Major polysilicon producer Wacker Chemie has reported a significant decline in the fortunes of its polysilicon business segment in the third quarter of 2018.
Polysilicon producer REC Silicon has been forced to sell solar grade (FBR) polysilicon below cash cost, due to weak demand and ASP declines, driven by demand curtailment in China and continued polysilicon capacity expansions.
‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member GCL System Integrated Technology Co (GCL-SI) is planning to sell up to RMB 1.0 billion (US$144 million) of sales invoices to a third party at a discount to improve its cash flow position.
PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the second quarter of 2018, were slightly higher than the previous quarter, although activity slumped specifically in June, after China’s decision to suddenly cap utility-scale and distributed generation (DG) projects (531 New Deal). But large-scale multi-gigawatt production plans in the first half of the year may have hidden an inevitable slowdown, despite the impact on downstream demand from the 531 New Deal.
Australia is to trial using solar and wind power to produce hydrogen via electrolysis, with the hydrogen then being used for long-term energy storage in the Sydney gas network.
A new zero upfront cost solution for rooftop solar PV for commercial and Industrial (C&I) customers has been launched by the renewables arm of Malaysian power giant Tenaga Nasional (TNB) and a similar solution for the residential segment will be available by year-end.
The Chinese government’s decision (531 New Deal) to curtail utility-scale and distributed generation (DG) PV deployments just after the SNEC trade show at the end of May, not only surprised the industry but has since fuelled a significant ASP decline of modules and inverters.
A trio of solar manufacturers have expressed strong confidence in the UK solar and storage markets as the country begins to realise post-subsidy opportunities.
