Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

India’s Borosil Renewables has started domestic trial production with its third solar glass furnace, raising its capacity in India to 1,000 tons per day.

Swiss scientists have used a minimal amount of silver to alloy the absorber in a thin-film CIGS solar cell. They say this process could help to improve efficiency, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor, while compensating for the low bandgap of the CIGS layer.

Scientists in Germany have discovered a polymer compound that, when added to perovskite thin-film precursor materials, wraps itself around the perovskite crystals, acting as a cushion to protect the perovskite structure from thermomechanical stress. They used the additive to fabricate cells with up to 24.6% efficiency, retaining 96% of their initial performance after accelerated testing equivalent to one year in the field.

In a podcast, former Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess noted the importance of reducing reliance on China in the solar industry. But he said plans to set up production in Europe require state support and the right conditions.

The Chinese government is considering the introduction of export restrictions on solar wafers, black silicon, and silicon casting equipment. It has launched a public consultation process on the proposed measures.

The Turkish government has set a minimum import price of $60/kg, so solar cell imports exceeding this threshold will be subject to import duties. The measure is designed to protect domestic cell manufacturers.

The Swedish authorities have identified electrocution and fire risks posed by the improper deployment of plug-in solar modules.

JA Solar has worked with Chinese scientists to test a new electrical heating system for solar panels that uses the heat from uncovered panels to remove snow. The system starts by using grid electricity, but then relies on the thermal effect of resistance to uniformly heat the whole PN junction area of the snow-covered panels.

Spanish PVT specialist Abora Solar has developed aH72SK modules, which combine solar panels with power conversion efficiencies of 17.8% and a thermal efficiency rating of around 70%. Its total area is 1.96 square meters.

Organic Electronics Technologies (OET) has announced the start of a European-funded project that will develop and build an automated manufacturing production line for integrated printed organic photovoltaics in Thessaloniki, Greece.