Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

The Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act would establish a tax credit for domestic solar manufacturers in an effort to boost the U.S. solar supply chain, create American clean energy jobs, compete with Chinese manufacturers, and support energy independence.

Rice University engineers produced “near-perfect” 2D perovskite crystals for photovoltaic applications, grown from seeds.

The solar manufacturer has started trial production of high-efficiency solar cells at its new site in the southern state of Telangana. The fab can produce 19.2%-efficient multi-crystalline cells using MCCE textured black silicon, as well as making 22.5%-efficient mono PERC products.

The two solar manufacturers will get priority access to polysilicon produced at the planned fab in Inner Mongolia, which developer Xinte Energy has said will be fully operational by June 2023.

The cell exhibited an open-circuit voltage of 1.1 V and was able to retain around 90% of its initial performance after 215 days of exposure to dim light at room temperature. According to its creators, this performance and the notable stability were ensured by the thermal evaporation technique used for depositing the perovskite layers onto the cell.

Furthermore, Zhonghuan Semiconductor has slightly reduced its wafer prices, while Longi has maintained them unchanged. Flat Glass is raising funds to support the construction of a new glass factory with a total annual capacity of 750,000 metric tons.

The methylammonium-free inverted solar module was built on a flexible substrate made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). A hole transporting material made of poly(triarylamine) (PTAA) and a double-cation cesium formamidinium (CsFA) perovskite layer were deposited through blade-coating and nitrogen-assisted blade-coating.

The BWRO unit, which has a treated water production capacity of around 11.80 ​L/h, was built with a pre-filtration module, a high-pressure DC pump, an RO module, and a post-treatment module. The PVT system was designed to meet the energy requirement of a high-pressure DC pump and a diaphragm-type circulation pump utilized to circulate soft water beneath the PV module for the active cooling of the panel itself.

The Polish perovskite solar cell specialist claims to be the first company in the world to have commissioned commercial production of the technology.

In a white paper, the three Chinese module manufacturers have reiterated the well-known refrain “bigger is not always better.” Experts from the three companies compared the BoS costs of 182mm-wafer-based modules and 210mm products, and found that the former have a slight advantage in racking, foundation, and land costs.