In an unexpected development of the planned merger of Tesla and SolarCity, the electric car manufacturer has said that it had tentatively agreed with Japanese electronics firm, Panasonic to begin solar cell and module production at SolarCity’s Riverbend production plant in Buffalo, New York state in 2017.
In this week's Movers & Shakers segment, PV Tech reports on management shuffles in yieldcos and Chinese module manufacturers. In addition, a Canadian energy company continues its US expansion, the REEEAC appoints new members and CleanChoice Energy reveals how community solar can become 'retail 2.0'.
On the day I left Taiwan after a busy week meeting with PV suppliers up and down the supply chain in May, 2016 that was organised by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) the country elected its first female president, Tsai Ing-wen.
GE Energy Financial Services and energy developer Virginia Solar Group have commenced commercial operation on the jointly-owned 42MW Mimasaka Musashi solar project in Okayama, Japan.
LG Electronics USA has started shipments of its flagship ‘NeON 2’ 72-cell solar panels in the US commercial and utility-scale markets. LG's N-type double-sided cell structure provides more energy with a 6.41- by 3.28-foot, footprint that comes in 365 to 375 watt ratings.
The entire solar PV upstream value-chain, including equipment and materials suppliers, is set for drastic changes during 2017, ushered in by a perfect storm of events that has impacted on the industry within a space of 2-3 months, according to the latest release of the PV Manufacturing & Technology Quarterly report from the research team of PV-Tech’s parent owner Solar Media, Ltd.
PV manufacturer Astronergy Solarmodule GmbH, a subsidiary of China-based producer, Astronergy and part of Chint Group said it would start production of modules using the latest generation of PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Contact) cells with monocrystalline wafers to produce high-efficiency ‘all black’ modules in the 295 to 310 Watt peak (Wp) power classes.
Despite multi-Gigawatt solar plans, the ability of India’s public sector to compete in the PV market has been called into question by analyst firm Bridge to India.
