Manufacturing

US thin-film manufacturer First Solar has recorded 48.3GW of net bookings in 2022, up 30.8GW from the previous year.

Lightsource bp and First Solar have agreed a 4GW module supply deal for US projects to be delivered between 2026-28.

Bank of China Securities has issued a research report which stated that the PV industry chain price has stopped rising and may even drop in the future.

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 module underperformance has nearly doubled since 2019, accounting for around US$2.5 billion in projected losses for the global solar industry.

Trade body SolarPower Europe has called on the European Commission to include a ‘best-in-class’ solar labelling to leverage PV demand for European manufacturing in the Green Deal Industrial Plan.

US independent power producer (IPP) Silicon Ranch has expanded its master supply deal with domestic PV module manufacturer First Solar, bringing the total agreed supply between the companies to 6.2GW.

Researchers in Singapore have found a less environmentally damaging way to produce perovskite solar cells in a laboratory, removing the need for lead which had previously been used.

Solar manufacturer Trina Solar has launched a new Vertex S+ PV module series using n-type i-TOPCon cells.

Chinese imports of polysilicon dropped 23% year-on-year to 88,093MT in 2022, according to polysilicon research firm Bernreuter Research.