The first vertically integrated PV manufacturer in the MENA region, Qatar Solar Energy (QSE), has officially opened a 300MW PV module production plant, located in a Doha industrial zone, Qatar.
Having recently reporting full-year solar cell and module shipment guidance of between 2.7GW and 2.9GW, JA Solar is also increasing solar cell capacity from 2.5GW to 2.8GW to better match module capacity levels.
A DEK Solar existing customer, Nice Sun PV Co., Ltd, located in Zhangzhu, Yixing City, China has ordered several DEK Solar Apollo metallisation platforms to integrate into its existing DEK Solar PV 1200 lines to increase capacity of solar cell production. The deal was said to have been struck on the first day of SNEC 2014, held last month in Shanghai, China.
Indian module manufacturer Tata Solar is to expand its module manufacturing facility in Bangalore from 125MW to 200MW citing potential new anti-dumping duties as one reason behind its decision.
One of the last remaining a-Si thin-film manufacturing plants in production globally and the last in Germany is to close with the loss of 160 jobs at Masdar PV in Ichterhausen.
PV equipment specialist, Meyer Burger Technology is streamlining its R&D activities at its Roth & Rau subsidiaries technology and product centre in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany with the loss of around 120 positions.
Major monocrystalline wafer producer, LONGi Silicon Materials is entering the PV module market to demonstrate and promote the significant cost reductions achieved in monocrytalline wafer production and highlight the performance and life-time yield superiority of monocrystalline products over multicrystalline.
Non-silicon mono wafer costs are plummeting and could challenge the predominance of monocrystalline silicon wafers, according to the head of a leading Chinese wafer producer.
According to NPD Solarbuzz, Sharp Corporation shipped the highest volume of PV modules in the world in the first quarter of 2014, something it has been unable to achieve in the last five years.
