Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

A research group in China has tested how membrane-based floating PV platforms can operate in offgrid scenarios. Their analysis showed that, especially with high wave frequencies, this kind of floating PV installation may suffer from the floater bending stiffness, which could limit both in-plane and out-of-plane motion amplitude.

Indian scientists have designed an off-grid power system that relies on solar panels, lithium-ion batteries and Ćuk converters. The converters are the crucial components that enable the system to deal with varying input voltage due to changing sunlight conditions.

The number of module assembly businesses in Türkiye continues to rise but, despite protectionist moves to support domestic manufacturing, consolidation appears likely. Ambitions abroad, expansion at home, and interest from Chinese suppliers, were all on show at the recent SolarEX trade fair in Istanbul.

Trina Solar says its solar panel shipments reached 65.21 GW in 2023. The Chinese module maker achieved a turnover of $15.75 billion and a net profit of $768.2 million in fiscal 2023, with an annual module production capacity of 95 GW by the end of December.

Guangdong Electric Power Development (GDEP) has bought 118 MW of Trina Solar panels for $0.12/W. It says it will use the modules for several solar projects in China’s Shandong province.

Chinese company Hunan Rich Photovoltaic Science and Technology is set to invest over €300 million in the development of a 1 GW solar panel factory and 200 MW solar power plant in Serbia. The agreement is one of two the country’s Minister of Mining and Energy has signed with Chinese companies this week.

Scientists in Czechia have conducted a techno-economic analysis of a green hydrogen production system powered exclusively by photovoltaic and wind energy. The system uses surplus energy for water treatment and, according to its creator, can achieve a levelized cost of hydrogen of $3.12/kg.

The subsidiary operated a module manufacturing facility in Lannion, Brittany, northern France. According to Recom, the annual production capacity of the Sillia plant had been expanded from 50 MW in 2017 to 500 MW. The Recom Group as a whole remains unaffected by this liquidation and is in the process of consolidating its European cell and module manufacturing in one central location in Padua, Italy.

Researchers in Japan have analyzed the warming effect of photovoltaic system on land surface temperature around the Kushida River Basin for ten years and have found this value increased by an average of 2.85 C.

Under Czechia’s new rules for agrivoltaics, farmers and developers will not need approval to change land designations and zoning plans for agricultural areas devoted to PV generation. The provisions currently only allow agrivoltaics to be deployed in orchards and vineyards.