Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

India’s solar module exports hit $1.9 billion in fiscal 2023-24, with shipments to the US market accounting for the lion’s share of the total.

A Chinese research group including scientists from module maker Tongwei has designed a perovskite solar cell with remarkable perovskite film quality through the so-called self-disintegrating seed strategy. The device not only achieved one of the highest fill factor values ever recorded for perovskite solar to date, but also showed remarkable stability.

Wood Mackenzie says in its latest report that low prices and integrated supply chains allow Chinese manufacturers to supply more than 65% of total global demand for renewables equipment, with its exports growing by 35% between 2019 and 2023.

Researchers in Nigeria have proposed to build inverted perovskite solar cells exclusively with all-inorganic transport materials and a lead-free perovksite absorber. Through a series of simulations, they showed these device may achieve efficiencies over 30% with low production costs.

U.S. scientists have developed a thermophotovoltaic cell that could be paired with inexpensive thermal storage to provide power on demand. The indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) thermophotovoltaic cell absorbs most of the in-band radiation to generate electricity, while serving as a nearly perfect mirror.

The versatility of solar mounting manufacturer and balance-of-system provider Clenergy’s ezShade 2.0 solar shade system has been put to the test with the solution at the core of a standalone power system fuelling an off-grid communications site in remote northern Queensland.

Perovskite PV devices are set to become the next big thing in solar with market analysts at S&P Global Commodity Insights predicting 1 GW of production by the end of 2024, rising to 6 GW in 2025. Perovskite tandem devices are at the front of the queue for commercialization but their characterization presents technical challenges.

Developer Loop Energia has built a 1.2 MW offgrid solar plant that now serves a center-pivot irrigation system in the Brazilian state of Bahia. The project reportedly enables local farmers to double soybean harvesting by achieving considerable savings through significantly lower diesel consumption.

Visionpark said its novel solar carport solution is self-weighted and requires no foundation. It can reportedly host all kinds of solar panels and be installed quickly.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) has voiced support for the inclusion of non-price criteria in auctions for solar modules, as laid out in the EU Net Zero Industry Act. The council’s recommendation paper also calls for member states to adopt the act as quickly as possible and highlights concern around cybersecurity and data security in relation to Chinese inverters.