Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Eleven companies in India have emerged as the winners of the second round of the production-linked incentive scheme for high-efficiency solar modules. In particular, Indosol, Reliance, and First Solar have secured incentives for fully integrated production.

Zhang Yingbin, Trina Solar’s head of global product strategy, speaks to pv magazine about the path to a supply chain dominated by n-type TOPCon products. He says Trina Solar will reach 30 GW of TOPCon solar module capacity by the end of 2023.

GCL Integration expects to start operating a new 12 GW solar factory in October, bringing its total solar panel manufacturing capacity to 30 GW.

C2F has developed a building-integrated PV (BIPV) facade made of aluminum that purportedly limits the impact of hot and cold weather, while also improving solar module performance.

Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action says it will fund a study on the feasibility of quickly restoring a full PV supply chain in Europe. Three German companies are leading the study and are calling for participation from other industry stakeholders.

Norway’s Over Easy says its pilot vertical PV system in Oslo achieved remarkable performance throughout a snowy winter. In 2022, the vertical array generated 1,070 kWh per kilowatt installed, which the company says compares to around 800 kWh per kilowatt installed for a conventional rooftop array.

French module maker Systovi says its new solar panels weigh just 3 kg/m2. They are designed for flat tertiary rooftops that cannot support the weight of framed solar panels. It will begin selling the new modules in 2024.

Researchers at IIT Mandi have developed high-quality, uniform thin films of nickel oxide on the silicon substrate using an aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition technique, with nickel nitrate as the precursor material.

While shingled cells have been around for a while, Tongwei’s adoption of the technology is notable as it is a manufacturer with considerable scale. If shingling can overcome some hurdles, it could prove a welcome solution as unshaded sites for PV become elusive in mature solar markets.

Sunmaxx says Fraunhofer ISE has confirmed the 80% efficiency of its new photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) module. It consists of 108 PERC half-cells in M10 format, with 400 W of electrical output and 1,200 W of thermal output.