Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Solar product detentions at U.S. ports of entry all stem from a June 24 “Withhold Release Order” issued by Customs and Border Protection.

Developed by the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), the “non-destructive” technology is claimed to enable the recovery of 100% of a module’s glass and to allow the reuse of silicon for producing new solar cells with an efficiency of 20.05%.

While some analysts have said the raw material shortage has eased sufficiently of late for its selling price to stabilize, the chief executive of Xinjiang-based producer Daqo made bullish statements about his company’s prospects yesterday, based on an expectation of continuing tight supply of the solar panel component.

The American Solar Manufacturers Against Chinese Circumvention has filed three petitions urging the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate allegations of “unfairly traded imports” from three countries in Southeast Asia.

Australian National University researchers claim to have set a world record for bifacial solar cell efficiency that they say could boost the energy output of solar farms by 30%.

Scientists in Saudi Arabia have conducted one of the longest tests on the stability of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. According to their findings, the most affected parameter under the hot and humid climate of the region is the device fill factor, which dropped from 80% to 50% in just six months.

Next Energy and Marubeni are developing a blockchain tech for PV module inspection – with the support of the Japanese government – which they claim is able to provide data on a panel’s traceability and components as well as verifying that the data were not modified or tampered with.

The nation produced 57% more solar cells in the first half of this year than in the same period a year earlier, according to a financial update from state-controlled manufacturer Luoyang Glass.

The German company will sell 70,000 tons of its product to the module maker over the course of a five-year contract.

First Solar has started building a new PV module factory in the U.S. state of Ohio. The $680 million facility is scheduled to start operations in the first half of 2023.