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.
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.
Australian-based PV asset owner of New Energy Solar (NEW) has acquired an 87MW (AC) PV power plant, currently under development from leading CdTe thin-film module manufacturer, First Solar.
Nanoelectronics R&D organisation imec has reported a record 4-terminal Perovskite/silicon tandem photovoltaic cell with a conversion efficiency of 27.1%, while claiming further microcrystal engineering leads a path of efficiencies of over 30%.
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.
NOS Microsystems has developed an electronic software delivery (ESD) ecosystem called 'getPlus' that bridges the gap between automation provider and end user by seamlessly integrating into the industrial automation providers’ licensing structures and databases—SAP, Oracle etc…to monitor the status of machines so exact updates, and incompatibility issues are identified. The user-friendly tool helps factories make the transition to industry 4.0.
Since Chinese investments into major cell and module facilities started - more than 10 years ago - success ultimately has been driven by overseas market-share gains, above other technical or financial benchmarks that otherwise would be expected.
The US Naval Research Laboratory selected Alta Devices, as the solar solution for the prototype Hybrid Tiger UAV, Edgar A. Gunter explores the results and the implications for the thin-film market.
