PIVOTRY RADIOMETER:  JANUARY 2011

Pivotry Radiometer is a free monthly newsletter about new developments in the solar renewable energy industry and based upon the "game changers" from the Pivotry Perspectives Workshops conducted by Wayne Chang, Ph.D.  You are welcomed to share this newsletter with others.

Pivotry Radiometer is in four sections this month:

Highlights from the Year 2010

1.       Game Changers

It has been two years later since the original Pivotry Perspectives Workshop on solar PV "game changers" was first presented.  The three highlighted game changers were New Materials, Hybrids & Integration, Standards & Roadmaps.  These game changers achieved significant progress during a year of pseudo-recovery from the previous crisis year's global recession.  Many companies introduced new innovative products and services; and examples have been described in previous Newsletters.  Companies became more capital efficient, and the PV value chain responded with lower-cost technologies and bankable products (ref-1.1).  Bankability was the term heard most often in the year.  The solar PV industry came out of 2010 with very high year-over-year increases of nearly 100% for installations in GW.

2.       Inverters and Micro-inverters

For the first half of the year, there were delays for inverter delivery as well as inverter shortages.  Certain semiconductors for electronic components were in shortage as the semiconductor industry worked through the recession of 2009 (ref-2.1).  Many inverter manufacturers also ramped capacity and production to keep pace with the growth of PV system installations, and by year end there was an over-supply of inverters (ref-2.2).  Micro-inverters also gained significant adoption and many new companies (as well as established companies) have emerged with products (ref-2.3).  As these micro-inverters pair with PV panels and achieve comparable operational lifetimes, the future path towards AC panels may develop in the next few years.

3.       Feed-in Tariffs (FIT)

The solar PV industry growth is critically linked to feed-in tariffs.  For example, the Province of Ontario, Canada launched a lucrative FIT program for 2009, and in 2010 there was an overwhelming response for FIT contracts and over 200 MW expected (ref-3.1).  The response in Ontario is also shaped by fixed percentages of domestic content for solar PV systems.  A number of manufacturers of PV modules, and inverters have setup operations to meet these content requirements (ref-3.2, 3.3).

4.       Top Ten Highlights and Perspectives

The top ten solar trends and stories from Greentech Media (ref-4.1) and PV-tech.org (ref-4.2) show an interesting blend of global perspectives that are noteworthy…will 2011 be the same?

REFERENCES & LINKS

1.1 http://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-report/solar-report/pv-installations-technology-production-and-cost-perspectives-of-the-global-solar-industry-by-2015.html

2.1 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/solar-projects-stalled-by-inverter-shortage/

2.2 http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/13783/difficult-times-for-solar-inverters-supply-exceeds-demand/

2.3 http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/09/mighty-micros-make-their-mark-pv-inverter-scene-overhauled-by-micros-and-the-ac-module

3.1 http://www.isuppli.com/Photovoltaics/News/Pages/Ontario-Solar-Market-Booms-but-Local-Sourcing-Mandate-Could-Limit-Growth.aspx

3.2 http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=196781&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1458885&highlight=

3.3 http://investor.power-one.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=504973

4.1 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/top-ten-solar-items-2010/

4.2 http://international.pv-tech.org/news/top_10_pv_tech_news_stories_of_2010

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This newsletter is based upon information that we consider reliable, but we do not represent that it is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied upon as such.