Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Longi commissioned a 5 GW solar cell factory in Ningxia Province and Gokin Solar announced plans to build a 50 GW ingot factory in Sichuan Province. Furthermore, PV equipment manufacturer Jinchen supplied 2 GW of production lines to Adani Solar in India.

Scientists in Sweden have developed a wide-gap ACIGS solar cell with hydrogen-doped indium oxide (IOH) transparent back contacts and silver alloying to increase the absorber bandgap energy. The device achieved an efficiency of 12.0%, an open-circuit voltage of 835 mV, a short-circuit current of 22.1 mA cm2, and a fill factor of 65.2%.

Chinese panel maker DAH Solar has developed a rooftop PV module with a new design that is claimed to enable water to wash away dust without the need for manual cleaning operations. The panel is offered in five versions with power output ranging from 450 W to 470 W and efficiency spanning from 20.85% and 21.78%.

According to the terms of the settlement, Canadian Solar agrees not to import shingled solar modules into the United States.

Concurrent with the two-year halt of solar tariffs on major Southeast Asian panels suppliers, the Biden Administration invoked the Defense Production Act and is using the full power of federal procurement capabilities to boost US-made solar.

While many solar manufacturers are as yet undecided about which PV cell technology they will choose for their next high efficiency expansions, for Singapore-based REC, the future is HJT. pv magazine spoke to Cemil Seber, the managing director at REC Solar EMEA GmbH at the Intersolar Europe 2022 trade show, to dig deeper into these manufacturing plans.

With architects and construction companies across the world showing an increasing interest in building-integrated PV, one Australian company has outlined plans to clad an eight-storey building being constructed in West Melbourne with a “solar skin” that will generate almost all of the building’s base power.

The White House is expected to announce a 24-month tariff exemption on solar modules manufactured in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, while also invoking the Defense Production Act as a means to accelerate American manufacturing.

A Chinese metals industry group said the price of polysilicon is rising, just as Comtec Solar revealed that it is gearing up to sell off its shuttered wafer factories in Shanghai. Flat Glass, meanwhile, has announced plans to expand solar glass production capacity.

German scientists have reviewed all solar cell technologies with tuning capabilities and have identified all of their possible applications.