The recent swathe of announcements from US policymakers – coupled with growing geopolitical unrest regarding Chinese manufacturing dominance and the role of solar PV from an energy security standpoint – has the potential to redefine PV technology, manufacturing and component supply chains in a way that the industry has never seen before, writes Finlay Colville, head of research at PV Tech.
With silicon material and wafer prices on the rise, the impact is being felt further downstream amid warnings module prices could continue increasing this month.
2022 saw the arrival of DAS Solar as one of the PV industry’s rising stars, the five-year-old company attracting strategic investment from, among others, China Merchants Venture Capital, Three Gorges Capital and Yongfu Shares.
Amid potential supply chain bottlenecks as China increases its PV manufacturing dominance, companies in markets such as the US, India and Europe are looking to leverage new policy support to scale up domestic production. Jules Scully charts the industry’s efforts to onshore solar module manufacturing.
Silicon materials producer REC Silicon has concluded a 10-year agreement with South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Solutions to offer fluidised bed reactor (FBR) polysilicon.
The largest solar investment in US history, a pivot to a vertically integrated PV manufacturing facility in the state of Georgia by Qcells, was enabled by a combination of state support, federal government investment and related benefits coming from the Inflation Reduction (IRA), according to the company.
CSI Solar has announced plans to expand its solar and battery storage manufacturing capacity in China, through an investment agreement with the municipal government of Yangzhou City in Jiangsu Province.
Indian solar module manufacturing capacity is forecast to reach around 95GW – up from 39GW at the end of September 2022 – according to research from analyst and consultancy Mercom India Research.
