A key factor in the strong growth of the PV industry in 2017 is the Silicon Module Super League (or SMSL), comprised of the seven companies that will each ship in excess of 4GW of modules this year, well above all other module suppliers to the industry.
The solar industry is set to reach annual demand at the 100GW level much earlier than has been forecast by both third-party observers and the leading component suppliers. During 2018, the solar industry is shaping up to ship more than 100GW of solar modules during the calendar year, while 2017 alone will see the number exceed 90GW comfortably.
Leading CdTe thin-film module manufacturer First Solar has secured a 241MW module supply contract with Australian EPC firm, RCR Tomlinson. The latest contract is for two major PV power plant projects, bringing its contracted business in the country to over 500MW in the next 12 months.
Struggling US-headquartered solar PV encapsulant producer STR Holdings foray into recapturing market share by producing in China has come to an end with the closure of its manufacturing operations in the country.
PV and electronics equipment manufacturing and automation specialist Manz AG said it expected to generate revenue of at least €350 million in 2017, including significantly improved and positive EBIT as it starts execution of its large CIGS thin-film orders.
Specialist solar PV equipment supplier centrotherm International has reported first half 2017 photovoltaics and semiconductor segment equipment order backlog of nearly €141 million as well as securing CIGS thin-film tool orders from Manz for turnkey line projects in China.
Nanoelectronics research centre imec has taken a perovskite/silicon tandem mini-module-on-cell stack to a record 23.9% conversion efficiency, significantly exceeding its 20.2% efficiency figures reported in 2016.
Leading thin-film PV manufacturer First Solar raised both shipments and revenue expectations for 2017 after reporting net sales of US$623 million in the second quarter of 2017, down from US$892 million in the previous quarter.
According to the Financial Times, Hanergy Holding Group plans to build a 300MW CIGS thin-film production plant in partnership with the local government Datong City and Datong Coal Mine Group as part of a wider initiative on developing a solar industry development cluster.
Leading ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JinkoSolar has started a collaboration with Greatcell Solar, formerly Dyesol and the Nanyang Technology University (NTU) in Singapore on perovskite solar cells.
