The majority of Taiwanese solar industry companies that are public listed on the TSE have recently reported December, 2017 sales figures, highlighting how elusive the recovery in sales has been in 2017.
After the significant upwards revisions made to global solar PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first half of 2017, which we reviewed in a previous blog, the third quarter was characterised by much more tempered plans.
Perovskite solar cell developer Oxford Photovoltaics said it was working with scientists at the new Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) innovation lab to further the optimisation of its perovskite cell materials for silicon heterojunction solar cell technology.
‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member GCL System Integrated Technology (GCL-SI) has appointed a new chairman and chief executive officer as Zhu Gongshan, the majority shareholder with the GCL group steps down from the post of chairman of the board.
Major China-based PV module manufacturer Risen Energy has recently signed a framework agreement to build and operate a 5GW monocrystalline cell and module plant in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China.
China-based polysilicon producer Daqo New Energy has announced that its long-term CEO, Dr. Gongda Yao is stepping down from all executive positions and would leave the company at the end of March, 2018.
PV and electronics equipment manufacturing and automation specialist Manz AG said the 306MW CIGS module production plant for its Chinese partners, the Shanghai Electric Group and the Shenhua Group had started construction on January 4, 2018 and was expected to be completed by the end of third quarter 2018 with production expected to start in the middle of 2019.
China-based merchant solar cell producer Guangdong Aiko Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd (Aiko Solar) said it had achieved a production capacity of 4GW for PERC solar cells, while initially ramping its new production plant on schedule near Yiwu City, central Zhejiang province, China at the end of 2017.
China-based integrated PV manufacturer Wuxi Suntech Power Co has started initial mass production of P-type multicrystalline wafers using its in-house developed metal assisted chemical etching (MACE) texturing process (black silicon) for diamond wire sawing.
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.
