Opening the door to massive growth

by Caris Chan, Market Director, EKO China

The solar and renewable energy industries in China are already showing healthy signs of recovery following the height of the COVID pandemic. With the rapid growth of PV projects at home and abroad, the future of solar is truly being 'made' in China.

China was the first country to pass 100 GW of cumulative installed PV capacity in 2017, and in 2019 generated over 220,000 GWh of electricity from solar power; an increase of 26.5% over the previous year. Cumulative solar capacity reached 223 GW by the end of September 2020 and, despite the pandemic, China remains on course to add 34-38 GW in 2020.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is predicting that China will meet a target growth average of 35-44 GW annually from 2021 to 2025; securing China's position as the world's largest market for both photovoltaics and solar thermal energy, despite strong growth and projected investment in countries such as India and the US.

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To help highlight our support for international standards, and our involvement with various bodies developing and setting national, global and industry level standards, we have added hyperlinked organisational logos for ASTM, ISO, IEC, and HMEI into the footer section of our website.
 

Click on each organisations link to visit their website and find out more.

Creating Consistency

by Will Beuttell, Application Engineer, EKO USA

How do you know that the instrument you are buying will work, that it will be well-built, accurate, and reliable; that the company you are buying from is genuinely going to deliver a product or service that meets your requirements?

The answer, ‘International Standards’; technical parameters developed and established by international organizations that are usually independent, industry-based, and not for profit. From morse code in early telecommunications, through barcodes, the periodic table, and the binary code used in computer programming today; international standards touch on many aspects of modern life, science, technology, and communications. They are crucial to international trade and generally supersede technical regulations and standards developed independently and separately by each nation; ensuring that products work consistently, and as expected, wherever they are manufactured, bought or sold.

These same standards help companies and customers make informed choices, helping them to select the right products for their needs or applications. They provide buyers, researchers, and users with a consistent benchmark, and guide manufacturers through design and production.

At EKO, we develop instruments that conform to standards set by a range of organizations, national and international; from specific standards for measuring IV curves in Japan (JIS), to how we calibrate spectroradiometers (ASTM G138), and IEC 61724-1 which outlines equipment, methods, and terminology for performance monitoring and analysis of photovoltaic (PV) systems; including the specifications for Class A pyranometers like our industry-leading MS-80 and MS-80S.

As a manufacturer of scientific instruments, with the goal and responsibility of producing the most accurate and highest quality sensors possible, we believe that it is crucial to stay up to date; and where appropriate, to contribute to and support the development of standards. That’s why many of our engineers and scientists take part in technical working groups with bodies including ISO, IEC and others; helping to ensure that our products meet the needs of all our customers now and in the future

Since 2016, EKO Instruments has been an organizational member of American Society Testing and Materials International (ASTM). As an organizational member, EKO is actively participating in the revision of current, and the creation of, new ASTM standards.

While there are many individuals and companies within each ASTM subcommittee, our role as a radiometer manufacturer is especially crucial in the development of standards for meteorology, photovoltaics, and weathering.

We provide information into the latest state of the art of radiometric calibrations and measurements as well as communicating to various subcommittees on the needs of the respective industries.

For example, when using a Class A pyranometer (MS-80/S), users expect top-level performance. However, all measurements have some level of uncertainty. Calculating uncertainties accurately is crucial, and can be very complicated.

In 2017, the ASTM subcommittee G03.09 on Radiometry developed ASTM G213-17, ‘Standard Guide for Evaluating Uncertainty in Calibration and Field Measurements of Broadband Irradiance with Pyranometers and Pyrheliometers’. This standard allows users to have a consistent methodology for calculating measurement uncertainty. Users can enter the specific contributions of uncertainty based on their sensor design and location. The standard provides an adjunct spreadsheet file that allows users to calculate uncertainty values directly from their recent measurements. This adjunct also provides a direct example to learn from. Users can take the information and develop more elaborate uncertainty calculations, but G213-17 gives everyone a great, and consistent, starting place.

Other new standards EKO is taking part in developing include a ‘New Guide for Performance Classification of Solar Radiometers’ and an ‘Estimation of UV irradiance received by samples as a function of location, orientation and tilt’. As the needs of various industries change, ASTM and EKO will be ready to respond to the challenges, working together to create the latest standards to appropriately support those industries.

If you have an interest in ASTM or would like to learn more about a specific EKO product and its adherence to an ASTM or other international standard, please contact your regional EKO office for more information.

Anyone wishing to contact our offices around the world can now book an online video meeting using Calendly and Zoom.

Calendly is a booking tool that allows you to choose the date and time of your meeting. Simply make a selection from the available timeslots, and you will receive an automated email with the details and a Zoom link.

Please click here to access the full list of available meetings with our global team.

Study uses MS-321LR Sky Scanner

by Huzefa Motiwala, India Country Manager

‘The Energy and Resources Institute’ (TERI), headquartered in New Delhi, is a not-for-profit, policy research organization - working in the fields of energy, environment, and sustainable development. TERI’s mission is to usher in the transition to a cleaner and more sustainable future through conservation and efficient use of energy and other resources. With a 1200-plus strong team of scientists, sociologists, economists and engineers based on campuses across the country; in Gurugram, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Mumbai, Panaji, and Nainital, TERI has been developing insightful, high-quality action-oriented research for over forty years.

So, when TERI started to consider a research project to measure luminescence and radiation of the sky hemisphere, light pollution, and how radiation affects the diffusion of light, they needed a highly accurate system and comprehensive training, on hardware and software, to use it.

Working with ‘Aimil’, and a team led by Deputy General Manager, Data Acquisition, Anurag Gupta, TERI commissioned and installed an EKO Instruments MS-321LR Sky Scanner at their New Delhi headquarters.

The MS-321LR Sky Scanner sky scanner is often used to study diffuse sky radiation, an important parameter for building automation, design, daylight software modelling, and light pollution research. 

Some of the key features of the EKO MS-321LR Sky Scanner include:

• A daylight analysis measurement system
• The ability to measure sky irradiance and illumination
• A 145 sequential step measurement process of the hemisphere
• An auto measurement schedule function
• And integrated values over full hemisphere

The advanced software control functions give full flexibility, enabling data exports for extensive research and analysis. The software also allows measured data to be automatically recorded at pre-defined time intervals; a convenient feature that allows users to simply set it and go.

We will try to share further reports on the TERI study, and their experience using the EKO MS-321LR Sky Scanner in future.

Anyone wishing to contact our offices around the world can now book an online video meeting using Calendly and Zoom.

Calendly is a booking tool that allows you to choose the date and time of your meeting. Simply make a selection from the available timeslots, and you will receive an automated email with the details and a Zoom link.

Please click here to access the full list of available meetings with our global team.

The New Normal

The COVID-19 pandemic may be winding down in some countries, but its impact will be felt long-after the lockdowns have ended. With so many lives lost our definition of what is ‘normal’ will almost certainly change. In industry, the companies and manufacturers caught off guard, and ill-prepared to maintain production during the crisis must adapt now, or risk severe consequences from a second wave or third wave of the virus. Solar power and renewable energy industries are no exception.

At EKO, we have been working on new remote working systems; helping our customers, partners, and colleagues to schedule online meetings, and webinars, with ease. A useful option before the pandemic, the ability to hold meetings online, to work remotely, should now be regarded as essential. Indeed, many other organisations and event organisers have moved quickly to adopt similar tools.

In North America, the Solar Asset Management (SAM) North America conference, for example, led by Solar Plaza, was held on April 7^th and 8^th. The event, for the first time, was held virtually.

Overall, the conference was a real success. The information from the presenters was, during uncertain times, clear and encouraging. The solar industry in North America was described as “still moving along with little disruption”. Concerns about the supply chain remain, but there was a real sense that each active project has talented people working quickly and efficiently to resolve challenges. Time and again during the conference, online tools and virtual meeting were highlighted as key; enabling teams across countries, and continents, to continue coordinating large and complex projects.

While our headquarters in Japan were quick to adopt new measures once we became aware of COVID-19 issuing face-masks, hand sanitiser, and alternative work schedules, for example, it is fair to say that remote working, has played a significant role. Tools such as Slack, Zoom, and Dropbox, have helped us to maintain production and safety in our offices at home and around the world.

Whatever the ‘new normal’ has in store, we expect remote working, and virtual meetings to now continue as one of the primary methods of communication. If you have any questions about the solar energy business in your region or how EKO Instruments can help you, please reach out to us. We are ready and look forward to supporting you and your projects.

Open for business

At EKO, we were fortunately well prepared to weather the global pandemic, with remote working tools already in place. We were able to remain operational and maintained our manufacturing capabilities while continuing to work with our partners to deliver services and solutions to our customers.

We have launched a new online call booking system and continue to develop new resources.  

Anyone wishing to contact our offices around the world can now book an online video meeting using Calendly and Zoom.

Calendly is a booking tool that allows you to choose the date and time of your meeting. Simply make a selection from the available timeslots, and you will receive an automated email with the details and a Zoom link.

Please click here to access the full list of available meetings with our global team.

Renewable Energy in Asia after Covid-19

CHINA by Caris Chan, Market Director

COVID-19 has hit hard and incredibly fast everywhere, and it looks like we are going to be living with the consequences for some time. But despite the damage, the delay's, the social, economic, and human impact, there are grounds for optimism and a chance, in this next phase, for a renewed drive towards a renewable future.

Solar, wind and hydro prove resilient during COVID-19 crisis

According to a recent study published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), ‘renewables are the only energy source likely to experience demand growth across the remainder of 2020 regardless of the length of lockdown or strength of recovery’.

That the IEA should publish this finding is remarkable, if not surprising to those working in the energy industry today. Renewables are set to thrive despite the old, but the still vocal, argument against them; that solar and wind are intermittent and therefore cannot serve in an energy-on-demand basis in the way that nuclear and fossil fuels can.

COVID-19 has exposed the short-sightedness of that argument, the fast-growing value of renewables in the energy mix, and the inherent weakness of traditional energies. While ‘intermittence’ was the stick used to beat wind and solar, we can now rightly point to the inability of coal, oil, and gas to scale.

The IEA report predicts that annual energy demand could drop by 6% in 2020, wiping off the last five years of demand growth.

• Due to the fall in demand, coal-generated power will decrease by more than 10%
• Gas by 5%
• Due to the restrictions imposed on land and air travel, oil demand will decline by 9%
• While global demand for biofuels is also likely to decrease
• Nuclear is also expected to drop by 3%
• The report nonetheless has stressed the importance of the priority dispatch, which has helped the renewables to remain unfazed by the pandemic.

Solar manufacturing expansion plans for Q1 2020 top 500GW

Meanwhile, the solar industry announced unprecedented plans for capacity expansion in the first quarter of the year - some 500GW - easily surpassing any total annual plans in the history of the sector, according to preliminary data compiled by PV Tech.

PV Tech’s preliminary analysis of upstream manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first quarter of 2020, across ingot/wafer, solar cell and module assembly segments combined, exceeded a staggering 500GW.

While solar manufacturers across China couldn’t escape the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with production and supply-chains hindered for several months, most have now achieved a full return to work and resumption of production with the strong support of local government.

While the postponement of solar energy projects may cast doubt on pre-pandemic growth plans for new solar installations, there is certainly room for optimism. Pandemic-induced restrictions are easing, the cost of production continues to decrease; and, despite a 50% cut on the PV subsidy for 2020 compared to 2019, the fact that it has been announced 2-months earlier gives the industry certainty as manufacturers prepare to scale production back up. All-in-all the signs are that the PV industry can expect a rapid return to growth while moving towards economic self-sustainability.

Key Numbers

2020 PV Subsidy Policy

• The PV subsidy for 2020 is about US$212 million (RMB 1.5 billion)
• 1/3 of the total amount will be allotted to residential rooftop solar projects, about US$70.69 million (RMB 500 million)
• 2/3 of the total amount will be allocated to auction projects (distributed, and utility PV projects), about US$141.38 million (RMB 1 billion)

• The PV subsidy budget has been cut by 50% from US$424.14 million (RMB 3 billion) in 2019

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) ‘Guided Electricity Prices’ for utility-scale and distributed PV projects 2020

• The guided electricity prices for utility solar power are US$0.05 (RMB 0.35), US$0.06 (RMB 0.40) and US$0.07 (RMB 0.49) for zones 1, 2 and 3
• The subsidy for residential PV and specific distributed PV projects has been substantially reduced by US$0.014 /kWh (RMB 0.1 /kWh) and US$0.007 /kWh (RMB 0.05 /kWh), respectively

Open for business

At EKO, we were fortunately well prepared to weather the global pandemic, with remote working tools already in place. We were able to remain operational and maintained our manufacturing capabilities while continuing to work with our partners to deliver services and solutions to our customers.

We have launched a new online call booking system and continue to develop new resources. In summary, EKO China is open for business; ready to support you as we all work towards a brighter, solar-powered, future for China.   

Anyone wishing to contact our offices around the world can now book an online video meeting using Calendly and Zoom.

Calendly is a booking tool that allows you to choose the date and time of your meeting. Simply make a selection from the available timeslots, and you will receive an automated email with the details and a Zoom link.

Please click here to access the full list of available meetings with our global team.