The first steps have been taken in ending the trade war between the US and China now that the ‘Phase 1 Trade Agreement’ has been signed. A surprise inclusion for the PV and semiconductor industries has been China’s agreement to reopen the trade doors for US-made solar-grade polysilicon.
International renewable energy provider GCL New Energy, a subsidiary of GCL-Poly has signed a deal to sell 7 operational solar power plants in China with an aggregate installed capacity of approximately 294MW to one of the five largest state-owned electric utility enterprises in China, China Huaneng Group.
‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member, LONGi Solar has reported a new record P-type monocrystalline PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) PV module conversion efficiency of 22.38%, culminating in an overall efficiency gain of almost 2% in the last two years.
‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member, GCL System Integration Technology (GCL-SI) is set to invest in expanding capacity dedicated to shingling wafer/cell/module technology for larger wafer sizes by 2.5GW.
PV might have only seen 30.22GW added throughout 2019 but ‘year-end rally’ hinted at by latest NEA figures may indicate market will rebound more than expected in 2020, analysts say.
Leading monocrystalline wafer producer, LONGi Green Energy Technology has guided a surge in net profits expected for 2019, due to increased manufacturing scale lowering production costs and with significant growth in overseas market demand for its PV module subsidiary, LONGi Solar.
BNEF: American ITC rush and Spain’s subsidy-free shift help bolster 2019’s declining global solar finance figures, setting the scene for a boom of merchant and PPA-based PV this year.
Phase 1 agreement sees China accept taking in greater volumes of US poly exports as part of broader loosening of trade tensions, which PV reps hope will lead to scale-back of solar tariffs.
Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier Singulus Technologies has received a new order for CIGS thin film processing tools from existing customer, China National Building Materials (CNBM).