Solar Manufacturing News

Upstream ROUND-UP: Q CELLS toasts 1.7GW plant; Sungrow debuts line; Risen & Arctech milestones.
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.
Sep 23, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, USA, Sungrow, India, Ukraine, Europe, Asia, Risen Energy, North America, Hanwha Q Cells, kazakhstan, downstream, arctech solar, Brian Kemp
‘Mono will supply 80% of the world’s solar by 2021’
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.
Sep 18, 2019 // Manufacturing News, China, polysilicon, Asia, Longgen Zhang, Daqo, Eric Luo
Canadian Solar trumpets new cell conversion efficiency breakthrough
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.
Sep 18, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Canadian Solar, wafer, GCL-Poly, p5, multicrystalline, isfh, mono PERC cells, Dr. Shawn Qu
LONGi’s Hi-MO 4 modules to power 50MW project in Vietnam
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.
Sep 18, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, China, Asia, LONGi, mono perc, hi-mo4, Vietnam, high-efficiency, dlg solar, Mr Dennis She
SMA: We can’t be credible if we’re not sustainable
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.
Sep 16, 2019 // Technology, Manufacturing News, Inverters, Opinions, Germany, Europe, SMA
Value of local manufacturing demonstrated, utilization up but still a long way to go
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.
Sep 12, 2019 // Manufacturing News, India, Asia, South Asia, Rajaram Pai, DuPont Photovoltaic Solution, Module Accelerated Sequential Testing
Californian panel maker reaps US$40m in bid to double production
Solaria Corporation is to work towards a doubling of its panel manufacturing capabilities this year, a push financed by a new capital raise.
Sep 12, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, California, USA, North America, T.J. Rodgers, Isidoro Quiroga, solaria corporation, investors
Innolia Energy to invest $31m in solar module and EV product manufacturing in Hyderabad
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.
Sep 11, 2019 // Manufacturing News, USA, solar panel, North America, Hyderabad, lithium battery pack, controller systems, Innolia Energy
Singulus lowers outlook after delayed CNBM order
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.
Sep 10, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Markets & Finance News, China, Asia, CNBM, Singulus, thin-film module, Avancis
Eric Luo: China will see just 20-25 GW of solar per year through 2025
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.
Sep 10, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, China, Asia, GCL, Eric Luo, Roth Capital Partners
EU PVSEC: Heraeus touts breakthrough ‘LECO’ tech increasing cell efficiencies by 0.15%
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%.
Sep 10, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Germany, Europe, c-si manufacturing, solar cell, PERC, heraeus photovoltaics, npert, topcon, eu pvsec, Hans Jochen von Bomhard
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