Chinese PV Industry Brief: Akcome achieves 24.2% efficiency for heterojunction cell in mass production

Chinese solar manufacturer Akcome Tech announced on Wednesday that it achieved a power conversion efficiency of 24.2% for the heterojunction cells it produces at its manufacturing facility in Huzhou, in northern Zhejiang province. The result was obtained with a 220 MW production line that started mass production last month and is able to manufacture 1,200 pcs per hour. The company wants to set up eight production lines for heterojunction cells with a combined capacity of 2 GW by the end of this year. The Huzhou factory is planned to have a total capacity of 6 GW and to require a total investment of CNY5 billion ($763.5 million)

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced on Thursday the 2021 subsidy plan for solar energy projects. The government has established that there will be no direct incentives from central authorities for either utility-scale or commercial and industrial distributed solar, and that residential PV will still benefit from a FIT of CNY 0.03/kWh, although this support will expire at the end of the year. The NDRC also provided technical information for grid-connection fees across different areas of China for new solar projects.

PV production equipment supplier Jinchen announced on Wednesday it intends to raise funds in the amount of CNY380 million ($59 million) via equity private placement. The company will use net proceeds for the development of its plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technology for heterojunction cell production lines. Jinchen said it aims to develop the capability of independently manufacturing PECVD lines. The private placement has been approved by China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and will take place soon.

Shenzhen-listed China energy company Jiawei Energy announced on Thursday it has sold a large-scale solar project to a subsidiary of state-owned power provider China Huadian Corporation for an undisclosed sum. The facility is located in Gansu province and currently has an installed capacity of 125 MW. A further 75 MW section of the solar park is still under construction. The first two sections of the plant, with a capacity of 100 and 25 MW respectively, are selling power at a feed-in tariff of CNY0.9 and CNY0.8 per KWh.