Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

AGL Energy has teamed with solar panel recycler Elecsome to explore the development of a PV materials recovery facility at the site of the coal-fired Bayswater power plant in New South Wales, Australia.

Research at three Canadian locations tried to identify which crops can grow between differently spaced rows of vertical agrivoltaic systems. The scientists concluded that all traditional corps could be grown at the research sites, including arugula, beets, bok choy, celery, coriander, collards, fava beans, kale, lettuce, parsley, parsnips, peas, swiss chard, and thyme.

Partnerships with steel equipment producers in the US state of Ohio and two locations in Texas will enable Origami Solar to have its steel solar module frames shipped from fabricator to module manufacturer in one to two days.

Three Gorges Energy has obtained $10.89 billion of funding for 2024. Its total installed renewable energy capacity exceeded 40 GW at the end of 2023, with total assets surpassing CNY 310 billion.

Meyer Burger will start production at its US module factory as it relocates its core operations from Germany to the United States. It is launching production of heterojunction solar modules and securing financing for a new cell plant.

At Intersolar Europe 2024, pv magazine spoke with Edurne Zoco, executive director, Clean Energy Technology at S&P Global Commodity Insights, about module price trends, increasing solar demand and PV manufacturing outside China. She claims panel prices may stabilize in the second half of this year or in early 2025 and says top seven Chinese manufacturers may even continue with capacity expansion plans. She also believes that, without further substantial incentives, Europe will not be able to recreate a domestic PV supply chain.

As part of our Intersolar 2024 interview series, pv magazine spoke with Yana Hryshko, head of Solar Supply Chain Research for Wood Mackenzie, about overcapacity, declining panel prices and expected PV demand for the next years. She revealed that Chinese module procurement schemes are currently seeing unprecedented, “ridiculously” low bids, but she also noted that the $0.08/W threshold may now be difficult to exceed. Hryshko also expects many manufacturers to backpedal on previously announced capacity expansion plans and renegotiate module supply contracts.

Scientists in Colombia have proposed to develop inverted perovskite solar cells with a hole transport layer based on indium-doped nickel oxide. The result is a champion device achieving an efficiency of 20.06% and showing remarkable stability.

Chinese solar cell maker Hainan Drinda New Energy Technology plans to build a 10 GW factory in Oman to produce tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells.

Waaree Energies says it has obtained a contract to supply its p-type bifacial solar modules for a 412.5 MW project that Acciona Energy is developing in Rajasthan, India.