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Speeding toward growth in the fog
March, 2009: The silicon industry, putting the pedal to the metal, seems to be speeding toward growth. But as the many new manufacturing hopefuls disappear into the fog, they can’t be sure if they are driving down a highway with guardrails or careening straight for a dangerous cliff.
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What does the future hold for electricity providers?
December, 2008: Apparently, conventional electricity providers simply cannot imagine PV competing with them in the immediate future. Otherwise, why didn’t electricity providers, almost without exception, attend PHOTON’s conference on this topic?
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First Solar president at PHOTON’s Start-up Conference: »Second solar is upon us«
December, 2008: Bruce Sohn, president of US-based First Solar Inc., opened PHOTON’s three-day conference series "Searching for the Second Solar" in San Francisco, California, on Dec. 2 by recounting the challenges the company encountered on its path from venture capital-funded start-up into arguably one of the solar industry’s greatest success stories.
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Germany will likely remain the world‘s largest PV market – the only question is whether it implodes
April, 2008: For some time, supply has limited demand on the PV market – but what determines demand? The short answer: price. The long answer, at least for solar modules, is a 181 page report titled Detailing Demand – Where will all the Volume go? In this study, solar analyst Chris Porter describes where he thinks a phenomenal 23 GW of modules will be installed in 2010. Today‘s leading market Germany alone will contribute more than 6 GW to that total.
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Navigant report uses different »metric« for gauging PV market
June, 2007: On April 25, Navigant Consulting Inc. (NCI) published its annual PV report. The study – Photovoltaic Manufacturer Shipments & Competitive Analysis 2006/2007 – presents a 2006 cell figure of just 1,982.4 MW, considerably lower than any other industry analysis.
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Energy Autonomy from Hermann Scheer
May, 2007: The Dutch, German, and Italian covers were decorated with a vision – twin towers with an integrated wind power plant to provide electricity for the buildings. The English-language version just features some grey and white clouds.
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Analyzing why solar makes economic sense for our energy future
January, 2007: Read the following sentence. »Over the next few decades, consumers will turn directly to the sun for their energy.« Was this statement written by a) some radical, anti-establishment hippie; b) the press-hungry head of a PV start-up firm; or c) a former hedge fund manager and buyout specialist?
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New study says the »Solar Generation« is ready for school
October, 2006: While the strident environmental organization Greenpeace International has always had a natural affinity for the fledgling PV industry, it is a bond that could find itself strained as solar becomes ever more of a big business focused on gross margins and bottom lines.
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The Hollywood-style short film
July, 2006: The film »Hail – the Return of the Sun« is only around two minutes long, but this interesting break from typical solar energy advertising is not short on substance. Indeed, it is an action-packed visual vignette with great sound and an exciting story. German module manufacturer Solon AG financed the film and gave the creative group at ad agency Jung von Matt plenty of artistic freedom. PHOTON met up with Jung von Matt‘s Carl-Christian Berge and Sascha Hanke, who were the minds behind the film.
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Study posits mainstreaming of »Zero-Energy Homes« in US
June, 2006: More than 165,000 new zero-energy homes with photovoltaics could be built in the US by 2020 and more than 2.6 million by 2030 with long-term federal government tax incentives, according to a report released in Feb. 2006 by the research arm of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
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Architectural handbook from Schüco
March, 2006: Schüco International KG is a global supplier of components for the entire building shell, including structures incorporating PV.
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Report shows PV cost cuts slower than planned rebate reductions in California
February, 2006: As California prepares to enter its newly gaveled long-term funding program – the California Solar Initiative (see article, p. 44) – a fresh report from Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) examines the effect of the state's two previously existing PV programs on cost.
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The heart and soul of photovoltaics shine in Chasing the Sun
January, 2006: Three cheers for Neville Williams. In his fascinating book, Chasing the Sun – Solar Adventures Around the World, this solar home system (SHS) guru reveals himself as the essence of why anyone reading this review has chosen to be involved in the solar revolution.
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Scientist suggests large-scale CPV program in US
September, 2005: An advanced solar cell researcher with over 25 years at Boeing, Chevron Research, and Hughes Research Labs, and now with small company JX Crystals, Lewis Fraas is among a class of scientists who have gone from developing high power cells for space applications to bringing them down to earth.
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US PV Roadmap would spread economic benefits across 50 states
April, 2005: Conventional thinking has it that a strong commitment to renewable energy in the US would create inter-regional winners and losers. The report titled Solar PV Development: Location of Economic Activity released in Jan. 2005 challenges that notion, finding that a large-scale effort to accelerate PV development would spread economic benefits across the country.
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UNEP online database lists lenders and investors in renewables
March, 2005: Applying the world of project finance from large fossil-fuel power plants to smaller renewable energy facilities, including PV projects, has proven to be no easy task. To address this, the United Nations Energy Programme's (UNEP) Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative launched a new web-based directory in February designed to help project developers and entrepreneurs find sources of capital for PV, energy efficiency, and other clean energy projects.
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The case for including PV on new housing in California
February, 2005: It is no coincidence that Environment California, an influential active research and policy center in the state, in December came out with an analysis called The Economics of Solar Homes. The timing of the report, focused mostly on new housing, put it just ahead of the reintroduction of a solar plan intended to garner 10 years of security for the state's PV industry – Senate Bill 1 (see article, p. 20). This is basically the same bill that stalled in the last legislative session, a measure that
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Study: Japan can satisfy its entire energy demand with renewable energy
February, 2004: Industrialized nations like Japan could say sayonara to coal, oil, and nuclear power with today's renewable technologies – at least, that's the main conclusion of a study published at the start of the year by the Institute for Sustainable Solutions and Innovations. For the most part, the study foresees PV as a solution primarily for covering midday energy peaks.
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