A US development agency has approved up to US$500 million of debt financing for First Solar to support the manufacturer in setting up a thin film module production plant in India.
First Solar is actively exploring future capacity manufacturing locations after recording a surge in demand, both domestically and internationally, amidst supply chain obstacles impacting the PV industry.
Swedish thinfilm solar cell manufacturer Midsummer will receive roughly €38 million (US$44 million) worth of financial incentives to build a 50MW factory in Bari, Italy.
Making room for solar installations is one of the industry's greatest challenges in Europe as countries seek to meet their net-zero targets. Edith Hancock explores the ways developers and trade associations are fitting new capacity where they can.
Solar perovskite start-up Evolar has sourced investment from Norwegian renewables investor Magnora as it targets rapid commercialisation of the technology.
Australia-headquartered Greatcell Solar, formerly Dyesol Solar, has appointed administrators after failing to secure further financing to develop its perovskite materials and solar cells to a commercial level.
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.
