Luvata has been established for hundreds of years and has contributed to a host of products, some familiar and some not so well known. In the 1990s Luvata pioneered technology that made automated mass-production of photovoltaic solar panels possible by enabling automatic ribbon soldering. In this revealing Q&A, Justin Roux, Luvata’s Senior Vice President of… Read more »
Month: August 2008
Turnkey wind-diesel for continuous operation
In this technical article, Soren Qvist Vestesen of Vestesen A/S – a veteran PES contributor – further outlines the benefits of a Danvest wind–diesel system. Danvest Wind Diesel SystemsWith reference to my earlier PES article from earlier this year, I should like to further describe the efficiency of the Danvest system for high wind penetration… Read more »
Oil price hike is good news for wind power
With oil prices reaching record levels and natural gas doubling in price over the last two years, the main beneficiaries are wind power and the environment. Manel Romeu Belles, of Danish turbine company Vestas, looks at how the harnessing of the wind is becoming a complement to oil and gas. {pagebreak} Over the last few… Read more »
Optimising the wind power drive train package
Combining a Permanent Magnet (PM) generator with a power converter in a wind power drive train is simple, but nobody integrates them into a totally optimised package the way The Switch does. The Finnish company is a forerunner in supplying tailored electric drive trains that meet each of its customerâ
STANGL & SINGULUS – a strong player in solar technology
The coming together of two German hi-tech companies in August of 2007 resulted in a synergy that can only benefit the ever–expanding photovoltaics industry as a whole. Han–Juergen Stangl outlines the expertise of both companies and explains how they will operate for mutual gain in the solar technology market. In an ever–competitive environment, SINGULUS Technologies… Read more »
A place in the sun see’s great growth
China is at the cutting edge of photovoltaic manufacturing and Solarfun is one of Asia’s leading companies in the sector. The upswing in PV interest mirrors the company’s rapid growth rate of the last few years and there is confidence this curve can be maintained. We talk to new CEO Harold Hoskens, who has joined… Read more »
Bolt securing system slashes costs
Bolt securing system slashes costs and increases safety During the past decade it has become extremely important to optimise all aspects of product design. Competition is tougher than ever and steel costs have skyrocketed. For economic reasons each component must be utilised to its maximum capacity. Bolted joints became the centre of attention after recent… Read more »
Keeping up with demand is the new PV challenge
It’s boom time for the photovoltaic sector and firms are increasingly finding that demand outstrips supply. This is the experience of Swiss–based Multi–Contact, who are working hard to beat the bottlenecks and ensuring their customers are being satisfactorily serviced. The global increase in the demand for electric power and the trend towards resource–saving energy production… Read more »
12 months in solar dissected
Meyer Burger slices into the high-tech sector for success and sustainability Meyer Burger is a leading supplier of high-precision machines with wire saws, band saws and ID / OD slicing systems for cutting hard and brittle materials such as silicon, sapphire or other crystals into wafers, prisms and other shapes. The company’s offering includes various… Read more »
March of the robots felt in photovoltaic circles
Robots working alongside their human colleagues on a variety of production lines are now an everyday sight, and the photovoltaic industry is taking notice of the lower costs and shorter production times that the use of robots in industry brings. In this article, Rüdiger Winter, of German company Adept Technology, a global, leading provider of… Read more »
Taking on the challenge of grease lubrication in wind turbines
Taking on the challenge of grease lubrication in wind turbines Have you ever stopped at a wind turbine and been impressed at the sheer scale of the engineering challenges of constructing such a large harvester of wind energy? Developing and selecting the correct lubricant for these engineering monuments requires not only knowledge of lubrication solutions,… Read more »
Company forged in iron moves with the times
The German firm, Decker, started life as an iron foundry more than a century ago and has moved with the times ever since. In the late 1970s it began to supply etching equipment for the newly-emerging semiconductor industry and as this developed, so did Decker. Over the last 30 years it has created customer-specific equipment… Read more »
Meeting environmental challenges
The Danfoss company of Denmark began life in an attic, the brainchild of inventor Mads Clausen. Today, the company produces around 250,000 items a day – including many energy-saving products – at 70 factories in 25 countries. The company’s products and businesses focus on reducing energy consumption as well as renewable energy. {pagebreak} Danfoss Solar… Read more »
Staffing solutions: giving clients room to breathe
Staffing solutions: giving clients room to breathe in a global market Headquartered in Berlin, with offices all over Germany, DAL Zeitarbeit is a recruitment and staffing company that operates in the power industry – particularly within the wind sector. In this exclusive interview, company owner Dr. Ansgar Lauterbach explains how the firm alleviates the human… Read more »
From furniture to foil laminate
From furniture to foil – laminate : firm branches out to embrace new PV business German laminate company Bürkle is well-known in the laminates and pressing industry for its work in the wood, plastic card and circuit board industries. Now, it has gained a foothold in the photovoltaic industry and is determined to use the… Read more »
Setting sail to take wind power across the world
BBC Chartering is a recognised global leader in providing tailor-made shipping solutions for both heavy lift and project cargoes. It was founded ten years ago and now operates more than 140 vessels from a network of 21 offices. In recent years the company has come to be known as a leading shipper of wind turbines…. Read more »
UPS solutions for wind turbines
UPS solutions for wind turbines – high performance in all weathers The performance and profitability of a wind turbine stands and falls with its operational reliability. Any fault or outage can cost the operator dear while also potentially impacting on safety; costly servicing puts an extra strain on budgets. Therefore, it is all the more… Read more »