Asia

India’s Cosmic PV Power says it expects to start production from its second 600 MW factory by June, bringing its total solar panel manufacturing capacity to 850 MW.

Solis has released a new line of hybrid inverters in five different power output versions, ranging from 3 kW to 8 kW. The hybrid inverters can be used with either lithium-ion or lead-acid batteries, with a maximum charging and discharging current of 190 A.

China’s Aiko Solar plans to build a new factory in three 10 GW phases over the next five years. Construction of the first phase is expected to begin in early 2024.

In recent months, China’s Risen Energy has posted impressive module efficiencies, closing in on 24%, with its hyper-ion series. The company will ramp up to large-scale production of these heterojunction products in the first half of 2023, and pv magazine recently caught up with Risen Energy’s Chief Information Officer Terry Wu to discuss this, as well as the company’s work on energy storage projects.

A research team has studied the potential of using concentrating photovoltaics in agriculture and found that it offers advantages in terms of energy yield and de-shading compared to conventional photovoltaics. However, the higher costs must be carefully considered.

Chinese battery industry heavyweight CATL has unveiled a novel condensed matter battery technology with an energy density of up to 500 Wh/kg. The company said it can achieve mass production within this year.

NTPC Renewable Energy is accepting bids to develop 1.5 GW/9 GWh of cumulative energy storage capacity on a build-own-operate basis anywhere in India. It will use the storage capacity to ensure round-the-clock renewable and/or peak power supplies. Bidding closes on June 16.

The Chinese manufacturer is offering six versions of its new TOPCon modules, with power outputs between 560 W and 585 W. The power conversion efficiency ranges from 21.7% to 22.6%.

Scientists in China claim to have gauged the selenization annealing process for kesterite solar cells, in order to achieve a kesterite absorber with low defects. They have developed a device with a certified efficiency of 13.8%.

India’s Vivasvan Solar has designed a foldable solar structure mounted on a trolley. The system has mechanisms to prevent damage to the panels during transit and is especially useful for agricultural farms.