Manufacturing

Photovoltaic manufacturers across the world are currently investing mainly in thin-film production plants. The German PV equipment providers benefit greatly from this new trend.

The German inverter giant says its latest central inverter offering has a capacity of 4.6 MW and offers the ability to connect AC and DC battery storage systems.

The Korean-European PV maker has revealed that its new U.S. factory will make modules based on half-cut monocrystalline cells using passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) technology.

Strong local content requirements may be embedded in the tender, according to the first draft of its rules, with selected projects required to rely on a 60% quota of modules made in Turkey. A 30 MW/ 90 MWh (AC) storage project will also be included at one of the three sites identified for the tender.

Solar battery systems should maintain power supply when the grid goes down. Right? Well, it’s not always that simple. A recent pv magazine Australia webinar, hosted in partnership with SMA, was looking into different homeowner needs and ways to install an emergency power or ‘full home backup’ system. Here are the answers to some of the webinar attendee’s questions.

The German module manufacturer is planning a further expansion of capacity in Europe. In France and Armenia, new production lines for solar cells and modules are planned to start this year.

The world’s number one poly maker claims the worst of the fall-out after Beijing’s policy change has already occurred, and will press ahead with plans to expand production capacity – but its development business may need to find new sources of funding.

At pv magazine‘s first quality roundtable in Latin America – at Intersolar South America in Sao Paulo – we were joined by international players such as JinkoSolar and DuPont, as well as public and private Latin American entities striving to bring more quality to the PV supply chain from the US-Mexico border to Tierra del Fuego.

The 12th Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo opened its doors today; the booming music and bright sunshine mirroring India’s ambitious goals to become the biggest RE market in the world. In the opening conference, the government’s commitment to renewables was underlined, while BNEF said the country will have one of the highest penetrations of solar and wind, globally, by 2050. Companies are also starting to look to India for manufacturing opportunities, although the landscape is still filled with uncertainty.

Taiwanese solar cell manufacturer, Motech has announced plans to reduce its workforce by 300 and further adjust production capacity, while Sino-American Silicon’s CEO has revealed the company may exit the wafer business.