According to brief reports citing Tesla’s CTO, Panasonic has started making its high-efficiency HIT (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer) solar cells at Gigafactory 2 in RiverBend, Buffalo, New York State.
‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member LONGi Green Energy Technology and the leading fully-integrated high-efficiency monocrystalline module manufacturer, reported first half 2017 revenue slightly down from the prior year period as a result of average selling price (ASP) declines, partially offset by product shipment growth.
Leading polysilicon and solar wafer producer GCL-Poly Energy Holdings reported lower revenue and profits than expected in the first half of 2017, primarily due to wafer price erosion, only partially offset by higher wafer production volumes and stable polysilicon prices.
The PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) cell and module technology have been widely adopted by the industry. JA Solar has been exploring innovative approaches of bifacial PERC cell and the methods of making it and has been granted two Chinese patents. Also, a series of experiments have been carried out to certify the higher efficiency of bifacial PERC modules than conventional PERC modules.
PV Tech’s new two-day event PV ModuleTech 2017 – in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 7-8 November 2017 – is set to outline the key issues in new high-efficiency PV modules that will dominate utility-scale solar farms deployment globally over the period 2018-2020.
German-based PV module manufacturer Heckert Solar GmbH said that it had been one of the pioneers using Fraunhofer ISE’s new software that helps reduce cell-to-module losses that have led to module performance gains.
As PV Tech recently reported, significantly higher than expected solar PV installations in China is driving global installation forecasts to be revised upwards.
US-based wafer producer 1366 Technologies and ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Hanwha Q CELLS have announced a new cells record of 20.3% using direct wafer technology.
Having turned and continue to remain cautious about its business outlook for the second-half of 2017, JA Solar reported second quarter results that simply defied previous guidance, driven by greater than expected demand in China and a start of a rush to stockpile in the US.
Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) has taken a 49% stake in SolarWorld Industries GmbH, the new entity that purchased SolarWorld AG’s core manufacturing assets, according to reports in Qatar.
