Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Chinese battery giant CATL surged 12.55% on its Hong Kong trading debut after raising HKD 35.6 billion ($4.6 billion), marking the world’s largest listing in 2025. The offering drew strong demand from strategic and cornerstone investors, boosting CATL’s market capitalization to HKD 1.34 trillion.

Tristan Erion-Lorico, VP sales and marketing at Kiwa PVEL, spoke with pv magazine Editor Marian Willuhn at Intersolar Europe 2025 about rising module failures in lab tests this year, citing glass breakage and UV degradation in tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules as key quality concerns.

Tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules continued to dominate the PV market at The smarter E Europe 2025, but pv magazine Magazine Director Mark Hutchins and CRU Group Senior Research Analyst Molly Morgan found emerging cell and module concepts gaining ground on the show floor.

pv magazine editor Matthew Lynas toured the startup corner at Intersolar Europe 2025, highlighting emerging businesses focused on flexibility, smart meters, software, and PV integrated with glass.

Germany’s Singulus Technologies will provide three of its physical vapor deposition (PVD) vacuum sputtering systems to Poland-based module manufacturer Roltec at a new plant that will produce copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS) cells on glass substrates.

Researchers from the Middle East have simulated a novel PV thermal module which includes a thermoelectric generator above the absorber layer, conical helical tape in the cooling tube and a ferrofluid. These technologies reportedly contributed to increased PV efficiency and thermal efficiency by 2.12% and 23.34%, respectively.

Germany’s Sonnex plans to scale the capacity of its factory in Bangladesh to 500 MW by 2028 and to an unspecified gigawatt scale by 2035.

Researchers at the Delft University of Technology have developed new cerium-doped indium oxides for applications in heterojunction solar cells. A transparent conductive oxide built with the new compound has enabled a considerable increase in power conversion efficiency.

Italy’s Ecoprogetti has developed an automated photovoltaic recycling line that separates and recovers up to 100% of the aluminum, copper, glass, plastic and silicon in solar panels. It can process up to 60 panels per hour while using 40% less energy than other solutions on the market.

Bluetti has now launched the Apex 300 portable power station, bringing a new scalable power solutions for home backup, travel, and off-grid living.