Major flat panel display manufacturer AU Optronics Corp reported a significant reduction in its solar business unit’s losses in 2016, after receiving a US$170.1 million cash payout from SunPower to exit its joint venture (JV) manufacturing operations in Malaysia, last September.
Since Wacker Chemie opened its new 20,000MT polysilicon plant in Charleston, Tennessee in 2016, there was a good chance that the German-headquartered chemicals firm could overtake incumbent market leader, GCL-Poly.
PV and polysilicon manufacturing equipment specialist centrotherm photovoltaics reported 2016 revenue at the higher end of previously withdrawn guidance that was pulled on fears of PV manufacturers withdrawing capital expenditure plans when PV demand drastically weakened in China in the second-half of the year.
Dedicated monocrystalline integrated PV module manufacturer SolarWorld believes 2017 is a transitional year for the company after announcing a switch to monocrystalline production at the expense of multicrystalline and a full-migration to PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) technology as ASP declines in the second-half of 2016 forced a major manufacturing rethink.
REC Group has introduced an all-black variant of its ‘TwinPeak 2’ Series PV module for US and European residential markets. The REC TwinPeak 2 BLK2 Series has a nominal power rating of up to 285Wp, using its half-cut cell and PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) technology and uniformly black-colored multicrystalline cells.
Diversified renewable energy firm Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE) had previously warned that it expected to report a loss in 2016 of around US$133 million (RMB 923 million) due to a catalogue of issues but revised analysis by the company put the figure significantly higher at around US$348 million.
This week's Movers & Shakers focuses on big career moves in Germany, India and the US. SMA Americas plans a major push into the US market, the International Solar Alliance welcomes a new interim director and India's Hartek Group takes on BHEL's Jeet Chhatwal to develop innovative automated systems and procedures for day-to-day activities which further improve productivity and bring more efficiency.
Many key PV manufacturers in Taiwan are still reporting monthly sales in February, 2017 that are well below the levels set in the first half of 2016, due primarily to the expected boom in China’s downstream PV market, which has yet to take hold.
‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Hanwha Q CELLS is allocating only US$50 million to capital expenditures in 2017, indicating there would be no new in-house capacity expansions in 2017.
