Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

• Popular Technical Papers

  • Overview of automation in the photovoltaic industry
  • Understanding moisture ingress and packaging requirements for photovoltaic modules
  • Evaluation of encapsulant materials for PV applications
  • Inline processing of crystalline silicon solar cells: the holy grail for large-scale manufacturing?
  • PV sector outlook: an analyst’s perspective

• Featured Technical Papers

  • Transparent conducting oxide deposition techniques for thin-film photovoltaics
  • Comprehensive and advanced quality assurance measures for optimal yields from PV power plants
  • Surface passivation of silicon solar cells using industrially relevant Al2O3 deposition techniques
  • Influence of a-Si:H deposition temperature on thermal stability of a-Si:H/SiNx:H stacks
  • Integrated loops: a prerequisite for sustainable and environmentally-friendly polysilicon production

U.S. electric utilities are beginning to explore participating in the U.S. solar markets in new and unique ways, including utility ownership of solar projects, innovative program designs that purchase solar energy from customers or third-party providers, and providing financing for customer or third-party projects. Known as Utility Solar Business Models, these utility innovations are expanding and diversifying the market in new and unique ways, driving hundreds of megawatts of new business, but how these new projects and programs impact the solar value chain and what is driving the change varies from utility to utility. This article lays out the evolving nature of utility engagement with solar markets, defines utility solar business models generally, and explores some of the specific program that utilities are proposing.

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