a row, sensors pre- side a Japanese module manufacturer, vent it from falling off, and it will clean which found that the robots caused no each module individually using rotating damage to the modules. brushes and air blowers, so one worker can operate several robots at once. The The array changer robot is battery powered and, According Desert regions have already produced to Miraikikai, also designed for mini- some of the lowest prices worldwide for mal electricity consumption, and weighs PV generated electricity. A simple, auto- 28 kg. mated solution for panel cleaning is sure The company originally developed a win- to receive a warm welcome from the own- dow cleaning robot back in 2004, and has ers of projects in these dry and dusty now applied this technology to large- places. 54 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Applications & Installations 5B 7 Maverick Folding Array BoS costs have become the bane of the nology has already attracted a mandate solar industry since panel prices crashed for a 1 MW project near Sydney, which thanks to mass production. One nota- will demonstrate the system’s ability to ble effort to cut to the quick is 5B’s Mav- scale up. erick Folding Array, which is a pre-fab- The Maverick started as a backyard pro- ricated, containerized solar array block totype in 2014 and evolved into a com- that is scalable to virtually any config- mercial, mass-produced product as of uration. 5B claims, for example, that a early 2017. The company currently has a 100 kW project can be unfurled before 30 MW per year production capability lunch with a team of three and one and is considering an Elon Musk-style forklift. gigafactory for production in the near Cost is king with new technology, and the future. Maverick aims to please. The company is Founded in Sydney in 2013, 5B has been “already under the wire of the industry recognized as innovative enough that holy grail of AU$1.00/W (US$0.76) level, the Australian Government bestowed an well ahead of the rest of the market,” it AusIndustry grant in 2017 to assist in the claims. The company reckons that at establishment of 5B’s production facility. scale, a solar farm can be erected for 20% “Simplistically, we describe ourselves as of the cost of a normal array. a module logistics company, in that what Military units, mining operations, Bed- we have developed is the cheapest and ouins, and other roving groups will find most effective way to get modules from the solution quite adaptable, and 5B says the factory to field,” says Chris McGrath, that the solution will be equally at home a company founder. in larger, utility-scale applications. The 12 kW modular block design is so that The array changer the system can be deployed in six min- Fast deployment with limited resources utes with a two-person team, repacked in on the ground can decrease installation nine minutes, and then redeployed in an costs, particularly in high-wage coun- endless cycle with a zero drop in energy tries like Australia. A more portable production, the company says. array can also open up interesting mar- The company was awarded an Austra- ket segments, such as mining applica- lian patent in February of this year and tions where a short project life can under- the company also has international pat- mine the application of more permanent ents pending. structures. It has deployed 14 of its 12 kW MAVs A small team from Down Under has (170 kW) across four projects and has delivered big innovation on a more por- another 200 kW in production. The tech- table platform. 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com 55

Applications & Installations Empower 8 Genesys 8K Modular Smart Home Energy Platform Developed by Empower, the Genesys 8K So how does it work? The module-level nomic edge to installers, distributors, and Modular Smart Home Energy Platform power electronics (MLPE) inverter oper- residential end users. has one key aim: to streamline the logis- ates like a microinverter and is compati- tics, shipment, and installation process ble with all modules and batteries. At the The array changer of a rooftop solar PV system. To do this, other end sits the 8K PowerHub, which Empower’s claim that the Genesys 8K the Genesys Platform strips away all com- is embedded with the smarts to handle Modular Smart Home Energy Platform plications to leave just two physical units AC energy from the solar array, enabling offers a four times SKU reduction could – the 8K PowerBridge, which is a mod- grid-feed, storage, or self-consumption. simplify and streamline logistics and ule-level fractal inverter, and the 8K Pow- By shifting from high to low voltage, and shipments, thus lowering the barriers for erHub, which is a smart energy combiner. from parallel to series connections, the smaller and younger companies to enter For installers operating in the rooftop Genesys 8K can deliver expected perfor- the PV space, in turn bringing further solar PV space, the Genesys platform mance with far fewer components. competition to the sector. means that the number of stock keeping The system is also plug- units (SKUs) required in the warehouse and-play, which means that is reduced to two, making it more afford- solar owners can simply able and less complex for companies to add storage whenever they store and supply the system. As modular are ready, and distributors technology, the Genesys 8K components can meet these needs at are designed for standard household AC very little additional cost or wiring, thereby eliminating the need for challenge. Empower claims high voltage D wiring, and thus lowering that this approach offers a balance of system costs. previously unrealized eco- ViZn Energy 9 ViZn Z20 and GS200 flow batteries The securing of multiple revenue streams U.S. flow battery developer ViZn claims ViZn adds that its Z20 and GS200 bat- is becoming a mantra as to how the that its zinc-iron flow batteries can tery systems can be deployed in hotter economics of battery storage systems meet both steady and rapid discharge climates without requiring heating, ven- stack up. But this means that the bat- demands, at low and high power. The tilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) teries themselves must be able to meet company claims the systems can be dis- features, meaning more power stored a number of demanding performance charged fully without impacting battery can be discharged and used, rather than requirements. life or efficiency. ViZn batteries can also consumed by the system itself. The ViZn be cycled multiple times a day with no flow units primarily serve commercial rest period, without affecting warranties. storage, alongside micro-grid applica- tions. With reduced risk of combus- tion, the company says its systems can be deployed “right where people need the energy: near commercial buildings, schools, hospitals, etc.” ViZn Energy batteries come with a 95% power guarantee, for up to 20 years. The array changer While flow batteries may struggle to rep- licate the rapid cost degressions expected of lithium-ion, ViZn points to a range of advantages including full charge and dis- charge capabilities, long lifetime, higher temperature operation, and safety. 56 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Applications & Installations Growatt 10 SP series charge controller Chinese inverter specialist Growatt has storage system that is anchored around allows system owners to maximize step- taken a bold step into the storage market the Growatt SP series charge control- based tariffs charging the battery during in recent months as it seeks to capital- ler and battery, available as SP 1000-S, off-peak periods and discharging during ize on the growing thirst for comprehen- SP 2000-S, and SP 3000-S. Growatt claims the peak periods of demand. sive home energy management solutions. that the system’s USP is its compatibil- According to the firm, the system can Its newest offering is a grid-tied energy ity with any grid-tied inverter, enabling increase self-consumption by up to 70%, customers with solar systems of all ages and reduce a standard electricity bill by and types to adopt this system and ben- 30%. A vital part of this system is the efit from its features, which include the inverter itself, and Growatt has rolled out opportunity to maximize self-consump- a new iteration, the 8K-11KTL3-S three- tion. As a universal storage solution, the phase string inverter, specifically for the system was designed with the growing anticipated surge in self-consumption at retrofit market in mind. In many Euro- both residential and small-scale commer- pean solar markets especially, dwindling cial level. or non-existent feed-in tariffs are mak- ing home storage solutions more attrac- The array changer tive, and Growatt believes that the best The universality of the Growatt storage way to reach these potential clients is to solution means that solar customers of all offer a battery charger and monitoring types – be they newbies to the technology platform that is compatible with exist- or legacy consumers with an old array on ing solar arrays. The P series charge con- their rooftop – can benefit from the sys- troller can support AC charging, which tem’s flexibility and ease-of-use. A dv er tisemen t

Industry & Suppliers Photo: Innolas Solutions Laser-doped selective emitter may emerge as a major trend in 2018. A green laser beam locally activates phosphorous atoms, promoting diffusion further into the cell and enhancing the doping level. Back to the front side Lasers and selective emitters: It was hyped, then more-or-less disappeared from view. The application of processes within crystalline silicon PV cell production to achieve a selective emitter architecture has seen hype and interest evaporate in the face of an evolving technology and market landscape. But the front side process may come surging back in the very near future, as lasers deliver a solar technology blast from the past. It’s certainly not the worst time to be a 2018 may very well be the year for selec- so SE remains a technology on the edge laser supplier to PV manufacturers. Some tive emitter (SE) – which can be achieved of mainstream application, rather than of the most interesting technology path- using a laser process on the cell front side. front and center – for now at least. ways for cell and module producers being “This topic of selective emitter is dis- “There is a chance for the SE wave,” taken today involve key laser processes. cussed heavily in the industry,” reports says Bamberg, “but I do not see it in par- These include half-cut and shingled mod- Frederick Bamberg, a product manager allel [to PERC].” ules, and passivated emitter rear contact with German laser equipment supplier (PERC) processes on the cell level. Even 3D-Micromac. “We regularly receive Origin story the build out of thin film technology in requests from technologists.” Selective emitter front side doping is China is looking promising for laser pro- However, Bamberg is quick to note that nothing new. A range of suppliers includ- cess suppliers. And if 2017 is the year for the industry is currently “right in the ing centrotherm, Manz, Rena and others PERC investments in cell production, middle” of the PERC investment wave, offered SE processes – employing various 58 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Industry & Suppliers techniques for the doping – going back Laser Doped Selective Emitter process to 2010. “There really was a plethora of solu- tions,” remarks Götz Fischbeck, the CEO High power Phosphorous silicate of Smart Solar Consulting and a part of green laser beam glass layer (LSG) Graphics: pv magazine/Harald Schütt pv magazine’s Insight and Investigations Source: Innolas Solutions team. “You can go about SE in so many different ways.” Methods for SE include the etch-back process, in-line diffusion doping, screen printed or inkjet applied doped inks, the oxide mask process, and ion implanta- tion. On monocystalline cells, which account for the vast majority of SE appli- cations, efficiency gains of between 0.2% Base and 0.5% have been achieved using these emitter processes. However, most recently it is Induced the laser-doped selective emitter (LDSE) doping zones process that appears to have piqued the Silicon wafer interest of cell producers. “Laser doping is the most attractive fabrication method for selective emit- ters,” argues Ernst Hartmannsgruber, front surface. Lower doping of the shal- “The highly doped areas underneath the Director of Sales and Marketing with low emitter addresses this. However, such the metal fingers enable a low contact laser equipment provider Innolas Solu- doping results in increased contact resis- resistance, [while] the lower doped areas tions. “[Particularly] when one considers tance beneath the screen-printed con- between the metal fingers show a wider the alternative of high consumable costs tacts – the metallization fingers. window for light conversion and a higher and longer production cycles involv- To solve the challenge of increased passivation efficiency,” explains Innolas’ ing wet chemistry, such as raw costs, contact resistance at the point of electron Hartmannsgruber. “Hence, a higher effi- transport, delivery, cleanup, and other collection, SE cell architecture combines ciency of the solar cell.” factors.” low emitter doping over the entire front Innolas reports that LDSE can achieve side of the crystalline silicon wafer, and an efficiency increase of 0.3%. Specifi- Inside selective emitter then more heavily doped areas located cally, the low doped emitter boosts the SE cell architecture aims at addressing directly underneath the metallization conversion of blue or UV spectrum light recombination losses seen at the cell’s grid. by the c-Si semiconductor material. Photo: Innolas Solutions The Innolas ILS-TTnx can be supplied to cell producers for selective laser doping. 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com 59

Industry & Suppliers The recent resurgence of interest, if not shallow emitter. “Back in 2010, a good Schematic figure of a selective emitter solar cell scale application, in SE solutions is itself electrical contact to a shallow emitter was linked to the PERC investment cycle. The simply not possible,” explains silver paste Screen printed finger logic flows that as back side passivation provider Heraeus’ Technology Manager (PERC) addresses recombination losses Andreas Henning. “Now it is slightly SIN layer on the rear of the cell, it then makes sense different. Silver paste has improved and for a manufacturer to turn its attention can create a contact with every industrial next to the front side. emitter. The goal of both approaches is “With the introduction of rear side to minimize surface damage.” Along- passivation in mass production, con- side these improvements in the paste, centrated losses have essentially been cell to module efficiency losses in con- moved back to the front side, namely the cepts employing SE has also played a role. Silicon wafer emitter,” says Hartmannsgruber. “An “SE improves the response in the UV advanced emitter design is necessary to part of the spectrum, the short wave- Highly doped reduce losses, which can either be the SE length range,” explains Smart Solar Con- emitter below printed or an optimized shallow emitter, which sulting’s Fischbeck. “At the cell level, you finger for best conductivity will always exhibit limitations in the con- can show that better blue light response, Low dope tact area.” but once it is encapsulated in the mod- emitter for best ule – the encapsulant and the front glass Source: Innolas Solutions light conversion Stalled application sheet – then the UV light can be filtered While PERC may very well be the driver out. The filtering may be intentional, as of SE in the near future, the reason for the it [UV light] is one of the major degrada- ter than before,” remarks Corrine Lin, delay in SE application from 2010 to today tion drivers of the polymer.” an independent PV analyst, also a part is more complex. Hartmannsgruber cites While it is not possible, or perhaps even of pv magazine’s Insight and Investiga- improvements with front side metalliza- preferable, to allow all of the UV spec- tions team. “Selective emitter does have tion technology, screen printing in par- trum to make its way to the PV cells, a chance this time around. I think it will ticular, as having “superseded” the inter- clearly progress has been made by mod- boom next year. While just a few mak- est in SE. ule makers in allowing the efficiency ers are doing it [SE] in mass produc- Earlier in this decade, SE was attrac- gains delivered by SE to flow through to tion today, in H2 2017 they will be refo- tive to cell producers as it promised to the module level. cused on R&D efforts, including selective address the problem of contacting to a “Cell to module losses must be bet- emitter.” Lin says that China’s DR Laser and Taiwan’s TSEMC are both working on Photo: Rofin SE solutions with Chinese cell produc- ers at present. She also notes that cell and module makers have improved their controls for light-induced degradation (LID), making them less likely to attempt to prevent UV spectrum penetration into the module. Challenges As potentially rosy the outlook for SE and its technology suppliers is, the pro- cess does not come without its challenges. As the highly doped parts of the wafer must align within a very small margin of error with the metallization grid, both the positioning and accuracy of the laser process, along with the consistency of the screen printing, must be exemplary. “Selective emitter is not going to fly if there is not high quality and close control of the metallization,” says Richard Hen- del, the International Sales Manager for laser supplier Coherent/Rofin. The Ger- man-based company collaborated with centrotherm for some years on SE pro- Rofin’s PowerLine L 100 SHG, for SE doping, has been sold both in centrotherm turnkey lines and also as cesses and provided the laser tooling a single tool. for the centaurus cell lines, which com- 60 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

A dv er tisemen t Photo: Rofin Left: The ‘flat top beam profile’ achieved by Rofin allows for the company to dope in a pattern most suitable for SE. Right: The c-Si pyramid surface structure should be maintained after laser doping. bined PERC and SE as far back as 2010. In mannsgruber, “but [it] requires extra pro- October 2016, Rofin was acquired by U.S. cess time for writing the fiducial marks laser supplier to the electronics industry and expertise inscribing marks with a Coherent – making the merged entity the laser diffusion process so that they can largest laser manufacturer worldwide. be detected by a high resolution camera.” Hendel says some cell lines deploy- The challenge of accurate alignment ing Rofin’s SE technology were sold and can also be met simply by increasing the installed, with Shanxi Lu’an being one of width of the SE. However this decreases the customers for whom the collabora- the low-doped areas and is therefore tion was made public. Rofin continues to unsuitable, Innolas argues. have a strong footprint in China, Hen- del says, and is working with a “hand- Laser beam shape ful” of manufacturers on the demo or Innolas also points to the unsuitability pilot phase of SE application. of a Gaussian-shaped laser beam for SE But as printing lines have continued to application. The Gaussian shape is coni- evolve, producing cells with thinner and cal and therefore has higher energy con- taller metallization fingers, reducing sil- centration in the center, which will result ver consumption and boosting efficiency, in “alveolar edges” of the laser lines, a the precision required of the laser process melting of the pyramid surface struc- has increased alongside it. ture in the middle, and an uneven dop- “Alignment is tricky,” says Heraeus’ ant concentration. Innolas says that its Andreas Henning. He completes a ‘back SE solutions use patented “mask imag- of the envelope’ calculation to demon- ing optics” to create a more suitable rect- strate the challenge: “When metallization angular laser beam shape. fingers were 80 μm in width and assum- Rofin too points to its “flat top beam ing there was a 100 μm wide SE, then the profile” as being advantageous for SE. “In whole [finger] print was still within the practice, it is such that it is very difficult SE area even if there was a 20 μm mis- to dope in the center and not already melt alignment. Now if the real print width the material,” says Rofin’s Hendel. “With is 40 μm, which is the benchmark today, a top head beam profile, you can do that then a 20 μm misalignment would result much better. A squared SE is the result, in around 50% of the finger [being] out- rather than a curve.” side of the SE area.” Whether SE will take hold in 2018 is To meet this challenge, laser process still yet to be seen, and developments SE providers have stepped up their align- with silver paste could – as they have ment accuracy. Rofin reports that its lat- in the past – potentially undermine the est generation of the PowerLine L laser business case for SE upgrades in produc- doping tool can achieve an accuracy of tion. If busbarless concepts move into the 10 μm. mainstream, that would also circumvent Innolas points to the use of fiducial SE application. marks, placed close to cell corners and What is becoming clear is that laser detected with an accuracy of 10 μm to processes in PV production are now well ensure SE and finger alignment. established and mature, meaning they’ll “This strategy lowers the requirement likely remain a part of critical processes for the pattern placement accuracy of for some time into the future. S Jona- the laser tool,” says Innolas’ Ernst Hart- than Gifford 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Industry & Suppliers Photo: Georgia Department of Economic Development Could trouble be brewing for the U.S. solar industry? New solar trade war Tariffs in PV: While tariff-free regions in Southeast Asia tackle head on the challenges that have arisen from legacy and proposed trade barriers, what becomes of Chinese and U.S. manufacturing capabilities and ambitions? What makes all sectors of the global sup- $0.37/W, $0.34/W, and $0.33/W for cells, there was no trade war limitation, hav- ply chain unstoppable even though Chi- respectively. ing cell capacities of 4.5 GW and 0.8 GW na’s installation boom has almost come to Since these MIPs are much higher respectively. As for the emerging PV hub an end? If looking at the strong demand than the price of conventional modules of Southeast Asia, the three leading coun- in tax-free regions, the answer is obvious: (around $0.37-0.38/W), mono-Si PERC tries of the region – Malaysia, Vietnam, Regions that are unaffected by the previ- modules (around $0.40/W), and n-type and Thailand – have a total of 11.5 GW of ous U.S. antidumping and countervailing high efficiency modules (above $0.55/W) cell capacity combined. Although total duties have readied for a new round of PV in the U.S., only the price of IBC mod- capacity in Southeast Asia, South Korea, trade war – the new “Section 201” in the ules with the highest efficiency can match and Singapore will reach 17 GW, the third U.S. that is on the horizon. the MIP. quarter of the year (Q3) seems to be the On April 27, Suniva, a U.S. module In addition, Section 201 may not just only safe period in which to ship products producer, filed a petition under Section target China or Taiwan, but perhaps the to the U.S., meaning that maximum ship- 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 with the U.S. entire global PV industry. The final deci- ments to the U.S. will only reach 4 GW International Trade Commission (ITC). sion on how many countries will be cov- per quarter. South Korean and South- Suniva has asked to use Section 201 as ered will ultimately determine the level east Asian manufacturers are running at “global safeguard relief” for setting up of impact of the trade war. Factories that full utilization in order to meet the lat- minimum import prices (MIPs) for non- moved to Southeast Asia in order to avoid est installation boom in the U.S. market. U.S.-made PV products. the 2012/2014 U.S.-China antidumping The proposed MIP in the first year and countervailing trade wars may find Current market status would be $0.78/W for modules and their activities are wasted efforts when In fact, ever since SolarWorld Europe $0.40/W for cells. The MIP for the sec- faced with the new trade war. filed for bankruptcy, there has been a ond, third, and fourth years would Here is a breakdown of Asian produc- vacancy for some high efficiency modules then move to $0.72/W, $0.69/W, and tion capacities: South Korea and Singa- in the U.S. and European markets. Start- $0.68/W for modules, respectively, and pore were highly reliant on the U.S., when ing from May, inquiries for non-Chinese 62 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Industry & Suppliers high efficiency modules have increased the U.S. market, capacities from South- pated that Q2 would be the quarter with significantly. Later, with the support of east Asia are mostly shipping to the U.S. the weakest demand this year, but it has Section 201, the substantial price decline too. Taiwanese manufacturers may also turned out to be the best-selling season in the U.S. module market has begun to enter the battlefield as the 2014 anti- for non-China based capacities. However, rebound. dumping and countervailing duties will from the long-term perspective, if Suni- The average trading price of conven- be lowered in late August. va’s proposal for the introduction of an tional modules has increased from the Focus two: The European market that MIP comes about and ends up covering previous quote of $0.34-0.35/W to $0.37- is about to enter peak-selling season. the global PV industry chain, the U.S. PV 0.38/W in the second half of 2017. As After SolarWorld Europe filed for insol- market, with only a few local manufac- for mono-Si PERC modules, demand vency, local manufacturers have been turing capacities, will be crushed. If that remained strong but there were barely the first to benefit. Yet, since Europe has happens, the U.S. will no longer be the any transactions due to lower capacities been the region with the highest solar world’s second largest PV demand coun- outside of China and Taiwan. It is very PV prices in the world, prices did not try, falling from its current position of difficult to get the on-hand products. fluctuate significantly despite the tight accounting for 15-16% of global demand. Such strong demand has not only capacities. Overall, no one in the industry has enabled Asian manufacturers outside of Focus three: Other markets. The dared speculate on how many countries China and Taiwan to cast aside worries emerging markets like the Middle Section 201 will cover and hopes are sim- about their order volumes for Q3, but has East and Latin America are witnessing ply that the final MIP will not double also allowed Taiwan in particular to con- increasing demand this year. That is why from the market price. tinue witnessing strong demand, even the overall utilization rate is not too low, And in a way, it does not matter what after June 30. although Chinese demand will likely the final decision for Section 201 is; man- The market will have three main areas plummet in Q3 and leave demand con- ufacturers can only plan for the worst and of focus in Q3: fined to the “Top Runner Program” and get ready for the war. What can be seen Focus one: Strong U.S. demand in Q3 the distributed generation (DG) market. is that the supply chain prices in Q3 this caused by the possible execution of Sec- To conclude all of the above, Section year will be better than expected. Prices tion 201 in late 2017. Aside from the U.S., 201 sets off a very different situation com- in the U.S. market will rise further in the European, and South Korean manufac- pared to what we have seen in previous short run due to the dwindling supply of turers that have put a lot of efforts into years. Manufacturers originally antici- cells and modules. S Corrine Lin A dv er tisemen t Gain New Perspectives with Welser in the US Thank you for visiting us at Intersolar Europe! Welser, Inc. 332 S Michigan Ave Ste 1032 #W736 Chicago, IL 60604-4434 USA [email protected] www.welser.com Anzeige_A5_210_146mm_EN.indd 2 24.05.2017 15:06:49

Industry & Suppliers Photo: JinkoSolar Thanks to its ability to achieve lower production cost through economies of scale, JinkoSolar was the largest crystalline silicon manufacturer for 2016, based on annual production figures from IHS Markit. Module maker ranking c-Si manufacturing: pv magazine partners with the team of solar analysts at IHS Markit to provide figures for the top 10 crystalline silicon module manufacturers, based on 2016 production figures, and examine the state of supply and demand for these top tier players. The global PV industry experienced the largest downstream pull-in in the ilar scenario. While analysts are predict- another exciting year in 2016, one where past five years, but demand was strong in ing a drop in demand, thanks to experi- global installations hit an enormous the first half of the year and weaker in the ence its effects should not be as profound 77.9 GW, thanks largely to a rush for second. As demand declined in H2, we as last year. “We do expect a slowdown installations in China over the first half of saw planned manufacturing expansions in Q3, and we do expect China to install the year. The shifting sands solar has seen ramp. Lower demand and more available around 4.6 GW less than it did last year,” in 2016 are reflected in the top 10 rank- manufacturing capacity led to oversup- says Karl Melkonyan, Senior Analyst for ing for c-Si module manufacturers, with ply, rapid price depreciation, and mod- Solar Research at IHS Markit. “But com- new entrants building tier-1 level capaci- ule margin pressure.” panies are prepared this time, so the ties, and a change to the company sitting effects will not be felt so strongly.” on top of the pile. China leads the way Policy support from China in other Senior Solar Analyst at GTM Research With China’s latest FIT cut taking effect areas should also serve to reduce the Jade Jones comments, “2016 was such an from the end of June 2017, much of the effect of the 2017 FIT cut, with the interesting year in PV. The market saw industry has been bracing itself for a sim- extended Top Runner Program and PV 64 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Industry & Suppliers poverty alleviation projects supporting tion sources including cheap natural gas up capacity expansions with no demand demand over the second half of the year. also looks to be driving a boom in utility- for them to serve. Consequently, ana- The effect of China’s demand fluctua- scale projects. While analysts say the U.S. lysts expect a slower rate of increase this tions on the module supply landscape as is unlikely to match 2016’s figures again year. “There was a healthy amount of well as the fact that nine of the 10 larg- this year, installations could remain high. capacity additions in 2016, with around est c-Si module suppliers are Chinese “We expect the U.S. to install around 4 29 GW of module capacity added glob- companies demonstrate how dominant GW less this year than in 2016,” com- ally,” notes Jade Jones. “Additions are China has become in PV. “Solar is really ments Melkonyan. “Although compa- expected to decline in 2017 due to the dependent on China,” says Melkonyan. nies will need to consider new develop- outlook for global demand growth and “It now represents more than one third ments with the Suniva case.” the amount of excess supply in the mar- of global installations, so changes in its Figures from trade body SolarPower ket. Right now we are tracking around policy have a profound effect.” Europe show that demand on the conti- 14 GW net global module capacity growth nent fell by 20% from 8.6 GW installed in 2017, with some suppliers choosing to Other markets in 2015 to 6.9 GW in 2016. Several of the add internal capacity because they are Outside of China, the U.S. government’s markets within Europe have reduced expecting shipments to grow YoY.” decision in 2016 to extend its Solar Invest- policy support for solar and seen growth As the graph (see p. 72) shows, several ment Tax Credit (ITC) was another pol- slow. The Japanese market also slowed in manufacturers posted low utilization icy with far reaching effects for the tier-1 2016, with a shift away from utility-scale. rates in 2016, thanks largely to underes- makers. The credit allows owners of Falling demand in these markets timating the effect of China’s FIT cut on solar systems to claim a tax break of up was more than compensated for by the global demand. While analysts expect to 30% on their PV investment. The ITC growth seen elsewhere, making 2016 the rate of capacity expansion to halve is now extended until 2021, and projects the biggest year on record for global PV YoY, several of the tier-1 manufactur- may still be able to qualify if grid-con- demand. As well as China and the U.S., ers do have major expansions planned nected by the end of 2023. Although pos- India is chasing a huge installation tar- even in this time of overcapacity. “Some itive for solar in the long run, the exten- get, adding more than 4 GW in 2016, plan to expand in order to increase mar- sion removed the need for projects to be with more than 8 GW expected for 2017 – ket share and reduce production costs completed quickly, and so reduced U.S. meaning it would take Japan’s place as the through scale,” states Melkonyan. “For demand for modules in the short term. world’s third largest PV market. Growth others it could simply be the case that In spite of this, the U.S. still man- in PV is expected to continue, albeit at a investment has already been made and aged to install a record breaking 16 GW slower rate than the boom seen in 2016. the expansion cannot be abandoned.” in 2016, almost doubling the 8.4 GW it “We expect demand to grow at an annu- In 2016, the trend for expanding capac- added in 2015 and making solar respon- alized rate of 6% in the next five years,” ities outside of China also continued, sible for the largest share – around 39% – says GTM’s Jade Jones. as the top tier (Chinese) manufactur- of new capcacity to come online. While ers looked to secure tariff free access to the ITC is still cited as the main cause for Capacity add-ons U.S. and European markets. “We contin- the impressive increase, solar’s increasing One effect of China’s 2016 FIT cut was ued to see suppliers scale internal tariff- cost competitiveness with other genera- to leave many module makers ramping free manufacturing capacity,” says Jones, A dv er tisemen t

Industry & Suppliers Graphic: pv magazine/Harald Schütt Top ten crystalline PV module manufacturers 2016 4,000 5,276 6,000 6,500 8,000 8,600 does appear to have been able to pay off some debts and reduce its losses in recent Manufacturer Year Megawatts 2,000 months, conditions are still challenging. 2017 “On top of the company’s ability to 1. Jinko Solar resolve debts, Yingli Solar is facing tough 2016 market conditions,” says GTM’s Jade 2017 6,400 Jones. “Excess supply and low prices are 2. Trina Solar 6,000 putting a lot of pressure on margins, and 2016 5,142 global demand growth will be moderate 2017 6,150 at best in the next few years. The mar- 3. JA Solar 5,650 2016 ket has seen the rise and fall of major PV 4,509 manufacturers before, and current mar- 4. Canadian 2017 6,970 ket conditions would not make a recov- Solar 2016 6,170 ery easy.” 4,282 While Chinese companies look set to 5. Hanwha 2017 6,150 continue to dominate module manufac- Q CELLS 2016 5,700 turing for the foreseeable future, South 4,231 Korea’s Hanwha Q Cells has quickly 6. GCLSI 2017 5,000 grown into a major player in module (incl. Chaori) 2016 3,750 manufacturing, and looks set to stay 3,503 there. “They are the leading cell manufac- 7. Yingli Green 2017 4,000 turer,” says IHS’ Melkonyan. “This puts Energy 2016 4,000 them in a very strong position.” 2,078 China’s JA Solar was also able to jump 8. Suntech 2017 2,400 up a couple of places in this year’s rank- Power 2016 2,400 The ranking positions are based on ing, having increased its shipments by 1,862 2016 production data. 25% YoY in 2016 to 5.2 GW. The larg- 9. Xi‘an 2017 4,500 Estimated capacity at year-end est manufacturer of 2015, Trina Solar, Longi Silicon 2,440 Capacity at year-end dropped to second place having faced Materials 2016 1,853 Production headwinds in the third quarter. Capacity and production data based 10. Risen 2017 2,200 on company announcements and IHS Energy 2016 3,100 estimation. Technology trends 1,607 Source: Company Announcements and IHS The rise of monocrystalline silicon prod- ucts has been well documented in the past couple of years, as manufacturers “and rely on that supply to ship to regions ing year. “The reason for this is scale – continue their quest for higher efficien- like the EU and U.S. where tariff barriers JinkoSolar is a bit different. Customers cies. While multicrystalline modules remain and regional prices have fallen.” of such large companies buy in volume, still account for the larger market share, This trend could now prove short-lived, allowing them to produce at lower costs,” mono products have increased in recent as estimates show manufacturers now says Melkonyan. “Their business model is years, thanks to investments in PERC have sufficient capacities outside of China strong. If you have just a few customers production, which is still virtually all to supply the markets hampered by tariffs buying 500 MW each, you are sold out in monocrystalline silicon. “We saw major on Chinese imports, and in any case, the a few steps and you know what to expect.” suppliers start to meaningfully scale high fastest growing markets are now located JinkoSolar’s success looks to be carry- efficiency capacity, largely variations of elsewhere. “We may see some more addi- ing on into 2017, where in Q1 it became PERC and p-type mono products in tional capacity in Thailand, Malaysia, and the first company ever to ship 2 GW of 2016,” comments GTM’s Jones. other Southeast Asian nations, as manu- modules in a single quarter, and expects The entry of Longi Silicon Materials, facturers compete for market share” says to break this record again in Q2. When which produces only monocrystalline Melkonyan. “But a lot of cell capacity is you look back over manufacturing fig- modules, into the top 10 ranking is a sure being installed in China in 2017, and we ures for previous years, however, it sign of the shift. “Mono will continue to expect that a lot of module production becomes apparent that number one may grow for the next few years at least,” Mel- will also return there over the next two not be the most comfortable position. konyan explains. “In 2016 it was 29% of years.” Having occupied the top spot in 2014, the market, and we expect to see growth Yingli is now hanging on in seventh to 37% in 2020. This is linked to the strong Top of the pile place, with many surprised to see it still increase in PERC production.” Most tier Placed fourth in the 2015 ranking, China’s among the top 10 manufacturers at all. 1 manufacturers also stated at Intersolar JinkoSolar overtook several of its rivals to Having struggled to bring its utilization Europe that mono PERC products are claim the number one spot for 2016, and rate above 50% in 2016, the company “fully booked for the rest of 2017.” given its plans for capacity expansion, it formed a special committee to resolve its Once again, Chinese policy decisions seems likely to remain there for the com- debt issues earlier this year, and while it are a key driver behind this develop- 66 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Industry & Suppliers ment. The Top Runner Program, under which several gigawatts of capacity have already been built, and another 10 GW Photo: Trina Solar could be built in 2017, has pushed manu- facturers toward mono-PERC thanks to its requirements for efficiency in modules as well as other components. Demand for high efficiency in other markets (e.g. space-strapped Japan & Tai- wan) is also a driver for mono, as well as manufacturers looking to compete with each other on quality and efficiency. “Generally, we are seeing suppli- ers scaling high efficiency capacity at a much more aggressive rate compared to what has been added historically,” says Jade Jones. “This is in part a reaction to competitors, but there has been strong demand for mono products globally.” For now, mono PERC looks like the technology to watch. However, other Having been the largest cSi module manufacturer in 2015, Trina Solar was pushed into second place last technologies on the horizon could easily year amid challenging market conditions for all producers. disrupt this. “We have seen a strong increase for the line you could have heterojunction Given the ongoing issues with overcapac- mono PERC,” states IHS’ Melkonyan. and IBC cells as well.” In 2017, IHS Markit ity, shifting policy support, and trade tar- “But also developments elsewhere: A is predicting total global solar installa- iffs, it is sure to be another non-stop year solution to the LID problem could bring tions to reach 79 GW, a modest increase for the solar industry. S a resurgence in multi, and further down on the previous year’s impressive figures. Mark Hutchins A dv er tisemen t

Industry & Suppliers Photos: Ecosummit Ecosummit is a series of events at locations across Europe, aimed at bringing startup companies in the cleantech sector together with investors to facilitate new innovations in the sector. Climate for innovation European cleantech startups: While the cleantech and renewable energy industries enjoy an undeniably global presence in 2017, Europe remains an important center for innovation, and the first testing ground for many new technologies. pv magazine takes a look at the role of startups in the energy transition, and the current climate for young companies on the continent. Solar PV, and the entire renewable energy in startup companies in 2016. “The next “Startups are very good at developing new industry, has grown quickly from a little- step is to create an overall energy system, technologies and commercializing inno- known area of innovation into a well-estab- including demand side, and including vation. However, what is really needed is lished sector that generates a significant new consumption sources such as trans- successful startups able to bring their portion of the world’s energy supply. For portation, heat, and cooling. You need innovation to the global mass market.” the share of renewables to keep on growing to make sure this new system works in a While other regions have overtaken it in this way, major changes will have to be harmonized, stable way.” in terms of production and deployment of made to the entire energy infrastructure, At Ecosummit Berlin 2017, part of a renewables, some still looks to Europe for and a whole crop of young startup com- series of events across Europe where the latest technological trends and inno- panies is working on the innovations that startups and the investors who fund them vations. “The European smart green eco- will make this much talked about transi- pitch business plans and build relation- system is more advanced nowadays than tion into a reality. ships, the appetite for these technolo- it used to be,” continues Hess. “Startups, gies among startups was clear, with vari- investors, and corporates in Europe are New energy system ous companies pitching solutions focused in a strong position to create global lead- “We believe that over the next 20-50 on leveraging data in energy generation, ers in cleantech and renewable energy. I years a new energy system is going to as well as innovative new technologies think all players have to work together a be built, the infrastructure is going to and business models to provide a further lot more to make it happen.” be more than 50% renewable genera- boost to the cleantech industry. tion,” says Felix Zhang, Executive Direc- “The global energy transition needs Software overload tor at Shanghai-based Envision Group, innovation,” explains Ecosummit Based on the pitches presented at Eco- which invested more than $150 million Founder and CEO Jan Michael Hess. summit, it’s clear that software applica- 68 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Industry & Suppliers tions for energy management represent able energy installations. Where penetra- big opportunities in the funding and the largest area for innovation among the tion is going up to 15-20%, there are dif- fast growth that can come from work- current crop of cleantech startups. “Soft- ferent issues which companies have to ing with a big corporate entity. “I see a ware startups promise to be capital effi- tackle,” says Felix Zhang. “We see a lot of lot of programs these days which aim to cient and fast scaling,” observes Hess. innovations coming out of Germany, and bring startups and corporates together, “This is what investors like very much.” we want to be the bridge to allow what’s and that’s a good thing,” says Device- The focus on software is also evident happening there to be a good example for Pilot’s Pilgrim Beart. “It’s usually very in Envision Energy’s strategy, which China and the rest of the world. We like hard for startups to engage successfully has developed the Energy IoT platform to participate, we like to incubate, and with corporates, because corporates have EnOS, to improve synergies between sec- we like to integrate what is happening become very good at optimizing for the tors and provide a secure platform for a in Germany with our vision for the new next quarter’s revenue, and innovation complex, decentralized energy system. energy system.” tends to threaten that.” “The enabler behind it all is data,” says The Chinese firm looks to facilitate Similar to other players in the fast Felix Zhang. “The platform is trying to new innovations by bringing stakehold- moving cleantech space, Beart is keen connect from generation, to transporta- ers together, and is setting up its ‘Entopia’ to emphasize the importance of work- tion, to energy efficiencies.” vision as a platform to achieve this. “With ing alongside other stakeholders. “Our A serial entrepreneur in connected Entopia, we want to make sure that there approach is very collaborative with both products, Pilgrim Beart, CEO at technol- is a connection between financial insti- our customers and our partners – in a ogy startup DevicePilot – which recently tutions and new technologies,” Zhang growing ecosystem it’s vital that we all launched a platform for managing con- continues. “Where capital markets don’t work together to ensure that our parts nected devices, including energy assets understand new innovations, their risk all fit together well, and there’s lots we – also notes the importance of software rating is relatively high. We want to can do together to help educate the mar- applications in the ‘new’ energy system. ensure that the lowest cost for capital can ket and learn – sometimes this is called “Companies deploying connected energy be provided for those technologies.” ‘Co-opetition.’” such as demand response, grid-edge So, despite appearing left behind in energy storage, home heating, etc., are Working together some sections of the cleantech indus- DevicePilot’s core market,” states Beart. Partnerships between startups and more try, Europe seems set to remain at the “Because (a) there is so much change hap- established players have become the most forefront of the dramatic new inno- pening in that market, and (b) it’s a mar- common method for bringing new tech- vations driving the energy transition, ket where companies really care about nologies into the mainstream market. and it remains to be seen whether other whether their products are working, “Startups need corporates and corpo- regions, in particular the U.S. will step because that is directly tied to metrics rates need startups,” states Jan Michael up to compete. “In the past century, it like available capacity, which in turn is Hess. “This insight is now commonplace has sometimes seemed that Europe is the tied to revenue.” among many on both sides. A lot more ‘old man’ of the world, backward looking, corporates have started venturing activ- and the U.S. the young challenger, creat- Playground for innovation ities, which is very positive for startups ing the future,” comments Pilgrim Beart. Envision Energy also sees Europe, and who know that corporates are interested “However, in terms of cleantech this pic- Germany in particular, as leaders in the in their innovations.” ture has been largely reversed. I hope that energy transition and the player to watch Although this norm does leave much of the U.S. will still play a big part – a com- in terms of new innovations. “If you look the riskier, early stage innovations solely petitive race to be green is the kind of at Germany, it’s at the forefront of renew- to the startups, many entrepreneurs see dynamic we need.” S Mark Hutchins Envision Energy’s Felix Zhang on stage with Jan Michael Hess at the recent Ecosummit founder Jan Michael Hess gives the opening speech at the event Ecosummit Berlin 2017. in central Berlin. 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com 69

Financial & Legal Affairs Photo: Sam Valadi/Flickr Bull run: As Trina Solar delists from the New York Stock Exchange, what does it say about Chinese solar firms’ relationship with the U.S. and, more importantly, ambitions in China? When the levee breaks Solar and delisting: Trina Solar’s departure from the NYSE could signal a wave of solar firms leaving U.S. stock markets. But many uncertainties remain. As if to complete the USA’s isolation from something about the state of solar man- understand, if they don’t already. The the global renewable energy industry, the ufacturing in the U.S. Chinese are doubling down on their world’s second-largest solar manufac- Tight margins and heavy competition global leadership and market growth in THE SCHLETTER GROUP COMMITTED TO turer Trina Solar has delisted from a U.S. – conditions to some extent put in place the solar industry. stock market, as part of a plan to relist on by Chinese government involvement – “The collapse in market caps and the SOLAR MOUNTING SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE. a stock market in mainland China. It is have set up the scenario for a potential constant up and down of the industry estimated that as many as 11 U.S.-listed second rush of Chinese firms to leave the and the cyclicality and the deteriora- The Schletter Group has been delivering top-quality solar mounting solutions for more solar firms could follow suit. U.S. market and head back home. Some tion of margins is all well known,” said than 30 years. Today we are amongst the most sought-after suppliers worldwide, and With the Donald Trump White House of this is the result of margins in the solar Andy Klump. As VP of Business Devel- we design, ship and mount photovoltaic systems all over the globe. We consolidate pulling out of the Paris Accord and roll- manufacturing industry that are not only opment at Trina Solar, Klump was on the development expertise, German engineering, a passion for innovation and materials ing back Obama-era environmental pol- tight but volatile, as Greentech Media team that led the firm’s listing on the New selected with the utmost care to produce top-class products which set the standards. icy, a few small cap Chinese solar makers pointed out in a 2014 report. York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2006. He does not seem like much to wring hands It also shines a light on the operation is now the CEO and Founder of Clean over, and from some perspectives it isn’t. of Chinese securities markets, which Energy Associates (CEA), a Shanghai- But the potential for a mass exodus says renewables investors would do well to based quality assurance firm. “Being on TRADITION INNOVATION 70 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com QUALITY www.schletter-group.com

Financial & Legal Affairs tially (increasing by 47.3% to $177 mil- AT A glAnce lion), along with R&D spending ($34 million). • The delisting of Chinese solar firm Photo: Wolfgang Staudt/Flickr Trina Solar from the NYSE could spark Tough at the top a rush of similar decisions as China There is little question that Trina Solar’s looks to double down on its PV market leadership. move will be closely watched, but the firm • Current market leader JinkoSolar is no longer the market leader it once was. is another company that may be In 2017, Trina Solar slipped to second tempted to head homeward bound place in the annual ranking of solar mod- should Trina’s move prove fruitful. ule manufacturers by volume shipped. • Fellow Chinese heavyweight JA Solar Jinko Solar, another integrated Chinese has also recently announced similar manufacturer that makes both modules plans to delist from the NYSE and relist in China. and wafers, beat it out, shipping 6.6 to • Solar firms had been hoping to fol- 6.7 GW of solar PV modules, compared low in the footsteps of Focus Media, to Trina’s 6.3 to 6.5 GW. a Chinese ad tech company that saw A report by GlobalData emphasizes a fivefold increase in its valuation “Jinko Solar’s efforts to expand across a after relisting on the Shenzhen stock large and geographically diversified cus- exchange. • However, do conditions in China cur- tomer base” and “its innovative, high rently make relisting a viable option in quality solar products.” Jinko Solar has the long term for solar firms? also traditionally been known as the low cost producer among top PV makers. Both geographic expansion and main- a Chinese exchange allows you to raise taining a technological edge in solar cash and be in a much better position,” manufacturing are capital-hungry prop- he says. ositions, which helps explain why Trina Trina Solar’s position as one of the Solar is looking for a short path to more world’s largest makers of solar panels enthusiastic capital markets. makes this move all the more signifi- “It is really Trina Solar that is lead- cant. The company reported $741 mil- ing the way,” says Jade Jones, an analyst The financial might of Shanghai is inescapable, as lion in sales in the third quarter of 2016, with GTM Research. “It really seems if is China’s solar dominance. its final quarter for reporting financials they’re successful and other suppliers on a U.S. market, before delisting from think it was fruitful it may create a path top, or mire it down among a crowd of the NYSE in March. for others.” lesser players. “We will certainly go pub- It also comes at a challenging time for To get back into the top spot, Trina lic again and our preference is to list in the company. Trina Solar’s Q3 2016 num- Solar will need to pull ahead techno- a China market,” Trina Solar CEO Jifan bers represented a drop from the third logically and continue to grab for mar- Gao told the South China Morning Post quarter of 2015, and a miss below its own ket growth. The move to relist in China in March, soon after it delisted. guidance. Over the full year 2015, Trina is seen as a risky fundraise-through- “Why? Because we are a leading enter- Solar reported $3.04 billion in revenue, arbitrage that will either raise the capital prise with a global strategy and funding with operating income rising substan- Trina Solar needs to push it back to the needs for development.” A dv er tisemen t THE SCHLETTER GROUP COMMITTED TO SOLAR MOUNTING SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE. The Schletter Group has been delivering top-quality solar mounting solutions for more than 30 years. Today we are amongst the most sought-after suppliers worldwide, and we design, ship and mount photovoltaic systems all over the globe. We consolidate development expertise, German engineering, a passion for innovation and materials selected with the utmost care to produce top-class products which set the standards. TRADITION INNOVATION www.schletter-group.com QUALITY

Financial & Legal Affairs Homeward bound The largest solar firms by shipment Beyond solar’s borders, 2015 was a big year for Chinese companies: 33 U.S.-listed Rank Name GW Location of headquarters & primary manufacturing Chinese firms announced plans to delist 1. Jinko Solar 6.6 to 6.7 China that year, according to a Bloomberg New 2. Trina Solar 6.3 to 6.5 China Energy Finance (BNEF) report published 3. Canadian Solar 5.0 to 5.1 Canada, China at the end of March. It has been success- 4. JA Solar 4.9 to 5.0 China ful – for at least one company, anyway. 5. Hanwha Q Cells 4.8 to 5.0 South Korea, China, Malaysia Focus Media, a Chinese ad tech firm, rel- 6. GCL 4.6 to 5.0 China isted on the Shenzhen stock exchange at 7. First Solar 2.8 to 2.9 United States, Malaysia a $14 billion valuation, a sum that is five times the valuation of $2.8 billion that it sic arbitrage, but other firms have found ing, in which a firm merges with a listed left behind when it delisted from the Nas- that it is not as easy as Focus Media made company). daq in New York. it look. For one thing, mainland Chinese What of the 33 firms that announced “Very simply the reason for that is stock markets have fallen from the heady plans to relist? As of March 2017, 67% of because of Chinese currency controls. highs they reached in 2015, when Focus those relistings are complete; 15% have You don’t have the ability to sell your went through with its relisting on the withdrawn; and 18% are pending, accord- asset in China and then move your Shenzhen stock market. ing to a BNEF report. The intervening money to buy the cheap asset somewhere For another, China’s securities regu- two years have not seen a second wave else,” says Fraser Howie, coauthor of Red lator, the China Securities Regulatory of relistings. Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foun- Commission (CSRC), is not timid about For solar firms, the picture may be a lit- dation of China’s Extraordinary Rise. putting its thumb on the market scale. tle different. Two factors make the solar “That wall of currency walls off the two The CSRC has begun to frown on what industry a special place for relisting on pools of capital. There are large amounts regulators now see as an opportunistic China mainland stock markets. One is of liquidity in China, and limited invest- practice. the low margins and high capital expense ment opportunities.” The requirements for relisting a com- of the industry. Buy back company stock on the cheap pany have become more stringent, Intense competition, fueled in part by in the U.S., then sell it to Chinese inves- whether via IPO or reverse takeover attractive Chinese incentive programs tors at a premium – it sounds like clas- (sometimes known as a back-door list- and cheap lending available from state- owned banks, has eaten into solar man- ufacturing profits. That has not relaxed Photo: Trina Solar solar manufacturers’ need for capital in order to invest in research and develop- ment, because without it they risk fall- ing behind. In this context, a higher stock valuation can be an acute competitive advantage. Taking stock The other factor is market visibility. List- ing on the NYSE or the Nasdaq once gave Chinese solar makers a brand-rec- ognition boost among U.S. and European buyers of solar panels. That incentive to list far from home has worn off as China’s solar power market has surged ahead of both regions. In 2016, China more than doubled its solar pho- tovoltaic installed capacity, according to figures from the National Energy Admin- istration (NEA) of China, contributing to it becoming the largest solar energy pro- ducer in the world. Chinese solar firms may be looking for the added brand boost that they can generate in their own back- yard, which over the past couple of years has become their most important mar- ket geography. Trina Solar Chairperson and CEO Jifan Gao has overseen the company’s delisting from the NYSE, and Out of all the 33 firms that have has since revealed that the intention is to take Trina Solar public again in China. announced plans to relist in China, just 72 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Financial & Legal Affairs two are solar manufacturers: Trina Solar Another factor to bear in mind is solar into the market and Klump believes that and JA Solar. Eleven Chinese solar firms, PV technology. Passivated emitter rear still more will emerge. Meanwhile, econ- including those two, have gone public on contact (PERC) cell designs have emerged omies of scale do exist, but only up to a U.S. exchanges since 2005. as the technology of choice for a large and point. One of them, Solarfun, was acquired by growing proportion of solar manufactur- “It is hard when someone is at eight Hanwha (now Hanwha Q Cells) in 2010. ers – a trend that started in 2014. gigawatts to get a real economy of scale JA Solar and the other nine are certainly According to Klump, Trina Solar’s going into 15 gigawatts,” Klump says. “So watching Trina Solar’s movements with competitors have invested heavily and you have a lot of players that are five giga- a keen eye. confidently in new PERC technology, watts and they are just kind of chomp- Solar analysts caution that if Trina while Trina Solar simply hasn’t kept pace ing on each others’ backs, but you won’t Solar is successful in its strategy, then it with the rest of the industry on PERC. have someone that will consolidate to get could well precipitate a second wave of “It’s going to be very competitive for the to 15 MW.” relistings, this time concentrated in the next year or two and Trina Solar has lost If Klump is right about the narrow like- solar industry. some of the cachet they’ve had in the lihood of consolidation, then Trina Solar JA Solar, which announced its inten- past,” he explains. is playing the relisting arbitrage game in tions before Trina Solar, has suf- Looking at the sector’s low margins, order to get itself into a better position fered delays. In June, at last, the firm high R&D costs and wild volatility, one to continue the attritional game of duk- announced a take-private acquisition might think the solar manufacturing ing it out on an incessantly grueling field proposal. industry is ripe for consolidation. That of play. Given that even their prospect of But Trina Solar may face a special chal- has not yet happened, largely because of relisting is uncertain, it is hard to predict lenge. The company is in the midst of a two factors, Klump says: lack of barriers how the outcome will look, especially in streamlining that will help it maintain to entry, and lack of meaningful econo- this particular sport. profitability, which the CSRC looks on mies of scale. “Almost anything in China is never favorably, according to Andy Klump. “A lot of people will expect that a con- what it appears,” says Howie, the Chi- It is going to be hard for Trina Solar to solidation will happen really soon. I nese capital markets expert, “and this is keep up on technology while it tries to think consolidation is a little further out certainly the case in the solar industry in boost profits, especially since the firm has and the space will still be fragmented,” particular.” S already fallen behind its competition. states Klump. New entrants have come Galen Moore A dv er tisemen t Be part of the energy transition August 8-10, 2017 SAN DIEGO, CA REGISTER NOW! Join the conversation shaping North America’s grid LEARN MORE www.esnaexpo.com 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com 73 FILE NAME STR_11 ESNA_PVworld_183x124mm_A.pdf LIVE — PUBLICATION PV World CLIENT Energy Storage North America TRIM 183x124mm PUB DATE — JOB# STR_11 BLEED — DUE April 19, 2017 DESCRIPTION PV World - half page horizontal SCALE 100% FORMAT PDF - Press Quality LAST MODIFIED April 17, 2017 COLOR CMYK PREPARED BY Gabe Ruane 415-944-0470 [email protected] www.rangecfb.com

Financial & Legal Affairs Photos: Josephine Thomas/Christie Walk Small but powerful: This little rooftop array in South Australia is setting a powerful precedent regarding the significance of solar data in establishing the right to solar access. Fight for your right to sunshine The right to solar access: An ecologically friendly community in Australia was to have its solar array severely shaded by a proposed neighboring development. Rather than standing by, the community fought back in a case that highlights the importance of the right to solar access that will likely increase in importance as solar penetration levels continue to head upwards around the globe. A 1.25 kW rooftop array is small fry in communal facilities, a rooftop garden, installed. “It’s not a huge system, but we today’s gigawatt-scale solar industry. and community veggie patch are meet- don’t have huge electricity needs,” says However, one particular rooftop system ing points for the community. Thomas. Speaking of the curved roof, in southern Australia may prove a big “It’s a unique development in that it she notes: “It was really challenging to deal in the wider discussion about the is central Adelaide,” describes Thomas. put anything up there.” right to sunlight. “Many ecologically minded develop- Josephine Thomas is a medical doc- ments sprawl out to maximize solar gains, Neighbor throws shade tor and university lecturer in the state but we are very compact on a rather unfa- Given these challenges, and with the of South Australia’s capital city Ade- vorable block in the middle of the city.” importance that the Christie Walk com- laide. Her straw-bale home is a part of In keeping with the development’s eco- munity places on low environmental the Christie Walk ecological cohous- living ethos, both apartment blocks, the impact living, when a property developer ing development in Adelaide’s pictur- townhouses, and the free standing straw- unveiled plans for a four-story apartment esque city center. Christie Walk consists bale homes all feature solar PV and hot block next door Thomas and other resi- of Thomas’s home and two apartment water systems. Given the limited space dents were concerned. blocks, in total 27 dwellings across 1,000 and curved corrugated iron roof on “The initial plan was for a four story square meters. It’s home for around 40 Thomas’s home, 205 W high efficiency block, very standard construction maxi- people. Alongside the residential spaces, Sanyo (now Panasonic) PV modules were mizing the internal space and going up. 74 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Financial & Legal Affairs Four stories don’t sound excessive but the case was referred to the Council’s the surrounding properties are two sto- independent Development Assessment ries, as is my home and the garden, and Panel (DAP), which adjudicates on such that is why we ended up embroiled in this matters. Image: Lumen Studio/Julian Rutt dispute.” The dispute Thomas refers to relates to PV power the shading that the proposed apartment Thomas and the Christie Walk commu- block next door would cast on her solar nity built a case to take before the DAP. PV, solar thermal hot water, and the com- While things like amenities and aesthet- munal garden at the rear of her house. ics may be tricky to prove in a formal “We went to [Adelaide City] Council to setting, solar PV produces data along- oppose the development on the basis of side electrons, meaning that the shading A 3D model created by architect Julian Rutt was the overshadowing and because the new of her rooftop system became an impor- able to demonstrate the extent of the shading. block would not be in keeping with the tant part of the community’s case against streetscape.” the developer’s proposal. diagram (above) shows the PV modules, The Council’s Planning Officer ini- Local architect Julian Rutt, from firm marked in red, are heavily shaded by the tially reviewed the development applica- Lumen Studio, produced some 3D mod- neighboring block. tion and advised that it be given the go- eling to help quantify the shading of To translate this modeling into elec- ahead. Once Thomas and the Christie the Christie Walk property, and Thom- tricity production data, Thomas turned Walk community voiced their objections, as’s rooftop array. The resulting shadow to a solar professional – Sandy Pulsford with The Solar Project, Adelaide. Puls- ford looked back through the inverter log, analyzed the impact of the shad- ing, and came to the conclusion that the array’s daily generation would be reduced by 36%. On an average day, the system produces 5.3 kWh, with that increasing to 7.3 kWh in peak summer. While the impact on the PV was severe, the solar- thermal system’s performance was to be devastated. Pulsford was able to calculate that the solar hot water system would go from meeting 85% of Thomas’s needs, to a mere 6%. Armed with this information, the Christie Walk group were able to make a compelling case at the adjudicating hear- ing, even avoiding having to fork out for a lawyer by representing themselves at the hearing. “The [DAP] commissioner was very reasonable,” explains Thomas. When it came to a final decision, the development application, as it stood, was declined. This was subsequently appealed to a higher court, and for a second time, the development application was turned down. “I feel like the process has won,” says Thomas. “It has been effective in protect- ing our small solar array, [and] the [solar] hot water to some extent. But the garden is the big loser.” A new plan for development has been submitted, with the fourth story now being set back from the property border, minimizing the shading of the PV array. The plan of the Christie Walk eco-community, with a previous proposal for an adjacent development adjacent. 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com 75

Financial & Legal Affairs The garden, as Thomas notes, will still be shaded to a large extent. Growing issue The right to protect an existing PV asset clearly played a role in the Christie Walk case in South Australia. And the wider issue as to how the future production of such assets can be protected in the years to come is one that is rapidly emerging in Australia. With high electricity prices, subsidized rooftop systems, abundant sunshine, and home ownership commonplace, Austra- lia has the highest residential rooftop PV penetration globally. In some states as many as a quarter of all households sport a PV array. And while the system on Thomas’s home is only small, average residential installation sizes today are around 5 kW. “We’ve seen lots of examples where solar access comes up,” says Australian Solar Council CEO John Grimes. “The While the approval process, and subsequent appeal, demonstrated the importance of protecting PV way that it is dealt with in Australia is not assets’ access to sunlight, the community garden will not be spared from shading. uniform and usually falls to local coun- cils – the third tier of government.” in parts of the country such as the Aus- versity of Adelaide’s Adrian Bradbrook The Australian Solar Council (ASC) tralian Capital Territory, where every investigated solar access in a paper pub- reports that some similar cases have new development has what he describes lished in an edition of the Western Aus- emerged in recent months and that it as “mandated solar access rights.” tralian Law Review, way back in 1983. is currently working to develop a set of “Heights of fences and a whole range Bradbrook, a legal scholar, was specifi- principles that will guide its advocacy of of things come into play when a develop- cally addressing solar thermal systems solar consumers in the future. Grimes ment is accessed, [in light of] maximiz- for domestic hot water production; how- notes that there have been some promis- ing solar access.” Legally, solar access ever, the principles apply equally to PV. ing developments regarding solar access remains very much a gray area. The Uni- While more than 30 years have passed since Bradbrook’s publication, very little has changed. In his journal article Brad- brook sets out that the only legal remedy for an occasion where a neighbor shades “solar collector panels” in Australia is under common law, whereby a com- plainant could apply under the principle of public nuisance. The exception to this is, as John Grimes from the ASC indi- cates, is the Australian Capital Territory. The principle of public nuisance is only applicable in the case of solar access on the basis that “particular” or “spe- cial” damage can be proven to the indi- vidual, above and beyond that to which the development may subject the general public. Essentially, the affected individ- ual, home, or business must demonstrate that the shading impacts them above and beyond any repercussions to the wider population. In the case of Thomas and the Christie Walk community, material “particular” or “special” damage could be Transparent modules provide lighting to a stairwell in one of the larger Christie Walk buildings, while proven, by way of the solar PV produc- delivering revenue to the strata. tion data and its forecast decline. 76 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

A dv er tisemen t “We were able to quantify the [PV] production,” explains Thomas, “and that makes for good evidence. We gave them three years of data and the shadow modeling. It’s pretty amaz- ing from that perspective. It’s a small PV array, but it still stood up in court.” The way forward Looking to the future, it is highly likely that cases like the Chris- tie Walk community and Jo Thomas’s house will become more common. The University of Western Australia’s Alex Gardner said that University of Adelaide’s Professor Adrian Bradbrook remains the lead legal author in the field in Australia, and he believes that it is a “potentially huge issue” in Australian cities. “We have a very high uptake of rooftop solar panels and, so far as I’m aware, almost no legal protection of solar access rights,” says Gardner. The Australian Solar Council is moving forward with its establishment of principals for such cases, however, CEO Grimes is charting a diplomatic course for the organization in relation to solar access. “Solar system rights trump develop- ment rights in every case? You can’t say that,” says Grimes. “It is a bit messy and will stay messy in the future. It does have to be assessed as to whether solar system rights trump develop- ment rights,” he notes. The ASC chief reports that he is aware of three or four cases similar to the Christie Walk community’s in Australia and that he too expects more to come. The power of the solar data came to the fore in the particular case of Jo Thomas’s rooftop. How- ever, the community garden was not spared from shading in the new application for development. Thomas reports that the developer himself has struck a much more conciliatory tone with his second development application, and has indicated he is willing to work with the Christie Walk community, rather than incur costly legal fees. S Jonathan Gifford 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Storage & Smart Grids Photo: Powin Energy In today’s high-tech world, we are surrounded by lithium-ion batteries. However, the size of batteries required for stationary storage and the type of cells used present unique safety challenges for developers. Playing it safe Lithium-ion batteries and fire safety: Lithium-ion batteries are taking the market by storm. But as demonstrated in incidents with tablets and other devices, they also carry the risk of uncontrolled thermal events. How much of a danger is this, and what can be done to mitigate these risks? Through the magic of the Internet, any- ficult to put out. The susceptibility of cer- For both mass deployment and con- one with a wireless connection can see a tain battery chemistries to thermal run- cerns about thermal runaway, we are battery fire. The most notorious culprits away is of concern given the proliferation really talking about lithium-ion (Li-ion) are hoverboards and cell phones and the of such batteries in both electric vehicles batteries. While there are many other Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has become a and stationary energy storage, both for commercially available battery chem- household word by being banned on all grid-tied applications and to accompany istries, Li-ion designs are dominating flights, as well as being the subject of an off-grid PV systems. both electric vehicles (EVs) and station- active recall. And it is particularly significant given ary storage applications. The fundamental issue here is a phe- the central role that batteries are begin- For EVs, the energy density of Li-ion nomenon called “thermal runaway,” ning to play in the next phases of the makes it the ideal choice. For stationary whereupon reaching a given temperature global energy transition, both by allow- storage, Li-ion tends to beat out other certain types of battery cells can enter ing the integration of increasingly high battery types in one crucial metric: cost. an uncontrolled feedback loop, typically levels of renewable energy and the elec- This is helped in no small part by the resulting in a very hot fire that can be dif- trification of transportation. massive deployment of lithium-ion bat- 78 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

AZISME2017_PV Magazine_104x297_Besucher.qxp_Layout 1 08.06.17 10:48 Seite 1 PART OF THE INTERSOLAR GLOBAL CONFERENCE SERIES A dv er tisemen t teries for EV applications. In fact, according to GTM Research, Li-ion technology comprised 95% of energy storage capacity deployed in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2017. All of this begs the question: How safe are lithium-ion bat- teries? And more specifically, are they safe enough to deploy in our homes and businesses? Thermal runaway Thermal runaway is a condition whereby reaching a threshold of heat causes an increased current flow or an exothermic (heat- releasing) reaction, which in turn causes a further increase in temperature, creating a feedback loop. The heat conditions that lead to thermal runaway in lith- ium-ion batteries can in turn be caused by a variety of factors. Energy Storage Association (ESA) Executive Director Matt Roberts cites bad cells, physical trauma, and bad system man- agement as potential causes, as well as running batteries out- side of usage parameters and cycling batteries in ways that they are not designed to cycle. Roberts says that problems with thermal runaway are part of the larger issue of thermal management, noting that if a sys- tem is in danger of thermal runaway, this is an indication of other problems. “Thermal management is an indicator of per- formance,” notes Roberts. “It not only can become a safety issue, but it means you are losing money too.” Roberts also notes that while the phenomenon of Li-ion bat- tery fires can be alarming, the conclusion that this will be a The Most Powerful Solar danger with stationary energy storage systems misses the vari- Conference in the MENA Region ety of battery designs. “The kind of cells that you have in hov- Conrad Dubai, UAE erboards are vastly different than the ones that you have in res- idential battery storage,” explains Roberts. “A cell phone fire is unfortunate and a problem, but is not specifically related to a MENA's top conference for project stationary storage system.” developers, investors, researchers, and visionary CEOs Home safety Network with 500+ like-minded The bar for safety in products that will be in the homes of Amer- people from all over the world icans and other residents of developed nations is high. And Join the most outstanding solar while in the 21st century we are surrounded by devices pow- conference in the Middle East ered by lithium-ion chemistries, the batteries in home energy www.intersolar.ae storage systems are much larger than those found in laptops and cell phones. Fortunately, such battery systems are subject to Underwrit- ers Laboratories (UL) and other standards. Powin Energy VP of Business Development Jan Jacobson also notes that the design of software is an important component in preventing fires from being started by such batteries. “The software piece and the safety measures are not a trivial matter,” he notes. “There is very little fire risk associated with Li-ion batter- ies in a stationary storage application,” explains Jacobson. He describes systems that are “watched very closely by software,” and typically if tolerances are exceeded the system shuts down. But while good electrical system and software design can greatly reduce the possibility that batteries will start a fire, there are still measures that must be taken in the event that these bat- teries come into contact with a fire that started by some other means. And when these batteries do catch fire – for whatever reason – they can be difficult to put out. Among the measures that are typically taken to deal with this challenge is the use of built-in fire suppressants, such as non-flammable plastic that self-compresses, as well as software Get more information! 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Storage & Smart Grids Photo: Alevo effect, you are taking different pieces of regulation to make one complete juris- dictional overview,” he explains. “There is a lack of guidance right now which says: This is how it is done every time.” Different chemistries When it comes to fire safety, not all lith- ium-ion batteries are created equal. According to battery experts consulted by pv  magazine, chemistries using Not all lithium-ion batteries are created equal: Alevo, for example, manufactures its batteries using an cobalt are among the least stable, with inorganic electrolyte that is non-flammable and, essentially, delivers fireproof storage. the LiCoO2 batteries offering very high power densities but being particularly that shuts down systems that are in the torically,” explains ESA’s Matt Roberts. prone to thermal runaway. “The chem- proximity of a fire. However, experts say “New York has very different rules than istries that are a little less safe are a lit- that when a battery fire gets going, it must California does. That makes it challeng- tle more dynamic,” observes Powin’s simply burn itself out. ing for companies that are setting up to Jacobson. Jacobson notes that there is still “some design a system.” By contrast, lithium manganese diox- work to be done” in this regard. And he One of the most important entities in ide (LiMn2O4) and lithium iron (ferrous) is not alone. Fire departments around this regard is the National Fire Protec- phosphate (LiFePO4) chemistries require the country are grappling with codes tion Association (NFPA), which ESA is higher temperatures before they go into and practices to deal with the potential working closely with to develop codes thermal runaway, with lithium ferrous of lithium-ion batteries to be involved in and standards. ESA’s Roberts notes batteries remaining stable at tempera- fires, and this can make it difficult for the that NFPA’s past work focused on lead- tures up to 300°C – roughly twice that of deployment of batteries. acid batteries, and that as such previous lithium cobalt batteries. Simpliphi Power, “There is a lot of regulatory disso- standards are being adapted to lithium- which makes lithium ferrous batteries, nance around this because it is new – ion batteries, and that a comprehen- says that this more stable chemistry also they haven’t been installed this way his- sive framework has not yet emerged. “In means the ability to continue operating Photo: Enphase Energy The use of lithium ferrous batteries, as deployed by Enphase Energy among others, offers a more stable chemistry while also allowing for 10,000 or more cycles, depending on depth of discharge. 80 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

A dv er tisemen t through 10,000 or more cycles, depending on depth of discharge and environmental conditions. A number of companies cite this inherent advantage in their choice of lithium ferrous batteries, including microinverter spe- cialist Enphase Energy, which utilizes lithium ferrous batter- ies in its AC battery system, and Powin Energy, which offers lithium ferrous batteries among a range of options. “Our cus- tomers want a competitive price with a stable chemistry,” notes Powin’s Jacobson. However, the materials of the anode and the cathode are not the only differentiating factor. ESA’s Roberts cites the level of aqueous content and the different anode/cathode structures as considerations for fire safety. He notes that lithium ion is “a pretty broad label that we apply singularly to a broad set of technology.” Among the companies that have taken a very different design approach is Alevo, which manufactures lithium-ion batteries with an inorganic electrolyte. Unlike the organic electrolytes used by many other battery makers, this electrolyte is non-flam- mable, making the company’s batteries for all intents and pur- poses fireproof. And the variety of battery designs available goes well beyond the diversity in lithium-ion. For some varieties of flow battery thermal runaway is not a danger, and the makers of flow bat- teries often advertise this safety advantage. Alternative chemistries, whether Li-ion or not, always come with a set of trade-offs. And this is where the matter gets tricky. Most other battery types are more expensive, at least if cycle life is not factored in. Lithium cobalt chemistries may be unstable, but they offer high power densities and low up-front costs, mak- ing for a compelling offering. Working together Fire departments across the nation appear to be warming to lithium-ion batteries. Recently the technology achieved a breakthrough with the deployment of a 1.2 megawatt-hour battery storage system paired with solar at the Marcus Garvey Apartments in Brooklyn, as the first time that the New York Fire Department (FDNY) had approved a lithium-ion battery system for deployment in a multi-family residential building. This could be an important signal for fire departments well beyond New York, given the influence that FDNY has. The department’s increasing engagement with lithium-ion batter- ies may in turn be partly due to a long collaboration between FDNY and the City University of New York, which has been working with the department on issues related to the deploy- ment of solar and batteries for years. A conversation between industry, advocates, and safety authorities is continuing at the national level as well. Matt Rob- erts of ESA notes the emergence of the new UL 9540 standard for energy storage systems which came into effect last fall, which he says is influencing both the design of battery systems and fire departments. Like so many things in our 21 century lives, in the end con- st cerns over thermal runaway for residential energy battery sys- tems may be more the result of hype than real danger. But this does not mean that there isn’t room for improvement. And as we work towards wider deployment of Li-ion batteries, safety must come first. S Christian Roselund 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Storage & Smart Grids Photo: pv magazine/Eckhart K. Gouras At the “BYD Dreams Green Transport Gala” on April 17, 2017 in Shanghai, BYD launched several new EVs for the Chinese market. BYD sold 100,183 EVs in 2016, the largest number of any EV manufacturer worldwide. Tracking PV’s success? E-mobility in China: China’s track record in the PV industry is impressive: In a short period of time it has built up the world’s dominant production base for key solar PV components, including PV modules and inverters. Not only that, but many of these manufacturers are at the leading edge technologically, resulting in products that are not only very cost competitive, but also technologically advanced. China’s prominence as the world’s pro- wide range of measures on both the sup- markets are being driven mainly by the duction base for PV components is due in ply and demand side to bring this indus- same two forces: the overwhelming need no small part to its domestic installation try to scale and rise to the top globally to address China’s severe pollution, espe- market, which in 2016 ranked far above when it comes to these new technologies cially in its major cities; and the overarch- other PV markets with approximately and industries. This article will describe ing need to avoid the “middle income” 35 GW. As energy storage becomes more these measures and compare what is hap- trap, which has halted the economic rise important for renewable power genera- pening in China’s EV industry to what of so many countries, which ultimately tion like solar PV, and the transition to has transpired in China’s PV industry. could not offer more than cheap labor electric mobility starts to kick in, we are The starting point for any analysis of and decent infrastructure to move goods seeing a similar development in China’s China’s PV and EV industries is the driv- in and out. Turning to the first primary embrace of automotive battery technol- ing forces propelling China to embrace driver, China’s pollution in urban areas, ogy and e-mobility. Beijing has adopted a these two markets. Interestingly, both the main causes are too many vehicles 82 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Storage & Smart Grids and dirty coal-fired power plants provid- energy vehicles” (NEVs) and the compo- facturers worldwide had only just passed ing electricity to these cities. Car own- nents upon which these NEVs depend. the 1 MWp mark. Ten years later, follow- ership remains an important goal for ing the widespread success of feed-in tar- many middle class urban residents in China’s PV success iff programs in Germany and the rest of China, and coal-fired power generation As an emerging “new energy” industry, Europe, a cumulative production capac- still supplies two thirds of China’s elec- the EV sector is in a good position to ity of 100,000 MWp was within reach. As tricity generation. follow China’s success in building “new Europe and the U.S. imposed trade tariffs energy” champions in the clean energy to limit the inflow of Chinese modules Less coal by 2020 sector. Top tier solar brands like Cana- to their booming PV markets, the Chi- Against this background China’s lead- dian Solar, Jinko Solar, and Trina Solar nese government acted swiftly to bolster ership has made clean energy or “new are prime examples of Chinese manu- demand by introducing a PV FIT at home energy” (which includes nuclear power, facturers in the clean energy sector that in 2011. China’s attractive FIT program, solar power, and wind power as its main have emerged as national champions coupled with other PV subsidy programs constituents) a top priority in its cen- with strong brands recognized in many such as China’s Top Runner program, tral planning, including the current 13 markets overseas. Accordingly, China’s created the 35 GW market we witnessed th Five Year Plan (2016-2020). By the end track record of achieving prominence in in mainland China last year. of the current Five Year Plan, the cen- solar energy can serve as a useful guide China’s widespread support for its PV tral government would like to see coal- for studying its prospects and future path industry, which encompassed not only fired power generation constitute only as it develops its EV sector. national programs but also support at the 55% of China’s electricity mix, which As we have seen in the global PV indus- provincial and local level, cut across the would also put the country in a position try, strong and continued government entire PV supply chain. On the cell and to meet its obligations under the COP21 support is essential for bringing about module side, gigawatt fabs were estab- Paris accord. Moving from internal com- economies of scale and much lower pro- lished in various locations, including bustion engines to electric drive trains on duction costs. If we look at the solar PV locations in Southeast Asia to circumvent the transportation side will also allevi- learning curve pictured in the chart American and European tariffs on Chi- ate the pollution in China’s urban areas, below, we can see a tremendous price nese PV products. Comparable scale-ups but e-mobility in China can only make decline in the average selling price (ASP) can be seen further upstream (in poly- a true impact if the electricity powering of modules from 1980 to the fourth quar- silicon, ingot, and wafer production) and these vehicles is not coming from con- ter of last year. Even in 2010, the ASP was with other components such as inverters. ventional power plants but from “new well over €1/W, a far cry from the €0.36/W energy” sources. achieved in Q4 of 2016. As in the semi- Creating scale for EV batteries conductor industry, where this devel- Turning to the younger EV industry, the China manufacturing 2025 opment became known as Moore’s Law, key component in the electric vehicle is The other main driver for PV and EVs scale is the key driver of this price reduc- the battery. The electric battery is the core in China is the need to escape the “mid- tion process. When Germany passed its technology that needs to be mastered, dle income” trap. In its report entitled historic Renewable Energy Law (EEG) and that promises to go down in price as “China Manufacturing 2025” published in 2000, which kick-started demand for economies of scale kick in. It is essentially earlier this year, the European Union the global PV industry, cumulative pro- the same recipe Chinese module manu- Chamber of Commerce in China high- duction capacity among module manu- facturers have followed to build up exper- lighted this challenge: “Of the 101 coun- tries that had achieved middle-income Module price curve 1980–2016 status in 1960, only 13 ultimately reached high-income status. It was a failure on the 100.0 Module price (€/Wp *) part of the other 88 countries to under- take the necessary institutional reforms Graphics: pv magazine/Harald Schütt that led to their growth stabilizing, before 1980 1985 eventually becoming stagnant.” 10.0 1990 In this report, the EU Chamber of Commerce in China is providing its 1995 2000 2005 Source: PSE/Fraunhofer ISE: Photovoltaics Report, updated: February 19, 2017 commentary on the new policy initiative “China Manufacturing 2025” (CM2025) 1.0 2010 launched by the central government in 2015 May 2015. CM2025 is an ambitious plan Learning rate for all technologies: 24 to propel China’s economy into a new Price point: Q4 2016: €0.36/W Q4 2016 prolonged growth period after its suc- 0.1 cess in emerging as the world’s work- 0.001 0.010 0.100 1.000 10.000 100,000 1,000.000 bench following the pivotal reforms of * Adjusted for inflation at 2016 prices Cumulative production (GWp) Deng Xiaoping beginning in the late 1970s. CM2025 covers 10 strategic indus- Solar PV learning curve: Increased scale has seen average module prices drop in the period from 1980 tries, including the production of “new to 2016. 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com 83

Storage & Smart Grids Battery wars: 84% of lithium-ion mass production is set to be in China or in the US by 2020* CATL Ningde, China 50 GWh Tesla Motors/Panasonic** Nevada, US 35 GWh total capacity by 2020 Lishen Tianjin, China LG Chem Ochang, South Korea BYD China Shenzhen, China LG Chem Nanjing, China LG Chem Wroclaw, Poland Samsung SDI Ulsan, South Korea Capacity 2016 Extra capacity by 2020 Boston Power Liyang, China China China Boston Power Liyang, China USA USA Samsung SDI Xian, China Other Other LG Chem Michigan, US * Data show megafactories, defined as those in exess of 1 GWh of Each square represents one gigawatt hour (GWh), sufficient to power CALB Luoyang, China production, under construction or in the process of expanding capacity one million homes for an hour or 40,000 electric cars for 100 km. Panasonic Dalian Dalian, China ** Panasonic‘s Japanese production is not included Sources: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, FT research As this chart from the March 5, 2017 issue of the Financial Times reveals, megafactories in China are set to dominate lithium-ion battery production by 2020. tise with PV’s key component and drive tinue the significant pull from the mar- This flexibility in rolling out various down price to make solar PV competitive ket. Since strong EV subsidy programs programs to support a young industry with established forms of electricity gen- are missing in foreign countries, China and technology will most likely apply eration. Looking at the chart above taken has created EV (and EV battery) demand to the Chinese EV market as well. Pro- from the March 5, 2017 issue of the Finan- by rolling out its own raft of subsidy pro- vincial and local subsidies should not be cial Times (FT), we can see the tremen- grams. A pivotal year for such support underestimated, and on the PV installa- dous production capacity Chinese man- was 2015, which included State Council tion side they have played an important ufacturers of lithium-ion batteries are guidelines released in September 2015 role in driving distributed PV in east- building up. Much has been said about to force government-funded organiza- ern China. Given that EV adoption is the Gigafactory Tesla and Panasonic have tions to source NEVs for more than 30% also seen as a key measure to stem pollu- built in the Nevada desert. But even this of their bus and car fleets. Based on sub- tion in China’s megacities, city-level mea- gigantic factory pales in comparison with sidy measures launched in 2015, EV sales sures to boost adoption have also played the 50 GWh Contemporary Amperex in China skyrocketed to 331,000 units an important role. Such measures include Technology Ltd. (CATL) is putting in at the end of 2015, a 343% year-on-year the expedited issuance of car licenses, place in Ningde, China. While most of increase. In the first quarter of this year which in cities like Beijing and Shang- the top 10 solar PV manufacturers listed China reached the milestone of one mil- hai are subject to quotas and not read- in the table on page 96 have become lion EVs sold, and Beijing’s goal is to get ily available. familiar names, especially to industry 5 million EVs on to China’s roads by 2020. insiders, only a few Chinese manufactur- Bernstein Research estimates total sub- Supply-side measures ers in the Financial Times’ table above are sidies per unit of €8,200 ($9,150) in 2016, Supply-side support complements the familiar. In addition, the FT figures are amounting to a total EV subsidy outlay demand-side support given by local, pro- already dated three months later, with by the Chinese government of approxi- vincial, and national authorities. In addi- BYD, for example, predicting an overall mately €2.2 billion ($2.5 billion) just in tion to the overarching CM2025 support lithium-ion battery production capacity 2016. framework, Beijing has created a short of 20 GWh, well above the 12 GWh listed It will be interesting to see how long list of EV battery manufacturers which in the FT table. And it would not be sur- the Chinese government will maintain are eligible to supply EV manufactur- prising if the capacity forecast for 2020 such levels of support, and if we go back ers who are benefiting from China’s gen- materializes quite a bit earlier than the to the Chinese PV industry we can see erous raft of EV subsidies. So far, this end of this decade. increased criticism of the huge finan- list has not included any foreign man- cial toll the national PV FIT scheme is ufacturer, and as the chart from the FT Massive EV subsidies costing the national government. Indus- shows, there are foreign manufactur- While the supply-side scale-up is eye- try observers estimate this cost to be ers who have invested in battery fabs in popping, what forces on the demand $15 billion annually by the end of this mainland China. Foreign EV battery pro- side are powering this build up? If we go year. Given the success of PV auctions ducers have also reacted negatively to a back to the development of the global PV in China and the more recent Top Run- draft law issued by China’s Ministry of industry, it was Germany’s PV FIT which ner subsidy program, which also sets Industry and Information Technology propelled Chinese and other module basic requirements for the performance (MIIT) last November, which stipulates manufacturers to ramp up their supply. of key PV components, the national PV a minimum annual production capac- Only when nasty trade barriers began to FIT scheme will probably be replaced by ity for NEV battery plants of 8 GWh. emerge at the beginning of this decade other programs with less of an impact on Finally, China has moved quickly to cre- did China institute its own PV FIT to con- Beijing’s budget. ate the necessary EV charging infrastruc- 84 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Storage & Smart Grids ture with the central government calling tics: the EV industry; the energy sector, rently in the range of 5% capacity decline for 100,000 public charging stations and including applications combining PV after 80,000 kilometers. 800,000 private charging stations by the and storage; and finally the consumer According to a January 2017 study by end of this year. electronics industry, which pioneered the German consultancy Roland Berger the use of this technology in hand-held and the German research institute FKA, The CMOS moment devices in the early 1980s. Overall the China’s broad support for its EV indus- In 2012, the then CEO of Applied Mate- global lithium-ion battery market is try puts it in the top spot when it comes to rials Charlie Gay referred to the “CMOS forecast to grow to $40 billion by 2025, industry and market size. Where China moment” in solar to describe the point according to Goldman Sachs. does not rank favorably, according to the in time when a wide range of technol- Roland Berger and FKA E-mobility Index ogies gives way to a dominant technol- The quest for technology Q1 2017, is in the third category, namely ogy, which then provides the basis for leadership ‘technology.’ Here China ranks sixth exponential growth of the industry. In As the EV battery industry scales up below Germany and France (both in the the semiconductor industry “CMOS” in China, the Chinese government has top spot with a score of 2.8 out of 5), Japan refers to “complementary metal oxide established various targets for the sec- (2.6), South Korea (1.9), and the U.S. (1.3). semiconductor” and it is this technology tor: By 2020 the energy density should China has faced a similar gap when that came to be the dominant technol- amount to 300 Wh/kg and the pro- it comes to internal combustion engine ogy in building semiconductors. In 2012 duction cost should be under CNY vehicles, where it has tried for many years that “CMOS moment” had arrived in the 1/W ($0.15). By 2025 the energy density to channel foreign know-how to Chinese solar PV industry and displaced a range should increase by a further 260 Wh to automakers by requiring foreign car of competing approaches. 560 Wh/kg. Of course, EV battery tech- companies to set up joint ventures (JVs) In 2017 we can see a “CMOS moment” nology is not just about energy density to tap into the world’s largest auto mar- arriving in the EV battery industry, with and competitive production cost. Other ket. Of course, the fact that China had lithium-ion technology becoming the important factors include the life cycle of effectively walled itself off from the rest of dominant battery chemistry to drive the cells, durability, and degradation. Per- the world prior to Deng Xiaoping’s open- EV revolution. In the case of lithium-ion, formance degradation is a key metric for ing up in the late 1970s meant that China three different industries are embracing photovoltaic modules, and in the case of had to play catch-up to compete with it for its favorable storage characteris- EV batteries average degradation is cur- established foreign auto manufacturers A dv er tisemen t

Storage & Smart Grids E-Mobility Index – Ranking by indicator INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGY MARKET China 5.0 Germany 2.8 France 5.0 USA 3.7 France 2.8 China 5.0 Japan 3.6 Japan 2.6 USA 5.0 South Korea 2.2 South Korea 1.9 Germany 5.0 Germany 1.8 USA 1.3 Japan 5.0 France 0.7 China 0.9 South Korea 1.3 Italy 0.0 Italy 0.2 Italy 1.1 Sources: fka, Roland Berger like BMW, Ford, GM, and Volkswagen. concern to foreign automakers operating the coming decade. According to indus- This is not the case with the EV industry in China is the attempt to require EV JVs in try forecasts the worldwide production and in China’s case, they are hoping to China to possess all the intellectual prop- of hybrid and pure electric vehicles will use their knowledge base as a production erty (IP) rights required to produce elec- make up about one half of total vehicle hub for consumer electronics, as well as tric vehicles, which would go even further production in the period between 2025 ICT technology and “new energy” indus- than the IP requirements for joint ventures and 2030.” After its success in the solar tries, to build national champions in the manufacturing conventional vehicles. PV industry, we can expect the Chinese EV market, which can dominate the For both foreign automakers and the government to show similar determina- domestic market and compete in over- Chinese government the stakes are high: tion and creativity to become the global seas markets. As mentioned earlier, China is the world’s leader in e-mobility and EV batteries. largest auto market, with 19 million vehi- Hopefully, it will also allow foreign sup- Limiting foreign involvement cles sold in 2015. And given the Chinese pliers to participate in this market in a On the regulatory side, China is taking an government’s desire to clean up its cit- fair and equitable manner without having even more aggressive approach when it ies and become a leader in the field of to share the bulk of their EV (or EV bat- comes to foreign EV battery and EV activ- e-mobility, China will probably go elec- tery) IP. In any case, we can expect expo- ities within China. The above-mentioned tric sooner than most other auto mar- nential growth in this industry much like requirement to form joint ventures with kets. Yilin Zhang, CEO Greater China what we have witnessed in the PV indus- Chinese partners applies also to the pro- of German auto-parts supplier Schaef- try. And ultimately better and less costly duction of electric vehicles, and we have fler, summed up the global opportunity batteries will also be a huge gain for solar already mentioned China’s restrictive at China’s leading auto show in Shang- as affordable energy storage provides a approach to foreign EV battery manufac- hai this April: “Drive electrification will perfect match for the intermittency of turers. What is new, and of considerable massively change individual mobility in solar energy. S Eckhart K. Gouras Table 1: 2016 Top 10 solar PV manufacturers: technology, location, cell, and module capacity Module assembly Cell capacity Difference between module and cell Manufacturer Technology Cell manufacturing location capacity (MWp) (MWp) capacity (MWp) China, Netherlands, Thailand, Trina Solar Mono & multi c-Si 6,500 5,600 900 Vietnam JA Solar Mono & multi c-Si China, Malaysia, Vietnam 5,500 5,500 0 China, Germany, Malaysia, Hanwha Q Cells Mono & multi c-Si 4,150 4,150 0 South Korea Jinko Solar Mono & multi c-Si China, Malaysia 6,500 4,000 2,500 Motech Solar Mono & multi c-Si Taiwan, China 1,400 2,985 - 1,585 First Solar CdTe USA, Malaysia 3,304 3,304 0 Longi Lerri Mono c-Si China, Malaysia 5,250 3,000 2,250 Canadian Solar Multi c-Si China 6,170 2,440 3,730 Yingli Solar Mono & multi c-Si China, Thailand 3,300 3,300 0 Suntech Mono & multi c-Si China 2,400 2,400 0 Other 51,309 42,920 8,389 Total 95,783 79,599 16,184 Chinese cell and module manufacturers with gigawatt fabs in both mainland China and Southeast Asia dominate this list of the world’s largest solar PV manufacturers. 86 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

® SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2017 MANDALAY BAY CONVENTION CENTER LAS VEGAS, NV Make connections in the United States Solar Power International (SPI) is the largest solar event in North America. Co-located with Hannover Messe’s Hydrogen + Fuel Cells North America, Energy Storage International (ESI) – the largest storage event in North America, and the Smart Energy Microgrid Marketplace, SPI is the one place where the solar industry meets on an annual basis. Here’s what you can expect this year: » 18,000+ attendees: Installers, contractors, C&I professionals, energy storage companies, project developers, utilities and more. » 650+ exhibitors: From solar to storage and smart products. » 50+ international delegations: We’re working with the USDOC to bring foreign delegations to SPI. » 24 hours of dedicated networking opportunities. » All in one location: Everything takes place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center Register today at www.solarpowerinternational.com POWERED BY

Service GaAs Sol Voltaics moves toward commercialization for GaAs film solution Swedish materials company Sol Volta- installed on satellites and other applica- taxy is the key to manufacturing our Sol- ics has developed a process for the pro- tions where cost is not the primary con- Film,” says Sol Voltaics CEO Erik Smith. duction of nanowires, which it says is a cern, but its high cost has thus far pre- “We believe SolFilm will usher in a new signicant leap towards the commercial- vented any wider adoption within the age of solar power efficiencies, bringing ization and industry roll out of its Sol- industry. tremendous value not only to solar man- Film solution, which can be utilized as a According to Sol Voltaics, its Aerotaxy ufacturers but also to businesses and con- semiconductor material by itself, or inte- process requires a much smaller amount sumers who adopt solar.” grated into production lines to boost the of gallium arsenide than previous solu- The Aerotaxy process produces nanow- efficiency of both thin-film and crystal- tions, and in a commercial setting could ires on the top and bottom of a wire, line silicon modules. be integrated into production lines to with a pn junction running along its The enormous efficiency potential of achieve efficiencies in excess of 26% on length. This means that each nanowire is GaAs has long been known, and indeed a standard crystalline PV module. “Pro- a functional solar cell. SolFilm is a pho- it is the preferred material for solar panels ducing solar nanowires through Aero- tonic film comprised of billions of these nanowires. Specific cost information has not been Photo: Sol Voltaics made available, however Sol Voltaics state that the solution could be used by module manufacturers as a “high-effi- ciency, low cost solution or as a boosting technology”. Last year, the company raised $17 million in equity investments, including funding from Riyadh Valley – the investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University, as well as the Swedish Energy Agency and the EU Horizon 2020 research programme. PECVD INDEOtec to supply PECVD tool to Fraunhofer ISE INDEOtec is continuing a strong run of PUS III is designed specfically for hetero- organizations working on heterojunction sales for its platform, this time picking up junction cell production, which is seen and other high efficiency cell concepts, an order from Fraunhofer ISE. The tool, by some in the industry as a technology including the King Abdullah University says INDEOtec, will be used by the insti- likely to see widespread adoption in the of Science and Technology in Saudi Ara- tute for research into heterojunction and near future. bia, and French PV researcher Institut other high efficiency cell concepts. The OCTOPUS II platform has already Photovoltaique dIIle-de-France. “Indeotec is looking forward to the col- been supplied to several other research laboration with Fraunhofer ISE for the further improvement and optimization of process and equipment specific topics,” states an Indeotec press release. Photo: INDEOtec “The aspects of the collaboration are intended to form a key element of the extensive tool qualification for the OCTOPUS III mass production platform.” Indeotec introduced the third iteration of its OCTOPUS platform earlier in 2017, and says that it has already seen inter- est from major industry players. OCTO- 88 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

AZISSA2017_Pvmagazine global_104x297_EN.qxp_Layout 1 01.06.17 13:47 Seite 1 PART OF THE INTERSOLAR GLOBAL EXHIBITION SERIES A dv er tisemen t Plating Rena and Aiko Solar Energy to collaborate on plating technology Rena and Aiko Solar Energy will expand their collaboration into electroplating cell metalization technology. Germany’s Rena has already delivered some 4 GW of wet chemistry tool- ing to the Chinese PV producer, and will now deliver one of its InCellPlate to Aiko’s new Yiwu production facility, in the Zhenjiang province. In the never-ending pursuit of cost reduction, electroplating of PV cells has been considered for some time by producers as a potential replacement technology for screen printing. However, major progress with print processes resulting in finer metallization lines and reduced silver usage has meant that elec- troplating has not gained major traction with cell producers.  That appears to be beginning to change, with some equipment and material suppliers making progress with plating processes, attracting considerable interest. One indication of this shift is a deal announced today, and signed during the 2017 SNEC in China in April, which will see South America’s Largest Germany equipment supplier RENA collaborate with Chinese Exhibition and Conference producer Aiko Solar on the electroplating of cells. In announc- ing the collaboration today, the two companies say that the for the Solar Industry electroplating process can deliver a cost reduction per watt of Expo Center Norte, São Paulo, around US$0.01, or around 15%. Brazil “The plating technology using the ‘Rena InCellPlate’ will help us to drive down the cost as we can replace the screen-printed front side silver electrodes,” said Aiko Chairman Chen Gang in a statement. “This will be a major cost saving.” See first-hand innovations from Rena has collaborated with copper material supplier MacDer- 240+ international exhibitors mid Enthone, and laser supplier InnoLas on the electroplat- Network with 12,000+ like-minded ing process. solar professionals from Latin-America It was recognized by pv magazine’s independent jury as the co- Get brand new updates at in winner of the 2017 Technology Highlights award, earlier this LATAM's largest solar conference year during the SNEC event. Aiko produces both multi and monocrystalline PERC PV cells, including bifacial products. Rena has supplied alkaline textur- ing, Rena BatchTex, and edge isolation, Rena InOxide+, equip- ment to Aiko for its monocrystalline cell production lines. Aiko has achieved efficiencies of 21.5% on mono PERC cells and has achieved a bifaciality of over 70%. The Chinese producer says that the Rena wet chemistry platforms allow it to meet the cell surface requirements of a variety of cell concepts. Photo: RENA GmbH with special exhibitions Get more information! 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

Service 6 Quality Roundtable at SPI th The Quality Roundtable event series The second Quality Roundtable event for heads Stateside to mingle with the high the U.S., and the sixth in total, the gath- rollers of Las Vegas in September, bring- ering will address quality at three proj- ing the discussion of component and PV ect stages: during component selection, project reliability into focus in a unique, project execution, and finally operation. interactive format. Insights and experiences from indus- try veterans and insiders will be shared and all participants will be asked to Photo: pv magazine / Frank Stolle discussion. Room Reef E @ Mandalay Bay join the collaborative and constructive Where: A number of cases in which project con- struction and components have failed, When: letting developers and investors down, September 12, 2017 (afternoon) will also be discussed, and key takeaways will help you to inform your decisions in Join the 6 Quality Roundtable and th the future. help build a sustainable solar industry and projects that will withstand the test of time. Clean Energy Associates 5 Future PV Forum th Photo: pv magazine/ Frank Stolle On the back of the hugely successful to discuss promising pathways to LCOE Where: Future PV Forum hosted during Inter- reduction in the mid-term. Room Reef E @ Mandalay Bay solar Europe in Munich, the Future PV The event will chart a pathway through Forum will debut in the U.S. at the Solar cell, module, and EPC level innovation, When: Power International exhibition later this to identify key drivers of cost reduction, September 12, 2017 (morning) year. that will push PV further in its journey Since 2014, pv magazine has been col- to competitiveness. Register today as the Future PV forum laborating with initiative partner Her- Key technology pathways such as het- steps ‘across the pond’ to the United aeus on the event series. erojunction, bifacial approaches, shin- States for the first time to get a compre- Uniquely, Future PV brings solar tech- gled cells, metal plating, 1500 V, verti- hensive look at the technology trends nologists and researchers together with cally integrated EPC approaches, and shaping the solar photovoltaics industry. EPCs, investors, and project developers more will be addressed. 90 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com

AZISGlobal2017_PV Magazin_210x297_EN.qxp_Layout 1 04.05.17 12:14 Seite 1 2,600 EXHIBITORS, 91,000 VISITORS, 6,400 CONFERENCE ATTENDEES, 720 SPEAKERS, 80 PARTNERS AND 165 MEDIA PARTNERS ARE PLACING THEIR TRUST IN US WORLDWIDE. JOIN THE WORLD'S LEADING EXHIBITION SERIES FOR THE SOLAR INDUSTRY INTERSOLAR EUROPE MUNICH, JUNE 20–22, 2018 INTERSOLAR NORTH AMERICA SAN FRANCISCO, JULY 11–13, 2017 INTERSOLAR SOUTH AMERICA SÃO PAULO, AUGUST 22–24, 2017 INTERSOLAR MIDDLE EAST CONRAD DUBAI, SEPTEMBER 26–27, 2017 INTERSOLAR INDIA MUMBAI, DECEMBER 5–7, 2017 INTERSOLAR SUMMITS WORLDWIDE FOLLOW US www.intersolarglobal.com

Service On the road with pv magazine Where we’ve been: Intersolar Europe, Munich Photo: pv magazine As May became June, thousands of visi- tors descended upon the Munich Exhibi- tion Center to visit the Intersolar Europe Conference and Exhibition. Always hotly anticipated, the show holds a key place in the solar calendar, kicking off the Northern Hemisphere’s summer season of gatherings and, therefore, acting as a handy bellwether of the industry’s mood. While the show floor was suffused with positivity this year, there were the usual rumblings about the influence – good and bad – that China continues to wield. The unusual sight of an empty booth space where SolarWorld usually camps out was the most tangible sign of the cutthroat world of PV in Europe. Nevertheless, this home energy solutions, storage, and even the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord was an expanded show that strode boldly talk of a resurgent European market. Not could dampen these strong strands of into new territories of innovation, smart even Trump’s untimely decision to pull optimism. What we’ve seen: ABB Smart Lab, Dalmine, Italy Photo: ABB The Smart Lab at Swiss firm ABB’s Ital- ate our systems easily and without fric- ian factory in Dalmine is a fully inter- tion,” ABB’s Global Strategic Marketing active demonstration of the company’s and Business Development Manager for R&D innovation, and pv magazine was Renewable Energy Tommaso Landi told invited along to see its latest systems and pv magazine. The company will intro- products in action. ABB has long spe- duce its 1,000 VDC three-phase 100 kW cialized in delivering a broad portfolio of and 120 kW string inverters – designed solar inverters to the market, and is now for the growing C&I space – at the end of pushing its digitalization strategy, which 2017, with 1,500 VDC versions coming in aims to place the prosumer at the heart of 2018. Also unveiled was the new UNO- the energy conversation. “The new ABB DM-PLUS residential inverter, which has products are ‘BYOD’ – which means power ratings in the range of 1.2 to 5 kW. Bring Your Own Device. So anybody This residential inverter can be controlled can smartly control where, when, and with a smartphone or tablet can oper- by the ABB free@home platform, which how a home uses solar energy. Where we’re going: Intersolar North America, San Francisco Held between July 11 and 13, the U.S. iter- What policies and programs can be administration’s regressive stance on ation of the Intersolar show is poised to implemented to reenergize formerly clean energy, while other topics worth tackle the big issues facing North Amer- dynamic markets? How can companies tackling will include domestic manufac- ican solar right now. Although PV in the continue to reach new customers? And turing, large-scale deployment, and the U.S. remains a strong and growing indus- what role can storage play in supporting continued drive towards cost reduction. try, there has been some alarm at the Q1 self-consumption models? If you can’t be there, fear not – pv mag- slowdown in residential installations in a Then there is the not-so-trivial mat- azine will be on hand to report live and handful of states. ter of President Donald Trump and his direct from the show. 92 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com



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Preview of issue 08/2017 The next issue will be published on August 10, 2017 Photo: pv magazine Photo: pv magazine/Ilias Tsagas Photo: First Solar In Conversation Special Africa Energy Forum Old players, new paths As the event season heats up, pv magazine Held in June in Copenhagen, the Africa U.S. veterans First Solar and SunPower are delivers a selection of the most insightful Energy Forum offered expert insight into deploying new approaches both in terms of interviews from the biggest shows. the PV opportunities on the continent. business models and manufacturing. Imprint Publisher Sales & Marketing Director Purchase prices pv magazine group GmbH & Co. KG Andrea Jeremias Annual subscription for 12 issues: €179 print/€80 Kurfürstendamm 64, 10707 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49-30-213 00 50 23 digital, including shipping and VAT, where [email protected] appropriate. Single issue: €18 print/€7.50 digi- tal, including shipping and VAT where appropri- Editors pv magazine group Sales ate. Purchase prices are applicable at the time an order is received. Jonathan Gifford Anne Warnk Editor in Chief pv magazine global Tel.: +49 -30-213 00 50 28 Terms Tel.: +49-30-213 00 50 37 [email protected] Orders can be made in our online shop [email protected] Fabienne Cuisinier (shop.pv-magazine.com), with our reader service Ian Clover Tel.: +49 -30-213 00 50 46 or in bookshops in Germany and abroad. Should [email protected] [email protected] it not be possible to ship the magazine for reasons Christian Roselund Greater China & Korea that lie outside the responsibility of the publisher, the subscriber has no right to claim subsequent [email protected] Hong Kong Office: shipments, replacement issues, or a refund. Full Emiliano Bellini Calvin Chong terms & conditions: http://shop.pv-magazine. Tel.: +852-9732 8266 [email protected] [email protected] com/terms-and-conditions/. The venue for the Mark Hutchins Japan settlement of all disputes with full merchants is [email protected] Sakura International Berlin, which is also the venue for all disputes per- taining to payment reminders. Michael Fuhs Justin August Editor in chief pv magazine Deutschland Tel.: +81-3-56 46-11 60 Layout and typesetting [email protected] Mobile: +81-90-5165-9545 Alexx Schulz, mADVICE Berlin Sandra Enkhardt [email protected] Layout design [email protected] North America Solarpraxis AG, Berlin /A. Boehm, T. Peters Mirco Sieg Matt Gallinger Printer [email protected] Tel.: +1-518-560-0179 [email protected] Sedai Druck GmbH & Co. KG, Böcklerstraße 13, Authors: Frank Andorka, Marija Djordjevic, Marketing Manager 31789 Hameln/Wangelist Corrine Lin, Andrea Luecke, Paula Mints, Galen Marina Ramain Copyright Moore, Rosa Perez Cardama, Jesse Pichel, Martin Tel: +49-30-213 00 50 29 Schachinger, Charles W. Thurston, Dustin Zubke The magazine and all of the texts and images con- [email protected] tained therein are protected by copyright. When a Proofreader: Paul Zubrinich Advertising Administration manuscript is approved for publication, the right Anika Wedemeyer to publish, translate, reprint, electronically store Translators: Tim Hanes/ Veritas Traducción y Tel.: +49-30-213 00 50 22 in databases, print special editions, photocopies, Comunicación [email protected] and microcopies is transferred to the publisher. The publisher requires the author to be the holder Photo editor: Tom Baerwald Subscriptions/individual issues of copyrights and commercialization rights for all Graphics: Harald Schütt Contact [email protected] submissions. Any commercial use outside the lim- or visit the pv magazine web shop its specified by copyright is inadmissible without at https://shop.pv-magazine.com to the publisher’s consent. buy a subscription or purchase single issues. Number of issues ISSN 1865-3138 Twelve per year pv magazine was founded in 1996 by Solarpraxis AG, Karl-Heinz Remmers. 96 07 / 2017 | www.pv-magazine.com