Work continues apace on the new factory that will serve as a “blueprint” for the future plans of Japanese thin-film module manufacturer Solar Frontier, with the company confirming to PV Tech that it will target a cell efficiency of 15% on its production lines.
Solar silicon materials producer, Silicor Materials is to establish a 19,000MT plant in Iceland to convert metallurgical-grade silicon (MG-Si) feedstock to purified solar grade silicon that it claims can be produced at US$9/kg.
GCL-Poly subsidiary, Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development, is to supply silicon tetrachloride, a byproduct of polysilicon production to a new joint venture between Evonik Industries and GCL-Poly Energy Holdings that will produce fumed silica and ultra-pure silicon tetrachloride.
The portions of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s first national budget relating to solar energy have been met with a mixed reaction from the industry, based on first impressions.
As part of its PV manufacturing expansion plans to 1GW, Shaanxi Non-ferrous Photovoltaic Technology, also known as Shaanxi Youser Photovoltaic Technology, a subsidiary of state-owned Shaanxi Youser Group has placed equipment orders with RENA.
The Heraeus Photovoltaics Business Unit is shifting all R&D activities for its solar cell metallization pastes to the US in a bid to bring next-generation products to market faster.
Start-up Siva Power has touted a revised low-cost roadmap for CIGS thin-film modules that would generate US$0.28/Watt on a single 300MW fully-automated production line.