This article continues our series of features introducing new methodology that allows leading PV module producers to be categorised, ranked and short-listed by manufacturing and financial strength metrics; ultimately providing an investor-risk (or bankability) profile of PV module suppliers for non-residential end-market selection.
The drive by China-based PV panel manufacturers to shift sales overseas after the impact of China's 531 New Deal in 2018 is starting to make a positive impact on companies starting to guide first half year financial results.
PV CellTech 2019 takes place in Penang, Malaysia on 12-13 March 2019, and the agenda of industry speakers is now complete, in what is set to be the most exciting PV CellTech conference since we launched the series back in 2016.
China-based integrated polysilicon and merchant cell manufacturer Tongwei Group has guided net profit in 2018 to be flat to slightly up on the previous year, despite rapid solar cell capacity expansions.
Solar cell production in 2018 represented change on many fronts, but may be remembered as a year during which Chinese-owned companies made further strategic moves as part of the current Beijing mandate to position the country as a high-tech manufacturing global powerhouse.
The Chinese government’s decision (531 New Deal) to curtail utility-scale and distributed generation (DG) PV deployments just after the SNEC trade show at the end of May, not only surprised the industry but has since fuelled a significant ASP decline of modules and inverters.
We have tracked the annual R&D spending of 12 key publicly listed PV module manufacturers over the last 10 years. We present our new methodology with a broader scope which reveals record levels of investment in solar innovation.
China-based integrated polysilicon and merchant cell manufacturer Tongwei Group expects to begin pilot production of heterojunction (HJ) solar cells by the end of 2018, while the success of its 200MW Industry 4.0 fully-automated solar cell production line will lead to a longer-term migration of all cell production to intelligent manufacturing.
Leading integrated high-efficiency monocrystalline module manufacturer and ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member LONGi Green Energy Technology has entered into another major polysilicon supply deal, adding TBEA subsidiary, Xinte Energy Co to its supplier base in a new three-year purchasing agreement.
China-based integrated polysilicon and merchant PV manufacturer Tongwei Group has signed a major 55,000MT polysilicon supply deal with leading integrated high-efficiency monocrystalline module manufacturer and ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member LONGi Green Energy Technology.
Inline solar cell measurement equipment specialist Aurora Solar Technologies (AST) said it was developing its technology to support heterojunction (HJ) solar cell development and Industry 4.0 initiatives in China for next-generation advanced solar manufacturing plants.
China-based integrated and merchant PV manufacturer Tongwei Group said it would report full-year 2017 profits to be in the range of 80 – 100% higher than in 2016, due in part to its capacity expansions of both polysilicon and solar cells and higher average selling prices (ASP’s) in the year.
China-based integrated and merchant PV manufacturer Tongwei Group is starting capacity expansion plans at its subsidiary Tongwei Solar (Hefei) Co at two locations in China at a cost of US$1.8 billion over the next three to five years.
China-based integrated and merchant PV manufacturer Tongwei Group recently opened its completed high-efficiency solar cell plant (S2), which includes the world’s first technically unmanned monocrystalline solar cell production line under the intelligent manufacturing term, 4.0.
