SolarCity, best known for its services in the US for providing residential and commercial rooftop solar, announced a new set of services targeted at utility and grid operators on Thursday.
LayTec has introduced the first commercially available system for simulation and monitoring of LID (Light Induced Degredation). ‘LID Scope’ is a table-top system that helps to quantify the expected performance loss of any solar cell directly at the production line or in the lab. The tool performs accelerated or real-life degradation tests fully automatically. It is claimed to deliver highly reproducible results and a permanent monitoring of Voc changes by integrated metrology.
Insolvent German-based PV module manufacturer Solar-Fabrik said that German PV installer HSL Laibacher GmbH is expected to purchase one of its assembly lines (No.3) and resume module production at its own facilities in Aschaffenburg, under the Solar-Fabrik brand.
SunPower announced Tuesday that construction has begun on the 11.4MW of solar power systems for public facilities operated by the County of Santa Clara in California.
CIGS thin-film module producer Avancis has reported a record conversion efficiency of 17.9% with a 30x30 cm² champion mini-module, certified by Fraunhofer ISE.
CIGS thin-film start-up Siva Power has raised US$5 million in new Series D financing to build a pilot line to produce small-scale production to demonstrate its co-evaporation source technology at its facility in Santa Clara, California.
The ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) members in 2015, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, JinkoSolar, JA Solar, Hanwha Q CELLS and Yingli Green may have the largest module shipments and manufacturing capacity significantly higher than any other c-Si manufacturer but still lag behind others when it comes to R&D spending.
REC Silicon said it would restart FBR polysilicon production at its Moses Lake facility in the US this month, with full-production planned to be resumed in June, 2016.
Solar Impulse 2, the ‘zero-fuel’ aircraft, landed in Phoenix, Arizona on Monday, completing the first leg across the US in its around the world flight.
