Asia

Gold Plus Glass Industry, an Indian float glass manufacturer, has told pv magazine that it plans to set up a new solar glass factory with a capacity of 300 tons per day. The plant, to be built in southern India, will be operational by September 2023.

Polysilicon prices rose to RMB145-150/kg this week, prompting a varied response from the major wafer suppliers. Longi won a tender to supply modules for a 100 MW agrivoltaic project held by Hubei Energy Group and GCL-Poly sold off a further 127 MW of solar project capacity to two state-owned enterprises.

The board of Xinyi Solar has announced it expects to have to install energy storage at its Chinese solar projects from July onwards, as a result of the recently launched five-year plan.

Scientists in South Korea and the UK demonstrated a new cathode material for an aluminum-ion battery, which achieved impressive results in both specific capacity and cycle life. The material allows researchers to better take advantage of aluminum’s energy storage characteristics, and produce batteries with much higher capacity.

The $18bn worth of sustainable finance instruments floated in the nation last year marked a retreat from previous highs but, with most of the bonds issued from July onwards, the recovery is under way, according to the IFC, which is anticipating a more-than-$100 billion sector in emerging markets over the next three years.

The two new products will be part of the Hi-MO4m panel series for rooftop applications. Their efficiency ranges from 19.2% to 21.2%.

Developers have until May 17 to bid for grid-connected, ground-mounted PV capacity that will come up across 29 districts in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The ceiling tariff is fixed at INR 3.05/kWh.

In its maiden venture into solar power generation, state-run Coal India Limited will set up a 100 MW plant and sell the electricity produced to state utility Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd for 25 years.

The carbon market is finally a reality in China. After 10 years of delays, regional pilot schemes and general uncertainty, China’s national carbon market became a reality on Feb. 1, 2021. Over time, the scheme is expected to support China’s gradual shift away from coal toward more solar and wind in power generation.

JA Solar has agreed to buy 75,000 MT of polysilicon from Qinghai-based Asia Silicon (Qinghai) Co., Ltd., and Longi will buy 250 million square meters of PV glass from US-based Chinese manufacturer Deli Glass. Huantai Group commissioned another furnace at its 12 GW wafer factory in Inner Mongolia.