Long-term domestic supply deals and strategic partnerships between companies in the PV value chain are increasingly key to long-term supply chain security and ensuring project delivery to appropriate standards.
US PV incentives should be entirely focused on solar cell manufacturing in the short term, with maximum incentive rates given to domestic solar cell production that ultimately has a risk-free supply chain of materials and equipment, writes Finlay Colville, head of research at PV Tech.
A round-up of the latest PV project news from the US and Europe, including two announcements in Spain, the inauguration of a pair of Hungarian PV plants and operations beginning at an installation in Colorado from Lightsource bp.
Amid potential supply chain bottlenecks as China increases its PV manufacturing dominance, companies in markets such as the US, India and Europe are looking to leverage new policy support to scale up domestic production. Jules Scully charts the industry’s efforts to onshore solar module manufacturing.
National Grid Renewables has broken ground on its 128MWac Wild Springs solar PV project in South Dakota, which it says will be the largest solar PV project in the state to date.
The American arm of bp, through its 50:50 joint venture partner Lightsource bp, has begun construction on a 134MW solar project in Fulton County, Ohio.
US PV manufacturer First Solar has entered into an agreement with developer National Grid Renewables to supply 1.6GW of its Series 7 thin film cadmium telluride modules.
