Asia

With polysilicon production capacity having been rapidly rolled out after last year’s shortages, China analyst Frank Haugwitz has suggested global manufacturing capability for the ethylene vinyl acetate used on PV panels could struggle to keep pace with what is expected to be another record year of demand for solar.

A decade on from energy rationing, head of state Sheikh Hasina is poised to announce the achievement of an historic goal which has been made possible with the help of off-grid photovoltaics.

India surpassed 5GW of cumulative, “open-access” solar capacity in December.

The Chinese electronics specialist has unveiled the first DC/DC converter in its product offering, dubbed the DC-coupled LSP 100K. The device features an efficiency of 97.9% and a European efficiency of 97.5%.

A Dutch-Chinese research team has developed a bifacial heterojunction PV cell with a 67% reduction in transparent conductive oxide (TCO) use. The TCOs used for the cell are based on indium(III) oxide (In2O3), which is considered a technology-critical element by many experts.

Azure Power has switched on a 300MW solar project in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It will supply electricity to Solar Energy Corp. of India for about $0.03/kWh over a period of 25 years.

Elsewhere, Scatec and partners have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large scale green ammonia facility in Egypt. Hydrogen developments were also announced in India and the United Kingdom.

Xinte’s new manufacturing facility is planned to be located in Changji county, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Moreover, Longi is planning to build another factory in Erdos City, Inner Mongolia.

The new product is part of the company’s HiKu6 series based on 182mm wafers. Its temperature coefficient is 0.34% and its electrical characteristics are claimed to be compatible with the most common photovoltaic inverters thanks to current values below 14A.

Heavily-indebted developer Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy has said it plans to use part of its anticipated $600 million windfall constructing 655MW of agrivoltaic and acquaculture-linked PV generation capacity.