Manufacturing

GT Advanced Technology (GTAT) was suffering from sapphire yield issues at its Arizona production plant, according to a consensus of financial analysts and equipment suppliers that PV Tech spoke to during Solar Power International, held in Las Vegas last week.

PV manufacturer Trina Solar is planning to significantly expand solar module manufacturing capacity in 2014, according to documents seen by PV Tech.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is to provide US$53 million to fund 40 R&D projects aimed at slashing the cost of solar.

Global module manufacturer Trina Solar has opened a warehouse in South Africa.

European module supplier, REC announced today its modules have passed new performance tests.

The new contracts for difference mechanism in the UK market is “an interesting opportunity for a more market orientated approach”, according to First Solar.

Potential changes to the scope of the US trade investigation into Chinese modules could create a serious drop in Taiwan-produced cell sales, according to analysts at EnergyTrend.

Despite the lack of current capital expenditure (capex) across the PV industry value chain, market research firm NPD Solarbuzz expects a major shift to higher efficiency cells and modules to finally dominate the sector by the end of 2018.

De Aar 3, an 85MW solar project said to be the largest solar farm in South Africa using thin-film modules, has been completed.

The largest merchant solar cell producer, Neo Solar Power Corporation (NSP), reported a slight increase in sales for September, after three months of decline.