‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Canadian Solar has made further revisions to its planned manufacturing capacity expansion plans for 2016, while reiterating previously guided PV module shipments for the year.
Struggling China-based PV manufacturer Yingli Green Energy has reported a full-year 2015 net loss of US$864.6 million on revenue of US$1,538.5 million. The company had recently guided a net loss in the range of US$894.1 million to US$909.7 million.
Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier Amtech Systems reported continued success in securing new solar equipment orders in its second fiscal quarter of 2016, the highest bookings since the March quarter of 2011.
LayTec has introduced the first commercially available system for simulation and monitoring of LID (Light Induced Degredation). ‘LID Scope’ is a table-top system that helps to quantify the expected performance loss of any solar cell directly at the production line or in the lab. The tool performs accelerated or real-life degradation tests fully automatically. It is claimed to deliver highly reproducible results and a permanent monitoring of Voc changes by integrated metrology.
Insolvent German-based PV module manufacturer Solar-Fabrik said that German PV installer HSL Laibacher GmbH is expected to purchase one of its assembly lines (No.3) and resume module production at its own facilities in Aschaffenburg, under the Solar-Fabrik brand.
The ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) members in 2015, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, JinkoSolar, JA Solar, Hanwha Q CELLS and Yingli Green may have the largest module shipments and manufacturing capacity significantly higher than any other c-Si manufacturer but still lag behind others when it comes to R&D spending.
Leading ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Trina Solar said it had achieved a new world record for a large-area Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) solar cell.
CS Wismar GmbH with a team of former Centrosolar staff have restarted PV module assembly operations at the former Sonnenstromfabrik facility in Wismar, Germany
GCL System Integration has bought a 51% stake in One Stop Warehouse, an Australian wholesale distributor of solar products, claiming it has been partly pushed by anti-dumping rules affecting its module supply business in Europe and the US.
German-based trade association VDMA Photovoltaic Equipment said that manufacturing equipment orders received by around 100 members increased by 86% in the fourth quarter of 2015, marking a major rebound in purchase orders.
