Industry Updates

SOFARSOLAR has announced that its entire series of grid-connected inverters, from 75-136kW, has obtained VDE-AR-N 4105 certification. This is an important milestone for the company, since it not only underlines its strength in R&D and its leading position in the industry, but also lays a solid foundation for the rapid launch of its high-power string inverters into the German commercial and industrial market.

The 60 MWp Sembcorp Tengeh floating solar farm at Singapore’s Tengeh reservoir, one of the world’s largest inland floating PV systems, was officially opened in July. Owned by Sembcorp Floating Solar Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries and equipped with 122,000 Trina Solar 210 Vertex dual-glass modules, the farm is a global showcase for excellent operational performance, innovation and reliability. Construction of the project began in August last year.

LONGi has announced it has won an order from Eurowind Energy for the supply of 64 MW of its high-efficiency Hi-MO 5 modules for three projects in Portugal and Denmark, with the country split being 22 MW and 42 MW respectively, the latter across two hybrid projects.

With rising energy costs for minerals such as oil and coal and the reduction of subsidies for photovoltaic grid-tied systems, there is a strong need for uninterrupted and emergency power supply in mountainous areas and base stations with no power grid, resulting in grid-tied systems being the subject of significant interest. At the core of a grid-tied system, SOFARSOLAR’s HYD series integrated inverter has become a priority solution in many application scenarios.

LONGi has announced the completion of the exclusive supply of 477 MW of Hi-MO 4 modules for Sol do Sertão, the largest utility power plant in the Brazilian state of Bahia, as part of a sole source contract with Essentia Energia, a renewable energy firm created by Pátria Investimentos. The plant was connected to the national grid and started operation on July 19, 2021.

Europe’s largest energy storage project, the 100MW/100MWh Minety plant, powered by Sungrow's 1500V energy storage system solution, has been successfully grid-connected.

Trina Solar is to ship over 59,000 of its 600W Vertex bifacial modules for the first phase of Focus Energia’s Futura 1 project in Juazeiro, in Brazil’s Bahia state. Futura 1, a project made up of 22 solar parks, will be implemented in three phases and is currently among the country’s largest.

N type cell and module provider Jolywood has announced the commissioning of a 121kw industrial rooftop project in Trang province, Thailand, in partnership with EPC Gold Stone.

JinkoSolar has announced that it has signed the first batch of residential energy storage orders with customers in Thailand, a move which will act as strong support in developing “PV + ESS” solutions to meet residential needs.

To combat the challenge of ‘fake’ modules of low quality appearing on the international market, German manufacturer AE Solar now integrates Near-Field Communication (NFC) chips into each of its panels. This innovative technology ensures that all its customers will benefit from original product quality, with the associated warranties, allowing any smartphone user to verify the authenticity of an AE Solar product in a matter of seconds, via a free to download app.