Solar ... In the news

GreatApe wrote: »

Only if the solar market in the EU is rigged else anyone can just start importing in September directly, the consumer doesn't care about company x who has inventory to shift at older higher prices. If anything the prices should come down within days of the announcement

Perovskite specialist Oxford PV has announced a five-year research project with the University of Oxford that it says will push the boundaries of perovskite technology.

The £5 million research project intends to develop a thin-film, multi-junction perovskite cell with a target efficiency of 37% as well as long-term stability in operation.

Such an efficiency would represent a major leap for perovskite cells. In June this year Oxford PV claimed a new world record for certified efficiency of a perovskite-on-silicon cell at 27.3%.

Half of the fund has been granted from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council as part of its Prosperity Partnerships programme, while the other half has been matched by Oxford PV.

Prices down

Module prices could decline as much as 30% from current MIP levels. Prices in Europe will quickly drop in the coming weeks, as the MIP was artificially maintaining higher levels than the global average – the MIP price for multi modules was €0.30/W ($0.35) – 30-40% above average global prices.

Due to this price gap, and the willingness to accept minimal margins following the slowdown of demand in China, termination of the MIP will cause module prices in Europe to decline for new contracts by as much as 30%. For project developers and EPCs, such a cut will immediately drive down total project costs and the corresponding LCOE, and raise project margins for already contracted projects.

8, Thin film solar. The world leader in organic photovoltaics, Heliatek of Germany, installed a 180 square metre array on the side of a warehouse in Duisburg. This is the largest thin film installation on a building façade in the world. Heliatek’s films are so light that they are literally stuck onto the side and roofs of buildings. My guess is that this installation has a conversion efficiency of less than 10%, or about half that of good quality silicon PV. But I also suspect that this is irrelevant; Heliatek’s films can be used almost any surface, including those where conventional PV would be impossible.

10, Embodied emissions in solar PV. Every so often the rumour resurfaces that manufacturing solar panels creates more emissions than are saved when the PV is installed. The story will become more difficult to tell in the future. Longi, one of the largest PV companies, announced that all the electricity it uses to make panels will come from solar farms within three to five years. (Electricity is the dominant energy need in panel manufacture).

Dale Barnard, senior project engineer at Denmark-based developer, European Energy, also celebrated the effects of the MIP ending combined with China’s subsidy removals, citing an IHS Markit report on prices dropping 30% across the board, with panels in Europe bottoming out at €0.20/W.

He described these as “insanely cheap prices” that could only have been dreamed of last year – adding: “It almost opens up the entire European market for subsidy-free, perhaps with exceptions for some of the very northernmost countries.”

Niendorf cited several countries where post-subsidy projects are already proliferating or are set to kick-start merchant PV in the coming year, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, the UK and the Netherlands.