Chinese PV Industry Brief: Microinverter manufacturer Hoymile raises $880 million through IPO
The Hangzhou-based microinverter maker is now listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE).
U.S. Trade Commission recommends extension of Section 201 solar tariffs
SEIA responds that a new round of tariffs will hamper U.S. solar development and forestall this administration’s vision of becoming a world leader in clean energy.
Google lends a hand in the search for new solar cell designs with open-source tool
Scientists in the United States developed a computer simulator that can calculate the conversion efficiency of different solar cell materials and configurations – helping to guide research and optimization of new cell designs. The simulator is available to researchers as an open-source tool to save time and spot the best opportunities for optimization of any given approach.
Recyclable, back-contact solar panel from the Netherlands
Conceived by a Dutch consortium, according to Design for Recycling guidelines, the panel is being developed with two different encapsulants, one for the front of the module, which joins the glass and cells together; and a slightly different formulation for the back of the module, which attaches cells and backsheet together.
Plan for solar module gigafactory unveiled in France
An industrial area of the southern region of Occitanie has been identified for the construction of a 2 GW factory. The local development agency is currently seeking potential investors.
Flexible metal dichalcogenide solar cell with 5.1% efficiency
Stanford scientists have fabricated a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) solar cell that is claimed to overcome the typical issue of this kind of PV device, the so-called Fermi-level pinning. They used graphene contacts to mitigate this phenomenon and achieved a record power per weight of 4.4 W/g.
US bank to lend $500 million for First Solar’s 3 GW fab in India
The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. has offered debt financing to support a 3 GW module manufacturing facility that thin-film PV manufacturer First Solar plans to build in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Deploying solar on curved metal roofs
Midsummer and Medacciai are developing a BIPV solution for curved metal roofs in southern European markets, through a five-year deal.
RTE Energy plans PV module factory for Australia
Australia’s solar PV panel manufacturing capacity is set to get a major boost, as Melbourne-based RTE Energy has confirmed that it plans to set up a large-scale heterojunction module factory in the state of Queensland.
Daqo fires up 35,000-ton poly fab
The polysilicon producer is sticking by plans to ramp up manufacturing capacity almost 300% within three years and says it will produce the basic material for the new generation of n-type solar panels.
