Chinese PV Industry Brief: Longi leapfrogs Jinko for first-half module shipments
There is also news of a 1.1 GW central inverter procurement contract, a pending IPO for solar cell player Runergy, and a $700 million-plus solar glass supply contract.
The Hydrogen Stream: GCL will use Ethiopian natural gas to feed its ammonia and blue hydrogen
Plus there is news this week of a green hydrogen tie-up in India, plans for another German production facility, and of new hydrogen transport networks for Switzerland and the U.S.
CATL claims to have made sodium-ion batteries a commercial reality
The manufacturer has launched sodium-ion products online. Production has begun and will be easily scalable, according to the CATL chairman. Researchers have been keen to make the technology work as it offers a cheaper, more environmentally friendly alternative to lithium-ion products.
Chinese poly maker moves to establish natural gas-fired hydrogen business
An announcement by GCL-Poly to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday about the company’s hydrogen plans made no mention of any intent to deploy carbon capture tech to mitigate the emissions of what would otherwise be considered a ‘grey’, fossil fuel version of the energy storage medium.
Europe had just 650 MW of solar cell manufacturing capacity at the end of 2020
The latest update to the Photovoltaics Report produced by research organization the Fraunhofer ISE has offered up the usual slew of interesting stats on the state of solar across the continent.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Trina, Longi and Guangdong Electric Power all have reason to celebrate
…but cell manufacturer Aikosolar is expecting a reversal in fortune for the first half of the year and has blamed rising solar panel material costs.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Slightly lower polysilicon prices and another 20 GW of PV wafer capacity
According to the China Nonferrous Metals Association, polysilicon prices declined by around 1.4% last week. In other news, Gaoce announced another 20 GW PV wafer factory and Hareon Solar filed for bankruptcy.
Sineng opens 10 GW PV inverter factory in China’s Ningxia province
With this new factory, the annual production capacity of the Chinese PV inverter maker has reached 23 GW.
World’s largest rooftop PV plant powering Chinese industrial park
The 120 MW PV facility was grid-connected in late 2020 is located at an industrial park in China’s Shandong province. Sungrow supplied its string inverters for the project.
‘Polysilicon shortage will continue through 2021’
The latest global PV industry outlook published by trade group SolarPower Europe, has indicated tight supply of the solar panel raw material is expected to persist this year but the trade body said it would be unlikely to drive further price rises.
