Technology investments into advanced PV cell manufacturing have been at record levels in the past few years, with high-efficiency concepts seeing investment levels not seen since the days of turn-key thin-film lines a decade ago.
The largest solar cell manufacturer in Taiwan, Motech Industries has added to a major restructuring of the company with the closure of its 1.1GW solar cell manufacturing plant in Taoyuan, southern Taiwan and a 916 reduction in full-time employees by 28 January 2019.
SPONSORED: Chinese manufacturers are forced to expand their market share overseas as a result of the domestic cap on PV deployment. JA Solar reveals how it found success in Japan and how that provides a springboard for further gains in international markets.
When we visit conferences and industrial players, we are very often surprised at how many responsible scientists for PERC production have never heard about the severe degradation effects that PERC devices can show – in particular when talking about LeTID (Light and elevated Temperature Induced Degradation) alias Carrier Induced Degradation (CID).
Leading monocrystalline wafer producer and ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member LONGi Green Energy Technology increased revenue by 35.26% in the first nine months of 2018, yet third quarter revenue and profits were significantly lower than the previous quarter, due to ASP declines across wafers and modules.
US-headquartered high-efficiency PV module producer SunPower Corp has secured the module supply deal for innogy’s 349MW PV power plant near Balranald, New South Wales, Australia, the largest plant under construction in the country.
‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member LONGi Solar, a subsidiary of leading monocrystalline wafer producer LONGi Green Energy Technology Co is to offer its first AC module to the US market in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Leading ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JinkoSolar has acknowledged its recognition as a ‘Top Performer’ in DNV GL's 2018 PV Module Reliability Scorecard results, which were announced at SNEC in China in May.
PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the second quarter of 2018, were slightly higher than the previous quarter, although activity slumped specifically in June, after China’s decision to suddenly cap utility-scale and distributed generation (DG) projects (531 New Deal). But large-scale multi-gigawatt production plans in the first half of the year may have hidden an inevitable slowdown, despite the impact on downstream demand from the 531 New Deal.
