China-based PV project developer GCL New Energy (GCL-NE), a subsidiary of leading clean energy conglomerate GCL Group announced that it had purchased PV modules from both Wuxi Suntech and Hanwha Q CELLS in order to meet Chinese FIT construction deadlines, instead of typically using sister company GCL System Integration’s (GCL-SI) PV modules.
Gyanesh Chaudhary, MD and CEO of Indian module manufacturer Vikram Solar, discusses how China's solar policy overhaul impacts India's PV market, how India's domestic manufacturing industry should be supported, and what needs to change in the recent Safeguard Duty announcement.
The Indian Finance Ministry’s order imposing a safeguard duty for two years on solar imports from developed countries as well as China and Malaysia has brought long-awaited clarity to both manufacturers and developers, but both segments of the industry have a number of fears.
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.
