Having installed PV modules from Chinese manufacturers, McDonald’s China has opened a “zero-carbon restaurant” in Beijing, the company’s first of its kind in the country.
With the US Department of Commerce finding that solar manufacturers in Southeast Asia are circumventing duties on Chinese PV cells, questions have been raised over potential legal challenges that lie ahead and whether American project developers will be able to secure enough modules to meet soaring demand.
As of today, less than 10% of the necessary solar and wind power needed for a 2050 global net zero scenario exists, whilst global electricity generation will need to more than triple to 80,000TWh, according to the 2022 BloombergNEF (BNEF) New Energy Outlook.
Solar PV capacity is expected to almost treble over the 2022-2027 period, growing by 1.5TW and will surpass coal as the largest source of power capacity worldwide, according to a report from the IEA.
Shuangliang Eco-Energy is planning to set up a new wholly owned subsidiary, Shuangliang New Silicon Materials (Baotou), to invest in and build a mono silicon ingot pulling project with an annual output of 50GW.
The US Department of Commerce has found that imports of some PV cells and modules produced in four Southeast Asian countries are circumventing antidumping duty and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on solar cells and modules from China.
China’s installed solar capacity reached 360GW at the end of October 2022, a 29% increase year-on-year, according to figures from the country’s National Energy Administration.
Just one week after revealing plans for an RMB10.2 billion (US$1.42 billion) integrated PV manufacturing project, JA Solar has announced it will also expand its current integrated capacity.
With a growing wait-and-see sentiment emerging in the market, the prices of silicon wafers and silicon material at the upstream end have started showing signs of falling.
