India’s Ministry of Finance has imposed a 25% safeguard duty on imports of solar cells and modules from Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China, starting tonight.
Leading CdTe thin-film module manufacturer First Solar has started production of its large-area Series 6 modules at its first manufacturing plant in Malaysia and said it was nearing the start of production at a third facility as new orders in the second quarter almost reached 900MW.
As the solar industry has grown from a 50GW market to 100GW in just a few years, the desire to have differentiated production has increased, especially for companies entering the market or repositioning strategies.
LG Electronics has introduced a higher performance version of its ‘NeON 2’ 72-cell solar modules using its N-type monocrystalline double-sided ‘CELLO’ cell architecture with 390W-plus performance. The company recently provided US project developer Cypress Creek Renewables with 8.5MW of 395W ‘NeON 2’ modules for one of largest solar-plus-storage installations in the country.
‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Hanwha Q CELLS has endorsed a third party market research report that has made the company the largest supplier of solar modules in Japan in 2017.
Leading PV manufacturing equipment supplier Meyer Burger has secured an order for its ‘SmartWire Connection Technology’ (SWCT) from an international solar module manufacturer in Southeast Asia for use with heterojunction (HJ) solar cells.
Partly to serve a major new industrial park, Japanese utility and grid operator Tohoku Electric Power will buy the power generation from a newly completed 28MW solar farm in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, Kyocera Corporation has announced.
As module suppliers adapt to the slowdown of Chinese module demand in 2018 and 2019, global EPCs and developers are likely to see new Asian-produced panels being offered for both rooftop and ground-mount installations.
China-based integrated PV module manufacturer Wuxi Suntech Power Co has recently renewed its 25-year module performance warranty cover with Munich Re Group and Ping An Insurance, the fifth consecutive year, Suntech has cooperated with the both insurance companies, since 2014
PV Tech was recently given the opportunity to undertake an in-depth interview with Rongfang Yin, vice president of Trina Solar Group to understand the potential business impact on the company of the recent Chinese government policy changes and what if any new strategies were required.
