During 2022, capex for solar PV manufacturing fabs reached a record high - at more than US$27 billion - with spending dominated by Chinese companies building out new fabs in China and across Southeast Asia.
Solar tracker manufacturer PV Hardware has planned to build a new solar structure and tracker facility occupying 65,000m2 in an industrial park in Valencia, Spain.
US solar tracker manufacturer FTC has formed a domestic joint venture with Thailand-headquartered steel fabricator Taihua New Energy to produce steel components for solar projects.
Solar equipment manufacturer Linton Crystal Technologies has made an initial investment of US$10 million to build a solar manufacturing equipment facility in the US.
The recent swathe of announcements from US policymakers – coupled with growing geopolitical unrest regarding Chinese manufacturing dominance and the role of solar PV from an energy security standpoint – has the potential to redefine PV technology, manufacturing and component supply chains in a way that the industry has never seen before, writes Finlay Colville, head of research at PV Tech.
2022 saw the arrival of DAS Solar as one of the PV industry’s rising stars, the five-year-old company attracting strategic investment from, among others, China Merchants Venture Capital, Three Gorges Capital and Yongfu Shares.
