During 2022, capex for solar PV manufacturing fabs reached a record high - at more than US$27 billion - with spending dominated by Chinese companies building out new fabs in China and across Southeast Asia.
Researchers in Singapore have found a less environmentally damaging way to produce perovskite solar cells in a laboratory, removing the need for lead which had previously been used.
US PV incentives should be entirely focused on solar cell manufacturing in the short term, with maximum incentive rates given to domestic solar cell production that ultimately has a risk-free supply chain of materials and equipment, writes Finlay Colville, head of research at PV Tech.
Amid potential supply chain bottlenecks as China increases its PV manufacturing dominance, companies in markets such as the US, India and Europe are looking to leverage new policy support to scale up domestic production. Jules Scully charts the industry’s efforts to onshore solar module manufacturing.
Trina Solar US has announced that its 6.5GW PV wafer manufacturing facility in Vietnam specifically designated to supply the US market will be online in mid-2023.
Solar module supplier Maxeon Solar Technologies has appointed Bill Mulligan as CEO, effective from 23 January, following the departure of its previous CEO, Jeff Waters, in September 2022.
The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has clarified its position on the anti-circumvention solar investigation, saying it would allow the import of modules manufactured in third countries using Southeast Asian-made cells.
