AS Published on Tuesday 11 January 2022 - n° 388 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at panel prices in 2022, from China
Everyone is predicting the price of panels in 2022. We are going from lower prices to higher tariffs. There is one certainty: the silicon production units will be gradually brought into service, but with full capacity in 2023. So are we heading for lower prices? Not so sure, as panel manufacturers have suffered in 2021 and need to restore their profitability. Is this the only data to consider? No, we must take into account the volume of the ever-increasing global demand and the objectives of the Chinese Communist Party, which uses photovoltaic energy as a means of implementing its policy.
What is certain is that the evolution of panel prices has never been so open
L R AS Published on Tuesday 14 December 2021 - n° 386 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the replacement of fossil fuels by RE
We hear from all sides that greenhouse gases come from fossil fuels and that there is an urgent need to switch to renewable energies if we want to keep the planet between 1.5° and 2° Celsius in 2050. Researchers have been working on the feasibility of this conversion. At first, the conclusions were cautious. The latest one seeks to make a mark by stating that RE is not only capable of covering all the needs of the population, but that it would also bring a lot of ancillary benefits
Who is right? What should be done? Who should we trust? The common sense of all people says that you should never go down a path you don't know about, even if you say it is the right one. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't because we don't know the way to 100% renewable energy!
L R AS Published on Tuesday 7 December 2021 - n° 385 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the rising prices of silicon, steel, copper ...
Last week, (A look at the photovoltaic industry in 2021), the description of the photovoltaic industry mentioned on a sectoral level what was happening in other parts of the economy: a rise in prices to take advantage of the situation, and a repercussion in other parts of the sector. At each stage, everyone tried to maintain their positions or even take advantage of the situation to increase their profit margins, until the final level, which was in contact with the users and saw how difficult it was to pass on price increases
This week, the focus is on what is going to happen, because at the same time as silicon, steel, copper, aluminium, nickel and also agricultural products are seeing their prices reach decade highs or even levels never reached before.
So silicon and panels are the image of what is happening before our eyes
L R AS Published on Sunday 5 December 2021 - n° 384 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the photovoltaic industry in 2021
For the past eighteen months, the photovoltaic world has been gripped by a silicon crisis, a shortage of materials, and rising prices. A well-rehearsed message led the world to believe that the Chinese had nothing to do with it and that this crisis was temporary. However, with the publication of the quarterly accounts of the companies, we can see that there was an abundance of silicon, that the rise in prices allowed the players to make huge profits, and that the crisis was temporary.that the 'communication' was fabricated, and that the arguments presented were false.
A look back at a silicon story from the last eighteen months
L R AS Published on Wednesday 1 December 2021 - n° 384 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the state of the Chinese PV industry
For the past eighteen months, the photovoltaic world has been gripped by a silicon crisis, a shortage of materials, and rising prices. A well-rehearsed message led the world to believe that the Chinese had nothing to do with it and that this crisis was temporary. However, with the publication of the quarterly accounts of the companies, we can see that there was an abundance of silicon, that the rise in prices allowed the players to make huge profits, and that the crisis was temporary.that the 'communication' was fabricated, and that the arguments presented were false.
A look back at a silicon story from the last eighteen months
AS Published on Tuesday 23 November 2021 - n° 383 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the CRE4 tenders
The calls for tenders issued by the Commission de Régulation de l'Energie (CRE) were generally very successful. They have stimulated developers to build ground-mounted power plants, but also rooftops, shaded areas, and to launch innovations in non-interconnected areas.The construction programme, which was known in advance, encouraged major energy players to get involved in solar energy production. During the ten rounds of tenders, the world of photovoltaics has changed a lot. It has matured and become more focused. It has given rise to a few players. It leaves the future open for about thirty medium-sized developers. Above all, the calls for tender have enabled developers to have sufficient confidence in themselves to launch energy purchase offers (EPBs) aimed at large companies. The transition has been smooth.
AS Published on Tuesday 16 November 2021 - n° 382 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at why COP26 failed
If we address the environmentalists and the participants, COP26 seems to have given birth to a mouse. The disappointments are equal to the commitments of the climate activists or of the population to whom extreme climatic phenomena are announced. But isn't that asking too much of such international conferences? How can we reconcile the divergent interests of rich countries and oil-producing countries in terms of greenhouse gases? Do the emerging countries have the same interest as the rich countries? This alone explains the failure of COP26.
The only decisions that can be taken are those that satisfy everyone, and therefore have no binding effect. Otherwise the declaration is rejected by this or that group. Yet it is the indirect effects that are achieved: the attention paid to the new world that is expected; the gradual evolution towards awareness; and also, little by little, towards a change in behaviour
AS Published on Wednesday 10 November 2021 - n° 381 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at intermittency: how important is it? How can it be mitigated?
Intermittency is at the heart of renewable energy. Indeed, the sun does not shine all day and has disappeared during the night. The same is true of wind power. Thus, the opponents of renewable energies evoke the intermittency as the irremediable defect of RE, which makes them advocate fossil energies or nuclear power. But how important is intermittency? How can it be circumvented or its effects cancelled out? At what cost? and therefore how long will it take? and are we prepared to invest to combat this intermittency. This is an important subject. It deserves to be studied.
L R AS Published on Wednesday 3 November 2021 - n° 381 - Categories:PV Watch, company results
ESA in 2021
US energy technology company AES has completed the construction or acquisition of 643 MW of renewable energy and energy storage in the last 12 months. Year to date,
AS Published on Wednesday 3 November 2021 - n° 380 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the RTE study, or the biased study at all levels
The big debate in France is what type of electricity generation will be used in the coming decades. EDF supports the nuclear power plants that have worked well so far. It is said to be a candidate for the construction of a number of EPRs to replace ageing plants. On the other hand, renewable energies are only just emerging, but they have managed to establish themselves as an alternative, at least in terms of cost. Solar energy is competing victoriously with nuclear kWh, but they have one big handicap, which is that they are intermittent. The government has asked RTE (Réseau de Transport de l'Electricité), a key player in the energy sector, to shed light on the respective interests of the two energies and to draw up a vision of the future by 2050.
AS Published on Tuesday 26 October 2021 - n° 379 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the events that led to such a high silicon price
The chronological analysis of US actions and Chinese reactions provides a different view from the official propaganda that presents the explanation for the current price of silicon. Both countries are testing their resistance, reaction and strengths/weaknesses. This is normal if one considers that both sets aspire to remain or become the world's leading power. Only, while actions and reactions are visibly exchanged, the other actors (Europe) do not understand what is going on, nor where its interest lies. It discusses
AS Published on Tuesday 19 October 2021 - n° 378 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the "Start, and then I'll follow you"! Or the evanescent European PV
The photovoltaic reindustrialisation of Europe is analysed, commented on and desired. If we want media success, we organise a round table on the subject. This is normal because Europe was at the origin of the development of solar energy in the world; because until recently, companies from the Old Continent were the world's leaders and flagships; because many leaders are still nostalgic for that time.
Moreover, it is fashionable to repatriate factories that have gone abroad. There is only talk of reindustrialisation, automated factories that eliminate the weight of labour in the finished product, and savings on greenhouse gas emissions in transport. So why not in photovoltaics? But it's not that simple. It's even more complex because of the very nature of the solar panel!
AS Published on Monday 11 October 2021 - n° 377 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the nuclear/renewable energy match
The rise in gas prices, but also in electricity prices, is surprising and raises questions about the best way to limit the rise in prices in the long term. Many countries have chosen. France is hesitating between nuclear power and renewable energies. Each of the alternatives has its weaknesses, which explains the doubts. Which one can prevail?
AS Published on Wednesday 6 October 2021 - n° 376 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the photovoltaic situation
Photovoltaic panels are presented as the best way to fight against climate degradation. They would have all the virtues and would ensure the Energy Transition. However, China has monopolised world production and charges a high price for its manufacture. It explains that it is not its fault if there is a shortage of silicon because of the length of time it takes to bring production units into operation. It is not its fault that the price of energy has soared worldwide and that it does not have enough for itself. All in all, panel prices are soaring because there is far more demand than production. Behind understandable economic explanations, China is quite happy to show the world that it can be counted on.
L R AS Published on Monday 27 September 2021 - n° 375 - Categories:PV Watch
A look at the deteriorating situation in the photovoltaic sector
The world is in a deceptive calm! Price increases in the energy sector (gas, electricity, hydrocarbons) are visible, while other sectors such as maritime freight, steel, industrial and agricultural raw materials are increasing in various proportions and are not visible to the general public. As a result, the changes taking place in the various economies are not perceived. Yet these changes are profoundly altering the situation of the various sectors. This is the case with photovoltaics