US residential solar installer SunPower is in late-stage discussions with US thin film manufacturer First Solar to develop the “world’s most advanced residential solar panel”, its CEO Peter Faricy revealed during an analyst day presentation that also set out the company’s new strategy.
Finlay Colville, head of market research at PV Tech, explores why PV module supply to the US market is so heavily scrutinised and why ASPs are sky-high, while also previewing this year’s PV ModuleTech event, to be held in the US for the first time.
SoftBank-owned SB Energy has signed an order for 1.5GW of thin-film PV modules from First Solar to deploy across its 4GW solar and storage development pipeline projects in the US.
Finlay Colville, head of market research at Solar Media, ranks the top 50 module suppliers in the PV industry today, using the proprietary methodology developed at PV Tech, on the back of analysing several hundred companies supplying PV modules over the past 15 years.
Renewables developer and operator Leeward Renewable Energy has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with telecom company Verizon for a portfolio of four under-development solar and wind plants in the US with a combined capacity of 640MW.
A US development agency has approved up to US$500 million of debt financing for First Solar to support the manufacturer in setting up a thin film module production plant in India.
First Solar is to provide PV project developer Lightsource bp and energy major bp with up to 5.4GW of its thin film modules as part of the manufacturer’s largest supply order to date.
First Solar is actively exploring future capacity manufacturing locations after recording a surge in demand, both domestically and internationally, amidst supply chain obstacles impacting the PV industry.
A new support scheme from India’s government to boost the domestic manufacture of PV modules has seen 18 bidders submit 54.8GW of applications, according to consultancy JMK Research & Analytics.
