Philip Morris USA (PM USA), an Altria company, is the latest company to partner with Dominion Virginia Power under the Solar Partnership Program by hosting what will become the largest solar installation in Virginia to date.

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GRID Alternatives (GRID), the nation’s largest non-profit solar installer, has become a channel partner to Clean Power Finance (CPF) to help more low-income homeowners save money on their electric bills with residential solar. Channel partnership with CPF will help GRID expand the reach of its Solar Affordable Housing Program to hundreds of additional families in California, Colorado, New Jersey and New York.

Through third-party ownerships financed through CPF’s platform, low-income solar installation projects will benefit from Federal tax credits and depreciation. This will help GRID increase its low-cost solar services to low-income energy customers in areas with limited state and local incentives, as well as stretch existing incentives further. In addition, CPF will provide GRID clients with comprehensive consumer services, including system maintenance and monitoring, and each client will receive a performance guarantee.

“CPF is proud to structure an innovative public-private and non-profit partnership that expands the availability of solar energy to communities most in need of clean, low-cost electricity,” said Micah Myers, senior vice president of business development at CPF. “CPF is a long-time supporter of GRID Alternatives’ work serving low-income families, and this is an exciting evolution of our relationship. We are pleased to work with GRID to bring clean electricity to more communities in need.”

”We’re thrilled to be able to make Federal tax credits available for solar projects in low-income communities, where the energy cost savings are most needed,” said Tim Sears, co-founder and chief financial and operating officer of GRID Alternatives. “And GRID’s unique model ensures that the families reap the full benefits of the system while ensuring consumer protection.”

GRID decided to join CPF’s channel partner network after reviewing several other financing options. CPF brings a strong track record of underwriting financed residential solar systems and is recognized as a leader in creating new financing products to address the needs of specific market segments – especially those with limited financing options.

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Total global solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is forecast to reach 498 GW in 2019, which is 177 percent higher than 2014, according to IHS, the leading global source of critical information and insight. While total global solar PV demand is projected to grow steadily, the large number of discrete country markets at the gigawatt-level will help reduce demand volatility.

“Last year, the market began to shift toward a more supply-driven market, characterized by high utilization rates, following the more demand-driven market that led to PV manufacturing consolidation,” said Susanne von Aichberger, solar industry analyst for IHS Technology, formerly Solarbuzz. “This trend is expected to continue through to 2019, when the utilization rate at module production is projected exceed the peak utilization rate reached in 2010, when the global market experienced explosive growth.”

Based on findings of the latest IHS Marketbuzz report, global solar demand is expected to reach 75 GW in 2019, which is 66 percent higher than in 2014. Last year, the largest global markets were China and Japan, which together accounted for half of total demand.  The United States, U.K. and Germany together accounted for another quarter of total demand.

“In the five years between 2015 and 2019, IHS expects that 11 global markets will exceed the average annual demand level of 1 gigawatt,” von Aichberger said. “This large number of country markets reduces the risk of another explosion in the global PV market and of an overly strong capacity build-up. An increasing number of markets are entering the post-feed-in-tariff phase and embracing the integration of PV into the electricity market, which will help the market to avoid boom-and-bust situations.”

Average selling prices (ASPs) of standard c-Si modules (i.e., c-Si excluding Super Mono) are forecast to decline by 27 percent between 2015 and 2019, reaching $0.45 per watt (W). The share of thin-film modules produced is projected to decline from 8 percent in 2014 to 7 percent this year — the lowest share recorded since 2010, when c-Si module shortages opened the door for thin-film technology to reach a production share of 15 percent.

Due to the expected supply-driven market situation, the share of thin-film is projected to remain at 7 percent through 2019. Within the thin film category, growth is likely to be driven by cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS). By 2019, annual production of a-Si modules is projected to fall to less than half of its 2014 level.

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SolarReviews.com, the leading site for customer-generated reviews of solar installations and solar equipment, has partnered with Solar Power World, the leading print and online resource covering solar technology, installation and development, to support Solar Power World’s 2015 Top Solar Contractors list.

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Solar Power Inc. announced its partnership with Aqua Clean Energy (ACE) for the co-development of floating PV projects in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico.

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The California Energy Commission has announced a proposed award to Robert Bosch for $2,817,566 to demonstrate a high-penetration, renewable-based microgrid. With this award, Bosch will include its microgrid platform in an American Honda Motor Co. parts distribution center. The project is designed to illustrate the viability and benefits of a commercial-scale DC building grid compared with conventional AC-based grid connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems or microgrids.

“This will reduce installation costs and lower operating costs, while increasing reliability and quality of the power provided to building loads.”

The Bosch DC microgrid project will provide a low-cost, highly energy-efficient solution in which the DC microgrid connects rooftop solar PV arrays to energy-efficient DC lighting, DC ventilation and DC energy storage systems on a 380-volt DC bus to form a DC building grid. The approach allows commercial buildings to become zero-net-energy users in a cost-effective manner.

“We are confident the Bosch DC microgrid system will contribute to California’s carbon reduction and energy efficiency goals by increasing the reliability and utilization of distributed renewable energy and improving the energy efficiency of state-of-the-art technologies – such as LED lighting paired with advanced lighting controls, motors with variable frequency drives and energy storage systems – by operating them on DC power,” said Oliver Steinig, vice president of business development for Robert Bosch. “This will reduce installation costs and lower operating costs, while increasing reliability and quality of the power provided to building loads.”

Bosch will use this project to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of a commercial-scale DC building grid that integrates multiple advanced technologies to provide reliable power to the loads on the DC grid, resilience during grid outages, increased energy efficiencies and renewable energy utilization. Once the project is installed and commissioned, performance data will be collected to validate the cost savings, energy efficiency gains and the capabilities of the advanced microgrid energy management system.

The project will directly enhance the technical understanding of how to integrate and optimize distributed renewable energy generation into the California distribution infrastructure, pave the way for introduction and large-scale adoption of cost-effective and energy-efficient DC power distribution architectures, and establish a complete supply chain for system integration through various partnerships.

Partnerships

To provide the best design, engineering and performance validation expertise for the Bosch DC microgrid, Bosch has partnered with Navigant Consulting and the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC), UC Davis. Additionally, Bosch will partner with a number of California-based companies, including Maxwell Technologies and Imergy Power Systems, for the complete technology supply chain.

Through these partnerships, technical experts with a long track record of success in piloting and delivering technologies that can be incorporated into advanced microgrids will participate in the project. Together, Bosch and its partners provided $1,790,095 in in-kind and matching funds to assist in the development, planning and execution of the project.

Bosch plans to begin the project once the contract with the California Energy Commission is signed and conclude the project by February 2018.

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Solectria – A Yaskawa Company, a U.S. PV inverter manufacturer, announced the introduction of its Rapid Shutdown (RSD) Combiner for single-phase inverters. This RSD Combiner option offers a complete solution to NEC 2014, Article 690.12 requiring rooftop installations to de-energize conductors outside of a 10 foot boundary from the array.

The RSD Combiner has been designed to integrate seamlessly with Solectria’s PVI 3800-7600TL single-phase, transformerless inverters. It allows for operation of dual MPPT zone configurations with two strings per MPPT zone. The inverter provides a signal to enable or disable the RSD Combiner. If the RSD Combiner is enabled, the array automatically, upon loss of AC power at inverter, shuts down the system without an additional power supply, disconnect or activation switch. Solectria’s PVI 3800-7600TL single-phase transformerless inverters and rapid shutdown combiner solution is fully-integrated and is the simplest way to achieve compliance with NEC 2014, Article 690.12.

“Our residential inverters are the most robust, versatile and efficient inverters in the solar market today. It is extremely important to be compliant with NEC with a solution that integrates seamlessly to facilitate ease-of-installation. Our residential solution provides this to our customers,” said James Worden, CEO of Solectria – A Yaskawa Company.

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Applied Energy Technologies (AET)’s Rayport-G ECO racking system was installed to support a 2-MW solar project in Vermont. AET was selected by REC Solar, a national provider of comprehensive commercial solar and energy solutions, for the project which provides enough solar energy to power the equivalent of 450 local homes annually. The system consists of more than 15,000 posts and more than 8,000 modules.

“Establishing partnerships with like-minded companies like AET is key to growing local solar markets. Following a thorough vetting process, we selected AET for its high quality products, services and business processes,” said Mark Bettis, VP of Sales and Marketing at REC Solar.

Aaron Faust, VP of Business Development at AET, said: “AET boasts industry-leading installation time, and our Rayport-G ECO was the ideal solution to help REC complete their project in less than five months. The Rayport-G ECO is very popular with EPCs and developers looking for a product with strength, durability, scalability and a competitive price point. It was also the ideal product for this site due to AET’s ability to offer site customization.”

“The site provided some unique challenges and we worked closely with our customer to ensure the system would meet their specifications. Prior to installation, AET reviewed the site’s topography by looking at soil samples and also conducted in-depth pull-testing which involves driving posts into select locations. This proactive process revealed that longer posts would only be needed for a portion of the site, resulting in a saving of two feet per post in the majority of the site.”

The Rayport-G ECO is UL 2703-listed and is rapidly becoming an industry standard for developers and EPCs looking for a ground-mounted system that is easy to install and delivers significant savings on total installed costs. The Rayport-G ECO has been engineered to withstand the most challenging environmental conditions. Its light and compact design allows for high shipping density, significantly reducing freight costs and enabling easier handling on the job site.

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Site assessment is often discussed as an important step in planning any solar project, but what exactly do you need to look for? We spoke with Gwendalyn Bender of Vaisala to tell us more. She even touches on why developers of the notable Ivanpah solar project weren’t as concerned as the media when the project didn’t perform as hoped for its first summer. Listen to learn more.

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JinkoSolar will supply 75 MWdc of its PV solar modules to Swinerton Renewable Energy for the Red Horse 2 Wind  and Solar project in Cochise, Arizona.

This large project, which was acquired by an affiliate of D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) in August 2014, will utilize 248,750 of JinkoSolar’s high-efficient 72-cell polycrystalline solar panels. Swinerton Renewable Energy will develop and construct the project, in addition to providing ongoing operations and maintenance services to the facility. The hybrid wind and solar project is expected to power approximately 13,500 homes upon its completion.

“JinkoSolar is excited to work with Swinerton Renewable Energy and DESRI on another large-scale project. The Red Horse 2 project is a true example of the advancement of renewable energy in the United States and we are proud to be an integral part of the growing clean energy industry,” said Nigel Cockroft, General Manager of JinkoSolar (U.S.) Inc. “This adds to our growing list of projects in the United States. We delivered over 400 MW of modules to US projects in 2014, and in 2015 have so far signed U.S. contracts to supply an additional 750 MW. The US has become the second largest market for JinkoSolar after China.”

“Swinerton is excited to continue our successful partnership with JinkoSolar — an innovative leader in the solar industry — and to bring jobs and years of clean power to Arizona residents. Red Horse 2 is an exciting solar and wind project and we couldn’t be more eager to work with this team,” commented Mr. George Hershman, Vice President and Division Manager of Swinerton Renewable Energy.

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Atlantic Wind & Solar Inc. is pleased to announce it has completed construction on a 500-kW solar power plant in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

The $3 million commercial rooftop installation, consisting of approximately 2,300 panels, is expected to produce 12,500 megawatt hours of power over the next 20 years supplying Ontario with clean reliable energy. The power will be sold under the provinces Feed-In-Tariff program.

Atlantic has notified the Ontario Power Authority and is awaiting the receipt of a Commercial Operation Notice.

The solar power plant was developed by our Canadian subsidiary Atlantic Solar Inc.

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Already UL recognized for power applications, ILSCO’s broad offering of Neutral Bars have now been approved for grounding applications.

ILSCO, an industry in mechanical and compression connectors, is committed to safe and proper grounding of customer‘s electrical systems.  ILSCO’s neutral bars are now recognized to both UL 486A/B and UL 467 as well as CSA C22.2 No 65-13 and C22.2 No 41-07.  These certifications cover ILSCO’s NBAS, NBAE and NBCE families of Neutral Bars.

ILSCO

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Ideal Power Inc., (NASDAQ: IPWR), a developer of a disruptive power conversion technology, has announced a multi-year alliance with LG Chem Ltd., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries, to supply Ideal Power’s patented power conversion systems (PCS) alongside LG Chem’s industry-leading battery solutions. The two companies will coordinate to jointly market and sell LG Chem’s lithium-ion batteries and Ideal Power’s power conversion systems for commercial demand charge reduction and microgrid applications.

Ideal Power and LG Chem will launch a joint effort using their collective resources and industry expertise to market and sell their power conversion and energy storage products in paired and tested combinations to ensure seamless integration and optimal system performance and value to system integrators. The collaboration is in response to the demand from system integrators for simple, paired sets of hardware that have been sized and matched to optimize system performance for specific applications, such as peak demand charge reduction for commercial & industrial customers.

“LG Chem is a well respected global brand with a leading position in battery energy storage deployment,” said Dan Brdar, President and CEO of Ideal Power. “This collaboration with LG Chem presents a new opportunity for our customers to buy components that are proven to work together seamlessly, and will allow Ideal Power to continue expanding our footprint in this market alongside a company with a strong reputation and global reach.”

Sunghoon Jang, Senior Vice President for LG Chem, said of the collaboration with Ideal Power, “Their technology is a perfect fit for our growing base of commercial and industrial customers who demand the highest quality and performance. Ideal Power has proven the quality and efficiency of their products through repeated successful deployments in a variety of applications. Their technology is the most efficient in the industry, which made Ideal Power a natural choice for our system partner.”

Ideal Power’s award-winning technology is revolutionizing the power conversion industry. Their offerings include both 30kW and 125kW PCS configurations based on their patented Power Packet Switching Architecture (PPSA). Their software-driven technology eliminates the need for many of the bulky components comprising conventional converters. This advancement has allowed Ideal Power to develop the lightest PCS with the smallest footprint in the industry, making it a modular and easy-to-install solution that lowers installed system costs.

LG Chem

Ideal Power Inc.
 

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Global irradiance is the amount of radiant energy (electromagnetic radiation from the sun) on a flat surface. It’s important to measure irradiance to know how much power a solar project could potentially harvest from the Sun. The irradiance is measured in watts per square meter (W/m²). A pyranometer is designed to measure this irradiance from all directions.

Dmytro Podolskyy, business manager of pyranometer manufacturer Kipp & Zonen, said that irradiance data is crucial at all stages of a solar energy project. “Even before building a power plant, a pyranometer is advised for prospecting to find the optimal location,” he said. “Designing a solar energy system with optimal performance requires knowing how much energy it will receive from the sun.” For example, a solar plant with nominal power of 1 MW will produce a different amount of energy (kWh) depending on the solar resource available at the location. Reliable bankable solar irradiance data is required by investors for feasibility studies and to reduce uncertainty of project performance. Therefore, Podolskyy explained that monitoring irradiance is important for reliable estimation of profitability of a solar project.

Furthermore, irradiance data such as the ratio between the direct and diffuse radiation on site is also important when choosing solar generating technology (i.e. PV, CPV or CSP) or racking technologies (i.e. fixed or tracking panels). Direct solar irradiance is the rate of solar energy arriving at the Earth’s surface from the Sun’s direct beam on a plane perpendicular to it and is measured by a device mounted on a solar tracker called a pyrheliometer. The tracker follows the sun to make sure the beam is directed into the device. Diffuse solar irradiance is the rate of incoming solar energy on a horizontal plane at the Earth’s surface as the Sun’s beams are scattered by the atmosphere. A pyranometer measures this with its glass dome shaded from the Sun’s beam.

At an operational solar plant, a pyranometer measures the solar energy that is coming into the system while power meter measures what electrical power it produces. Knowing these two values at all moments allows calculating the performance ratio (PR) of a solar plant. PR is an important parameter that can indicate if the solar plant is operating well or if there are issues such as soiling, shading, short-circuits or module degradation.

There are two types of pyranometers: thermopile pyranometers and semiconductor pyranometers. A thermopile pyranometer is the “true” pyranometer that actually measures the total amount of radiation on a surface, according to Podolskyy. It has a thermopile detector (a device that converts thermal energy into electrical energy) with strongly light-absorbing black paint that consumes all radiation from the sun equally. This creates a temperature difference between the black surface of the sensors and the body of the instrument and results in a small voltage at the sensor that can be measured and translated into W/m². However, a semiconductor or silicon pyranometer uses a photodiode (a device that converts light into current) to create an electrical signal from the incoming solar radiation. The disadvantage of the silicon pyranometer is that its spectral sensitivity is limited, which means it simply does not see the whole spectrum of the sun. Not surprisingly, this can result in errors of measurements.

Thermopile pyranometers can be divided into three classes defined by the ISO 9060 standard that indicates their precision: Second Class, First Class and Secondary Standard.  Podolskyy said Secondary Class pyranometers are the best fit for solar. “Secondary Standard pyranometers are the most precise and are normally used for high-quality measurement of solar radiation at weather stations and solar energy projects due to their long term stability and low error rates,” he said.

A pyranometer provides an analogue voltage output, but Podolskyy added that some pyranometers are available with a smart interface and offer standard industrial output (4-20mA and 0-1V) in addition to a digital Modbus RS485 output.

A pyranometer can be installed on its own or as a part of a meteorological station. “Often on a large solar plant you will find one or several meteorological stations that measure important weather parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction and solar radiation,” Podolskyy said. “You will also find multiple pyranometers installed next to and in the same angle as PV panels to locally monitor the Global Tilted Irradiance, also called Plane of Array (POA) irradiance.” POA irradiance received by tilted PV panels partly includes the radiation reflected from the ground as well as the radiation from the sun and sky. The measurements taken by pyranometers can be compared with models that calculate irradiance on the array from the sky under different conditions. This step is critical for efficiently modeling the overall performance of solar energy projects.

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JA Solar Holdings Co. announced that all of its PV modules have passed the high-grade hailstone impact test conducted by TÜV Rheinland.

During the high-grade hailstone impact test, hailstones with a diameter of 45 millimeters strike the glass surface of JA’s modules at a speed of 30.7 meters per second (about 110.5 kilometers per hour). In contrast, hailstones used in the standard hailstone impact test strike are only 25 millimeters in diameter and strike modules at a speed of only 23 meters per second. The anti-kinetic energy impact performance of JA modules is ten times the original industry standard.

Mr. Jian Xie, President of JA Solar, commented, “In order for our products to withstand harsher weather conditions, it is a necessity that our modules pass the hailstone impact test under more stringent conditions. Passing the TUV high-grade hailstone impact test is further testament to the high reliability of JA Solar’s PV products and our competitive advantage as a leader in industrial PV technology.”

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In our first article, we took a general overview of solar monitoring and why it is far more than just watching the energy production meter “spin” and counting dollars of revenue. Yes, production is important, but it is not the only metric we should be interested in as operators of large scale PV systems. In this article, let’s dig deeper into some of the components that can and should be monitored to ensure the operational and the financial health of the PV system.

This article was authored by Keith Davis, Director of Solar Services at
Affinity Automation

I think we all would agree the PV system inverters are the most acutely important pieces of hardware on the site. After all, they sit squarely in the critical production path of converting high voltage DC into a useable form of AC energy that the grid can absorb. A non-functioning inverter means no energy delivery which means no revenue from that portion of the array. And no one wants that to happen.

Inverters of all types are manufactured by many different firms, large and small, and each machine has its own strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages. The system designer must make good decisions to use the best machine to meet the electrical and operational challenges each site creates. And once they are installed and working, the system operator cannot just ignore them. On the contrary, a large portion of the site’s O&M effort is focused on the inverter due to the possibility of it becoming a single point of failure with huge consequences.

Therefore monitoring the inverter remotely makes it the very first item to connect a data logger to read and record how well the machine is running and to gauge its “health” by looking at certain operational parameters. While we tend to look at AC energy output as the most important metric, the DC voltage input levels, DC current flow, inverter component temperatures, power factor, grid voltages and ground fault currents are all critical as well. Each data point gives a savvy system operator great insight into how well the machine is performing beyond total AC energy output. Higher than normal currents and temperatures are disastrous for the long-term life of any inverter so watching them and setting maximum tolerances is vitally important to their survival over the many years a machine is expected to perform. Lower than expected voltages and current signify trouble in the array itself or blown overcurrent devices in the DC section, all with a loss of energy output and revenue. Keep a close eye on these machines first and foremost.

Depending on the owner’s desired level of granularity into the plant’s operation, there are several other critical factors that can be monitored and compared to an expected norm. On the DC side, DC feeder currents are often monitored at the re-combiner or DC disconnect level. Some think that monitoring string voltages and currents is important as well which yields a tremendous amount of data, so be careful what you ask for.

On the AC grid side, voltage, current, phase angle, kVARS, power factor and the like can all be monitored and recorded by the revenue grade meter in addition to production. Personally I believe monitoring the many transformers on the site is quite critical as well due to their long lead time if a replacement is needed. Many transformer manufacturers will install optional sensing devices that monitor transformer temperature, oil levels and pressures, which being within specifications is extremely critical to the device’s longevity and performance. How much better it would be to shut down the connected inverter(s) and the transformer itself well before a meltdown occurred? A good monitoring and control system can do this.

Environmental measurements are also quite important so the site’s overall expected performance can be compared to the reality of real time production. Good weather instruments are not inexpensive, but they are well worth the extra costs over the long-haul. It only takes a very minor configuration mismatch between the pyranometer and the DAS to invalidate irradiance readings or to skew the calculated performance quite widely. Ambient and back-of-module temperatures also need to be highly accurate and recorded as a part of the energy production calculation as well as wind speed and direction, so install and maintain good instruments to give the system owner confidence in the systems expectations.

When the system is running and performing well, monitoring is important. But what is more critical is knowing when something is wrong (or better yet–about to go wrong!) and what needs to be done about it. And there are levels of severity that a good monitoring and control system can provide to the site operator so their response is tailored to the situation. But there must be a well-designed and maintained monitoring system in place, fully functional and dependable in order to have 100% faith in what the system is reporting. I have heard on more than one occasion that the biggest system failure on many PV sites is the monitoring system itself, so go the extra distance upfront to include the right hardware and software to provide the level of data detail required with a 99.9% system availability. A tall order, I know, but this will be the requirement in the very near future as systems grown in size, cost and complexity.

In our next article we’ll look at the monitoring hardware itself and talk about communications protocols. We’ll also look at how these choices are critical to the correct information gathering and data logging of the site’s data stream, and then it’s export across the Web to the monitoring portal. So check back next month!

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As the off-grid solar market grows, many solar professionals are considering offering services to this segment as a smart business move. But off-grid projects have different considerations that are important to note for a proper installation. To tell us more, we spoke with Sequoya Cross of off-grid supplier Backwoods Solar.

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Global single-axis tracker revenues are expected to grow 120%, to reach nearly $2 billion in 2019, according to IHS, a global source of critical information and insight. For the first time, single-axis trackers will be the preferred type of structural balance of system (BoS) ground mount in the Americas in 2015. Overall global ground-mount solar photovoltaic (PV) installations are forecast to increase an average of 7% per year, reaching 33 gigawatts (GW) in 2019; utility-scale installations will account for 73% of the total.

“The United States leads growth in the single-axis tracker market,” said Cormac Gilligan, senior analyst, solar supply chain, IHS Technology. “Chile, Mexico and other emerging markets that have high irradiation are also favoring single-axis trackers, especially as prices have fallen rapidly in recent years.”

According to the IHS “PV Balance of System Equipment – 2015” report, the global market for ground-mount structural BoS will be dominated by fixed-tilt structures, which will account for 67 percent of total installations. Single-axis tracker installations are forecast to provide just over 9GW in 2019 driven mainly by the growth of utility-scale installations.

The United States will be the largest global market for single-axis trackers in 2019, accounting for 36 percent of all global installations. China and India are forecast to rank second and third, comprising almost 2GW of single-axis tracker installations in 2019.

In the United States, Sunpower, First Solar and other leading engineering, procurement and construction companies (EPCs) — along with Nextracker, Clavijo and other pure-play suppliers — are currently promoting single-axis trackers in large utility-scale installations. “When single-axis trackers are installed in high irradiation locations, the additional energy yield means that customers can generate a higher return on investment,” Gilligan said.

While Chile and other emerging markets favor single-axis trackers, larger Asian markets, such as China and India, currently prefer fixed-tilt trackers, due to the abundance of large domestic steel manufacturers that can manufacture them cheaply. In India and other markets with low labor costs, suppliers like Tata International are installing seasonally adjusted trackers, which allow the angle of trackers to be changed seasonally by humans, rather than with motors. As these large Asian markets develop, IHS expects installations with single-axis trackers to increase rapidly, as existing suppliers develop new products and as new suppliers enter the market.

The scope of the IHS “PV Balance of System Equipment – 2015” report is segmented into electrical BoS products, such as DC cabling, combiner box, connectors, inverters and system monitoring hardware, as well as structural BoS products, such as rooftop and ground-mount structural mounting products. The report covers the total market for PV BoS equipment, which is defined as any part of a PV system’s hardware excluding the PV module. The report does not analyze components on the AC side of the inverter (e.g., AC cabling or AC combiner boxes). For more information about this report, visit here.

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The article was authored by Jeffrey Juger, Director of Marketing & Strategy, Hanwha Q CELLS

When you have a long-term relationship with someone, you begin to associate things with them—restaurants where you had a particularly romantic date or the site of your first kiss. In some respects, I feel like I have had a long-term relationship with the solar trade case. I distinctly remember where I was when I first heard the words “solar trade case” and the many restless nights as I lay awake pondering just what it would do to the solar industry. The solar trade case has had many twists and turns, and barring a positive outcome in government negotiations, it is here to stay. I hope then that my sleepless nights at least lead to a better understanding of the real reason you, the PV module customer, should care about these tariffs.

Except for a couple law classes I took during my business school studies at Yale, I am no lawyer, but I have spent many hours listening to trade attorneys discuss this case and have spent even more time flipping through reams and reams of legal trade jargon. I will attempt to distill the strange world of tariffs into digestible nuggets and explain what it all means and why customers should care deeply about the way it works beyond just the impact to their quoted price.

The easiest way to start this off is simply to show you a decision tree. What about a module assembled in China using a cell made in South Korea? What about one assembled in South Africa using a cell made in China? This tree should help explain.

As you can see from the graphic, there are essentially three distinct and active cases against crystalline PV modules:

• China cells
• China assembly, no matter the origin of cells
• Taiwan cells

In each of the cases, there was a final decision and a rate given for countervailing duties (CVD), counteracting any negative effects of unfair subsidies; and anti-dumping duties (ADD), counteracting negative effects of below cost predatory pricing. The ADD in particular is collected as a cash deposit.

What you, the customer, should keep an eye on is the administrative reviews that occur each year. Interested parties may request review of the rate each year, and based on quantitative assessment, the rates are kept the same, adjusted down or adjusted up. If the rate goes down, the manufacturer who previously paid a cash deposit gets a refund. If the rate goes up, the manufacturer has to pay even more. That rate also holds for future imports, pending future annual administrative reviews. It is the second example (when rates go up) that should concern customers.

Most customers these days receive quotes delivered duty paid (DDP), meaning you get off scot-free, no matter what happens to the rates. However, you should be concerned about what a higher than expected increase to the rate could do to the module manufacturer’s financial wellbeing. Imagine a scenario where a module manufacturer gets blindsided by an increase in the ADD and is unprepared to pay the additional cash deposit. Your 25-year linear power warranty is your biggest insurance for the performance of your system, and any financial uncertainty from the manufacturer meant to honor that warranty should make you uneasy. Why risk it then, when there are manufacturers out there with quality tariff-exempt products at competitive prices?

Hanwha is one such company. With more than 60 years of experience, Hanwha has seen its fair share of international trade cases, and it was ready for this one. Although a bulk of its manufacturing capacity was in China, it quickly acquired access to module capacity in Canada, Poland, Malaysia and South Korea and built up a large cell capacity in Malaysia. Geographic diversity in the supply chain would have already been a nice thing to have, but the uncertainty generated by the trade case makes this geographic diversity even more of an asset.

The trade case will remain complex, and both you and I will always have questions. But with rates clearly variable and changing each year, it would behoove you to consider sourcing product that is immune to these potentially scary shifts.

Solar Power World

Everybody Solar has raised enough funds to build a solar array on the headquarters of non-profit Wildlife Associates.

Everybody Solar, an award-winning solar energy nonprofit, has announced that JinkoSolar and All Points North Foundation (APNF) have stepped up to bring solar to fellow Bay Area nonprofit Wildlife Associates. In September, Everybody Solar kicked off a crowdsourced fundraising campaign to bring a solar array to Wildlife Associates and cut their electric bill by 90%. These donations pushed the campaign past its goal of $78,500, allowing construction on the 27 kW solar array to commence. The hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings will support the organization’s mission of wildlife conservation and education.

A private foundation that strengthens communities by supporting solar educational programs, APNF has awarded Everybody Solar with a prestigious $30,000 grant. The grant will cover the installation and ancillary equipment costs of the Wildlife Associates array. APNF works to drive awareness, education, training and hands-on application of solar as a practical and cost-efficient energy source, and saw a natural fit with the Everybody Solar project.

“APNF is proud to help Wildlife Associates go solar. The installation will significantly reduce the organization’s electricity costs, allowing more resources to go toward its mission. Wildlife Associates will be able to reach more students, teaching them about the care of wild animals as well as being stewards of the earth through the use of renewable solar power,” said Mark Dudzinski, APNF solar subcommittee chair and board member.

With JinkoSolar’s donation of 90 high-efficiency modules, Everybody Solar can now break ground on the Wildlife Associates installation. Valued at approximately $20,000, JinkoSolar’s second major contribution to Everybody Solar will generate over $150, 000 worth of electricity over the course of twenty years. The 72-cell high-efficiency modules from JinkoSolar will be paired with Enphase Energy’s new line of C250 micro-inverters to generate the most power possible for Wildlife Associates. JinkoSolar’s 305 Watt modules will maximize the amount of clean energy produced from Wildlife Associate’s limited roof space while Enphase’s C250 micro-inverters optimize the energy production and monitor the production of each individual module.

“It is with great pleasure that we renew our partnership with Everybody Solar for this notable cause. Their ongoing efforts to service the community while bringing sustainable energy to the forefront are truly commendable,” said Nigel Cockroft, General Manager of JinkoSolar (U.S.) Inc. “We are humbled that our contribution will benefit Wildlife Associates, an organization both close to our home and heart.”

“We’re extremely grateful to the All Points North Foundation for all of its important work to bring solar to communities across the country. We’re also excited to partner again with Jinko Solar on the Wildlife Associates project and utilize their cutting edge solar module technology,” says Youness Scally, Executive Director of Everybody Solar. “With the Foundation grant and in-kind module donation, Wildlife Associates will be able to significantly expand their wildlife programs and further educate the public about the benefits of solar energy and conservation. We’re honored to be the beneficiary of these two champions of clean energy.”

With the crowdsourcing effort now realized, Everybody Solar will begin breaking ground on the project in April with project completion and ribbon cutting targeted for later this spring.

Solar Power World