The PV industry is on track for strong growth in 2020, despite 10 months of the year being shrouded in uncertainty and perennial pessimism. And while almost all in the sector have been lamenting supposed softness in demand this year, attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, it turns out that the limiting factor to production and shipment volumes this year simply comes down to the supply of raw materials, namely polysilicon.
Leading solar module manufacturer JinkoSolar has signed a long-term purchase agreement with solar polysilicon and cell provider Tongwei, worth nearly 100,000MT.
Major module manufacturers in China have called on the country’s government to intervene and ease solar-grade glass shortages they have said are “out of control”.
Major polysilicon and merchant solar cell producer Tongwei has resumed production at its 20,000MT polysilicon plant in Leshan City, Sichuan province after damage, due to severe flooding in the region forced the plant to close in mid-August, contributing to a spike in polysilicon prices at the time.
‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member First Solar is undertaking capacity expansions at its two existing manufacturing plants in Ohio, while evaluating several new international locations to grow its global module sales business as initial Series 6 CdTe thin film module expansion plans come to an end, effectively becoming capacity constrained again from 2021, onwards.
China-based PV backsheet and high-efficiency PV module manufacturer Jolywood (Suzhou) Sunwatt Co (Jolywood) has reported record third quarter 2020 revenue and profits, while exceeding 2019 full-year financial results in the first nine months of 2020 as it continues to execute on high-efficiency n-type TOPCon module shipments to utility-scale PV power plant projects.
Ahead of the forthcoming PV CellTech 2020 Online event, on 27-29 October 2020, PV-Tech’s head of research and Chair of PV CellTech, Dr. Finlay Colville took the time to catch up with Jenya Meydbray, CEO at PV Evolution Labs (PVEL), about why PV cell and module technology remains a critical issue for site performance and reliability globally.
Ahead of the forthcoming PV CellTech 2020 Online event, on 27-29 October 2020, PV-Tech’s head of research and Chair of PV CellTech, Dr, Finlay Colville discussed with Gunter Erfurt, the CEO of Meyer Burger, some of the major changes at the company in 2020.
Dr. Finlay Colville asked the questions to Gunter Erfurt, CEO at Meyer Burger.
A comprehensive understanding of the performance gain offered by a bifacial module remains an elusive goal for PV owners and EPCs due to variations arising from different design, manufacturing and testing methods. Vicente Parra, Ruperto J. Gómez, José C. Vázquez and Francisco Álvarez of Enertis review the main sources of variability and outstanding uncertainties that must be addressed as the industry seeks to define standard rules for reliably selecting, purchasing and deploying bifacial PV modules
Major polysilicon producer Daqo New Energy has been forced to revise down guided polysilicon sales volumes in the third quarter of 2020, due to customers postponing purchasing orders as market prices hit US$12.5/kg.
