China

The Chinese manufacturer will begin selling its new products in Australia and Europe. The hybrid inverter has an efficiency of up to 98.4% and the lithium iron phosphate battery features a storage capacity between 9.6 kWh and 102.4 kWh, depending on the number of modules.

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.

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%.

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.

In a statement to pv magazine, the global vice president of Chinese solar manufacturer JinkoSolar, Dany Qian, said that polysilicon prices are not expected to drop for at least six months. The company’s general manager for South & Central Asia, Daniel Liu, stated that Jinko is not backing out from any of the signed deals with its Indian customers due to the raw material supply shortage and the rising prices, as reported by unspecified false reports.

With production capacity expanded for solar wafers, cells and modules last year, and set to rise again in 2021, the giant is targeting shipments of 40 GW of panels this time around.

Covid-19 disruption has been cited as the chief culprit as imports from China, Thailand and Vietnam slumped from April to January, but safeguarding duty also appears to have had an impact, with unaffected imports from nations such as Myanmar, Chad and Russia on the rise and Malaysian trade keeping steady.