Solar Manufacturing News

Seraphim Solar System Co has turned to an existing Italian partner to try and secure a slice of the country’s PV market, poised for a multi-gigawatt boost within a decade.

Bifacial PV stands on the edge of a boom across the world’s four corners as cost improvements and geopolitics strengthen the case for the budding technology, according to Wood Mackenzie.

The Chinese module giant has committed to sourcing 70% of its energy from renewables by 2023 and all of it by 2025. If serious, that could represent confidence in the amount of new renewable energy generation capacity to come online in China given the company’s huge production capacity expansion plans.

Risen Energy has announced a 148 MW module order will be completed this month as the Ningbo-based company expects to ship almost 1 GW of product to the country this year.

The thin-film manufacturer and Chinese carmaker Joylong Automobile applied thin film cells to the roof of a small commercial vehicle which was tested for a month. Hanergy says its K-Car could offer an effective daily range of 50-100km without charging.

After the “June rush” to complete solar projects in China – as well as the commissioning rush in Vietnam, which saw higher-than-expected demand of 4 GW in the first half – the growth of the regional solar market started to slow down in July and August, before anticipated Chinese demand picks up the slack again. With unexpectedly low demand in the third quarter, module manufacturers reacted first by marginally reducing utilization rates. Cell producers then cut production after cell prices collapsed.

Leading CdTe thin-film PV module manufacturer and ‘Solar Module Super League (SMSL), First Solar has secured a multi-year supply deal for its Series 6 CdTe thin film modules for five projects across Texas and California with developer Intersect Power.

PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) and Heliolytics have partnered to provide the first comprehensive testing and evaluation services to PV power plant owners and operators when extreme weather and other force majeure events have damaged plants. The partners are launching the service at Solar Power International in Salt Lake City.

Japanese carmaker Honda has clinched the car industry’s supposedly “largest” renewable energy deal, signing a duo of virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for 320MW of wind and solar to power its US operations.

Leading CdTe thin-film PV module manufacturer and ‘Solar Module Super League (SMSL), First Solar expects to start volume production at its second US manufacturing plant in early 2020, restoring its bragging rights as the largest PV module manufacturer in US and western hemisphere.

The facility is set to open this year and will offer battery suppliers digitalization research and manufacturing consulting. Smaller manufacturers will be able to use shared laboratories for research.

Hanwha Q CELLS has celebrated the grand opening of what it bills as the “largest” solar panel factory in the western hemisphere, a US$200 million facility in Dalton, Georgia, meant to supply 1.7GW to the US market every year.

Polysilicon manufacturer Daqo has announced the start of pilot production in Xinjiang and expects to ramp up to full output by the end of the year, doubling the company’s annual capacity to 70,000 MT. Some 90% of its poly will be mono by that stage and Daqo expects 40% to be suitable for n-type products next year.

Canadian Solar has attained what it describes as a new milestone for PV cell conversion efficiency, taking five months to break its own record in the field.

LONGi Solar has bagged yet another order for its high-efficiency module line Hi-MO 4, now set to power a utility-scale project in Vietnam.