Solar Manufacturing News

Seoul-headquartered solar supplier Hanwha charges rivals in the United States, Germany and Australia with having violated its patent. In U.S., Jinko Solar – together with REC and Longi – have requested an intermediate review by USITC. Today, Jinko is expecting the judge to decide in its favor.

Scientists led by Moscow’s Skolkovo Institute of Technology have drawn upon several of their recent battery material innovations to create a potassium-ion device. The institute says its development will pave the way for ultrafast and durable, high capacity metal-ion batteries, to supply rising demand for energy storage innovations.

The Chinese-Canadian manufacturer reported a 1% decrease in sales in the third quarter, with net profit falling 19%, to US$55.2 million. Quarterly shipments were up significantly year on year, from 1.59 GW in July-to-September last year to 2,387 MW this time around. The company expects to ship up to 8.5 GW of panels and achieve turnover of up to US$3.16 billion this year.

United States-based solar energy corporation SunPower is spinning off the majority of its manufacture into a separate company, Maxeon Solar. The latter is going to include Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor, the Chinese silicon wafer supplier, as an investor.

The PV technology company has begun making photovoltaic modules at its facility located in Liebenfels.

The researchers from Spain have developed a material claimed to provide radiative cooling as well as self-purification of e-devices which are subject to critical heating when operating, such as photovoltaic cells. The heat emitter allows decreasing the day-hours temp of the silicon substrate by about 14 degrees C.

Researchers have made a finding they say could vastly simplify and reduce the production cost of perovskite solar cells. Working with mixed halide perovskites, the group found a disordered chemical composition can improve device efficiency.

A U.S. research group has developed a metal-carbon-nanotube composite – MetZilla – which can be embedded in commercial, screen-printable silver pastes and is said to reduce the formation of hotspots in solar modules and to prolong panel lifespan. The composite metal contacts are also ‘self-healing’ as they are able to regain electrical continuity after cycles of complete electrical failure caused by extreme strain.

The solar supplier keeps speeding up production capacity expansion and expects 10 gigawatts of mono wafers production within the framework of Sichuan project annually starting with Q2 of the next year.

Prism Solar Technologies, Inc., an American PV manufacturer, has got a new supply order from the huge financial holding JPMorgan Chase Bank for photovoltaic panels for JP’s financial institutions throughout the United States.

The largest China-based solar-grade mono-Si wafer maker LONGi Green Energy Technology has been pushing for usage of M6 solar-grade mono-Si wafers (in a square shape eith side width of 166mm) through adopting such wafers for its in-house production of PERC (passivated emitter and rear cell) mono-Si solar cells, according to industry sources.

Insolvency proceedings started against Solibro, formerly one of the major thin-film PV suppliers in Germany. The creditors couldn’t invest the funds sufficient for the company’s restructuring. As a result, about 180 people will find themselves unemployed.

Research from Canada has revealed liquid-like lineshape dynamics in cesium-lead iodide perovskite nanocrystals. The findings could be used to produce cheaper and more efficient perovskite cells, researchers claim.

A technique based on optical imaging has been used by an international research team to illuminate strains in lead halide perovskite solar cells without harming them. The scientists claim the approach helped them discover misorientation between microscopic perovskite crystals was the main cause of the strains.

The mono giant has announced the latest aspect of a strategy to massively increase production capacity which is currently set to cost around $3.32 billion. Longi last week issued $710 million of new convertible bonds for investors.