PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the second quarter of 2018, were slightly higher than the previous quarter, although activity slumped specifically in June, after China’s decision to suddenly cap utility-scale and distributed generation (DG) projects (531 New Deal). But large-scale multi-gigawatt production plans in the first half of the year may have hidden an inevitable slowdown, despite the impact on downstream demand from the 531 New Deal.
We have tracked the annual R&D spending of 12 key publicly listed PV module manufacturers over the last 10 years. We present our new methodology with a broader scope which reveals record levels of investment in solar innovation.
A new organisation aimed at representing the entire PV manufacturing value chain in Europe, from materials and module manufacturers to equipment providers and institutions, is being planned for launch in 2019.
While India’s solar market is still heavily weighted on the lowest possible costs, the price difference between monocrystalline and polycrystalline PV module technologies is beginning to fade. PV Tech caught up with major module suppliers at the REI Expo in Greater Noida, India, to discuss the future of Mono in this heavyweight global market.
Hanergy Thin Film Power Group has signed a US$130 million, 100MW supply deal with Japanese firm, Forest Group to supply its ‘HanTile’ thin-film solar roof tile systems in the Japanese market.
NEXTracker, a Flex company has collaborated with CdTe thin-film module manufacturer, First Solar to provide a patent-pending racking technology for First Solar's Series 6 (large-area) panel rollout this year.
Perovskite solar cell developer Oxford Photovoltaics (PV) has been awarded a €2.8 million grant from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy to prepare perovskite-silicon solar cells for high-volume manufacturing.
PV and electronics equipment manufacturing and automation specialist Manz AG has secured another advanced payment for CIGS (Copper, Indium, Gallium, DiSelenide) thin-film manufacturing equipment, which is part of a major production order with Chinese partners, the Shanghai Electric Group and the Shenhua Group.
SolAero Technologies is developing thin-film technology for the US Navy's solar drone programme, as previously explored on PV Tech. In a follow-up piece, Edgar A. Gunther gets more details from the firm and explores the current price points for high-performance cells.
Ahead of PV ModuleTech conference, Finlay Colville takes an in-depth look at the type of module companies that will be internationally known over the next 12-18 months.
