Manufacturing

Leading PV manufacturing equipment supplier Meyer Burger said that it had received follow-on orders from two customers based in Asia for its PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) upgrade technology totalling around CHF 80 million (US$82.4 million).

News in Brief: SunPower collaborates with Michigan's largest utility for a residential pilot programme, UOSSM's Syria Solar Initiative completes a 127kWp solar system to provide electricity to hospitals, an Australian aboriginal community starts construction on a solar-diesel hybrid project backed by ARENA and Utah's Legend Solar acquires Aspire Energy.

Imec and EnergyVille are introducing new simulation software that accurately predicts the daily energy yield of solar cells and solar modules under varying meteorological and irradiation conditions at Intersolar Europe. Imec’s model combines optical, thermal and electrical parameters to provide detailed insight on thermal gradients in the solar module.

PV and electronics equipment manufacturing and automation specialist Manz AG has received a further €64.3 million pre-payment on CIGS thin-film equipment from Chinese JV partners Shanghai Electric Group and Shenhua Group.

China-based PV manufacturer GCL System Integration Technology (GCL-SI) has signed a supply deal with German-based wholesaler, Europe Solar Concept (ESC) to offer its modules across Europe that are produced by Vietnam-based OEM producer, Vina Solar Technology.

Swedish-Swiss technology leader ABB is partnering with the Singaporean subsidiary of Phoenix Solar for a 1MW floating solar project in west Singapore.

Solar modules in India will be taxed at a rate of 5% as opposed to the 18% that was announced two weeks ago under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Hanwha Q CELLS said its key strategic focus was to diversify its regional and market segment sales in 2017, while reiterating full-year PV module shipment guidance to be in the range of 5.5GW to 5.7GW in 2017.

US module manufacturer Boviet Solar is partnering with SolarEdge Technologies in releasing a new 60-cell 280-295W solar module embedded with SolarEdge power optimizers.

InnoLas Solutions has launched its new high throughput laser workstation for various applications with throughput up to 6000 wafers per hour (WPH). The ILS-TTnx (InnoLas turntable next generation platform) is based on InnoLas’ existing and proven rotary table machine platform with a multi process head configuration and a dual lane automation system.