France has awarded 73MW of solar ‘innovation’ capacity promoting floating solar, new forecasting software and solar greenhouses, as well as divvying out another 508MW in its large-scale PV programme.
TerraForm Power launches offer to acquire Saeta Yields, Schletter provides mounting systems for 35MW solar plant in China, Spanish government identifies projects from 3GW, NSP completes 2MW rooftop system in Taiwan with bifacial modules.
The Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH) and the Leibniz Universität Hannover have produced lab cells using polysilicon on oxide – POLO – junctions, in an interdigitated pattern on the rear side and a specially treated p-type monocrystalline wafer to record a cell conversion efficiency of 26.1%.
The CEO of Orsted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer, has said that his company is working to establish “a scalable commercial model” for solar PV and energy storage, viewing both as potential drivers of long-term growth.
‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Trina Solar has said it shipped over 9GW of PV modules globally in 2017, confirming its second place position in PV Tech’s Top-10 Module Suppliers annual rankings.
Independent power producer Sonnedix has acquired 11 PV plants in Italy totalling 6.75MW, taking the firm’s portfolio in the country up to 114MW of operating PV generation capacity.
Taiwan-based market research firm, EnergyTrend expects Chinese end-market demand to contract slightly in 2018, after posting record installations for several years in a row and accounting for around 50% of global solar installations in 2017.
Russia-based integrated PV manufacturer Hevel Group, which has switched production from amorphous silicon thin-film technology to silicon heterojunction (HJ) has said it has been successful in ramping to its 160MW nameplate capacity and achieving cell conversion efficiencies of 22.8%.
