Equipment suppliers serving the PV manufacturing sector are expected to see a new cycle of capital expenditure begin early next year that could reach US$10 billion by 2017, according to NPD Solarbuzz.
Daqo New Energy has completed the de-bottlenecking project at its polysilicon plant in Xinjiang, China, which has started ramping to its expected nameplate capacity of 6,150MT.
Tokyo Electron (TEL) has announced plans to discontinue its ‘micromorph’ turnkey thin-film production line operations, which it acquired after buying Oerlikon Solar in 2012.
Hanergy Solar has said it will start construction of a planned 3GW CIGS thin-film manufacturing complex in Caofeidian, Hebei Province, China in March 2014 with tool install starting by the end of the year.
Sharp Corporation is planning to stop PV module assembly production at its plant in Memphis, Tennessee by the end of March 2014, according to reports citing company officials.
JA Solar and Powerway have formed a joint venture to establish a PV module assembly plant in Port Elizabeth, South Africa with an initial nameplate capacity of 150MW.
US-based PV module encapsulant supplier, STR Holdings, is to renovate its leased facility in Suzhou and seek further outsourced manufacturing arrangements with third parties.
