Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

French organic PV module manufacturer Armor said it began manufacturing free-form PV modules in early April. The new technology will allow the company’s ASCA PV film to be produced in a range of different shapes.

According to the 2020 World Silver Survey 2020 by the U.S.-based Silver Institute, the metal’s price will decline by only 3% this year, despite the impact that the Covid-19 crisis will also have on demand. In the global PV industry, silver demand is forecast to drop 3% from 98.7 million ounces in 2019 to 96.1 million ounces this year.

Atamostec, a private-public initiative supported by Chile’s government-run Production Development Corp. and several industrial partners, has developed a new module. The team claims that the bifacial panel offers an additional annual average gain of 11% compared to monofacial PERC modules with the same cell technology.

A group of researchers from India is trying to apply a special phase change material to regulate temperature in copper, indium and selenium solar panels. Phase change materials are substances that are capable of storing thermal energy, allowing for the stabilization of temperature.

A team tasked by the European Commission with estimating the raw material requirements of the European energy transition found if global PV roll-out is high, and the component requirements of certain solar technologies don’t improve by a greater margin, some elements could end up in short supply.

Hungarian tech company Platio has developed solar pavement for outdoor applications in urban environments, homes, office buildings, shopping malls, and public infrastructure projects. The pavement consists of solar tiles that may cost between €50 and €80, depending on the size and characteristics of projects.

The coronavirus epidemic continues to batter the global economy, including the solar industry, but falling demand during lockdowns has brought negative energy prices as well as helping drive record solar generation, amid less-polluted skies.

Solaria says that it will start selling its new all-black panel for residential PV applications in the U.S. market within the current quarter. The monocrystalline module is equipped with a microinverter from Enphase and has an efficiency rating of 20.2%.

The solar efficiency leader remains on track to complete its planned split into two independently focused pure-play solar companies by the end of the second quarter.

The building-integrated PV devices have taken a big leap forward on the back of a partnership between Australian scientists and a major glass manufacturer which will investigate the use of semi-transparent solar cells in commercial applications, potentially revolutionizing building design.