Systovi searching for buyer due to ‘Chinese dumping’
French PV module maker Systovi, facing a sharp drop in orders, is seeking a buyer for its design, production, and commercial activities. It has been manufacturing solar energy equipment since 2008 at its Carquefou factory near Nantes, France.
Meyer Burger prepares to shut down plant in Germany
Swiss solar panel maker Meyer Burger will seek shareholder approval for a rights issue of as much as CHF 250 million ($284 million) to finance the completion of its US manufacturing facilities in Colorado and Arizona.
3Sun unveils 480 W n-type HJT solar module with 25% efficiency
Italy’s 3Sun, a unit of Enel Green Power, has developed new monofacial PV modules based on n-type heterojunction (HJT) G12 solar cells. The M40 series for rooftop applications has power ratings ranging from 440 W to 480 W and an efficiency of up to 25%.
Solarge launches lightweight PERC modules with low carbon footprint
Dutch solar manufacturer Solarge has unveiled two versions of its lightweight mono-PERC solar panels for rooftop applications. The module have power outputs between 470 W and 520 W and efficiencies ranging from 17.4% to 19.2%.
CEA-INES unveils 566 W HJT solar module with low carbon footprint
French research institute CEA-INES has produced a 566 W heterojunction (HJT) demonstrator PV panel using Norwegian silicon wafers based on German polysilicon and solar cells made in France. The prototype has a carbon footprint of 317 kgCO2eq/kW, which is considerably lower than the maximum 800 kgCO2eq/kW standard for Chinese products.
European joint venture to produce solar panels in Luxembourg
Luxembourg’s Socom and Belgium’s Evocells have announced plans to merge. The new company, Solarcells, will open a 50 MW solar panel factory in Luxembourg by the end of this year, with plans to potentially double its annual output by 2026.
Qcells, European consortium launch production line for tandem silicon-perovskite solar cells
South Korea-based Qcells and a research group led by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have established a pilot manufacturing line for silicon-perovskite tandem cells in Thalheim, Germany. The project aims to speed up the technology’s mass manufacturing and market penetration.
Global installed PV capacity could hit 260 GW in 2022
The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVPS) estimates that 173.5 GW of new solar capacity was installed in 2021, and that figure might rise to 260 GW in 2022. pv magazine spoke with the co-chair of the European Solar Manufacturing Council to look into the figures.
The weekend read: EU solar manufacturing – The time is now
European solar manufacturing is back on the agenda after over a decade of minimal activity. Ambitious proposals are in place to reactivate a booming industry with investment earmarked, factories planned, sustainability goals announced, and political strategies outlined to support the projected growth of PV installations. Can these plans be realized? The UP Initiative will spend the second quarter delving into this question.
EU leading PV technology innovation, plans for 100GW solar manufacturing capacity by 2030
Plans to reestablish a thriving European solar manufacturing base are underway. As part of the UP Initiative’s upcoming Q2 2022 theme on the topic, pv magazine spoke to Johan Lindahl, secretary general of the European Solar Manufacturing Council to understand the challenges and opportunities for domestic manufacturers, and to discover how they could reach the target of forming a full 100GW solar value chain by 2030.
