CubicPV, a US solar manufacturer backed by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, is looking to leverage support included in the country’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to set up what it claims will be the largest PV wafer manufacturing facility outside of China.
Lawmakers from both sides of the US House of Representatives have issued a resolution to repeal President Joe Biden’s waiver on solar import tariffs from Southeast Asia.
Solar PV manufacturer Qcells has signed a deal with Microsoft to supply at least 2.5GW of its modules to projects from which the tech giant will purchase renewable energy.
Indian solar module manufacturing capacity is forecast to reach around 95GW – up from 39GW at the end of September 2022 – according to research from analyst and consultancy Mercom India Research.
As reports come in predicting stunted growth for Indian solar in 2023, PV Tech Premium spoke to Vinay Rustagi, managing director of Bridge To India, about the obstacles facing the sector in the next year and the prospect of light at the end of the tunnel.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is set to boost investment into US renewable energy deployment and manufacturing from US$64 billion in 2022 to US$114 billion by 2031, according to research from Wood Mackenzie, though a mismatch between solar deployment demand and domestic manufacturing capacity may see the sector’s domestic profile lag behind.
PV manufacturer Goldi Solar is planning to participate in India’s expanded production-linked incentive (PLI) programme as it bids to ramp up its module and cell production to 6GW and 5GW, respectively, by the end of 2025.
Despite the headwinds impacting module supply and solar deployment, India’s solar market is expected to emerge from a slow 2023 with significant growth and feel the benefit of the country’s protectionist domestic manufacturing policies.
