China

Elsewhere, cell maker Aikosolar has announced two major wafer purchase agreements with manufacturers Shuangliang and Shangji, and Zhonghuan Semiconductor has reported solid financials for the third quarter.

The result, confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH), was achieved on a heterojunction solar cell based on an M6 wafer.

This week saw prices in the polysilicon segment, and further downstream, rise again, with no end in sign. National Energy Agency statistics show a slowdown in installations for the second consecutive month in September. Manufacturers, however, continue to purchase components and materials in the expectation that prices will rise even further.

Factories suffering from rationed grid electricity could help drive a boom in on-site solar systems, and recent moves to mandate the retrofitting of PV on existing buildings could also lift the market, as analyst Frank Haugwitz explains.

PV manufacturing giant Trina Solar says it has agreed with other industry players on a set of standard dimensions and other technical specifications for PV modules utilizing 210mm wafers – the largest currently available on the market. The manufacturer says it expects the China Photovoltaic Industry Association to formally release the standard before the end of October.

Industrial shutdowns and reduced factory production capacity levels indicate the companies producing the raw materials used by solar manufacturers are being afflicted by electricity consumption measures just as other sectors are. It is not clear whether the solar industry will be afforded any favors by Beijing, as analyst Frank Haugwitz explains.

Chinese tech giant Huawei Digital Power has signed a contract with China’s SEPCOIII, a construction and engineering company and power plant operator, for a 400 MW PV plus 1300 MWh battery energy storage project in Saudi Arabia. Developed by ACWA Power, with SEPCOIII serving as general contractor and handling EPC services, the Red Sea Project […]

Shipments and revenue both rose in the first three quarters, for a company which this year announced the painful consequences of winding down its cell manufacturing operation were behind it.

This week, Shuangliang Eco-Energy has signed a multi-year sales contract for delivery of its PV wafers to solar cell manufacturer Jiangsu Runergy, and Wuxi-based perovskite start-up UtmoLight Technology has won a Pre-A round investment of RMB 220 million from several private equity funds.

Chinese PV inverter manufacturer Atess Power has launched a new hybrid inverter for commercial solar power plants, featuring an efficiency of ≥96% and supporting up to 600kW system capacity.