Materials

PV Tech looks at market trends through the eyes of the CEO of DK Electronic Materials (DKEM), a metallization solution provider for high efficiency cells.

REC Silicon is further reducing its workforce in Moses Lake, Washington due to the ongoing solar trade war between China and the US.

PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first quarter of 2018 continued to follow the strong trend set in the fourth quarter of 2017. The quarter also represented a revival in thin-film expansion plans as well as the return of PV module assembly outpacing solar cell announcements. Also notable was the return of India and the US as major destinations for new capacity plans.

US-based PVD thin film materials supplier SCI Engineered Materials has secured its largest ever order valued at around US$2 million from a CIGS (Copper, Indium, Gallium, Selenide) thin-film module manufacturer in China.

Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier Singulus Technologies has signed an agreement with a key CIGS thin-film module customer, Avancis, which is part of China National Building Materials (CNBM) to develop the next generation of manufacturing equipment.

India’s unusual tender for 5GW of PV manufacturing capacity linked with 10GW of solar projects has been called many things, ranging from pioneering to fanciful, but the earliest stages have seen some of the global industry’s biggest names toss their hat in the ring.

Perovskite solar cell developer Oxford Photovoltaics (PV) has reported a new perovskite tandem solar cell record, certified by Fraunhofer ISE at a conversion efficiency of 27.3%.

India is currently mulling over a plan for a 100GW solar tender to be linked with manufacturing, but with no timeframe put down as yet.

‘Silicon Module Super League’ member LONGi Solar, a subsidiary of leading monocrystalline wafer producer LONGi Green Energy Technology, is showcasing its expanding range of high-efficiency P-type monocrystalline modules at Intersolar Europe.

Perovskite solar cell developer Oxford Photovoltaics (PV) has produced a 1 cm2 perovskite-silicon two-terminal tandem solar cell with a verified conversion efficiency of 25.2%, through an ongoing collaboration with Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics Device Group at the University of Oxford, led by Professor Snaith.