Manufacturing

An oral hearing for India’s anti-dumping investigation was held on Tuesday, giving a chance for domestic and foreign manufacturers as well as module importers to air their cases.

As part of an initiative by the Australian government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded a total of AU$29.2 million for 20 research projects to propel the development of PV technology.

The Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA) has published voluntary guidelines on how to properly dispose of end-of-life solar PV modules.

Chinese clean energy firm Linyang Energy has signed an MoU with Singapore-based solar developer Sunseap to work on distributed solar, floating solar, module supply and energy efficiency projects locally in Singapore.

Plans are in place for a 160MW solar, wind and storage project in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, while a smaller scale demonstration project experimenting with multiple technologies is being developed for Kerala.

Meyer Burger Technology has announced that 100 staff will definitely be let go from its facility in Thun after a consultation procedure was completed on 28 November. However the security of another 60 positions will be dependant on whether strategic alternatives are found.

‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member LONGi Solar, a subsidiary of LONGI Green Energy Technology, the largest monocrystalline wafer producer in the world has reported a record bifaciality reading of 82.15% for its ‘Hi-MO2’ mono PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) bifacial module.

Leading ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JinkoSolar has increased its module shipment guidance, ensuring its global market leadership in 2017.

Leading thin-film manufacturer First Solar highlighted at its 2017 Analyst Day event that it had recently fabricated the first functional CdTe Series 6 thin-film panel at its Perrysburg, Ohio plant, which is spearheading the transition to the larger format at all of the company’s manufacturing plants based in Malaysia and Vietnam.

Leading thin-film manufacturer First Solar said at its 2017 Analyst Day event that it was already building its second CdTe module plant in Vietnam to support the transition to its Series 6 large format panel.