Major equipment supplier to the PV industry, Meyer Burger has reported a better than expected order intake in the last six-weeks, citing it as a “turning point in customer behaviour.”
The strategy to diversify its business away from dependence on sectors such as solar is proving to be a significant success for equipment supplier, Manz AG.
A potential shift by Chinese PV manufacturers to avoid anti-dumping duties in the US and EU as well as in India has started with plans by Hareon Solar to build a 300MW solar cell plant in Taiwan.
Taiwan-based research firm, EnergyTrend, has said that Taiwan-based solar cell producers shipped 3.2GW of cells in the first half of 2013 on the back of anti-dumping duties against China in the US and EU.
Start-up, Solar3D, has claimed the use of an unspecified “thinner” silicon wafer substrate in prototyping its technology has achieved improved cell efficiency of 10% above its 25% cell efficiency claimed in 2012. The results have not been verified by a third party.
Joining the 300W club, US based PV module manufacturer, Silevo has launched the industry’s first greater than 350 Watt-peak (Wp) solar module made with 72 of Silevo’s proprietary Triex 156mm solar cells.
In a paper presented at the IEEE PVSC (Photovoltaic Specialists Conference) being held this week, an NREL-supervised test showed that US-based start-up, Alta Devices modules lost little efficiency at elevated temperatures, unlike conventional modules.
Having established the PV cell performance characterization laboratory at NREL in 1980 and devoted more than three decades to photovoltaic science, Dr. Keith Emery of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will receive the William R. Cherry Award at IEEE PVSC.
