Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Despite political hurdles in key markets including China, India and Japan, Asia remains highly active. This year, 59 GW of solar is expected to be installed and due to further system price declines, a phase-out of subsidy schemes can be offset.

The Norwegian polysilicon producer posted an EBITDA loss of $6.1 million for the third quarter of 2018, as it continues to struggle with low demand and prices. Revenue for the company’s solar materials segment fell almost 70% on the previous quarter.

Swedish battery supplier Northvolt has announced plans for a manufacturing plant in Gdansk, Poland. The company says that the plant will have an initial capacity of 10,000 battery modules per year and will begin production in 2019.

The Chinese manufacturer – which is gambling on a big rebound in global appetite for the raw material for PV panels materializing soon – will devote all of its $143m solar subsidy income to paying off a daunting amount of borrowing.

Big players such as Acme, ReNew, Adani, Azure, Hero Future and Aditya Birla Solar are likely to stay away from procurement which requires 3 GW annual manufacturing commitment, says industry insider Gopal Lal Somani.

The Hong Kong-based thin film manufacturer’s parent company may not be able to deliver mammoth panel orders on time, but looks set to arrange a HK$5/share deal to take the troublesome unit back in house and list it on the A-share index, in a move which will come as a relief to shareholders stuck with its stock since May 2015.

Singulus saw improvements to both its sales and profit in the third quarter, and confirms it is on track to meet its forecast figures for the full year.

In this interview with pv magazine, the president of integrated monocrystalline PV maker Longi Solar gives his perspective on market and policy changes in China, Europe and the United States, as well as giving an update on his company’s very rapid growth.

On October 25, pv magazine will host a webinar, powered by JinkoSolar, in which the China-based manufacturer will present the case for using bifacial modules in large-scale solar plants, and discuss the influencing factors and their impact on bifacial PV tracking. In the following Q&A, JinkoSolar’s Andrea Viaro, Head of Technical Service Europe, JinkoSolar, and Colin Caufield, VP of Sales North America, Soltec provide a sneak peak into the technology and the advantages tracking can bring to bifacial technology.

Tesla is planning accelerated development and construction of this new battery and EV plant, which will mark the company’s first soirée into international production.