Solar Manufacturing News

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.

Credibility comes not just from offering products that generate clean electricity, but also from the way in which those products are manufactured, says SMA Solar Technology CEO Jürgen Reinert. Here, transparency and sustainability are key. That’s why one of the world’s largest PV inverter producers has partnered with pv magazine’s UP sustainability initiative. In the following Q&A, Reinert lays out what SMA is doing to step UP its green game.

Indian module manufacturers are gearing up for an end-of-year surge in solar project procurement and hoping their investments in incorporating global manufacturing benchmarks will translate into enhanced sales.

Solaria Corporation is to work towards a doubling of its panel manufacturing capabilities this year, a push financed by a new capital raise.

The U.S. company claims its 300 MW manufacturing plant in Hyderabad will deliver fully integrated, customizable solar panel, lithium battery pack and controller systems under a single roof.

The German PV equipment provider will not achieve the sales and earnings targets set for this year. CNBM is not expected to place orders for the expansion of its CIGS thin-film production operations in China until the fourth quarter.

The GCL System chief executive made comments that fly in the face of an expected solar gold rush in China that analysts predict will start this month. Though rising overseas demand will address overcapacity fears, according to Luo, the soundbite is sure to chill PV boardrooms across the world’s biggest solar market.

Major PV materials supplier, Heraeus Photovoltaics has collaborated with German company, Cell Engineering to develop metallisation pastes for its ‘LECO’ (Laser Enhanced Contact Optimization) technology that can increase multiple solar cell architectures conversion efficiencies by up to 0.15%.