China

Trina Solar has been producing its 500 W modules in series for a month now and plans to increase their output to more than 600 W in the future.

A 120 MW solar plant located in a fishery near Cixi, in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, was recently completed. The plant, which has secured a tariff of RMB0.95 ($0.12)/kWh, is the second phase of a 320 MW project owned by Chinese developer Hangzhou Fengling.

The Asian Development Bank says developing countries in Asia and the Pacific should consider developing their own solar industry supply chains as the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed their over-reliance on China to carry through the energy transition.

The solar plant was built with fixed structures on a 400-hectare water surface at a fishery in Anhui province. The project was the first unsubsidized plant approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in 2019 and is selling power at a price of RMB 0.3844 ($0.054) per kWh.

Construction of the $2.87 billion factory is scheduled to start in March and manufacturing activity should be launched in 2021.

Storage system providers in Europe have told pv magazine output has thus far been unaffected by the virus outbreak in China. Manufacturers are aware, however, the situation may change rapidly if self-isolation measures taken by the authorities continue.

Analyst Johannes Bernreuter says most of China’s polysilicon production capacity is in regions away from the center of the coronavirus outbreak. He added, however, 27% of the nation’s 510,000-ton annual polysilicon capacity could be affected.

The coronavirus outbreak in China could raise solar module prices in the near term as manufacturers have already begun experiencing wafer and solar glass shortages. Production rates are also being affected by an extended new year holiday introduced by the authorities as a measure to deal with the virus, and the requirement workers from infected areas quarantine themselves for two weeks.

The Chinese government will extend duties on U.S. and South Korean polysilicon for another five years from today despite committing to buy $200 billion more American goods and services in the trade deal signed on Wednesday. Poly manufacturer REC Silicon says it expects polysilicon to form part of that trade agreement.

Scientists at the Beijing Institute of Technology have identified the most suitable areas for solar parks in the Chinese capital using a geographical information system and a new multi-criteria decision-making technique: the ‘best-worst’ method. They claim the approach can help establish technically and economically viable projects.