Around the world solar developers are turning array designs on their head and choosing to go east-west instead. Following on from a recent feature in PV-Tech Power volume 14, here are the five key considerations to bear in mind when designing an east-west array.
‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member GCL System Integrated Technology (GCL-SI) has reported preliminary unaudited ‘express’ 2017 financial results, highlighting revenue growth to record levels in the fourth quarter and the return to profitability.
China-based integrated monocrystalline PV manufacturer Solargiga Energy Holdings said it would expand module assembly capacity by 1GW at its existing manufacturing facilities at a cost of RMB160 million (US$25.2 million).
Major PV module materials and N-type mono IBC (Interdigitated Back Contact) bifacial module manufacturer Jolywood has reported preliminary unaudited 2017 financial results, posting an increase in revenue of 133.68%.
Solar PV manufacturer SolarWorld Americas said it had been given a US$5 million loan to support a return to full manufacturing capacity, which would add around 200 jobs, sometime in the third quarter of 2018.
BP has modelled for solar in the US to deploy at levelised costs of around US5¢/kWh by 2040, despite solar already hitting those prices in much of the country.
Consumption of polysilicon used by the solar industry will decline to below 4g/W during 2018, hitting 3.92g/W at the end of Q4’18, according to a new value-chain model developed by the in-house market research team at PV Tech.
US-headquartered Hybrid Cell Technology (HCT) module producer Sunpreme has supplied 1.62MW of bifacial modules to Blue Sky Utility that have been used on the rooftop of shopping centre Hanford Mall in Hanford, California.
PV capital expenditure (capex) in 2018, covering investments into ingot, wafer, cell and module capacity, will grow by almost 25% compared to 2017, passing through the US$10 billion mark, returning to levels last seen back in 2010 and 2011 when investments in turn-key thin-film fabs were a key contributor.
Major electronics firm Panasonic Corporation of North America is to offer an AC version of its heterojunction modules using the newly launched IQ 7X microinverter from Enphase Energy in the US.
