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.
JRT Photovoltaics, a subsidiary of the Jonas & Redmann Group has optimized the testing and sorting of solar cells, claiming to significantly reducing the total cost of ownership (COO) with its ‘CTS 3600’ single-track cell tester & sorter
Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software firm camLine has won a bid to supply its software to the planned AVANCIS, 300MW CIGS thin-film production plant in Anhui, China.
PV Tech’s preliminary analysis of global PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in July and August, 2016 highlight the industry fears over a new period of overcapacity across the supply chain after explosive growth plans announced in the first half of 2016.
