Major PV inverter manufacturer SMA Solar Technology reported a rebound in shipments and sales in the third quarter of 2020, driven by a recovery in demand after its Q2 financials were hit by project slowdowns in Europe and the US due to COVID-19.
BayWa r.e. will add 500MW of additional floating solar in the coming years in a move to take advantage of increasing demand for the technology among asset owners.
Iberdrola is set to double its renewables capacity by 2025 through a €75 billion (US$88.9 billion) investment package that sees the Spanish utility seek to take advantage of the “global energy revolution” and reach carbon neutrality in ten years.
China-based PV backsheet and high-efficiency PV module manufacturer Jolywood (Suzhou) Sunwatt Co (Jolywood) has reported record third quarter 2020 revenue and profits, while exceeding 2019 full-year financial results in the first nine months of 2020 as it continues to execute on high-efficiency n-type TOPCon module shipments to utility-scale PV power plant projects.
A round-up of the latest news in solar project development worldwide, featuring news from EDF Renewables, Hive Energy, Sterling and Wilson and Disneyland Paris, of all places.
‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Trina Solar has received IEC 61215 and IEC 61730 certification for its 600W+ high-power, large-area ‘Vertex’ series PV modules from TÜV Rheinland, making it the first p-type mono-PERC module with power ratings above 600Wp to gain standard IEC certification.
Ginlong Solis has introduced to the European market its latest utility-scale string inverter. The ‘Solis 255kW-EHV’ high voltage (1500V) inverter is designed to maximize PV power plant yields in the new era of high-performance large-area solar panels including bifacial panels, while significantly reducing plant LCOE (Levelized Cost of eElectricity) costs, compared to central inverters.
Soltec has launched its next-generation ‘SF8’ single-axis tracker system to meet the needs of utility-scale PV power plants adopting the new wave of large-area solar panels.
The rapid transition in the upstream manufacturing solar sector to significantly larger p-type and n-type monocrystalline wafers, cells and modules may be hailed as a new era for the industry in higher module performance and a leap in reducing PV power plants LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) in a rapidly changing downstream market that becomes subsidy free, bidding orientated and targeting grid parity and beyond. But issues such as reliability lurk just below the surface.
Major integrated PV module manufacturer, Suntech has started ramping up a 1GW integrated cell and module assembly plant in Indonesia, predominantly to serve the US market that takes its nameplate module assembly capacity above 10GW.
