Sweden-based solar cell nanowire materials start-up Sol Voltaics has secured US$21.3 million in a new funding round just a month after claiming a key breakthrough in commercializing its gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowire film for crystalline silicon solar cells.
Perovskite materials start-up Hangzhou Microquanta Semiconductor has reported that a perovskite mini-module, certified by testing firm Newport in Montana, US has achieved a new world record of 16% conversion efficiency.
Leading polysilicon and solar wafer producer GCL-Poly Energy Holdings has sold a 10% share in its planned 60,000MT polysilicon plant in Xinjiang, China for around US$22 million (RMB 150 million) to monocrystalline wafer producer Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co.
Enel Green Power’s a-Si thin-film module manufacturing subsidiary, 3SUN is hoping to obtain a €14.1 million grant from Italy’s national agency for attracting investment and enterprise development, Invitalia to support the purchase of heterojunction (HJ) solar cell tools to switch production to the higher efficiency silicon technology.
US-Based wafer producer 1366 Technologies said that a small 500kW PV power plant in Hyōgo, Japan is the first commercial usage of its ‘Direct Wafer’ technology outside several test sites in the US, Germany and Japan.
Dedicated N-type monocrystalline module manufacturer Jolywood (Taizhou) Solar Technology Co. Ltd (Jolywood) said it had collaborated with TUV NORD and the National Center of Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Product Quality (CPVT) to establish a preliminary testing standard for bifacial solar modules.
Organised by Fraunhofer CSE in partnership with Royal DSM and Greentown Labs, the SunRISE TechBridge Challenge II had selected four early-stage companies from 56 applications to be given support in bringing their technology to market faster.
The significant decline in the solar PV manufacturing supply chain in Europe in recent years has reached a critical condition, according to a string of R&D and trade groups in the region.
Major materials supplier Heraeus Photovoltaics has entered into a new strategic technology partnership with China-based multicrystalline solar cell producer, Solar Space, also known as Zhonghui Photovoltaics (Jiangsu Solar Space Photovoltaic Technology Co.), which was established 2010.
