Solar Manufacturing News

GCL-Poly generates another $349m towards paying down debt
The polysilicon maker has turned a quick $160 million profit from the sale of its stake in a fund it paid $189 million to establish just five months ago. The heavily indebted manufacturer needs to raise funds to pay for its production capacity expenditure.
Sep 9, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Markets & Finance News, polysilicon, Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development Co Ltd, GCL-Poly, Xinjiang GCL New Energy Technology Technology, Energy Holdings Ltd, Hua Neng Group Hong Kong Ltd
Qatar solar testing facility ‘open for business’
After more than six years of scientific and technical research efforts in the solar sector, the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) is now targeting a major role in the industry itself.
Sep 9, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Grids, pv modules, Asia, Qatar, r&d, qeeri, testing, Dr. Veronica Bermudez Benito
High power prices, falling PV costs and new regulations behind Brazil’s solar carnival
The nation’s thriving distributed generation market is flying, as was evident at last week’s Intersolar South America trade show. The sector seems unconcerned by mooted changes to net metering incentives in the new year and when even an environmental non-believer like President Bolsonaro is on side, it is difficult to be pessimistic.
Sep 8, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Inverters, Solar, USA, Sungrow, Canadian Solar, China, South america, Latin america, Europe, Brazil, Asia, Fronius, Greener, North America, Intersolar South America, Solar Promotion, Florian Wessendorf, utility scale solar, Marcelo Sousa, Ada Li, Thais Zampieri Bitancourt, Julian Rau, Trina, Álvaro García Maltrás, Apollo Chai, Rodolfo Meyer, Portal Solar, Marcio Takata, Lucas Troia
New metallization process cuts silver demand for modules by 30%
Fraunhofer ISE has worked with German technology companies to improve the metallization process in silicon solar cells. The result could drive down module costs quite a bit.
Sep 8, 2019 // Technology, Manufacturing News, solar cell, Fraunhofer ISE, PERC, metallisation, wickon hightech, koenen, murakami, Florian Clement
Comtec ready to swim against the tide by outsourcing manufacturing
While the rest of China’s solar manufacturers take on ever more debt to expand their production lines as fast as possible, Comtec said it is ready to sell off fabs for the right money and will instead focus on project sales and lithium battery and EV business opportunities.
Sep 6, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, China, Asia, Comtec, John Yi Zhang
Big money for Turkey’s 500 MW solar factory
With the Turkish government having given Kalyon Enerji another three years to build the 500 MW facility it won a tender to construct with former partner Hanwha Q Cells, Ankara has now committed a $333 million “super incentive” to the fab.
Sep 6, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Markets & Finance News, Asia, Kalyon Enerji, Eren Engur, Hanwha Q Cells, Turkey
Ukraine orders lift Risen up overseas module shipment rankings
The Ningbo-based manufacturer shipped more than a quarter of the panels it exported in the first six months of the year to the eastern European nation. All the big manufacturers posted rising shipment volumes as emerging markets made up for slow growth in their homeland.
Sep 6, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Jinko Solar, China, Ukraine, JA Solar, Europe, Asia, Trina Solar, GCL, Risen, Chint
Solibro restructuring plan will depend on shareholders
The District Court of Dessau-Roßlau yesterday confirmed self-administered insolvency proceedings have been conducted at the German thin-film CIGS module manufacturer and a provisional administrator has been appointed.
Sep 6, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Markets & Finance News, Germany, Europe, Solibro, thin-film CIGS module, Henning Schorisch
China’s aluminum smelters alone could shift 2.3% of daily electricity demand
German energy agency Dena has found China’s smelter fleet could shift 432.5 GWh of daily demand to more amenable hours to tally with renewables generation. To make it happen though, the regulator needs to lay down rules for providing incentives.
Sep 5, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Germany, China, Europe, Asia, Dena, flexible
EU backs bid to take CPV to mass production amid 29% efficiency claims
A solar PV technology claiming to have achieved 50% higher output than conventional systems in tests has bagged EU research money to speed up its move to large-scale production.
Sep 5, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Engie, Fraunhofer ISE, pv moduletech, European Union, CSEM, Insolight, hiperion, concentrated pv, cpv, r&d, Christophe Ballif, Concentrated solar power
Longi brings forward manufacturing capacity plans by a year
Having stated an intent to hit 65 GW of annual mono wafer production capacity by the end of 2021, the Chinese solar manufacturing giant has now said that landmark will be achieved next year.
Sep 5, 2019 // Manufacturing News, China, Asia, LONGi, mono wafer
Hydrogen-powered bicycles offer new electromobility concept
With the 200 hydrogen bikes offered to journalists and world leaders at the G7 summit in Biarritz proving popular, manufacturer Pragma Industries has received an order for 1,000 of them from Chilean president Sebastian Pinera. The company’s founder, Pierre Forté, wants the bike to have a societal impact in developing countries.
Sep 4, 2019 // Technology, Manufacturing News, Storage, Transport, Solar to Fuel, Lithium-ion batteries, Toyota, France, Europe, hydrogen, Daimler, hydrogen-fueled cars, Pierre Forté, Pragma Industries, Sebastian Pinera, Solar to Fuel, Solar to Hydrogen, Producing Hydrogen, Hydrogen from renewable, Renewable fuels
Space age solar solution moves toward production
A consortium of European research institutes has received €10.6 million in EU funding to establish pilot production of a high efficiency module concept developed by Swiss startup Insolight. The module combines high efficiency multijunction cells with a solar concentrator lens and has previously demonstrated 29% efficiency.
Sep 4, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Markets & Finance News, Europe, PV module, European Union, CSEM, Insolight, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Laurent Coulot
German scientists team up for perovskite tandem cells
Two of Germany’s leading research institutes and a CIGS module maker have announced plans to work on the development of perovskite-CIGS tandem cells with a target of producing thin film modules with better than 30% efficiency.
Sep 4, 2019 // BIPV, Manufacturing News, Solar to Fuel, Germany, pv modules, Europe, hydrogen, perovskite, CIGS module, thin film modules, KIT, ZSW, Nice Solar Energy, Ulrich W Paetzold, Solar to Fuel, Solar to Hydrogen, Producing Hydrogen, Hydrogen from renewable, Renewable fuels
Mondragon Assembly licences ‘continuous stringing’ IP to Korean equipment supplier
Specialist automation and PV module assembly solutions provider, Mondragon Assembly has struck a deal with Korean equipment supplier, STiN for its ‘continuous stringing’ intellectual property (IP).
Sep 4, 2019 // Manufacturing News, South Korea, c-si manufacturing, Asia, solar cell, mondragon