From team event to Teams event

Like for many other young people, our training started in September 2020. After about half a year of the pandemic and unusual circumstances, it finally meant we could start our professional lives. Since the corona situation had eased a bit during summer, it was easier to get together with the other trainees. From a joint lunch break on the first day to our first get-together a few weeks later – it was perfect to be able to discuss things and chat. However, the Corona situation was not making it easy for us and the long-awaited team event had to be cancelled in the end. Nonetheless we came up with a creative alternative. (more…)

And the award goes to…

Every sector and industry relies on research and innovation to develop and succeed. This also applies to the PV sector, especially in times of energy transition, CO2 reduction and with plans for abandoning fossil fuels. For this reason, IBC SOLAR together with various other organisations, regularly supports students with their innovative ideas as a team partner in research and/or financially. This time, the team supported Bernd Doll, FAU PhD student from FAU in Erlangen-Nürnberg and presenter of the current iPV4.0 projects. With his contribution “contactless outdoor photoluminescence of silicon photovoltaic modules with large area excitation source”, the talented student has won one of the Student Awards at the “EU PVSEC 2020” – something that he can be very proud of – which of course we are! (more…)

The right time for solar energy

Even though South Africa is still considered to be the most developed nation on the continent, the country is facing tremendous energy challenges like many other African countries. The Rainbow Nation’s energy provider Eskom is over indebted, operates mostly old generation facilities and struggles with an unstable grid. The utility provider is often not able to meet the country’s electricity demand and regularly implements “Load Shedding” – planned power cuts to avoid a breakdown of the system. In addition, Eskom is likely to implement a rise of electricity prices by 15 percent from July 2021 on after an increase of around 7 percent in July this year already. (more…)

Roofs, loads and the correct mounting system

The AeroFix base rail G2 Eco

I will never forget my father´s face when my sister-in-law walked across his newly laid parquet flooring with spiked heels on …This funny example reminds me of, how “not so funny” and also how important sufficient area is for the distribution of relative loads. Because the same situation also applies to PV systems on flat roofs as in these situations, heavy loads can play a role, too. Either caused by snow loads, e.g. in Scandinavia or in the Alps, or by high ballasting weight. As a Certified Surveyor for Photovoltaic Systems, I see more and more cases where installers are confronted with building insurance claims for damaged roof coverings caused by heavy loads. In the case of a commercial sized roof, the resulting claims against the installer can easily get up to a six-digit number of value. (more…)

An award for customer satisfaction

The German Institute for Service Quality (DISQ) together with the news broadcaster n-tv will be on the lookout this year to select “Germany’s Most Popular Provider” from a large number of companies across 42 sectors. We are very excited that one of the Life & Living Awards 2020 is coming to Bad Staffelstein. IBC SOLAR is one of the winners in the category “Solar Technology” and thus one of the top three companies in the industry. An award, that makes us extremely proud.  (more…)