Leading ‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JinkoSolar has made a major revision to its PV module assembly capacity expansion plans for 2020, intending to nearly double its nameplate assembly capacity to a new goal of 30GW by the end of 2020.
Chinese solar manufacturers have slammed South Korea’s decision to attach predetermined carbon emissions ratings to modules originating from China under the regulator’s new carbon footprint requirements.
Trina Solar’s new Vertex series of high power modules have passed TUV Rheinland’s comprehensive reliability tests in what the manufacturer described as “another major breakthrough” for its latest product additions.
Soltec has launched its next-generation ‘SF8’ single-axis tracker system to meet the needs of utility-scale PV power plants adopting the new wave of large-area solar panels.
The rapid transition in the upstream manufacturing solar sector to significantly larger p-type and n-type monocrystalline wafers, cells and modules may be hailed as a new era for the industry in higher module performance and a leap in reducing PV power plants LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) in a rapidly changing downstream market that becomes subsidy free, bidding orientated and targeting grid parity and beyond. But issues such as reliability lurk just below the surface.
Major integrated PV module manufacturer, Suntech has started ramping up a 1GW integrated cell and module assembly plant in Indonesia, predominantly to serve the US market that takes its nameplate module assembly capacity above 10GW.
The solar supply chain will have to markedly adapt and change current solar shipping practices and overhaul utility-scale solar design models to accommodate next generation panels, industry stakeholders have said.
Major polysilicon and merchant cell producer, Tongwei has secured a monocrystalline wafer supply deal from LONGi Green Energy (LONGi Group) that increases its wafer needs by 1 billion wafers to 2.6 billion as the cell producer plans to have more than 40GW of solar cell capacity in 2021.
The US should aim for 100GW of annual domestic renewable energy manufacturing capacity by the end of the decade, with a focus on solar, wind and energy storage, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has said in a new report.
