Materials

The US solar industry is facing fresh module shipment delays after new import documentation was demanded by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

US solar tracker manufacturer Nextracker and steel producer BCI Steel have reopened the Bethlehem steel manufacturing factory in Leetsdale, Pittsburgh that will process steel and produce solar tracker equipment for utility-scale solar projects.

The latest round of price surges in the solar value chain has caused PV module prices in China to exceed RMB2/W (US$0.30c/W).

Solar manufacturer LONGi has set a world record conversion efficiency of 26.5% for silicon heterojunction (HJT) PV cells.

Emirates Global Aluminium is to enter the silicon metal market with a UAE-based facility that could be online as early as next year.

Solar glass provider Xinyi Solar has issued a profit warning after the price of solar glass fell and the price of key components and energy inputs rose.

Polysilicon prices have continued to climb in China amid limited supply as manufacturers are hit by power rationing.

Trina Solar has started construction on a vast new industrial park in the central Chinese province of Qinghai that will cover almost the entire PV manufacturing chain from polysilicon production all the way down to modules.

Tongwei has announced that its subsidiaries have signed a RMB50.9 billion (US$7.58 billion) silicon material sales contract for 216,100 tons with Qinghai Gaojing Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

A newly formed consortium of four US solar companies has committed to spending US$6 billion on purchasing 6-7GW of crystalline silicon solar modules every year to encourage the rapid scaling of domestic solar manufacturing in the US.