Chinese PV Industry Brief: Coal producer enters PV business, Jinko builds frame factory
State-run coal producer China Pingmei Shenma has revealed plans to enter the PV module business with a 5 GW production unit in Henan province. JinkoSolar, meanwhile, has started building a new factory for aluminum PV panel frames.
The steeplechase of transparent PV
A South Korean research team has claimed that transparent PV technologies need to improve in terms of efficiency, stability and aesthetics before they can reach commercial maturity.
Erdogan opens ingot-to-module solar factory in Ankara
The $1.4 billion cost includes a 1 GW solar field 260km away in Konya. The factory was developed solely by Kalyon Solar Technologies after development partner Hanwha Q-Cells walked away from the project.
Japan’s struggle to drive down renewables costs
A nation famous for high electricity prices has seen power costs fall 15% this year, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie, a figure which will help attract $100 billion of solar and wind investment to 2030. Renewables will have to work even harder, however, to displace fossil fuels in hydrogen production.
Consolidation continues for polysilicon makers
While mono-grade polysilicon prices did not decrease much in the first quarter owing to stable demand, multi-grade fell to record lows as its market share diminished. During the second quarter, writes PV InfoLink senior analyst Cooper Chen, the market saw excessive supply. Monocrystalline manufacturers have been running at full tilt and bringing new capacities online as scheduled, while the pandemic rages on overseas.
New 635-660 W module series from Trina
The latest products in the Vertex series from the Chinese manufacturer, unveiled at the SNEC PV Power Expo in Shanghai, are available in six versions with reported efficiency ranging from 20.4-21.2%.
Covid-19 weekly round-up: Differing opinions on energy storage fall-out, a trade show update and some surprisingly positive financials
Negative second-quarter updates from China and uber-low new-solar figures from India, however, show the world is far from out of the woods yet.
The ‘rubber-band effect’ on renewable energy project margins
David Riester of Lacuna Sustainable Investments, looks at how, on the journey from concept to monetized power plant, renewables and energy storage projects tend to get tugged toward ‘zero’ margin, from either direction. The further the rubber band is stretched, the stronger the pull back toward zero.
Enphase and Sonnenstromfabrik unveil AC solar panel
The US microinverter producer and the German panel maker have launched a residential glass/glass PERC module equipped Enphase IQ 7+ device. The 60-cell PERC module is available in three versions with power output ranging from 320 to 330 W and efficiencies of 18.8% to 19.4%.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Tongwei halts polysilicon output due to flood threat
A unit of the manufacturer has suspended poly production in Sichuan province because of flooding fears. The temporary factory shutdown will shave 25% off the group’s output capacity.
