Solar PV capital expenditure (capex) covering the midstream segments of the industry (c-Si ingot-to-module and thin-film) is now well into its second major upturn in spending, going into 2018, at a time when the industry is just about to move to a new phase in annual deployment levels of greater than 100GW.
From technology trends breaking out at scale, China’s mind-blowing deployment, a certain trade case in the US and of course, one or two notable bankruptcies, 2017 was never short of drama. But which stories drew your attention in 2017?
Efficiency gains and productivity improvements are set to dominate the PV manufacturing landscape again in 2018, with strong investments continuing to flow into existing and new cell architectures, with gigawatt-level status now becoming the norm for the manufacturing segment, writes Finlay Colville.
When JinkoSolar released its third quarter results last week – and guided full year 2017 module shipment figures – the company remained on track to overachieve on final quarter shipments, thereby becoming the first ever PV supplier to ship more than 10 GW of modules in a calendar year. Finlay Colville explores how Jinko has managed to double its market share in the space of four years and where the company might be headed to next.
At the beginning of 2017, the big question regarding solar in China was whether they could repeat the stunning ~35GW performance of 2016. Yet, over the course of the year, the question transformed, quite surreally, to whether China would hit the 50GW mark in 2017, writes Apricum's Meishi Tan.
LG Electronics' flagship solar PV panel has a 365 Watt rating with improved temperature coefficient and extended product warranty designed with high aesthetics for residential applications. The LG ‘NeON R’ panel uses N-type monocrystalline cells (60-cell) with back contact electrodes.
Module technologies tipped to enter the mainstream and the suitability of current testing methods were scrutinised at PV ModuleTech 2017. PV Tech caught up with Mark Ma, global marketing manager, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions, to discuss these new innovations and methods of sequential testing.
California-headquartered minigrid company Powerhive, scheduled to attend Solar & Off-grid Renewables Africa in Tanzania next week, is the first private company registered as a utility in Kenya. Andy Colthorpe spoke with Daniel Porras, vice president for impact and communications and a member of the executive team.
