Modules

Integrated PV manufacturer REC Solar is to invest a total of $200 million Singapore dollars (US$182.3 million) in expanding and upgrading production at its facilities in Singapore. The company also plans to invest a further US$50 million in R&D activities at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), with emphasis on a type of PV module.

According to SolarWorld’s 186-page annual report for 2015, and a presentation by Dr. Holger Neuhaus, Managing Director, SolarWorld Innovations GmbH at the inaugural PV CellTech conference held in Malaysia last week, high-efficiency products will be the key focus of its expanded manufacturing capacity and technology migrations in 2016.

When Jan Marc Luchies from Tempress Systems (Amtech Systems) took to the stage last week – on the second day of the inaugural PVCellTech conference in Kuala Lumpur on 17 March 2016 – equipment supplier Amtech Systems capitalized on this platform with a press release to highlight a sharp uptick in new order intake for its PV operations over the past two months, taking the company’s solar bookings to approximately US$50 million since October 2015.

PV manufacturing capacity expansions planned this year are expected to push production levels beyond anticipated demand in 2016, creating further cost pressures for suppliers.

A solar auction in the Indian state of Rajasthan has seen the lowest bids so far in the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) category, which requires project developers to source solar equipment from local manufacturers.

SolarWorld has attributed a “low” probability to a negative outcome in its ongoing lawsuit with Hemlock Semiconductor in its 2015 annual report. Its release comes one day after Hemlock filed for summary judgement in the case.

Imec's Bart Onsia outlines some of the research efforts underway to tackle the issue of cell-to-module losses, including a new tool for calculating the output of a variety of module configurations in different conditions.

Solar developer and private asset manager Capital Dynamics has selected module manufacturer ET Solar to provide modules for 14 solar projects in North Carolina in the US with a combined capacity of 84.4MW.

CPV start-up Banyan Energy believes it has the right technology and business model to succeed where others have failed, writes Mark Osborne.

PV wafer and module manufacturer ReneSola reported lower than expected PV module shipments and revenue in 2015, while expanding wafer shipments.