Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

With figures at the end of last year boosted by profitable PV project sales, the manufacturer and developer is now nursing unflattering comparisons and aims to get more projects built and sold by the end of next month.

With clean energy being generated at lower and lower prices around the world, solar power is playing a leading role in bringing the curtain down on coal, and will help the decarbonization of transport and space heating too.

The 1.8 GW supply deal is the largest in Canadian Solar’s history and includes the company’s new BiHiKu high-efficiency bifacial modules.

At the beginning of the decade, Zhengrong Shi, at that time founder and CEO of Suntech, was one of the most influential people in solar. After the Chinese module manufacturer ran into troubles in 2013, he had to go and, thus, slipped out of the spotlight. Now he is back as founder of Sunman, a company specializing in lightweight crystalline modules using polymer composite materials instead of glass. pv magazine caught up with him at Intersolar Europe 2019.

With Narendra Modi’s government stunning pollsters with another huge win, the solar industry expects renewable power momentum to be maintained with steps including anti-dumping duty on solar module imports, a national policy for rooftop solar and an emphasis on easing private-sector participation in the power sector.

Chinese PV manufacturer Trina Solar today announced it has achieved a new efficiency record of 24.58% for a cell based on n-type monocrystalline TOPCon technology. The record has been confirmed by the ISFH CalTeC laboratory in Germany. Meanwhile, fellow giant Canadian Solar also hit a new milestone with its cast mono technology, reaching 22.28% conversion efficiency on a 157mm² wafer.

While the world’s biggest solar manufacturers are confident there are plenty of alternative markets for a rising volume of panel exports, the message spelled out by first-quarter shipment figures is that protectionism works.

In a series of statements to pv magazine, South African panel manufacturer ARTsolar has explained why it recently filed a petition to request the introduction of import tariffs on solar modules from other countries. The company claims such a measure is needed to save real jobs and retain the technological expertise of the country’s PV industry.

The complaint was submitted to the country’s International Trade Administration Commission by domestic module maker ARTsolar, which points out South Africa does not have anti-dumping duties to protect its manufacturers.

U.S. President Donald Trump has removed Turkey from the list of developing nations that are exempted from Section 201 tariffs on PV cells and modules.