Major Japanese electronics company Panasonic has increased its ‘HIT’ (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer) solar module product warranty from 15 years to 25 years and applies to all HIT modules installed from 2017.
Taking place this week in Tokyo as part of the World Smart Energy Week event attracting around 70,000 visitors, PV Expo features an eye-opening and often exotic range of products and services. Here are pictures of some highlights taken by PV Tech reporter Andy Colthorpe.
Panasonic’s solar manufacturing deal with Tesla at the former SolarCity 1GW solar cell and module assembly plant at RiverBend, Buffalo, New York State, which was recently renamed Gigafactory 2 by Tesla is to be ramped to its 1GW nameplate capacity exclusively by Panasonic in 2019.
Leading ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JinkoSolar has guided 2017 PV module shipments to be in the range of 8.5GW and 9.0GW, a potentially astonishing sequential growth rate after reporting 6.65GW of module shipments in 2016, an increase of 47.5% from 4.5GW in 2015.
US-headquartered high-efficiency PV module producer SunPower has officially signed a new joint venture partnership in China to produce both solar cells and modules for its P-Series technology.
Mondragon Assembly has introduced a new 150MW annual capacity automated ‘Front Line’ tabber and stringer that includes an interconnect system. The high-throughput system in small footprint system provides improved space accommodation and flexibility for a wide-range of busbar configurations.
Tesla, Inc reported significantly lower than guided solar installations for the fourth quarter of 2016, after the first quarter of integration of acquired SolarCity.
Talesun has launched a new double glass photovoltaic panel with aluminum frame that has achieved TÜV certification. The ‘TWINKLE’ (TD660P) 60-cell multicrystalline panel uses the aluminum frame as the sealing point for the panel’s edges, the double glass modules are therefore weather-resistant and easier to install and transport.
