Page 13 - North American Clean Energy November/December 2018 Issue

Speed, simplicity, and scale for C&I solar design
Aurora Solar released a new version of their software that increases the speed and simplicity of solar design, while offering support for multi-megawatt commercial solar projects. Aurora incorporated current graphics technology to deliver an increase in computing speed with a simple interface. The update combines Aurora's accuracy with lightning-fast speed, simplicity, and support for large solar projects. The system offers 10X performance upgrades for multi-megawatt, commercial-scale solar projects and the ability to simulate the solar energy production of a PV system while designing, allowing real-time assessment of design choices. A fully 3D design experience, with seamless transitions between different perspectives of the project site and automated tools to assist solar designers in determining the optimal wiring (stringing) configuration for connecting solar panels to inverters are provided in this system, which also offers support
for large, multi-megawatt solar projects, and an enhanced "fill zone" functionality which automatically optimizes solar panel locations to maximize the number that fit within an available space.
Aurora Solar | www.aurorasolar.com
taking a proactive role in expanding recycling efforts into other regions
of the world. It is important that the industry take an active leadership role to address the burgeoning challenge
of solar PV waste - particularly in the maturing market of the United States. In 2016, the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) partnered with PV manufacturers and installer-developers to voluntarily launch a national PV recycling program, which has aimed to make affordable PV recycling solutions more accessible to consumers.3
All parties involved in the solar industry, whether directly or indirectly, are responsible for nurturing and enabling widespread adoption of PV recycling. Although things are moving in the right direction, it’s ultimately societal attitudes towards reducing waste, and responsibly dealing with electronics as they reach the end of their useful life, that will be the catalyst to cement PV recycling. With industry leadership, the wide rollout of solar panel recycling could be just around the corner; with
it, another piece of the clean energy transition will fall into place.
Andreas Wade is Global Director of Sustainability at First Solar. First Solar has developed, financed, engineered, constructed, and currently operates many of the world’s largest grid- connected PV power plants.
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1 Domínguez, Adriana, und Roland Geyer. "Photovoltaic Waste Assessment of Major Photovoltaic Installations
in the United States of America". Renewable Energy, August 2018. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.08.063.
2 S. Weckend, A. Wade, G. Heath
and K. Wambach, “End-of-Life Management: Photovoltaic Panels”, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Program Task 12 (IEA PVPS Task 12), Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, 2016.
3 E. Butler, “SEIA National PV Recycling Program”, in Solar Power International, Las Vegas, 2016.
First Solar | www.firstsolar.com
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