The case for solar remains strong in Southeast Asia since power demand is still growing rapidly in many of its markets, but traversing the unique regulations and policies of each country and knowing which PV segment is most suitable remains challenging. Here are some of PV Tech’s key takeaways from last week’s Solar and Off-Grid Renewables Southeast Asia (SORSEA) 2017 conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
UPDATED: An oral hearing on India’s anti-dumping investigation into imports of solar cells and modules from China, Taiwan and Malaysia has been postponed to 12 December.
Renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPA) driven by solar are set to take a significant chunk of the market in Southeast Asia over the next few years, according to panellists at the Solar and Off-Grid Renewables Southeast Asia (SORSEA) conference in Bangkok.
Major Korean-based polysilicon producer OCI Chemical is expanding its production of high-purity polysilicon to meet greater demand for P-type monocrystalline wafers used with PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) technology.
China-based PV solutions provider ET Energy and engineering consultancy Northwest Electric Power Design Institute (NWEPDI) have signed an EPC agreement with Malaysian PV developer UiTM Solar Power for a 61MW solar project in Malaysia.
France-based floating PV specialist Ciel & Terre is expecting to launch a floating solar equipment manufacturing facility in Thailand next March and is in the final stages of approving a Vietnam facility.
At the inaugural PV ModuleTech 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, it became clear that PERC module technology is fast becoming the industry standard and bifacial modules are no longer seen as a niche product, however, both technologies were scrutinised from the perspective of bankability and quality assurance studies throughout the event.
Having waited many years for such a far reaching event to come together, the solar industry has just a few hours more to wait before the inaugural PV ModuleTech 2017 kicks off in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The first PV ModuleTech event is due to take place in Kuala Lumpur on 7-8 November, and the event is poised to explain and define the key module suppliers, technologies and audited metrics that are imperative to developers, EPCs, investors and asset owners for utility-scale solar module deployment in 2018 and beyond.
When manufacturing capacities moved from megawatt to gigawatt ten years ago, the concept of having a fully-integrated and automated production site was widely accepted to be the most economical, Finlay Colville examines whether this is truly the case.
