Hong Kong-headquartered Asia Clean Capital and the US’ Ten K Solar have signed an exclusive China partnership to develop an anticipated 40MW worth of solar projects within the next 18 months.
Tech conglomerate Apple has committed to go 100% renewable with its international operations as part of joining the global renewable energy initiative RE100.
High-efficiency PV module producer and project developer SunPower is to take over its joint venture (JV) solar cell manufacturing operations in Malaysia from Taiwan-based partner AUO, a subsidiary of AU Optronics Corporation at a cost of US$170 million, payable over the next four years.
The University of Delaware’s Institute of Energy Conversion (IEC) has been awarded US$2.1 million from the SunShot Initiative for two research projects aiming to improve the performance of interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells while reducing their production costs and new techniques for CIGS deposition.
Solar panel manufacturers that fail to keep up with emerging technology trends will be under tremendous pressure in 2017, according to host of their peers at SPI 2016.
US-based developer of ‘direct gas to wafer’ technology Crystal Solar has been awarded a US$3 million cooperative agreement by the U.S. Department of Energy, SunShot Initiative.
German-based PV module manufacturer aleo Sunrise said it had started production of its ‘CELCO’ high-efficiency PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Contact) solar cells at its production plant in Prenzlau, Germany.
The hardest and most ‘controversial’ aspect of analyzing capacity expansion announcements is converting them to actual or ‘effective’ new nameplate capacity.
According to Deutsche Bank’s US market analyst Vishal Shah, strong PV manufacturing capacity expansion growth in the second half of 2016 and 2017 is expected to lead to a global 16% solar module oversupply through the period.
India-based PV module manufacturer Vikram Solar has revealed plans to expand capacity to 2GW by 2019, up from recently completed expansions that have taken nameplate module capacity to 500MW.
