Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

The handheld, cordless cleaning tool is a cost-effective and efficient alternative to automated cleaning robots that are usually limited in operation by panel inclination.

Hurricane-force wind gusts hit New England during a late-October storm, damaging at least one rooftop solar array and leading Commercial Solar Guy to offer a few pointers.

TBEA unveiled a plan to build a 400,000 MT metal silicon factory in Baotou City, in the Inner Mongolia province. Furthermore, EnergyTrend reported polysilicon prices increased slightly this week.

Insolight has developed a translucent monocrystalline solar panel with a nominal power of 106 W and a power conversion efficiency of 20.1%. The solar cells are covered with protective glass and optical lenses to concentrate and direct sunlight onto them at around 100 times the intensity of standard solar glass.

Trina Solar has found that its Vertex modules, based on the 210mm wafer, achieve an energy yield up to 1.6% higher than rival products based on the smaller 182mm wafer format. The company conducted outdoor testing at two separate sites with varying climates, finding that products based on the larger format have a particular advantage in low-irradiance environments.

U.S. border agents have confiscated PV modules from Longi Green Energy. The panels accounted for roughly 1.59% of the company’s total 2020 export sales volume to the U.S. market.

The discounted cash flow from a solar project’s electricity generation increases by 46% when shifting the installation from today’s standard 25-year lifetime to a 50-year time scale.

The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, in Germany, has ruled that Longi Solar and REC have to pay a fine because they have not fully complied with the court order to recall their solar modules affected by the patent dispute in Germany.

Scientists in the United States developed what they describe as a ‘scotch-tape like’ solution, which can absorb potential lead leakage from perovskite solar cells, preventing the toxic material from entering the environment. The tape, according to the scientists, can easily be integrated with existing encapsulation strategies, and was shown to absorb 99.9% of lead leaked from cells from that were severely damaged.

The Euro trade body has promised to monitor the developing solar jobs market annually from now on, and pointed to Poland’s position at the top of the tree of EU member states for PV jobs last year as evidence the technology can still benefit from legislative backing.